(1) The general assembly finds, determines, and declares that: (a) Finding qualified and trained employees is a significant challenge for the state's timber, forest health, and wildfire mitigation industries, and it is especially difficult to provide training to and opportunities to gain experience for younger workers who are interested in beginning careers in the timber, forest health, and wildfire mitigation industries; (b) The barriers to entry for younger workers who are interested in beginning a career in the timber, forest health, and wildfire mitigation industries are significant, including access to training programs that provide real-world work experience; (c) Internships are a recognized way to build a talent pipeline and career pathway to align education, training, and work-based learning; and (d) By offering incentives to timber businesses and forest health and wildfire mitigation entities to create internships, there will be more opportunities for students to obtain work experience with timber businesses or with forest health or wildfire mitigation entities. (2) As used in this section: (a) "Forest health or wildfire mitigation entity" means a for-profit or nonprofit entity located or operating in Colorado that engages in or focuses resources on forest health or wildfire mitigation activities, including prescribed burning as defined in section 24-33.5-1202, or other science-based forest management practices. (b) "Forest service" means the Colorado state forest service identified in section 23-31- 302 and the division of forestry created in section 24-33-104. (c) "Program" means the timber, forest health, and wildfire mitigation industries workforce development program created in subsection (3) of this section. (d) "Timber business" means a for-profit business entity incorporated or located in Colorado that engages in or focuses resources on forestry; logging; the timber trade; or the production of wood products, such as furniture or secondary products, including wood pulp for the pulp and paper industry. (3) The timber, forest health, and wildfire mitigation industries workforce development program is hereby created in the forest service to provide incentives to timber businesses and forest health or wildfire mitigation entities to hire interns through partial reimbursement of the costs to such businesses and entities for hiring and employing interns. Not later than January 1, 2024, the forest service shall adopt policies and procedures for administering the program. The policies and procedures must specify, at a minimum: (a) The criteria for selecting a timber business or forest health or wildfire mitigation entity for participation in the program, including the ability of the business or entity to effectively supervise an intern and the opportunity for an intern to gain meaningful work experience; (b) The criteria for an internship to qualify under the program, including the following: (I) That the internship must provide an intern at least one hundred thirty hours of work experience; and (II) That the internship cannot exceed six months in duration per intern; (c) Best practices for a timber business or forest health or wildfire mitigation entity to use in recruiting and selecting interns to participate in internships who represent historically underrepresented communities in the timber, forest health, and wildfire mitigation industries. In developing best practices, the forest service shall specifically consider how to extend opportunities to individuals who have acquired experience in wildland fire services through the inmate disaster relief program created in section 17-24-124 (3). (d) The criteria for a timber business or forest health or wildfire mitigation entity to use in selecting interns to participate in its internship, including the educational experience required of an intern and the ability of the intern to perform meaningful work for the business or entity; (e) The process and timeline for selecting timber businesses and forest health or wildfire mitigation entities to participate in the program and for participating businesses and entities to select interns to participate in their internships; (f) The accounting requirements for tracking internship costs; and (g) The process a timber business or forest health or wildfire mitigation entity must use when applying to the program for reimbursement for a portion of its costs incurred in employing an intern. (4) Subject to available appropriations, the forest service may reimburse a participating timber business or forest health or wildfire mitigation entity an amount not to exceed fifty percent of the actual cost to the business or entity to employ an intern. The actual cost includes the wages paid to the intern, a reasonable allocation of fixed overhead expenses, and all incidental costs directly related to the internship. Based on the annual appropriation for the program, the forest service shall determine how many internships may be approved, the amount of reimbursement per internship, and whether a timber business or forest health or wildfire mitigation entity may be reimbursed for more than one intern in a single state fiscal year. However, a timber business or forest health or wildfire mitigation entity shall not be reimbursed for more than three internships in a single state fiscal year.
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