WATCH: Hickenlooper, Curtis Applaud Progress of Bipartisan Wildfire Mitigation Bill, Growing Support for Fix Our Forests

Bipartisan Fix Our Forests Act will help reduce wildfire risk for Colorado communities and speed up mitigation projects while maintaining environmental safeguards and encouraging local involvement

WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Senator John Hickenlooper released a video to his social media platforms with U.S. Senator John Curtis on their bipartisan Fix Our Forests Act. This legislation will strengthen wildfire resilience by improving forest management, supporting fire-safe communities, and streamlining approvals for projects that protect communities and ecosystems from extreme wildfires.

"The status quo isn't working when it comes to tackling the growing wildfire crisis," said Hickenlooper in the video. "[The Fix Our Forests Act is] also a blueprint for how Washington should run. Commonsense legislation for our constituents is what we came to the Senate to do."

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The bill, also introduced with U.S. Senators Alex Padilla and Tim Sheehy, passed out of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry last week. It received broad bipartisan support on the committee, including from the majority of committee Democrats and the Ranking Member. It now goes to a full Senate vote.

Hickenlooper also highlighted growing support for the bill from Colorado Governor Jared Polis, the Western Governors' Association, Environmental Defense Fund, The Nature Conservancy, Trout Unlimited, Colorado Department of Natural Resources, Colorado State Forest Service, Fire Chiefs from Colorado Mountain Communities, and a wide-ranging coalition of bipartisan Western officials, environmental organizations, water managers, Colorado entities, and more.

For a full list of all quotes from supportive parties, click HERE. For a Fix Our Forests Act support book, click HERE.

See below for excerpts of support in media outlets across the state:

Vail Daily: Letters: Fire chief's support for the Fix Our Forests Act

By: Jake Andersen, Fire Chief of Aspen Fire Department; David Wolf, Chair of Colorado State Fire Chiefs-Wildland Fire Section; Brad White, Fire Chief of Grand County Fire Protection District No. 1; Justin Kirkland, Fire Chief of Gypsum Fire District; Drew Hoehn, Fire Chief of Red, White and Blue Fire District; Chuck Cerasoli, Fire Chief of Steamboat Springs Fire-Rescue; and Mark Novak, Fire Chief of Vail Fire and Emergency Services

"We have all seen the headlines from across our country: destructive wildfires, communities reduced to ashes, and hazardous air quality hundreds of miles away from wildfires. The wildfire problem is complex, and cannot be solved by any singular action. Instead, the solution lies in creating resilient landscapes, fire-adapted communities, and providing for safe and effective wildfire response.

"The Fix Our Forests Act addresses these imperatives in a commonsense manner, while protecting the lands we value so much.

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"Local fire agencies are on the frontline of the effort to protect communities from wildfire. We implement fire mitigation projects, work with homeowners to create more wildfire-resilient communities, and we respond to wildfires both big and small. The Fix Our Forests Act will greatly reduce many of the barriers we now encounter in the effort to fulfill our mission and protect our communities.

"We cannot wait for another destructive fire year to address the threat of wildfire - the only path to wildfire-resilient communities involves eliminating unnecessary barriers to wildfire mitigation. Congress has the ability to take bipartisan action now, before the next wildfire impacts our communities."

Grand Junction Daily Sentinel: Bipartisan action by Congress can help address extended wildfire seasons

By: Madeleine West, Vice President for Western Conservation at the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership

"Wildfire risk across Colorado and the West has become constant, and now "normal" means living with an expectation of frequent and bigger blazes. Responding to this reality isn't a one-and-done project - it's a generational commitment.

"That's why bipartisan support in Congress for wildfire resilience and forest management has never mattered more.

"The Fix Our Forests Act was first introduced by Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) and passed the U.S. House of Representatives with a strong bipartisan vote earlier this year. The bill has now gained momentum in the U.S. Senate with bi-partisan support led by Colorado Sen. John Hickenlooper, Sen. John Curtis (R-Utah), Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), and Sen. Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.), reflects that old-fashioned American idea that when a crisis hits, we work together to find solutions.

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"The Fix Our Forests Act is also innovative. For the first time, this legislation recognizes that projects to restore and improve floodplains and wetlands can demonstrably reduce wildfire risk to downstream communities, including the long-term impacts wildfires can have on valuable drinking water supplies for rural and urban populations. Identifying the need for smarter, more coordinated responses to wildfire, the bill also creates a national Wildfire Intelligence Center, a state-of-the-art hub for real-time fire data and rapid agency coordination modeled on proven science and public safety systems.

"For Western families and communities impacted by wildfires, the Fix Our Forests Act can be seen as a ray of hope in an increasingly partisan world. It's pragmatic, collaborative, and designed for the scale of the threat. The senators' approach - building consensus, defending conservation values, and insisting on urgency - reflects what leadership looks like when the stakes are highest. Congress has the opportunity to enact into law this piece of legislation that will directly benefit communities in Colorado and throughout the West for generations to come."

Greeley Tribune: Fix Our Forests Act needed to protect Colorado

By: Sean Chambers, Director of Water Utilities for the City of Greeley

"Colorado communities and forested watershed are staring down the barrel of a forest health crisis amplified by drought, insect infestation and wildfire. These challenges threaten water supplies, agriculture, recreation and economic resiliency for Greeley and other communities. The growing wildfire crisis is a well-documented cause for forest management policy reform.

"In the West, our water supplies start as snowfall that melts off millions of acres of federally owned forest, running into streams, rivers and drinking water systems. Colorado communities face a vast challenge to protect our water supplies through forest health. The U.S. Forest Service currently lacks the policy tools needed for best managing watersheds to protect our water resources from fire-related water quality disasters.

"That is why I support the Fix Our Forests Act (FOFA), introduced by a bipartisan coalition of Western lawmakers. FOFA is a science-based set of policy refinements to guide best management and empower forest health partnerships between federal, state, tribal and local governments. FOFA is needed urgently to protect water resources, communities and economic stability. My perspective on the importance of FOFA is based upon 20-plus years of lessons learned in water utility operations and leadership navigating the impacts of wildfire. As a third-generation Coloradan and water leader, I have lived the far-reaching impacts of wildfires like the East Troublesome and Cameron Peak fires that burned more than 400,000 acres of Northern Colorado watersheds, impacting water supplies for the city of Greeley and the neighboring communities of Johnstown, Loveland and Fort Collins.

"We have a great duty to our communities to provide safe and reliable water, now and for future generations; a duty that relies on healthy forests and resilient watersheds. Together, we can support FOFA to address the forest health crisis and enhance the reliability of clean water for future generations."

Grand Junction Daily Sentinel: Bipartisan Fix Our Forests Act is smart policy

By: Kathy Fackler, Durango resident

"In western Colorado, we understand how connected everything is: forests to watersheds, snowpack to irrigation, public lands to the economy. And we've seen what happens when one part of that system breaks down. Wildfire risk is just one example, and one we have the power to influence.

"We all face increasing threat from the West's hotter, drier, denser forests. That's just a fact. Last year we lost 9 million acres to wildland fire.

"We can't fix hot, and we can't fix dry - not in the short term anyway. But we can fix dense.

"That's why the Fix Our Forests Act of 2025 (FOFA) matters. It's not just a wildfire bill, it's a blueprint for building the kind of team approach and modern resources we need to restore forest health, protect communities, and support the people who live and work closest to the land.

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"A diverse coalition of stakeholders back FOFA, including conservation and climate organizations, farmers and ranchers, foresters and fire chiefs, insurance companies, western governors and rural counties. That's the kind of team approach we need to fix our nation's forests.

"Good people are working across divides to craft an effective solution. They need your vocal support to get this important legislation across the finish line. Groups like The Nature Conservancy, Audubon and the Environmental Defense Fund support FOFA.

"They see what I hope more of us will: this is a rare bipartisan opportunity to do the right thing for forests, for communities and for the climate.

"Let's not waste this chance. Inaction means more megafires, more habitat loss, more carbon in the atmosphere and more risk for all of us."

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