DENVER — As rural communities clean up after recent wildfires and flooding across Colorado, county officials warn that President Donald Trump's denial of federal disaster aid could hinder recovery efforts.
Gov. Jared Polis requested disaster relief funding after the Elk and Lee fires in Rio Blanco County in August and flooding in southwest Colorado in October. The fires burned over 150,000 acres. The Lee fire became the state's fifth-largest wildfire. Flooding in Archuleta, La Plata, and Mineral Counties forced evacuations of over 400 homes. The state estimated $13 million in damages to roads, bridges, and infrastructure.
In two letters sent to Governor Jared Polis on Saturday, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) said the governor's requests for major disaster declarations did not warrant federal support. In a statement to Denver7, White House Spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said the president responds to each request for federal assistance under the Stafford Act. She said the president's decision to deny the requests was not political, and the federal government helped Colorado fight fires by providing aerial support.
White River Electric Association (WREA) said the Rio Blanco County fires caused nearly $24 million in damage to electrical infrastructure, disrupting energy supply chains. This included facilities that power natural gas producers in the Piceance Basin, whose reduced production could impact national markets, as WREA stated these producers supply about 2% to 6% of the nation's total natural gas consumption.
Rio Blanco County Commissioner Callie Scritchfield said the fires left the county's oil and gas industry crippled.
"The oil and gas industry is the lifeline for this county, and they are not being able to function at full capacity yet today because of the infrastructure damage," she said. "Our county relies on oil and gas income. It's over 60% of our budget for the county. So that's really going to be the biggest impact."
City and county officials in southwestern Colorado remain focused on urgent infrastructure repairs after recent flooding. La Plata County Commissioner Marsha Porter-Norton said FEMA funds are critical for paying for road and bridge repairs, as well as reimbursing employees for their extensive emergency work during the floods.
"This denial of this FEMA declaration is, is yes, very disappointing, beyond disappointing," said Porter-Norton. "That's why we have FEMA, which is when local resources are overwhelmed. Yes, we can absolutely use that money."
Porter-Norton said La Plata County has already spent more than $200,000 from the county's general fund on repairs, straining local resources and shifting priorities away from other necessary services. She said she hopes the decision to deny federal relief was not motivated by politics.
"Disasters do not have a partisan lens," she said. "We don't ever ask people when we're going out to respond to a disaster what their political party is."
Pagosa Springs Town Manager David Harris said the town is still searching for funds to clean up debris in the San Juan River and repair some river features. Thanks to community donations, the town hired Southwest Conservation Corps crews to clean up park debris.
"We knew there were about a dozen or so other disasters pending at FEMA... and so we started going to work and just in typical Pagosa style, you know, making phone calls and emailing and going to other state and federal agencies that did have funding available. And so we've started that process of getting some grants and loans to help do some of the projects," said Harris.
He said denying FEMA relief has forced the town to quickly reallocate funding to immediate priorities like bank stabilization and sewer line replacements.
"I think we're just used to doing that a lot here, and we're very resilient as a community," he said. "The best part of this whole thing is that the community really rallied and came together."
State leaders said they plan to appeal the federal relief denial. On Sunday, Polis and Colorado's congressional delegation called on President Trump to reconsider what they described as a harmful decision.
“President Trump's decision to deny Colorado’s request for critical federal assistance is unacceptable,” said Senator Michael Bennet in a statement. “Communities in Western Colorado are in serious need of help after the life-threatening flooding and historic wildfires earlier this year. Trump continues to use Coloradans for political games; it is malicious and obscene. A disaster is a disaster, regardless of what state in the country it took place. Together with Governor Polis and the Colorado delegation, I will take every available step to appeal this decision."
In his Sunday statement, Polis reiterated that residents impacted by the August fires and the October flooding deserve support rather than political maneuvering.
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