Committee advances bill to align Colorado law with federal Good Neighbor Authority

The Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee moved a bill to modernize Colorado statute to reflect the federal Good Neighbor Authority to the Committee of the Whole with a favorable recommendation and placed it on the consent calendar.

Sponsor remarks described the measure as a statutory update, not a new program or expansion of regulatory authority, intended to let the Colorado State Forest Service implement cross-boundary projects more efficiently following the federal Explorer Act. "House Bill 26 12 o 5 came out of the Wildfire Matters Review Committee," a sponsor told the committee, and the change carries a $0 fiscal note.

Everett Merritt of the Colorado State Forest Service said aligning state law with the expanded federal authority will help the state partner with the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management to carry out priority forest management projects. Merritt said such agreements can "reduce delays, lower administrative friction and deliver outcomes faster to the communities that depend on these landscapes." He cited a July 2024 incident near Breckenridge in which a Good Neighbor Authority fuel break helped crews contain a wind-driven fire near the Wellington neighborhood.

Chaffee County Commissioner PT Wood, representing Colorado Communities for Climate Action and Counties and Commissioners Acting Together, and Larimer County Commissioner Jody Shattuck McNally, a member of the Colorado Forest Health Council, also testified in support, saying the authority gives local governments better ability to coordinate restoration and mitigation across ownership lines.

With no questions remaining and no opposition registered, Senator Hendrickson moved the bill to the Committee of the Whole with a favorable recommendation; the committee polled and the motion passed. The bill was placed on the consent calendar for further senate consideration.