Working across political divides to mitigate wildfires in Colorado
As Coloradans face the effects of another destructive wildfire season, a new report showed how Republicans and Democrats in Congress can work together to improve forest health, mitigate wildfire risks and strengthen community resilience.
“Advancing Conservation Through Bipartisanship” examined the ongoing legislative process behind the Fix Our Forests Act, introduced in April last year.
Max Metz Jr., conservation program director for the group Hispanics Enjoying Camping, Hunting and the Outdoors and the report's author, said lawmakers have become more open to working across party lines, in part because the political risk is outweighed by an urgent need to address one of the West's most pressing challenges.
“Colorado is a clear example of why we need to move faster on forest and wildfire resilience. We're seeing fires grow to extraordinary sizes, which puts communities, watersheds and firefighters at risk,” Metz explained.
Prolonged wildfire seasons and increasingly severe fires threaten lives, livelihoods, public lands and vital water resources. In Colorado, this year's Aspen Acres and Gold Mountain fires destroyed hundreds of homes and damaged critical infrastructure.
Metz stressed such events underscore the need for proactive forest management and sustained investment in emergency readiness and community resilience. He noted the Fix Our Forests Act prioritizes treatment in high-risk areas, including thinning forests by removing low-value smaller trees while protecting larger, more resilient trees.
“It also expands tools for wildfire management, including prescribed fire. It strengthens wildfire forecasting and response, which we know is important when a fire is happening,” Metz emphasized.
Metz believes conservation policy is most effective when it is informed by people who live, work and steward wildfire-prone landscapes every day, and the report highlighted key perspectives from local leaders. He added one big lesson from watching a bill make its way through Congress is bipartisan policy does not happen by accident. It must be intentionally built.
“Shared urgency may open the door but relationships, trust, engagement and sustained work really makes progress possible in conservation,” Metz added.
