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- 2025
69th Legislature 2025 HB 70
- 1 - Authorized Print Version – HB 70
ENROLLED BILL
AN ACT REQUIRING A STUDY OF STATE FIRE SUPPRESSION ISSUES, METHODS, AND COSTS;
PROVIDING AN APPROPRIATION; ESTABLISHING REPORTING REQUIREMENTS; PROVIDING FOR
CONTINGENT VOIDNESS; AND PROVIDING AN IMMEDIATE EFFECTIVE DATE AND A TERMINATION
DATE.
WHEREAS, since the destructive Big Burn of 1910, federal wildfire policy has been to suppress fires at
all costs, resulting in forests that are overstocked with fuel; and
WHEREAS, wildfires now consume twice as much land each year on average than in the 1990s, a
trend expected to continue; and
WHEREAS, more than one-third of Montana homes are exposed to moderate to high wildfire risk; and
WHEREAS, a variety of factors have exacerbated the risks, including regulatory red tape, incomplete
government partnerships, unexplored economic benefits, and unrecognized risk sharing; and
WHEREAS, environmental reviews, endangered species concerns, and pernicious litigation prevent
necessary mechanical treatment and prescribed burns, which could lessen ladder and canopy fuels, reduce
fuel loads, and improve habitat; and
WHEREAS, profitable markets for shrubs and small-diameter trees may be developed in engineered-
wood plants to produce oriented-strand board, biochar, or wood chips; and
WHEREAS, use of prescribed fires as a management tool should be encouraged, perhaps as a
recognized property right, expanded liability protections, or certified burning; and
WHEREAS, controlled livestock grazing can be an effective tool for managing fuel loads; and
WHEREAS, as the number of homes in areas with moderate or high wildfire risk has doubled since
1990, volunteer, local, state, and federal authorities are faced with protecting these structures; and
WHEREAS, improved cooperation between states, tribes, and counties can together improve forest
health and reduce wildfire risk; and
- 2025
69th Legislature 2025 HB 70
- 2 - Authorized Print Version – HB 70
ENROLLED BILL
WHEREAS, use of all resources should be examined to maximize private, local government, and state
fire resources; and
WHEREAS, the Montana Legislature, which sets policy for and pays for much of the wildland
firefighting on behalf of state taxpayers, has not fully examined these and other related issues since 2009.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MONTANA:
Section 1. Study of state fire suppression issues, methods, and costs. (1) The environmental
quality council provided for in 5-16-101 shall conduct a comprehensive fire suppression study.
(2) The study must include an investigation of:
(a) firefighting operations in Montana by the state and federal governments, including operations
on tribal land and private land, and the management policies affecting the success of those operations;
(b) the efficient use of fire suppression resources, including equipment and firefighters;
(c) the impact of operations on private land and the effective use of private resources to fight fires;
and
(d) state and federal forest management and grazing policies and how those policies may
potentially affect the number of wildfires, safety risk to firefighters, or fire suppression efforts.
(3) The environmental quality council shall complete the study by September 15, 2026, and report
its findings and recommendations, including legislation, to the 70th legislature.
Section 2. Appropriation. There is appropriated $50,000 from the general fund to the legislative
services division for the biennium beginning July 1, 2025, to pay for costs associated with the study required
under [section 1.]
Section 3. Contingent voidness. (1) Pursuant to Joint Rule 40-65, if [this act] does not include an
appropriation prior to being transmitted to the governor, then [this act] is void.
(2) If the appropriation in [section 2] is vetoed, then [this act] is void.
- 2025
69th Legislature 2025 HB 70
- 3 - Authorized Print Version – HB 70
ENROLLED BILL
Section 4. Effective date. [This act] is effective on passage and approval.
Section 5. Termination. [This act] terminates December 31, 2026.
- END -
I hereby certify that the within bill,
HB 70, originated in the House.
___________________________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
___________________________________________
Speaker of the House
Signed this _______________________________day
of____________________________________, 2025.
___________________________________________
President of the Senate
Signed this _______________________________day
of____________________________________, 2025.
HOUSE BILL NO. 70
INTRODUCED BY S. GIST
BY REQUEST OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY COUNCIL
AN ACT REQUIRING A STUDY OF STATE FIRE SUPPRESSION ISSUES, METHODS, AND COSTS;
PROVIDING AN APPROPRIATION; ESTABLISHING REPORTING REQUIREMENTS; PROVIDING FOR
CONTINGENT VOIDNESS; AND PROVIDING AN IMMEDIATE EFFECTIVE DATE AND A TERMINATION
DATE.