The Colorado legislature this week approved several bills that seek to prevent wildfires as the state faces what experts say could be the state’s worst wildfire season in history.

On Tuesday, the state Senate approved House Bill 1132, which requires all controlled burns on private property to be reported to local fire departments. In the House, lawmakers passed Senate Bill 7, which implements an enhanced wildfire awareness month outreach campaign over the next two years.

On Monday, the Senate passed House Bill 1011, which allocates nearly $27 million to match money that local governments designate for forest management or wildfire mitigation efforts, and House Bill 1012, which spends over $7 million on forest health and restoration.

“Wildfire mitigation and preparation is up to all of us now. It’s a team sport,” said Rep. Lisa Cutter, D-Littleton, who sponsored SB-7, HB-1011 and HB-1012. “With climate change causing increasingly devastating wildfires, it’s paramount that we take aggressive action.”

All four of the bills passed with bipartisan support.

Legislators acted on the measure as officials said hot weather and dry conditions may push Colorado into the worst fire conditions in over a decade. Last month, state officials announced Colorado will pour nearly $20 million of federal funding into fire prevention this year to pay for additional contracts with air tankers and helicopters, expanded dispatch services and new technology for on-the-ground coordination.

Colorado suffered its most destructive wildfire in state history less than six months ago, when the the Marshall fire destroyed over 1,000 homes in Boulder County. Record-breaking wildfires have become more and more common in the state, with the three largest wildfires in Colorado history all occurring in 2020.

“The time to act on wildfire prevention efforts is now,” said Rep. Donald Valdez, D-La Jara, sponsor of HB-1012. “We need to invest in prevention efforts to protect communities and build a safer state.”

Earlier this session, the legislature also passed House Bill 1007, which creates a grant program funding wildfire mitigation outreach, House Bill 1111, which increases insurance coverage of wildfire losses, and Senate Bill 2, which spends $5 million on volunteer firefighting resources.

All of the bills will return to their original chambers to approve any changes by Wednesday, and then to Gov. Jared Polis for final consideration.