Colorado's congressional delegation is urging President Obama and Congress not to forget about damage caused by last summer's wildfires when they consider a federal disaster relief package to address widespread damage caused by Superstorm Sandy.

Six members of the delegation wrote three separate letters to the White House and leaders in the Senate and House requesting that Sandy storm relief packages include additional money for an Agriculture Department program that helps restore watersheds damaged by wildfires and drought.

Noting that the White House may send a request this week to Congress for emergency appropriations to aid in Sandy relief efforts, the delegation of both Democrats and Republicans wrote a letter to President Obama urging him to include funding for the Emergency Watershed Protection (EWP) program administered by USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service.

"EWP will be critical to help Colorado communities recover from this year's unprecedented wildfire season," the delegation members wrote.

This past summer was the most destructive wildfire season in Colorado's history. The High Park blaze near Fort Collins and the Waldo Canyon fire in Colorado Springs burned tens of thousands of acres, destroyed nearly 600 homes and at one time displaced tens of thousands of residents.

The Emergency Watershed Protection program supports projects to restore damage to watersheds and drinking water infrastructure, including debris-clogged stream channels, unstable stream banks and damaged public infrastructure, as well as damaged upland sites stripped of protective vegetation by fire or drought.

Though the Federal Emergency Management Agency provides immediate assistance to areas affected by natural disasters like wildfires, "it is important to remember that long term assistance such as EWP is also critical to recovery. Currently, a severe shortage of resources in EWP has left the wildfire-affected Colorado watersheds in a precarious position," the delegation wrote to Obama.

In Fort Collins, for example, the High Park wildfire has placed the region at "a very high risk of water quality degradation, flood hazard, and road washouts," they wrote. "The limited EWP resources available have been used to mitigate these hazards to some extent, but the risks to life and property remain very high."

In a separate letter, Colorado Democratic Sens. Mark Udall and Michael Bennet asked Senate Appropriations Chairman Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) and ranking member Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) to include additional funding for the EWP program in any "supplemental appropriations measure" for Sandy relief.

"As Congress works through this lame duck session and you consider emergency supplemental funding for addressing natural disasters, we urge you to include robust funding for EWP to ensure the safety of people and property during natural disaster recovery," they wrote.

Colorado Republican Reps. Doug Lamborn and Cory Gardner, along with Democratic Rep. Jared Polis, wrote a similar letter to House Appropriations Chairman Hal Rogers (R-Ky.) and ranking member Norm Dicks (D-Wash.).

"We respectfully request that the House Appropriations Committee move to consider emergency supplemental appropriations measure to help protect and repair watersheds of Colorado communities dealing with the aftermath of the High Park and Waldo Canyon fires," the House delegation members wrote.

Streater writes from Colorado Springs, Colo.