Montana legislation · 2025 Regular Session
Montana HB70: Study of wildland firefighting
Status: Signed into law, May 13, 2025
What the bill says
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.
From the engrossed text:
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 engineeredwood 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 …
Sponsors
- Gist, Steve (R, 25) · primary sponsor
Latest actions
- : Chapter Number Assigned
- : (H) Signed by Governor
- : (H) Transmitted to Governor
- : (S) Signed by President
- : (H) Signed by Speaker
- : (H) Returned from Enrolling
- : (H) Sent to Enrolling
- : (H) 3rd Reading Senate Amendments
- : (H) Scheduled for 3rd Reading
- : (H) 2nd Reading Senate Amendments
Votes
- Do Concur (April 16, 2025): 93 yea, 5 nay, passed
- Do Concur (April 15, 2025): 96 yea, 1 nay, passed
- Do Concur (April 8, 2025): 47 yea, 1 nay, passed
- Do Concur (April 7, 2025): 48 yea, 0 nay, passed
- Do Pass (January 31, 2025): 99 yea, 0 nay, passed
- Do Pass (January 30, 2025): 98 yea, 1 nay, passed
Subjects: Environmental Protection, Interim Study Resolutions, State Lands, Fires and Fire Protection, State Government, Local Government
Common questions
- What is HB70?
- HB70 is a bill in the Montana Legislature (2025 Regular Session): Study of wildland firefighting.
- What does HB70 do?
- In its own words: 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.
- What is the status of HB70?
- Signed into law as of May 13, 2025. Latest action: Chapter Number Assigned (May 13, 2025).
- Who sponsored HB70?
- Gist, Steve (R, 25).
- Where is the official record for HB70?
- On the Montana Legislature website: https://bills.legmt.gov/#/laws/bill/2/LC0548
Source: official Montana record. Tracked by Delilah, AI for legislation across all 50 states and Congress.