Ritter seeks federal funding for forests

Posted by egable on October 30th, 2008 filed in Forests

Gov. Bill Ritter (D) today asked the Forest Service to award Colorado a significant portion of $175 million in new federal funding that has been dedicated to wildfire prevention and forest health.

In a letter to Forest Service Chief Abigail Kimbell, Ritter wrote that Colorado’s pine beetle epidemic, drought and climate change have created an “extremely high wildfire risk” along Colorado’s Front Range.

Colorado is seeking the funds so that it can “respond to the imminent threat of wildfire in a manner conducive to maintaining the health, sustainability and safety of Colorado’s forests and communities,” Ritter wrote.

The request comes at the recommendation of Colorado’s Forest Health Advisory Council.