Climate & Environment

New wildfire bill tracker allows state lawmakers to learn from their Western neighbors

Boise State Public Radio News | By Murphy Woodhouse

Published January 27, 2026 at 7:14 PM MST

Insurance premiums are rising. Homes – even whole neighborhoods – are being damaged and destroyed. Smoke is affecting health. Wildfire has numerous consequences for the West and, with many statehouses now in session, lawmakers across the region are trying to respond.

Now there's a new tool to track reform efforts.

"I think it is one of the most significant issues that Western states should be dealing with," said Howard Watts, a Democratic Nevada Assemblymember, adding, "We need a regional approach because fires do not respect any state or local government boundaries."

Watts is also the co-chair of the Western branch of the Council of State Governments' wildfire and disaster preparedness committee. They recently developed an online bill tracker that allows lawmakers and the public across the West to see what wildfire-related reforms their counterparts have recently passed or are currently debating.

"This is a complicated, multifaceted issue, and there is not a silver bullet to any one of these issues," Watts said. "If there was, all of our states would have adopted it, and we'd be a lot better off right now."

"One of the things that is important right now is experimentation," he added. "We need different states to try different approaches."

Insurance reforms and helping communities become more wildfire-resilient are major themes so far this year and during last year's sessions, according to Watts. And with tools like the tracker, state leaders can learn from each other's successes and failures.

Nevada's legislature only meets on odd years, and Watts is using the tracker himself with an eye toward his state's 2027 session.

This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Boise State Public Radio, Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Northern Colorado, KANW in New Mexico, Colorado Public Radio and KJZZ in Arizona as well as NPR, with support from affiliate newsrooms across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Eric and Wendy Schmidt.