Gov. Jared Polis announced Monday that the federal government has rejected two appeals for Major Disaster Declarations, dealing a blow to efforts to secure tens of millions of dollars in relief for communities hit by floods and wildfires.
The denials follow a third disaster relief request submitted earlier this year by Colorado’s members of Congress. The federal decision blocks access to critical FEMA public assistance for affected communities, as well as statewide hazard mitigation support.
is related to September’s Elk and Lee fires in Rio Blanco County, and is in response to recovery efforts in La Plata, Archuleta, and Mineral counties following flooding that occurred last October in western Colorado.
“This is incredibly disappointing for Coloradans. Colorado communities have done everything right — responding quickly, documenting the damage, and working in good faith with federal partners — only for the Trump administration to deny funding to help Colorado communities recover,” Polis said in the Monday news release.
“These disasters caused real damage to homes, infrastructure, and local economies, and Coloradans should not be left to shoulder these costs alone. We will continue supporting impacted communities and exploring every available path forward, but the federal government must be a reliable partner in disaster recovery.”
Without federal assistance, the announcement stated affected communities will have fewer resources to recover, will have to make challenging decisions about how to balance expensive recovery costs with limited resources, will be at heightened risk of future disasters, and may not be able to perform the repairs to energy systems and river channels that would help them avoid future damage and disruption.
The Elk and Lee fires burned more than 137,000 acres from Aug. 2–29, 2025, and caused over $27 million in damages.
Flooding and mudslides further compounded damage to roads, bridges and public systems, according to the news release.
In Southwest Colorado, historic flooding from Oct. 10-14, 2025, caused more than $13 million in damages to infrastructure, including the destruction of over 60 miles of road, major impacts to water and wastewater systems and long-term risks to communities along the San Juan River basin.
The announcement stated Polis formally requested disaster declarations for both events in September and November 2025. The federal government denied both requests in December 2025, and the state submitted formal appeals in January.
“It is frustrating that for the first time in 35 years, the State of Colorado has been denied federal assistance as part of a major disaster declaration request,” said Kevin Klein, Director of the Colorado Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.
“Our damage assessments documented and showed that each of the disasters exceeded the federal thresholds for assistance. Our State Recovery Task Force will continue to work on alternatives to fill the gap, but providing substantial relief to the disaster survivors becomes much more difficult with this decision. I don’t want it to sound like we can just fill all the gaps — we can’t, but of course we will do our best to support them.”
The state has invested over $57.5 million in these disasters and others since July 2024. The state said it will continue working with local partners to support rebuilding and reduce long-term risks to communities across Colorado.
