Tag: Sugar Loaf Fire Protection District Land Exchange Act

Sen. Mark Udall, D-Colo., saw two of his public lands bills pass out of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee today and head for a full vote of the Senate. One bill focuses on summer and off-season activities at ski areas on leased federal land, and the other is a land exchange with the Forest Service that will allow the Boulder County Fire District to expand two of its fire stations.

Last fall windswept fire ravaged Fourmile Canyon in the foothills just above Boulder for days, displacing hundreds of residents, causing millions of dollars in damage and making national news. The wildfire raised anew long-brewing concerns about how to prepare for such crises and has given new urgency to what would appear a simple national forest land transfer to bolster volunteer fire fighter efforts in the area. On Friday, Third District Congressman Jared Polis reintroduced a bill to facilitate the land transfer in the House and Colorado Senators Mark Udall and Michael Bennet introduced companion legislation in the Senate. The ten-acre deal has moved on and off the table between the Sugar Loaf fire district and the U.S. Forest Service for more than three decades.