2016
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       SENATE JOINT MEMORIAL 16-002
       
       
       BY SENATOR(S) Jones and Roberts, Baumgardner, Cooke, Hodge, Merrifield,
       Aguilar, Carroll, Crowder, Donovan, Garcia, Grantham, Guzman, Heath, Hill,
       Holbert, Jahn, Johnston, Kefalas, Kerr, Lambert, Lundberg, Marble, Martinez
       Humenik, Neville T., Newell, Scheffel, Scott, Sonnenberg, Steadman, Tate,
       Todd, Ulibarri, Woods, Cadman;
       also REPRESENTATIVE(S) Coram and Vigil, Arndt, Becker K., Buck,
       Hamner, Mitsch Bush, Singer, Thurlow, Brown, Buckner, Carver, Conti, Court,
       DelGrosso, Dore, Duran, Esgar, Everett, Fields, Foote, Garnett, Ginal,
       Humphrey, Joshi, Kagan, Klingenschmitt, Kraft-Tharp, Landgraf, Lawrence,
       Lebsock, Lee, Leonard, Lontine, Lundeen, McCann, Moreno, Navarro, Neville
       P., Pabon, Pettersen, Primavera, Priola, Rankin, Ransom, Rosenthal, Roupe,
       Ryden, Saine, Salazar, Sias, Tyler, Van Winkle, Willett, Williams, Wilson,
       Windholz, Winter, Wist, Young, Hullinghorst.
       
       
          CONCERNING THE NEED FOR CONGRESS TO FUND
       CATASTROPHIC WILDFIRE RESPONSE COSTS OUTSIDE OF
       FEDERAL FOREST MANAGEMENT AGENCIES' NORMAL
       BUDGETS. 
       
       
          WHEREAS, There are about 24 million acres of forests and
       woodlands in Colorado, of which more than two-thirds are managed by
       the federal government; and
       
          WHEREAS, Colorado's forests are increasingly susceptible to forest
       fires, with an average of about 40,000 acres burned per year from 2004
       through 2007 but an average of more than 140,000 acres burned per year
       from 2008 through 2014; and
       
          WHEREAS, According to the Insurance Information Institute,
       Colorado has the second highest percentage of households that are at high
       or extreme risk from wildfires of any state in the nation; and
       
       
          WHEREAS, Under current federal law, money that was originally
       budgeted to mitigate fire risk, protect and restore watersheds, increase
       forest health, promote recreational opportunities, and conduct necessary
       forest planning is diverted to fight fires once the amount budgeted for fire
       fighting has been depleted; and
       
          WHEREAS, The United States Forest Service spent only 16% of its
       annual budget on fire suppression and response in 1995, but recently
       announced that in 2015, for the first time, it will spend more than half its
       budget to fight wildfires, and by 2025 it expects to spend 67% of its
       budget on that task; and
       
          WHEREAS, A 2013 study by Headwaters Economics showed that in
       the 1990s, average federal spending to suppress wildfires was less than
       $1 billion annually, but, since 2002, federal spending has risen to over $3
       billion annually and costs are still rising; and
       
          WHEREAS, Paying for catastrophic wildfire response should not
       come at the expense of programs that reduce the risk of wildfires because
       doing so plainly creates a feedback loop that increases the frequency and
       severity of catastrophic wildfires; and
       
          WHEREAS, Congress is currently considering several measures that
       would create alternative ways to pay for catastrophic wildfire response
       costs; and
       
          WHEREAS, The General Assembly's Water Resources Review
       Committee and Wildfire Matters Review Committee have approved this
       Joint Memorial; now, therefore,
       
          Be It Resolved by the Senate of the Seventieth General Assembly of the
       State of Colorado, the House of Representatives concurring herein:
       
          That Congress should enact laws necessary to protect federal land
       management agencies' ability to mitigate the risk of catastrophic wildfires
       and manage the lands within their jurisdiction by funding catastrophic
       wildfire response in a manner analogous to that used for natural disasters.
       
          Be It Further Resolved, That a copy of this Joint Memorial be
       provided to Colorado's congressional delegation, the chairs of the
       congressional committees of reference providing forest service oversight,
       Governor John Hickenlooper, the Western Governors' Association,
       Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, and Secretary of the Interior Sally
       Jewell.
       
       
       
       
       
       ____________________________  ____________________________
       Bill L. Cadman               Dickey Lee Hullinghorst
       PRESIDENT OF                    SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE
       THE SENATE                        OF REPRESENTATIVES
       
       
       
       
       
       
       ____________________________  ____________________________
       Effie Ameen                           Marilyn Eddins
       SECRETARY OF                CHIEF CLERK OF THE HOUSE
       THE SENATE                        OF REPRESENTATIVES
       
       
       
       
                   APPROVED________________________________________