Assist Rural Community Wildfire-Related Grant Application

Wildfire Matters Review Committee. The bill directs the rural opportunity office (office) in the Colorado office of economic development to assist Colorado state forest service (forest service) to establish a rural grant navigator grant program to provide grant money to nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) providing outreach and technical assistance, including grant writing assistance, to rural communities with identifying and applying seeking to apply for state or federal grants for wildfire mitigation prevention, response, or risk management efforts and preparedness (wildfire-related grants).

On or before July after March 1, 2025, an NGO may apply to the forest service for grant money in accordance with application and eligibility guidelines that the forest service establishes. On or before March 1, 2026, and on or before July March 1 of every odd year thereafter, the office forest service is required to prepare a report summarizing its work to assist award grants to NGOs assisting rural communities with identifying and applying for wildfire-related grants. The report must include information about the rural communities that the office assists and the grants awarded to rural communities that the office assists. The office is required to submit the report to the wildfire matters review committee or, if the committee no longer exists, to the legislative committees with jurisdiction over natural resources matters. For the 2024-25 state fiscal year, $200,000 is appropriated from the general fund to the department of higher education for use by the forest service at Colorado state university to implement the bill.

(Note: Italicized words indicate new material added to the original summary; dashes through words indicate deletions from the original summary.)

(Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)