Move frees up federal relief money
President Donald Trump approved a major disaster declaration for the Gold Mountain and Aspen Acres fires, unlocking millions of dollars in Federal Emergency Management Agency relief funds for the state.
Federal and state officials confirmed Friday that Trump approved the declaration, coming on the heels of an intensive lobbying campaign by federal, state and local elected officials.
“The Trump administration remains committed to empowering and working with state and local governments to invest in their own resilience before disaster strikes, making response less urgent and recovery less prolonged,” White House spokesperson Lauren Bis said in a statement.
Gov. Jared Polis, who formally requested the declaration in late August, previously said his office had identified $17 million in eligible damages from the two fires, which started within days of each other in late June and have burned a combined 140,000 acres. The total amount of aid that would be provided by FEMA was not specified in the agency’s announcement, but Po- lis previously said Ouray County had incurred at least $1.4 million in damages.
“I thank the president for approving Colorado’s public assistance request to provide help for our communities to recover and rebuild, and FEMA for working with the state as we submitted our application,” Polis said in a statement.
The White House’s authorization of the disaster order comes after Trump denied a similar request for the Elk and Lee fires in 2025. Those were both located in Rio Blanco County, a more Republican area of the state that overwhelmingly supported Trump in the last election.
Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser alleged in a federal lawsuit filed earlier this year that Trump’s decision was motivated in part by the prosecution and imprisonment of former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters over a 2021 breach of her office’s secure elections equipment in a failed attempt to uncover evidence of fraud.
Polis commuted Peters’ nine-year prison sentence in May. The governor’s office did not respond to the Plaindealer’s request this week to comment on whether freeing Peters played a role in the approval of the disaster request.
The disaster order, which according to FEMA was signed on Sept. 1, approves assistance for public property damaged in Ouray County, as well as in Custer and Pueblo counties, where the Aspen Acres fire burned. Dolores County, where the Ferris Fire torched 65,000 acres, is also set to receive aid under the declaration.
Ouray County Emergency Manager Glenn Boyd told the Plaindealer that the county would qualify only for public assistance from FEMA, which provides funding for infrastructure repair.
Pueblo and Custer counties, where the Aspen Acres Fire burned, remain eligible for individual assistance – funds that would go directly to private property owners – due to the more than 300 homes that the fire destroyed in those areas. That request remains under review by the White House, along with a bid for funding from the federal hazard mitigation assistance program for long-term infrastructure investments.
But Boyd added that the declaration will open mechanisms for economic recovery assistance. Local business leaders said as recently as last week that they saw hits to their business of as much as 45%.
In statements following the announcement, U.S. Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper called on Trump to not rest on only approving the state’s public assistance request.
“Following an outpouring of local support for disaster relief, I am glad to see the approval of the state’s request for a major disaster declaration and public assistance,” said Bennet, who asked the president to retroactively approve relief funding for 2025’s Lee and Elk fires.
Added Hickenlooper, who’s running for re-election against Republican state Sen. Mark Baisley, “We’ll continue standing shoulder to shoulder with those impacted by these tragedies and urge the administration to swiftly approve Colorado’s remaining requests for individual assistance and hazard mitigation grant funding.”
And U.S. Rep. Jeff Hurd, who will face Democrat Dwayne Romero in November, likewise said the White House should grant Colorado’s full aid request.
Added Hurd, “I will keep pushing the administration to approve those requests and make sure western and southern Colorado gets the help it needs.”
Chart Riggall is a Report for America journalist focused on covering environmental issues. His work also contributes to the Western Environmental Reporting Collaborative with High Country News and other news outlets across the West. Reach him via email at chart@ouraynews.com and contact erin@ouraynews.com to make a tax-deductible donation to support his work here for the community.
