When a wildfire is finally declared contained, most people breathe a sigh of relief. Families return home. Businesses reopen. The smoke begins to lift from our mountains.
But in Southwest Colorado, we know containment is not the finish line. It’s the beginning of the next chapter.
Over the past several weeks, I have spent time across Southwest Colorado meeting with the people who have carried our communities through another demanding wildfire season. I toured the Ferris Fire with local officials and the San Juan Incident Management Team. I met with Dolores County Sheriff Don Wilson, Dolores County Emergency Manager Keith Keesling, Montezuma County Emergency Manager Jim Spratlen, San Juan National Forest Supervisor Steve Hattenbach, firefighters, dispatchers and emergency personnel who worked tirelessly to protect homes, ranches and communities under extraordinarily difficult conditions.
Every one of those conversations reminded me that wildfire response is not just about airplanes, engines and fire lines. It’s about people.
It’s about the volunteer firefighter who leaves work when the pager sounds. The dispatcher answering calls through the night. The sheriff coordinating evacuations. The rancher wondering whether grazing land will recover. The family hoping the wind changes direction before sunset.
Southwest Colorado understands these realities better than most.
Wildfire touches nearly every part of life here. It threatens our forests, our watersheds, our agricultural economy, our tourism industry and the places we call home. Even after the flames are extinguished, communities continue dealing with burned grazing allotments, damaged infrastructure, erosion, flooding risks and the long process of restoring the landscapes that sustain our way of life.
That is why our work cannot stop when the smoke clears.
Earlier this year, I introduced the Forest Health and Wildfire Risk Reduction Act to help accelerate responsible forest management projects on Bureau of Land Management lands. Too often, common-sense projects that reduce hazardous fuels are delayed by unnecessary bureaucracy while forests become more overcrowded and communities become more vulnerable. Preventing catastrophic wildfire is not only safer than responding to one – it is also far less costly for taxpayers and far less devastating for rural communities.
I have also worked to ensure Congress continues supporting the men and women on the front lines of wildfire response. Last month, I joined every member of Colorado’s congressional delegation in honoring the wildland firefighters who made the ultimate sacrifice this year. Recognition alone is never enough, but neither is forgetting. We owe these men and women our gratitude, our support and policies that help make their dangerous work safer whenever possible.
Wildfire preparedness also means listening.
During a recent roundtable with USDA Under Secretary Richard Fordyce and agricultural leaders from across Western Colorado, producers described how wildfire continues affecting them long after containment. Burned grazing lands force difficult decisions for ranchers. Smoke damages specialty crops, including our region’s agricultural production. Watersheds that supply farms and communities remain vulnerable for years after a major fire. These conversations reinforced what many in Southwest Colorado already know: Wildfire is not simply a forestry issue. It is a water issue, an agriculture issue and an economic issue.
No single bill will solve every challenge we face. But we can continue making steady progress by improving forest management, supporting local firefighters, investing in healthier watersheds and ensuring federal agencies work alongside – not ahead of – the communities that know this landscape best.
Above all, I want to thank every firefighter serving Southwest Colorado. From Durango and Bayfield to Cortez, Dolores, Mancos, Pagosa Springs, Ignacio, Silverton and communities throughout the Four Corners, your willingness to answer the call protects lives and livelihoods every single day. Whether you wear the uniform of a volunteer department, a municipal agency, a county district, the Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control, the U.S. Forest Service or the Bureau of Land Management, your service represents the very best of Colorado.
This year’s wildfire season has also come at an extraordinary cost. Five wildland firefighters lost their lives while protecting Colorado communities this year: Emily Barker, Nick Hutcherson, Sydney Watson, Nicholas Dale and Nathan Matthews. Behind every name is a family forever changed, a crew that lost one of its own and a community carrying an immeasurable loss. We honor their sacrifice not only by remembering them but by continuing the work they dedicated their lives to – building healthier forests, supporting those who serve on the fire line and doing everything we can to reduce the risk facing the next generation of firefighters.
Southwest Colorado has always been resilient. That resilience is found in the people who show up before sunrise, stay long after the headlines have faded and quietly rebuild together. As your representative, I’ll continue working to make sure Congress does the same.
Jeff Hurd, R-Grand Junction, represents Colorado's 3rd Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives.
