A Senate committee Tuesday passed the third measure this legislative session targeting bark-devouring beetles that have destroyed thousands of acres of Colorado forest.
With little money, lawmakers are seeking creative ways to combat the risk of a major forest fire kindled by thousands of dead trees.
The measure passed by the Senate Local Government Committee sets up a $1 million grant program for forest restoration projects.
House Bill 1130 would encourage communities to clean up beetle-ravaged forests to prevent fires and damage to watersheds. The state would cover up to 60 percent of the cost of projects to remove trees and plant new ones.
Sen. Joan Fitz-Gerald, D-Jefferson County, said the legislature stepped into the bark-beetle epidemic this year to help mountain communities caught up in a turf battle over how to clean up state and federal land.
“The growth of the dying trees is enormous,” she said. “We’re all going to be affected by, God forbid, a fire.”
Beetles have destroyed more than 600,000 acres of trees in Colorado. By the end of the summer, scientists predict that could rise to 1 million acres, according to the Northwest Colorado Council of Governments.
Pine beetles, about the size of a grain of rice, fly from tree to tree in July and August, burrowing beneath the bark to lay eggs. Larvae eat the inner bark, cutting off the tree’s ability to distribute water.
House Bill 1130 has passed the House and now goes to the full Senate.
A second measure already signed by the governor, House Bill 1168, lets communities set up forest improvement districts that could levy sales taxes with voter approval.
The legislature also passed a resolution asking the federal government to develop stewardship contracts to improve the health of Colorado trees. The U.S. Forest Service has hired private contractors to help forests in Arizona.
Staff writer Jennifer Brown can be reached at 303-954-1593 or jenbrown@denverpost.com.
