HB26-1163 is a supplemental appropriations bill for the Colorado Department of Natural Resources for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2025. It revises the department’s existing budget authority across multiple divisions and programs, including the Executive Director’s Office, Reclamation, Mining, and Safety, the Energy and Carbon Management Commission, the State Board of Land Commissioners, Colorado Parks and Wildlife, the Colorado Water Conservation Board, the Division of Water Resources, and the Division of Forestry. The bill updates line-item appropriations, fund sources, FTE counts, and footnotes, and it includes several appropriations that remain available until project completion or the close of FY 2027-28, whichever comes first.
The measure increases or adjusts funding for a wide range of natural resources functions, such as wildlife operations, state park operations, avalanche information, water administration, mine safety, orphaned well mitigation, forest restoration, wildfire risk mitigation, outdoor equity grants, habitat partnerships, and asset maintenance. It also makes specific appropriations for wolf reintroduction implementation, emergency response related to oil and gas incidents, and water-related programs and interstate compact activities. The bill is a budget measure only; it does not create new regulatory programs, but it amends existing appropriations and fund allocations in Colorado statutes and session laws governing the Department of Natural Resources.
Its legal impact is to modify the state’s fiscal appropriations framework for the Department of Natural Resources by amending prior 2025 session law appropriations and reallocating money among general fund, cash fund, reappropriated fund, and federal fund sources. The bill references and draws from numerous dedicated funds, including the Wildlife Cash Fund, Parks and Outdoor Recreation Cash Fund, Severance Tax Operational Fund, Energy and Carbon Management Cash Fund, State Land Board Trust Administration Fund, Colorado Water Conservation Board Construction Fund, Water Plan Implementation Cash Fund, and others. Because it is a supplemental appropriation, it primarily affects spending authority and fund balances rather than substantive policy law.
The overall sentiment appears broadly supportive and routine, consistent with a budget cleanup and adjustment bill that moved through Appropriations and was ultimately signed by the Governor. No committee transcript or recorded vote data is provided, but the bill’s passage and signature suggest it was not highly controversial at the final stage. The presence of detailed footnotes, including direction on wolf-related spending and emergency response intent, indicates that lawmakers were attentive to how funds would be used.
The main points of contention reflected in the text are tied to wildlife management, especially gray wolf reintroduction, and the conditions placed on spending for that purpose. Footnote language specifies that certain funds intended for Proposition 114 implementation should not be spent on future wolf reintroduction unless state-funded preventative measures for livestock conflicts are implemented to the highest degree possible, including range riders, depredation response teams, nonlethal conflict reduction, and carcass management. Other potentially sensitive areas include oil and gas emergency response, severance-tax-funded programs, and the allocation of cash funds across competing natural resources priorities.
HB26-1163 amends Colorado’s existing appropriations law for the Department of Natural Resources, changing spending authority, fund sources, and footnotes for FY 2025-26 and related multi-year availability periods. It affects a broad set of state programs and dedicated funds but does not materially alter substantive regulatory statutes; instead, it updates the budget and the legal authorization to spend from specific cash, general, reappropriated, and federal funds.
The bill appears to have been treated as a standard appropriations measure with general support, as reflected by its movement through Appropriations and eventual gubernatorial signature. The absence of recorded debate or votes in the provided materials suggests limited visible opposition in the available record, though the detailed footnotes show lawmakers were careful about directing funds, especially for wolf reintroduction and livestock conflict mitigation.
The most notable contention concerns gray wolf reintroduction and the conditions attached to related spending. The bill states that funds intended for Proposition 114 implementation should not be used for future wolf reintroduction unless extensive livestock-protection measures are implemented, signaling concern from livestock and rural interests about depredation and conflict. Secondary areas of sensitivity include oil and gas emergency response funding, severance tax allocations, and the balance between conservation, recreation, and mitigation priorities within the department’s budget.