Date: 02/18/2009

Final
BILL SUMMARY for SB09-001

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE, LIVESTOCK, & NATURAL RESOURCES

Votes: View--> Action Taken:
Moved to refer Senate Bill 09-001 to the CommitteePASS



02:03 PM -- Senate Bill 09-001

Representative Scanlan, prime sponsor, presented her bill concerning the establishment of community wildfire protection plans by county governments. The bill, recommended by the Interim Committee on Wildfire Issues in Wildland-Urban Interface Areas, requires the state forester to establish guidlines for Community Wildlife Protection Plans by Nov 15, 2009. She described the need for Community Wildfire Protection Plans and answered questions from the committee.

The following individuals testified on the bill.

02:11 PM -- Jeff Jahnke, Colorado State Forest Service, testified in favor of the bill. He described the importance of the plans to the state forest service. He described the wildland urban interface and discussed how community wildfire protection plans would help the State Forest Service manage this area.

02:16 PM -- Jeff Berino, Deputy Chief of Lake Dillon Fire Department and the Summit County Wildfire Council, testified in support of the bill. He stated that his community has a community wildfire plan that has been helpful to Summit County. He described a coordinating entity created in the plan which has been useful to wildfire planning in his community.

02:21 PM -- Gary Severson, Executive Director of the Northwest Colorado Council of Governments and the Colorado Bark Beetle Cooperative, testified in favor of the bill. He explained his involvement in developing wildfire protection plans in Summit County. He also described the community input that goes into developing community wildfire protection plans and noted that most of the areas in northwest Colorado have plans. He described how the plans work to prevent wildfires and the threats that fires pose to infrastructure. Mr. Severson ended by expressing his comfort with the oversight that the bill would give the State Forest Service. He responded to questions from the committee.

02:30 PM -- Chris Riley, Fire Chief for the City of Pueblo, testified in favor of the bill. He described some of the key benefits of the bill, including increased safety and greater protection for the state's economy. He answered questions from the committee concerning the jurisdiction of the fire chief and how the chief works with the State Forest Service. Chief Riley indicated that jurisdictional issues would be clarified in the wildfire protection plans.

02:36 PM -- Robert Harvey, Colorado Fire Chiefs Association and Leadville Lake County Fire, spoke his support of the bill. He began by explaining that he is a structure protection specialist. Mr. Harvey described how the existing community wildfire protection plans have worked in the areas of the state that have developed them. He also discussed some of the safety implications of community wildfire protection plans. He answered questions from the committee.

02:42 PM -- Chris Piper, Denver Water Department, testified in support of the bill. He explained that Denver Water supports the bill because the department owns property that includes some wildland urban interface areas.



BILL:SB09-001
TIME: 02:44:12 PM
MOVED:McNulty
MOTION:Moved to refer Senate Bill 09-001 to the Committee of the Whole. The motion passed on a 10-3 roll call vote.
SECONDED:Solano
VOTE
Gardner C.
Excused
Hullinghorst
Excused
Labuda
Yes
Looper
Yes
McKinley
Yes
McNulty
Yes
Pace
Yes
Solano
Yes
Sonnenberg
Yes
Tipton
Excused
Vigil
Yes
Fischer
Yes
Curry
Yes
Final YES: 10 NO: 0 EXC: 3 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS