Posted inBusiness, Crime and Courts, News, Outdoors, Technology

Backcountry.com faces boycotts, social media backlash over trademark lawsuits. But the company remains mum.

Outdoor enthusiasts aren’t letting go of their backcountry without a fight. As news spreads about Backcountry.com’s recent slew of legal actions against small business owners using the word “backcountry” in their names, so is public outrage. LATEST COVERAGE Nov. 6 — Backcountry.com breaks its silence amid trademark lawsuit controversy to apologize and say “we made […]

Posted inBusiness, Environment, News, Outdoors, Politics and Government

The CORE Act has passed the U.S. House, but the massive Colorado public lands bill faces tough odds in the U.S. Senate

While proponents of the CORE Act are celebrating its passage out of the Democratic-controlled U.S. House on Thursday, the bill affecting about 400,000 acres of public lands in Colorado faces an uncertain future in the Republican-led Senate.  U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner, a Colorado Republican, is raising the alarm over the fact that the legislation passed […]

Posted inBusiness, Crime and Courts, News, Outdoors, Technology

Backcountry.com sues anyone who uses its namesake. Is it bullying or just business?

Backcountry.com a year ago filed for trademarks protecting the word “backcountry” for all sorts of outdoor gear as the online retailer launched its first-ever branded jackets, skis and apparel. Now the e-commerce behemoth is suing small business owners who have trademarked the word “backcountry.”  “My feeling is that nobody should have the right to the […]

Posted inEnvironment, Growth, News, Outdoors, Politics and Government

The faith-based and environmental opposition to Colorado’s Proposition DD makes for strange company

The drive to legalize sports betting in Colorado united Republicans and Democrats at the state Capitol, and similarly, the opposition to Proposition DD is bringing together two disparate groups of critics. The November ballot question is drawing criticism from religious conservatives who label gambling as a sin and a faction of the environmental community concerned […]

Posted inBusiness, Growth, News, Outdoors, Politics and Government

The Western Slope economy was already improving. Then Opportunity Zones added a power boost.

MONTROSE — David Dragoo leans over a balcony of the new headquarters for his Mayfly Outdoors. Inside, workers are forging high-end fly-fishing equipment. Outside, earth movers crawl across a dusty tract near cyclists leisurely pedaling along the lush banks of the Uncompahgre River.  “Ten years ago, it just wasn’t cool to be here. It didn’t […]

Posted inColoradans, Environment, Growth, News, Outdoors, Outsider, Water

The most thrilling commute in Colorado: How Grizzly Reservoir’s caretakers keep water flowing

TWIN LAKES — As the speedometer reaches 45 mph, Glenn Schryver turns off his headlights. The blackness is absolute in the arrow-straight tunnel a couple thousand feet beneath the Continental Divide. The engine roars, reverberating off the walls only a few inches from the sides of Schryver’s rushing pickup.  “OK, I’m getting creeped out,” he […]

Posted inColoradans, Environment, News, Outdoors

People are effectively training bears to get into trouble, and Colorado wildlife officials are sick of it

OURAY — The bear was immense by Colorado standards, 394 pounds of muscle and fur, and it lay sprawled across the necropsy table as the prime suspect in a murder. Days earlier, in August 2009, wildlife officers had been called to a grisly scene at a house outside Ouray, where a frail, 74-year-old woman named […]

Posted inColoradans, Culture, Education, News, Outdoors

Colorado mountain biking program teaches girls to conquer trails, with an eye toward helping in other parts of life

Esmeralda Parro grabs her bike from a trailer marked “The Cycle Effect” and starts riding to join a group of girls warming up for the day’s practice. Pedaling up a steep hill, the 11 year old stops just short of the top. Her coach is watching. “Esme! Go back down and change your gear, then […]

Posted inColoradans, Energy, Environment, News, Outdoors, Politics and Government

Scattering BLM will be good for policy, boss William Pendley says. Not with him at the helm, advocacy groups argue.

Colorado will get more of the Bureau of Land Management’s Washington staff under the Trump administration’s proposed agency reorganization than any other Western state — but whether those employees will have decision-making authority is a hotly contested point. The plan involves scattering almost 300 positions, some currently unfilled, across 11 Western states. Of the 222 […]