Neguse to start bipartisan wildfire caucus

U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse, whose district was home to the largest wildfire in state history this year, announced plans to start the Bipartisan Wildfire Caucus in the next Congress.

“Wildfire mitigation and response must be a year-round priority. The devastating and record-breaking nature of our wildfire season in Colorado and throughout the western U.S. this year makes that perfectly clear,” Neguse, a Democrat who represents Colorado's 2nd District, said Thursday. He and the caucus’s other founder, U.S. Rep. John Curtis, R-Utah, intend to use the group to advocate for needs of local fire crews and for fire mitigation.

The other goals of the caucus are to promote science-based wildfire mitigation strategies and boost federal resources to communities subject to fire damage.

Neguse had also introduced legislation this year to create a program dedicated to conservation and wildfire mitigation, a separate bill to increase federal money to communities recovering from fires, and had written to the Trump administration requesting an extension of federal firefighting crews’ contracts.

The Cameron Peak Fire burned in northern Colorado for 3½ months in late summer into fall. It affected 208,913 acres and is the largest fire in Colorado’s history. Another blaze in Neguse’s district, the East Troublesome Fire, destroyed 366 residences and 214 other structures around the same time period.