By Matthew Brown and Iris Samuels, The Associated Press BILLINGS, Mont. — Payments for dead wolves. Unlimited hunting of the animals. Shooting wolves from the air. Wolf hunting policies in some states are taking an aggressive turn, as Republican lawmakers and conservative hunting groups push to curb their numbers and propose tactics shunned by many […]
David Bernhardt
Posted inNews, Politics and Government
7 ways Joe Biden’s presidency may quickly affect Colorado
As President Joe Biden takes office Wednesday, the new administration and a new party in power will usher in immediate changes, some of which will have a disproportionate impact on Colorado. Democrats in control of both the House and Senate, and Vice President Kamala Harris to serve as a tie-breaker in the upper chamber, give […]
Posted inClimate, Energy, Environment, News, Politics and Government
Interior Secretary David Bernhardt, a Colorado native, latest Trump official to catch coronavirus
WASHINGTON — Interior Secretary David Bernhardt has tested positive for the coronavirus, an agency spokesman said. Bernhardt’s test results Wednesday make him the latest administration official, including President Donald Trump, to test positive for the virus. Trump was hospitalized for three days in October. Interior spokesman Nicholas Goodwin said Bernhardt has no symptoms. He “will […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Opinion: Passage of landmark Great American Outdoors Act now looks like an election-year show
For all the hype and excitement with which the Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA) was advertised by U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner, Interior Secretary David Bernhardt and President Trump, it appears their signature conservation legislation was nothing more than an election-season façade. Signed into law in August, the GAOA was sold to the American public as […]
Posted inBusiness, Environment, News, Outdoors, Politics and Government
U.S. Forest Service approves protection of Colorado’s Sweetwater Lake, but big questions remain
The White River National Forest’s request for Land and Water Conservation Fund money to permanently protect Garfield County’s Sweetwater Lake — a pristine oasis surrounded by public lands — has been granted. But the agency did not say how much of the requested $8.5 million from the fund will be distributed. That’s just one of […]
Posted inEnvironment, News, Newsletters, Outdoors, Outsider, Politics and Government
States, land managers still waiting for details on conservation funding under Great American Outdoors Act
Funding details promised by the Great American Outdoors Act were due Nov. 2, but state and federal land managers are still waiting for specifics of what is supposed to be a record amount of money for the Land and Water Conservation Fund and deferred maintenance projects. The Great American Outdoors Act — brokered in part […]
Posted inBusiness, News, Outdoors, Outsider, Politics and Government
E-bike rules for BLM, Forest Service trails both thrill and rile backcountry users
Their bikes — made by internationally dominant brands Specialized and Giant — look like high-end mountain bikes. Except the bikes pedaled by Dimitri Moursellas and his wife, Audre Engleman, take them to places they never could go on traditional bikes. With electric power that kicks in when they pedal, the pair of Vail septuagenarians every […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Opinion: William Pendley has no regard for the people or lands he is illegally serving
Don’t dig for water under the outhouse. William Perry Pendley, the embattled appointed director of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has recently emerged from a period of lying low with a message to the public. However, Pendley’s recent commentary to The Denver Post titled, “America’s largest land manager now amidst public lands,” was little […]
Posted inEnvironment, Growth, News, Politics and Government, Water
Colorado, five other states promise lawsuits if feds fast-track approval of Utah’s Lake Powell Pipeline project
For more than 20 years, negotiations among the seven states that rely on the Colorado River have avoided lawsuits, even as drought and population growth threaten the river’s flows. That may change as a promise to rush the environmental review of a diversion project between the Colorado River’s upper and lower basins has six states […]
Posted inCOVID, Energy, Environment, Growth, News, Politics and Government
Drilling, mines and other projects hastened by Trump’s coronavirus order
By Matthew Brown, The Associated Press BILLINGS, Mont. — The Trump administration is seeking to fast track environmental reviews of dozens of major energy and infrastructure projects during the COVID-19 pandemic, including oil and gas drilling, hazardous fuel pipelines, wind farms and highway projects in multiple states, according to documents provided to The Associated Press. […]