Colorado forests aren’t sinking carbon like they used to

Good morning, Colorado.

Today is the last Tuesday of February, if you can believe it, and two Colorado Sun events are right around the corner:

• March 13 : Rural reporter Tracy Ross is leading a discussion on wolves and talking to two Colorado Parks and Wildlife experts about what it was like to capture and bring the latest 15 to Colorado from British Columbia.
• March 19 : For an in-person event, join the Sun’s politics team, Unaffiliated readers and state lawmakers at the Denver Press Club to chat about the legislative session and discuss ideas and what’s happening in Colorado politics.

You can RSVP to both, or either, events here. We hope you can join us!

And now, on to the news.

Olivia Prentzel

Reporter

THE NEWS

CLIMATE

Colorado forests are releasing more planet-heating carbon than they’re storing

A forest full of living, healthy trees is one of the most powerful and elegant ways that nature keeps carbon out of the atmosphere. But when wide swaths of those trees die — and burn — the forests themselves can become a net contributor to greenhouse gases. Tracy Ross has more on a sobering study by the Colorado State Forest Service.

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OUTDOORS

Reviving a history of skiing above the open-pit Climax Mine near Leadville

Back in the 1930s, the sight of people getting dragged up the slopes of Chalk Mountain by the “rope tow to heaven” and skiing down on hickory skis was common as the Climax Mine’s company town bustled. Fast forward to 2025, and Frisco resident David Carner is trying to bring back some of Colorado’s earliest skiing history on top of one of the state’s largest open-pit mines. Jason Blevins has a deep dive into the trials and tribulations Carner is facing.

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• Vail Resorts gives union Keystone ski patrollers a new contract that delivers up to $8 hourly wage increase. Avoiding yet another possible strike, Vail’s third labor contract negotiated this year delivered wage and benefit increases to Keystone ski patrollers.

POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

Boulder County DA Michael Dougherty launches bid to become Colorado’s attorney general

As Boulder County’s top prosecutor, Michael Dougherty led the prosecution of the man accused in the 2021 King Soopers mass shooting and helmed the probe into the cause of the Marshall fire. With Colorado AG Phil Weiser reaching the end of his term-limited tenure, Jesse Paul reports on why Dougherty is making his move.

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MORE NEWS

• Xcel Energy faces challenges sending natural gas to Colorado mountain towns from its Boulder County station. The Marshall Compressor Station in Boulder County is the little engine that can’t, Mark Jaffe reports. It must push natural gas all the way to Breckenridge, Grand Lake and Keystone and it is finding that some days it is harder and harder to do.
• Some National Park and Forest service jobs restored. More seasonal hires promised. In Colorado, a handful of firings appear to have been reversed, including the timber strike team, but the Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument has cut back on public hours due to staffing shortages.
• Colorado public records would take longer to get under bill offering an exemption for journalists. The need to extend deadlines for responding to records requests stems from complaints from school boards and counties that say wide-ranging requests for records crowd out work on other core services.
• Colorado lawmakers want to create Black history standards to ensure it’s taught amid attacks on DEI. Bill sponsor Rep. Regina English, a Colorado Springs Democrat, said it is not only an educational need but a moral imperative to teach Black history as diversity, equity and inclusion efforts are being aggressively targeted by the Trump administration.
• Plan to write Voting Rights Act into Colorado law faces pushback from cities. As states fear that President Trump could gut or otherwise do away with the federal Voting Rights Act, a movement to write the same protections into state law is gaining momentum. But in Colorado, local officials worry a state law could open them to new litigation — and change how Colorado’s city elections are run.

Section by Eric Lubbers | CTO & Newsletter Wrangler

THE COLORADO REPORT

🔑 = source has article meter or paywall

• Denver’s Huckleberry Roasters converts Colorado Boulevard Starbucks into new location. The steadily growing roaster has successfully converted several chain coffee shops into its expanding regional empire. (Author’s note: This newsletter is frequently powered by my monthly 5-pound bag of Huckleberry’s Blue Orchid Blend beans.)
  — The Denver Post 🔑
• West Springs Hospital — Western Colorado’s only inpatient psychiatric care provider — to officially close March 10. The mental health hospital that opened 20 years ago has been plagued by regulatory concerns and financial troubles.
  — The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel 🔑
• Grizzly Rose opening second Front Range country music venue in Colorado Springs. For the first time in its 35-year history, the legendary venue will branch out, creating The Whiskey Rose in the former Whiskey Baron space in Colorado Springs.
  — The Know 🔑
• Homeland Security files response in Denver Public Schools immigration enforcement suit. The Department of Homeland Security argued Denver Public Schools hasn’t proved that the government’s action has caused injury or that the 90,000-student district would suffer irreparable harm if a temporary restraining order isn’t granted. It also argued that the federal court doesn’t have the authority to hear the case.
  — Denverite
• Managers of franchisee firm “brazenly” stole from it, silent partners say. A group that operates 50 Jimmy John’s and Marco’s Pizza restaurants in Colorado is in turmoil as two silent partners accuse their two public-facing partners of buying cars with company money and then renting them out on the app Turo, as well as pocketing more than $15,000 in cash.
  — BusinessDen 🔑
• A closer look at ketamine therapy in Grand Junction. There are at least three medical providers offering ketamine treatment in Grand Junction. “It’s almost like a fast-forward button,” one patient told The Daily Sentinel. “If you want to do some deep healing, this is it.”
  — The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel

Section by Eric Lubbers | CTO & Newsletter Wrangler

THE OPINION PAGE

COMMUNITY

• State lawmakers have an easy choice when it comes to standing with Colorado patients over Big Pharma profits. A Senate bill in the Colorado legislature would restrict the pharmaceutical industry from putting limits on the decades-old 340B federal care program.
  — Jeff Tieman, Colorado Hospital Association president
  

The Colorado Sun is a nonpartisan news organization, and the opinions of columnists and editorial writers do not reflect the opinions of the newsroom. Read our ethics policy for more on The Sun’s opinion policy and submit columns, suggest writers or provide feedback at opinion@coloradosun.com.

SunLit

REVIEW

“Bluebird Seasons” explores author’s personal vantage point for climate change

Longtime nature writer Mary Taylor Young kept 25 years of nature journals that spanned the childhood of her daughter and brought the landscape around their mountain home to life. She figured one day they’d contribute to a nice memoir of joy and renewal. But when she took a closer look, and saw the subtle changes occurring over the years, the narrative veered into climate change territory.

READ AN EXCERPT

• Interview with the author. Through the power of storytelling, Young expresses a message of hope — because otherwise, she figures, what’s the point of writing the book?
  

Section by Kevin Simpson | Writer

I hope you can find some time to enjoy the warm sunshine today before winter returns.

— Olivia & the whole staff of The Sun

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Corrections & Clarifications

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