Outdoors
Colorado voters typically reject tax hikes. There’s an exception when it comes to funding parks and trails.
Open space advocates hope the recent support for protection of outdoor spaces is not a pandemic blip but a border-to-border commitment to conservation.
As people are increasingly drawn outdoors, the risk of wildfires is rising
A study of fires in the San Juan National Forest showed that people don’t start the majority of southwest Colorado’s wildfires, but those they do ignite are near roads and hiking trails
Interior secretary orders removal of racist terms, aims to change place names
U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland on Friday formally declared “squaw” a derogatory term
Colorado releases more endangered ferrets into prairie dog holes and hopes for the best
Restoring stable black-footed ferret communities on the Eastern Plains has been a goal since they came back from extinction in the 1980s. Sometimes critters are reluctant to make a change.
Snow may not be piling up at Colorado ski resorts this season, but anxiety sure is
Coronavirus is still a worry, but now ski hill operators must wrestle with too few workers and not enough places to house the ones they’ve hired
Colorado officials hear options on how, when and where to restore gray wolves
Colorado voters last year narrowly approved a ballot initiative to reintroduce wolves on public lands in the sparsely populated Western Slope by 2023
Plastic hippos are out. Colorado playgrounds are getting a more natural makeover.
Parks departments along the Front Range are working with the land to create spaces that the next generation will actually use.
In the San Luis Valley, a community fights for its land, water and way of life
Acequia communities in the southern San Luis Valley have so far resisted temptation to sell their precious water rights for use by growing Front Range cities drawing from the Arkansas River.
The government says COVID cost the outdoor recreation industry $156 billion in 2020. But did it really?
The annual Bureau of Economic Analysis shows the outdoor recreation economy fell 19.5% in 2020, but that includes big declines outside the recreation industry.
Supply chain woes lead to pricey outdoor recreation products
Problems in the global supply chain are creating big headaches for businesses — and for shoppers that are dealing with long waits and higher prices
Remains found in Rocky Mountain National Park are thought to be German hiker missing since 1983
Rudi Moder, an experienced winter mountaineer who was living in Fort Collins, started his excursion over Thunder Pass and into the park Feb. 13, 1983. His roommate reported him overdue Feb. 19, 1983.
Biden administration says oil, gas sales damage climate — but won’t stop them on public lands in the West
The Interior Department says selling oil and gas leases on public land in the West could cost society billions in climate change impacts. But BLM says it is powerless to slow the damage.
Are these Colorado trees culturally modified… or just bent? Depends on whom you ask.
Some say Native Americans modified trees to mark sacred spots in the forest. But tribal leaders and Colorado archaeologists say neither oral tradition nor science back up the claim.
Colorado’s 2020-21 avalanche season was tied for the deadliest. It’s helping forecasters hone warnings and outreach.
Avalanches killed 37 backcountry travelers in the U.S. last winter, including 12 in Colorado. Analysis of each tragedy helps avalanche scientists craft warnings to reach more skiers and snowmobilers.
An overdue Colorado hiker may not have picked up rescuers’ phone calls because he didn’t recognize the number
According to the Lake County rescue team, it made multiple unsuccessful attempts to reach a person reported overdue from a hike on Mount Elbert
Colorado governor tells geographic renaming board to consider easier-to-pronounce alternatives
Gov. Jared Polis said "dots and dashes" made it hard to say Mestaa’ėhehe Mountain — leading one board member to label the governor's position "problematic"
Colorado gets a 43rd state park under first-in-the-nation deal with the Forest Service
Several owners have eyed development of the 488-acre Sweetwater Lake parcel in the last 30 years, but the Garfield County oasis is now the second new state park in the last two years
Colorado ski resorts are in an uphill battle for workers amid the historic labor shortage
Ski areas are reaching out to locals, relying on visa programs and retooling jobs as they search for hundreds of workers in communities enduring critical housing and labor shortages.
Powdr’s Fast Tracks offers $49+ chance to skip the lift line at Copper Mountain, triggering a skier backlash
Even a U.S. senator is calling on Powdr to kill the program
Wolf Creek Ski Area plans to kick off Colorado’s ski season on Saturday; A-Basin opens Sunday
Wolf Creek received more than a foot of snow from a storm that pounded the high country this week
