As drought conditions worsened on the Western Slope, the National Weather Service has issued its first “extremely critical” fire danger warning in 15 years for northwest Colorado. The warning, in effect through midnight, covers parts of Moffat and Rio Blanco counties that also are in a state of “exceptional drought,” according to the weekly U.S. […]
Cameron Peak fire
Posted inEnvironment, News, Outdoors
Two popular Colorado waterways are shut down amid raging currents, large number of rescues
While the Western Slope faces dangerous drought conditions, the urban stream and river corridors along the Front Range are flowing high and fast, so much so that officials are closing parts of the Poudre River and Clear Creek to limit people on the water. In Fort Collins, the Poudre Fire Authority has rescued more than […]
Posted inClimate, Environment, News, Politics and Government
How much damage does climate change cause in Colorado? Leaders are trying to put a price tag on it.
The East Troublesome fire, Colorado’s second largest ever, was sweeping across Grand County forests on Oct. 25, 2020, part of a record-breaking wildfire season that forced evacuations, destroyed homes and took lives. Half a world away, heavy rains were flooding the Bagerhat District in Bangladesh, in one of the worst monsoon seasons on record. And […]
Posted inNews, Outdoors
Arapaho, Roosevelt National Forests to start requiring reservations after 200% spike in recreation
Every weekend last year, hundreds of cars spilled from trailheads, lining forest roads for miles. Wait times stretched for hours just to get inside Forest Service welcome centers at Brainard Lake and Mount Evans. Wildfires scorched more than a quarter of the 1.5 million acre Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests. And still, the easy-to-access forest’s […]
Posted inClimate, Environment, News, Wildfire
Colorado is expecting another explosive wildfire year, but the state may be more prepared this time
Colorado wildfire experts are warning that conditions are setting up for wildfires as bad as last year, when the three largest forest fires on record burned for months. But this time, they think the state may be better prepared. Millions of dollars, multiple aircraft and coordinated partnerships between local, state and federal agencies are all […]
Posted inEnvironment, News, Outdoors, Politics and Government, Wildfire
Colorado competes with other states for wildfire-fighting aircraft. Climate change makes that a big problem.
When wildfires swept across Colorado and the western U.S. last summer and fall, water- and retardant-dropping airplanes and helicopters that can make the difference between a small blaze and a deadly megafire were difficult to come by. States were suddenly pitted against each other as federal emergency managers worked to determine who needed the most […]
Posted inClimate, Environment, Growth, News, Outdoors, Wildfire
Climate change ravaged Colorado and the West with heat and drought in 2020. This year may be worse.
If there were any doubts that the climate is changing in the Colorado River Basin, 2020 went a long way toward dispelling them. Unprecedented wildfires, deadly heat waves, withering drought — the many indicators of the climate mayhem that scientists have been warning about for years — ravaged the landscape, claiming dozens of lives and […]
Posted inColoradans, Energy, Environment, Growth, Water, Wildfire
Squeezed by two megafires: Northern Water’s race to save Grand Lake
Craig Friar and Steve Anderson had seen wildfires smolder and flare before. But they had never seen one run. Until Oct. 21, when the East Troublesome fire sprinted 17 miles in less than three hours, threatening to engulf communities and giving these Northern Water staffers and others just hours to decide how best to move […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Opinion: Polis must take a bolder stance on climate to stem wildfires
After this year’s catastrophic and record-breaking wildfire season, it was good to see that the ever-growing problem of wildfires in the West was a topic of discussion at the Western Governors’ Association Annual Winter Meeting on Dec. 10. As a Boulder County commissioner, I saw firsthand the devastating impacts of wildfires this year that broke […]
Posted inBusiness, Climate, COVID, Environment, Outdoors, Water, Wildfire
“Too many uncontrollables”: From coronavirus to wildfires, Colorado’s hunting season brings a slew of uncertainties
Earl Oesterling first noticed the smoke plumes of the Cameron Peak fire near his business, Ivory & Antler Outfitters, in mid-August. He knew that signaled trouble for hunting even beyond the crowds and the drought that already beset the area. The Jackson County outfitter, located about 20 miles west of what became a massive wildfire […]