Congress’ Farm Bill fight could jeopardize affordable housing efforts in Colorado’s tourism towns
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SUMMIT COUNTY, Colo. — With Congress embroiled in a spending fight over a must-pass piece of legislation, a little-known but powerful tool for affordable housing in tourism towns risks falling into limbo.
Federal lawmakers remain locked in a debate over the Farm Bill, a sweeping legislative package that dictates agriculture and food policy. The bill is meant to be reauthorized by Congress every five years, with the last iteration passed in 2018.
After missing its deadline last fall to pass an updated version of the bill, Congress approved a one-year extension set to end Sept. 30. If legislators fail again to meet that deadline, and the Farm Bill lapses, it could leave a litany of essential programs in a state of uncertainty — including a first-of-its-kind approach for affordable housing.
Folded into the 2018 Farm Bill is a provision that allows federal officials to lease certain U.S. Forest Service land to local governments for the purpose of building housing. The measure applies only to administrative sites that typically already have some form of housing or storage infrastructure in place.
In Colorado’s rural resort communities where land availability is scarce and median single-family home prices reach into the millions, officials see the leasing authority as a critical addition to their affordable housing strategies.
“There is no question that if you live in a rural resort community where the majority of the land is owned by the federal government and the state, that tools like this are essential,” said Tamara Pogue, an elected official in Summit County — home to the nation's most visited National Forest.
In written responses to questions from the Summit Daily News, Sen. Michael Bennet, a chief architect of the leasing provision, said he is pushing for its renewal in a new, five-year Farm Bill.
“Short of that, we may need to pass another one-year extension to allow for certainty not only for housing projects and agreements, but also for the day-to-day operations of USDA programs that help our farmers, ranchers, and rural communities,” Bennet stated.
Rep. Joe Neguse, a Democrat representing parts of Colorado’s Front Range and High Country and another key supporter of the Farm Bill’s leasing provision, told the Summit Daily there “has not been much progress” on passing a five-year package before the impending deadline.
Another temporary extension is more likely, with Neguse adding that he wants to see the leasing provision included in the stopgap bill. Not doing so “would certainly be problematic, and it is an outcome that we are working precipitously to avoid.”
Resort communities hope to keep leasing authority intact
Nestled in the White River National Forest, Summit County is a recreation hub boasting four world-class ski areas, a popular 14er and a national monument. It's also an epicenter of housing disparities, where multimillion-dollar home prices and soaring rents have pushed some residents into living in hotels or their cars.
The county last year became the first in the nation to use the Farm Bill to develop affordable housing for its residents.
In fall of 2023, county officials entered a lease agreement with the White River National Forest for an 11-acre parcel of land near the town of Dillon. The site had been home to aging Forest Service facilities and a few units of employee housing.
There, officials plan to build 162 income-based rental units, with several of those reserved for Forest Service workers and the rest going to county residents making between 80% and 120% of the area’s median income. Officials could begin construction as soon as 2025.
“I don’t think it's any secret that authorization was a game-changer for the county in terms of a project that will let us deliver affordable housing quickly,” said Pogue, who sits on the Summit Board of County Commissioners and for whom housing is a major policy focus.
“We also, I think, feel a fair amount of responsibility to get it right for all of the communities that are going to follow us,” Pogue added.
Whether or not the Farm Bill lapses won’t affect the project, since a lease has already been secured. But it could imperil initiatives in other resort areas, where officials who’ve watched Summit County’s plans unfold say they’re eager to replicate those efforts.
In Steamboat Springs, Yampa Valley Housing Authority Executive Director Jason Peasley said his office is on the cusp of signing a lease with Forest Service officials to develop 84 apartments on a vacant 8-acre property.
The units would be rented to individuals and families making between 50% and 140% of the area’s median income. More than a dozen would be reserved for local Forest Service employees and another 10 for city employees.
“All the pieces are in place for us to hit that deadline,” Peasley said. “But things have to go the right way.”
Peasley said he remains in regular communication with Bennet and Neguse’s offices for updates on the Farm Bill’s status. While he believes there is enough Congressional support to renew the leasing authority, he’s concerned disagreements over other aspects of the bill could prevent it from passing before the temporary extension expires at the end of September.
If officials don’t sign a lease by Sept. 30, and their authority to do so expires with the current Farm Bill, Peasley said it's unclear when the project would be able to move forward.
“If we miss the 30th deadline, we can’t do this without Congress acting,” Peasley said. “So we want them to understand how close we are and how important it is to get this over the finish line.”
If current legislation is not renewed, Peasley said the Steamboat project would essentially be halted until a new Farm Bill is passed. Any delay would likely have a domino effect on the rest of the project’s phases.
“The lease is just one part,” Peasley said. “We have community engagement, planning and zoning permits, design and construction. So the quicker we can get on with those the quicker we can deliver the housing that our community needs and that our Forest Service needs.”
Local government officials in other rural resort counties not yet nearing a lease deal still say they want the provision to remain an option.
Eagle and Pitkin County officials, for example, have for years discussed leasing as much as 30 acres of White River National Forest land in El Jebel, which sits in unincorporated Eagle County, as a potential site for new housing.
Discussions haven’t moved forward in months, however, as Forest Service officials consider what — if any — amount of land and water rights they’d be willing to lease and government officials probe whether the area is the best place for new housing.
Eagle County Resiliency Director Tori Franks, the county’s lead on the El Jebel discussions, said even if that parcel isn’t acquired, there are numerous other sites in the county that could be ripe for housing development. Those include infill properties owned by the Forest Service that sit near town boundaries.
In a county where more than 80% of land is federally owned, Franks said the Farm Bill’s leasing provision is a “pretty powerful tool in the toolbox.”
“I think it really allows the Forest Service to really be a partner, both a land owner and an employer, in the housing game,” Franks said. “It would be a huge mistake to not let this continue.”
What comes next for the Farm Bill is unclear
For White River National Forest Supervisor Scott Fitzwilliams, the Farm Bill provides public land managers with a recruitment and retention advantage they’ve never before had. With the Forest Service bringing land to the table, local governments are providing the funding.
“That kind of capital has never been available in the Forest Service for things like housing,” Fitzwilliams said, adding that housing is a desperate need for his staff. “I think it’s a matter of survival to continue to have people live in the communities where they work.”
Of roughly 200 full-time staff — and 100 seasonal workers — employed by the White River National Forest, Fitzwilliams said about half need housing in mountain towns. Some have to commute from as far as the Front Range, others over dangerous mountain passes.
That poses a significant challenge for the Forest Service’s ability to maintain the level of service “that the public expects,” he said.
“I don’t think the folks in Dillon want our engine fire crews to have to respond from far away. It is vital that they are there,” Fitzwilliams said. “If we’re unable to have people live here, they’re going to go work somewhere else.”
With White River running through some of the state — and the country’s — highest-cost places, from Breckenridge to Aspen, Fitzwilliams said the Dillon housing project in Summit County is a necessity for his workforce.
“We’ve certainly, I think, created a model that can be replicated,” Fitzwilliams said, adding that he’s been in talks with leaders in other resort communities, from Idaho to California, who are interested in similar projects.
“They’re trying to find teachers and bus drivers and all those things that make a community work,” he said.
When Congress will reach a deal on the Farm Bill is unclear.
Democrats and Republicans in both chambers remain at odds over spending levels for a host of programs including subsidies for farmers, support for food banks and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formally known as food stamps.
Bennet in particular stated he wanted to protect conservation and forest resource programs in the Farm Bill that saw millions in new funding in recent years. The boost came from two landmark federal laws — the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act — that passed in 2021 and 2022, respectively.
“It is my top priority to preserve these dollars, as well as to protect nutrition assistance benefits from cuts,” Bennet stated. “The funding for the Farm Bill is something we’re going to have to hammer out over the next few months.”
While those issues remain hyper-partisan, the leasing authority has garnered both Democratic and Republican support, with lawmakers pushing their own versions of the provision separate from the Farm Bill package.
One is the Forest Service Flexible Housing Partnerships Act, introduced in the House by Neguse and cosponsored by Rep. Lauren Boebert, a Western Slope Republican. The legislation would not only keep intact the leasing authority but expand it beyond what is in the Farm Bill by increasing the maximum length of time a property can be leased from 50 years to 100.
The measure has support in Congress’ upper chamber, where it has been championed by Bennet and Montana Sen. Steve Daines, a Republican. A similar proposal was also included in the Expanding Public Lands Outdoor Recreation Experiences (EXPLORE) Act, a bill which passed the House and is pending in the Senate.
Movement on the stand-alone legislation is likely dependent on the outcome of either the EXPLORE Act or the Farm Bill — meaning lawmakers have multiple avenues to try and renew the leasing provision.
“This is a no-nonsense, bipartisan fix in the law that could address some of these (housing) challenges,” Neguse said, adding that the multiple legislative efforts “signals broad support and ultimately underscores why it’s so important that we get it done.”
Local officials say decoupling the leasing authority from the Farm Bill could provide greater security for housing projects in the future by both increasing the leasing timeline and avoiding a potential lapse every five years.
But they also support any strategy to keep the provision alive.
“Our holy grail is always these permanent solutions to affordable housing — permanent tools, permanent funding — but those always seem to be quite elusive,” said Franks, the Eagle County official. “Not having that option is just one last path that we can pursue.”