Summary by Katie McNovak, Colorado Forest Collaborative Network Coordinator
Formatting by Bianca Anderson, Colorado Forest Collaborative Network
Additional Resources:
- Meeting recording
- Next CFHC meeting: Thursday, April 9th 9 am-4 pm, hybrid Zoom/Fort Collins
- Colorado Forest Collaboratives Network (CFCN) resource page: Keeping up with the Colorado Forest Health Council
- Official CFHC webpage
Contents:
- Federal Policy Update
- State Policy Update
- Legislative Committee Update
- Prescribed Fire Subcommittee Update
- Leveraging Resources Update
- Mountain Pine Beetle Update
- Roundtable Updates
Federal Policy Update
Speaker: Riley Scott, Deputy District Director, Representative Jeff Hurd (CO-03)
Bills signed into law: HR 2316 – Wetlands Conservation and Access Improvement Act
Bills passed the House: HR 3857 – Snow Water Supply Forecasting Reauthorization Act
Sponsored Legislation:
- HR 5911 – Crystal Reservoir Conveyance Act (had a legislative hearing in House Natural Resources Committee on Tuesday)
- HR 471 – Fix our Forests Act (passed the House, being worked on in the Senate)
- HR 1084 – SHRED Act
- HR 1383 – Secure Rural Schools Reauthorization Act
- HR 3637 – Locally Led Restoration Act (I don’t think I talked about this but was on my list)
- HR 2166 – Safe Routes Act
- HR 3300 – Forest Protection and Wildland Firefighter Safety Act (Clean Water Act retardant bill)
State Policy Update
Speakers: Alison Lerch, James Lucero
We got updates on two bills of interest to the Forest Health Council:
- House Bill 26-1132: Practices to Support Pollinators. This bill encourages several state agencies to coordinate together and prioritize pollinator habitat in planning and executing vegetation projects.
- House Bill 26-1213: Sunset Biomass Utilization Grant Program. The Colorado State Forest Service Biomass Utilization Grant Program has been fulfilled; it will sunset rather than get renewed.
- In discussion, Paige Lewis shared an update on a proposed ballot measure to de-Bruce sales tax on outdoor gear for open space protection and wildfire mitigation efforts. If passed, the effort would bring an estimated $130 million. Learn more in this article from the Colorado Sun: Conservationists propose ballot measure to delegate sporting goods tax revenue to hinder wildfires in Colorado.
- House Bill 26-1184: Sunset Process Forest Health Council. This bill would continue the Colorado Forest Health Council indefinitely (the original bill establishing the CFHC was sunsetting this year). At the time of the meeting, this bill had not yet been introduced. It has since been introduced and is under consideration.
Legislative Committee Update
Speaker: Larimer County Commissioner Jody Shadduck-McNally
Legislative Breakfast:
The CFHC hosted its first Legislative Breakfast in January 2026. At the breakfast, members of the CFHC shared educational materials about forest health in Colorado and the work of the CFHC. Councilmembers in attendance were invited to the Senate chamber as guests and were recognized at the beginning of the Senate meeting.
Commissioner Shadduck-McNally and CFHC administrators have received positive feedback from legislators about the event.
The Legislative Breakfast was sponsored by: Xcel Energy, National Wild Turkey Federation, Larimer County Commissioner Jody Shadduck-McNally, Morgan Timber Products, and the Colorado State Forest Service.
Legislative Concepts for 2026
The Legislative Committee has been working on a series of concepts to move the CFHC 30-Year Vision forward, and sought feedback on the general direction of the concepts. The concepts were:
- Implementing the CFHC’s 30-Year Vision for Forest Health
- Biomass: this concept may include re-regulating flame cap kilns for biochar feasibility, opportunities for bioenergy, and economic incentives.
- Workforce: concept includes a streamlined 4H workforce program (building from a recommendation the CFHC made last year that did not ultimately pass), and support for extending/reauthorizing Senate Bill 23-005 (a workforce development program that came from a CFHC recommendation and did pass)
- Utilities: this concept includes including utilities more in public lands management, and recommending fixes to right-of-way terms, licenses, and permits.
With feedback from the CFHC, these broad concepts will be refined into more specific recommendations to be reviewed at the April 9th CFHC meeting.
Prescribed Fire Subcommittee Update
Speaker, Katie Lobodzinski, Colorado Fire Commission Administrator
The Prescribed Fire Subcommittee has a series of focus areas that are making progress on recommendations in the Prescribed Fire Statewide Strategy. Here is what the subcommittee has been making progress on:
- Claims fund: Senate Bill xxx created a prescribed fire claims fund and cross-state burner qualification reciprocity. With input from the subcommittee, DFPC is creating a portal for folks doing prescribed fire across Colorado; the portal will include resources, project information, and a place to submit burn plans. Expected rollout for the portal is late 2026/early 2027.
- Mapping private lands prescribed burn processes: This process will help track how DFPC and other agencies partner with other organizations for prescribed burns.
- Expanding Certified Burner trainings: working on expanding existing prescribed fire training workshops to include Certified Burner training.
- Integrating smoke and burn permit processes: centralizing resources to make burning easier in places with less clear processes, while leaving room for places that already have really good prescribed fire processes in place to keep doing what they’re doing.
- Forest Improvement Districts: This issue now has its own subcommittee within the Colorado Fire Commission. A 2007 state statute allowed a special district to be created for forest health and wildfire mitigation projects, but to date no communities have created one. This subcommittee is trying to understand what hurdles exist and recommend legislative and/or administrative changes to remove hurdles.
- A few Councilmembers shared experiences that give insight to why FIDs have not been utilized more. DNR Director Gibbs shared that in Boulder County, there were concerns about how money would be allocated, and local fire chiefs wanted more oversight. Commissioner Jody Shadduck-McNally shared that in Larimer County, FIDs have been explored but ultimately seemed like another layer of government in an already complex administrative landscape. Christina Burri shared that from the residents’ perspective, more localized projects may be more appealing (example: projects at the neighborhood scale feel more like a direct benefit compared to a project in another county, even though the project in the next county over may have greater strategic benefit).
- NOTE: On Thursday, March 26, 2026, CFCN will be hosting a Branching Out session on FIDs. Learn more and register here!
Committee on Leveraging Resources Update
Speaker: Katie McNovak
Toward the end of 2025 the Leveraging Resources Committee identified four pain points that people typically face in applying for funding: capacity (to write and administer grants, and organizational capacity not directly linked to projects), match requirements, timelines lag (mismatch in timing from project planning, application deadlines, acceptances, reimbursements, etc.), and lack of funding for earlier stages of readiness. We listened for how existing funding programs have addressed one or more of these pain points, and used this information to begin to shape recommendations. Three concepts the committee wants to explore further are:
- Identify and remove barriers regarding the unused authorization in the State Revolving Loan Program that allows for financing related to forest health.
- This one came from the ‘timelines lag’ pain point.
- Sustained investment in local wood processing and workforce development (forest products/biomass) – This could include a viable woodstock study. (Mills/processors need proof of wood stock to get loans/capital, USDA grants/loans)
- This one came from the ‘capacity’ pain point
- Allow (or expand the ability for) state grants to cover capacity – not just administrative capacity, but various types of capacity (administrative, technical expertise, communications, etc.). The Colorado Forest Resilience Planning Guide can point to types of capacity, indicators of readiness, possible outcomes, etc. to help the state track the success of capacity funding.
- This one also came from the ‘capacity’ pain point
More work and subject matter expertise are needed to turn each of these concepts into robust recommendations. NOTE: If you are interested in engaging with the Leveraging Resources Subcommittee on any of these topics, please email Katie McNovak.
Mountain Pine Beetle Update
Speakers: Dan West, Entomologist, Colorado State Forest Service; Matt McCombs, State Forester/Director, Colorado State Forest Service; Dan Gibbs, Director, Colorado Department of Natural Resources; Alison Lerch
Dan West shared an overview of the Mountain Pine Beetle (MPB) situation in Colorado. He shared past and present outbreak information, and expected impacts of MPB in the near future. He shared locations where ‘hot logs’ are being accepted for disposal, and a link to the CSFS Mountain Pine Beetle webpage. Dan’s presentation is available in the CFHC meeting recording at 3:07:06 (presentation is 10 minutes).
Director McCombs shared his perspective that the most recent MPB outbreak presents an opportunity to tell the story of forest health in Colorado, including how we got to where we are today and how we can do better for the future.
Questions and comments:
- Question (Amy Moyer, Colorado River District): I read an article referencing scientific debate around MPB management. Can you address this?
Answer: Underpinnings are largely the same – in the case of wildfire, we want to focus on the home ignition zone, infrastructure, and egress. There is debate about the specifics of wildfire, but ultimately, there is an issue of fuel load if a wildfire occurs. Director McCombs encourages folks to consider the cost of doing nothing. - Comment (Todd Neal, USFS): I hope we can help people manage their expectations and understand what this outbreak means. Hoping this can open realistic conversations about the large-scale forest management needed. It’s an opportunity to think outside the box of what traditionally has been done, and think at the scope and scale of what we are facing.
Response: Colorado will probably not ever be a major timber-producing state like in the Pacific Northwest, but it will always be a forest stewardship state. We have a duty to act now and leave things better than we found them. - Comment (Mark Morgan, Morgan Timber Products): The product that will come out of this outbreak (beetle-killed Ponderosa) is low value. The long-term goal is that a major outbreak like this doesn’t happen again. Industry doesn’t benefit from dead trees. Industry benefits from a healthy forest, just like everyone else. This outbreak threatens important infrastructure and will be particularly visible to the public on the Front Range. Happy to see that this is being taken seriously.
Final comments from Director Gibbs:
Thanks to those who attended the MPB Task Force Executive Order signing. Task Force appointments are being finalized. There is a press release in progress. We are in the process of hiring an MPB Task Force facilitator. We expect the first Task Force meeting to be in April 2026. MPB Task Force website coming soon. The Colorado Forest Collaboratives Network will be hosting a Branching Out session on the Task Force.
UPDATE: In the time since this meeting, the following information/resources are now available:
- Press release announcing the list of Task Force appointees
- The Center for Collaborative Conservation will facilitate the MPB Task Force
- The first meeting of the Task Force was on February 26, 2026; Recording available here
- Next Mountain Pine Beetle Task Force meeting: April 1, 2026
- Ponderosa Mountain Pine Beetle Task Force webpage
Roundtable updates
Katie McNovak, Colorado Forest Collaboratives Network: We will be hosting a Branching Out session on the MPB Task Force. (Update since meeting: Recording available here).
Director Matt McCombs, Colorado State Forest Service: Hired a manager for the new CSFS Nursery. Expected nursery completion early summer 2026.
Commissioner Veronica Medina, Archuleta County: Archuleta County CWPP has been recently updated. Applying for fire mitigation grants on public and private lands.
Amy Moyer, Colorado River District: Quote from Colorado Climate Center research, “This is the warmest start to a water year we’ve ever seen, combined with a lack of the snowstorms we typically in winter, has brought us to the worst mid-winter mountain snowpack in decades.” We are paying close attention to this in the water space.
Madelene McDonald, Denver Water: Bad news – South Platte water supply is worst on record. Good news – Forests and water are increasingly integrated at the Colorado Water Congress. Directors McCombs and Gibbs gave a presentation on Mountain Pine Beetle; there was a 3-hour panel on forest health and wildfire with great attendance, and forests were represented in plenary sessions.
Director Dan Gibbs, Colorado Department of Natural Resources: Colorado and the Bureau of Land Management have signed a Shared Stewardship MOU that’s been in the works for several years. Echoes updates that Colorado is in extreme drought; let’s hope for snow. Colorado River issues and snowpack continue to be top of mind. Colorado Strategic Wildfire Action Program (COSWAP) released a 4th round of the workforce development program, awarded nearly $7mil funds. Looking forward to getting the MPB Task Force off the ground.
