WASHINGTON—Colorado’s congressional delegation is collaborating in a rare show of unity in hopes of reducing the threat of wildfires caused by bark beetles.
Both senators and all seven House members introduced a bill Tuesday in the House and Senate that would make Colorado a model for other states where beetle-infested trees are fueling wildfires and threatening to keep tourists away.
The legislation encourages the federal government to work with local authorities on ways to reduce the threat of very severe wildfires and provides money for fire prevention programs.
Grants to Colorado State University would support research on how to keep forests healthy and fight fires. The bill also would promote ways for Colorado businesses and residents to help clear brush and dead trees that fuel forest fires. For example, it would provide grants to help the state study using biomass boilers at rural schools.
Several of Colorado’s lawmakers introduced separate bills on bark beetles last year. This year, they agreed to try a joint effort.
Bark beetles, which tunnel into pine trees and eventually kill them, have thrived in recent years because of warm winters and drought.
The Forest Service estimates that about 44 percent of Colorado’s 1.5 million acres of lodgepole pine forest are now infested by beetles—more than six times the area infested in 2002.
