This post compiles resources & summaries that we believe to be most relevant to Colorado’s place-based forest collaboratives. It is not an official Colorado Forest Health Council webpage.
What is the Colorado Forest Health Council (CFHC)?
The CFHC is a 26-member volunteer stakeholder body whose role is “to provide a collaborative forum to advise the Governor, through the Executive Director of the Department of Natural Resources, and the Colorado General Assembly, on issues, opportunities, and threats to Colorado’s forests.”
3 ways to keep up with the CFHC:
Quarterly Meetings: Written Summaries & Meeting Recordings
Recognizing that many people do not have time to attend a 3-hour meeting, we are providing written summaries in which we distill information most relevant to Colorado’s place-based forest collaboratives into a few pages.
- April 2025 quarterly meeting: Summary
- February 2025 quarterly meeting: Summary | Recording
- October 2024 quarterly meeting: Summary | Recording
- July 2024 quarterly meeting: Recording
- April 2024 quarterly meeting: Summary | Recording
- January 2024 quarterly meeting: Summary
- October 2023 quarterly meeting: Summary | Recording
- July 2023 quarterly meeting: Summary | Recording
- May 2023 quarterly meeting: Written summary | Recording
- We hosted a Branching Out session following this meeting, where Katie shared a verbal summary of the meeting & requested input from collaboratives to share with the CFHC.
- Branching Out summary presentation | Recommendations
- February 2023 quarterly meeting: Summary | Recording
Attending Meetings
All CFHC meetings are open to the public and are recorded. See below for meeting types & frequencies:
- Full CFHC | Quarterly
- Next meeting: August 13th, 2025
- Meetings are typically scheduled from 9am – 12pm on their respective dates; times are subject to change.
- Committee on Leveraging Resources | Second Tuesday of the month from 12 – 1pm
- Legislative Committee | Every other Friday from 8:30 – 9:20am
Meeting agendas and invitations will be posted on the CFHC webpage (near the bottom of the page) 24 hours before each meeting.
Annual Reports
Each year, the CFHC briefs the Wildfire Matters Review Committee (a committee of the Colorado state legislature) and submits a report to the Governor.
Important CFHC Products
Colorado’s 2055 Vision for Forest Health
(click here to enlarge or download)
The CFHC’s establishing legislation requires: “development of, and recommendations for, attaining a thirty-year vision for forest health in Colorado, including developing goals and both annual and multi-year recommendations for actions to improve forest health and reduce fire risk through increased funding and capacity building.”
The vision above was approved by the CFHC on April 30, 2025; specific actions associated with the vision are in development.
The Colorado Forest Resilience Planning Guide
For more resources on the Guide, including a presentation and short summary document, check out this resources page from the CFCN.
Colorado Forest Resilience Planning Guide provides a framework for agencies, private landowners and local partners to align their forest management strategies, leverage resources effectively and sustain forest health to protect the many benefits that forests provide. Featuring 15 actionable steps, it provides tools to strengthen collaboration, integrate community values and access science-based resources tailored to local landscapes.
Colorado Statewide Strategy for Prescribed Fire on Non-Federal Lands
This Statewide Strategy for Prescribed Fire is the product of two years of collaborative work by stakeholders from across Colorado. It was developed by the Colorado Fire Commission and the CFHC’s joint Prescribed Fire Subcommittee and represents the wisdom and ambition of prescribed fire professionals and government agencies at all levels throughout the state.
This document identifies 21 total strategies to address these six barriers, offering 9 opportunities for legislative intervention and assistance and 12 opportunities for administrative implementation in the Division of Fire Prevention and Control, the Colorado State Forest Service, and the Colorado Department of Natural Resources.
Each year the CFHC releases an annual report outlining progress made by the Council and each of its committees, and making recommendations for the state legislature and the Governor.
Get in touch!
Katie McGrath Novak serves on the CFHC as ‘an individual employed by or associated with a forest collaborative organization.’ Please feel free to reach out if you have questions, comments, or ideas to share.
The full list of current CFHC members can be found toward the bottom of the CFHC webpage.
