Colorado’s croplands, forests and watersheds are much drier after this past winter’s record-setting low snowpack and decades-long drought.

Wildfire season is now year-round. Nearly 300,000 acres have gone up in smoke in 2026. On November 3, Colorado voters will get to decide if a portion of existing sales taxes should be dedicated to address the growing threats.

Curtis Hubbard, spokesperson for the "Yes on Prop 137" campaign, said the measure would invest $175 million per year to prevent catastrophic wildfires and protect and conserve Colorado’s land and water.

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“That will make it safer and easier for firefighters to do their jobs. And, importantly, it helps secure the clean water that our families, farmers, and ranchers depend on,” Hubbard emphasized.

The money would come from taxes already collected when people buy sporting goods and outdoor equipment.

Critics of Prop 137 warned taxpayers will end up on the hook. A Common Sense Institute report projected, depending on income, tax refunds under Colorado’s Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights would drop by $26 for individuals and by as much as $166 for joint filers.

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Robyn Paulekas, executive director of the conservation coalition Keep it Colorado, said about half of the money would help fund parks, trails and wildlife protection through the existing Great Outdoors Colorado program. Another half would fund wildfire projects, including thinning forests to mitigate risks and restoring watersheds.

“I think the combination of conservation and wildfire funding is really exciting. They're reinforcing, and I think it all makes it so that we'll have really important landscape-scale impacts,” Paulekas explained.

The measure gives lawmakers flexibility to protect education, healthcare and other core services, and sales tax revenues will only be tapped in budget surplus years. Hubbard noted most Colorado voters he has spoken with have seen the need for Proposition 137 with their own eyes.

“When you tell them every dollar we spend now saves us six or seven dollars down the road, that brings them into the tent even more quickly,” Hubbard added.