Council members and committee chairs debated shifting from process-based committees to time-limited, subject-matter working groups (biomass, workforce, utilities, 30‑year vision implementation) to produce focused recommendations; capacity and staff support were recurring constraints.

At its Dec. 12 legislative committee meeting, the Colorado Forest Health Council prioritized responses to a renewed mountain pine beetle outbreak, workforce development for forest treatments, and reforms to biomass and pile‑burning rules; members were asked to tier priorities ahead of the Dec. 19 meeting.

Colorado State Forest Service officials told the Colorado Forest Health Council that mills face uncertainty and transportation bottlenecks, and identified federal Wood Innovations grants, state loan programs and proposed loan guarantees as tools to support new processing capacity and local ‘wood campus’ approaches.

The Air Pollution Control Officer provided year-end remarks: SB 88 (biomass utilization) was vetoed, but the district secured more than $12 million in investments approved on the consent calendar for cleaner projects. The APCO said the district will continue pursuing biomass utilization and prioritize SERP implementation next year despite state and

Stakeholders evaluate biomass utilization and tax incentives for forest restoration in Arizona.