DENVER—Gov. Bill Ritter is proposing to spend $5.5 million next year to train firefighters and provide incentives to clean up forests ravaged by bark beetles.
The plan will used funds from oil and gas severance taxes.
Ritter said Wednesday that Colorado’s 23 million acres of forests are a major economic force but have been put at grave risk because of insect infestations.
The beetle infestation has already killed more than 1.5 million acres of pine trees.
The money would help communities plan responses to wildfires, support forest-thinning projects, create wildlife habit and protect water resources.
It also would provide a revolving fund to support business and create jobs by finding new ways to market timber and other products from wood that otherwise could be a fire hazard.
