The Conservation Fund on Tuesday finalized its acquisition of Sweetwater Lake, getting a bargain price and marking a milestone in the effort to protect the 488-acre property long eyed for big development. It’s been almost a year since the fund began negotiating with investors who owned the lake surrounded by White River National Forest and […]
Garfield County
Posted inColoradans, Environment, Outdoors, Wildfire
Why planting tenacious tamarisk seemed like a good idea until it wasn’t, and other harrowing tales of Colorado’s invasive species
Tamarisk was brought to the U.S. from Kazakhstan in the early 1800s to shore up riverbanks and railroad beds. It worked. Left to itself, tamarisk multiplies. Left to itself in America, 6,000 miles from natural predators on the Asian steppes, tamarisk goes nuts. Tamarisk is a tenacious shrub whose pinkish flowers look good just enough […]
Posted inEnergy, Environment, News
Colorado counties sue state over new air-quality regulations
GRAND JUNCTION — Two Colorado counties joined a statewide lawsuit against new oil and gas air-quality rules they say unfairly impact rural areas. Garfield and Mesa counties joined seven other counties in the lawsuit against the state Air Quality Control Commission, Air Pollution Control Division and Department of Public Health and Environment, The Daily Sentinel reports. […]
Posted inEnvironment, News, Outdoors, Politics and Government
U.S. House approves largest Colorado wilderness bill in 40 years. But not everyone is happy.
Twentieth time’s a charm for U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette. More than 20 years after the Denver Democrat first proposed a wilderness bill to protect low-lying, yet untrammeled, Colorado landscapes, DeGette’s bill was approved by the U.S. House on Wednesday. The Protecting America’s Wilderness Act — setting aside 660,000 acres in 36 areas in Colorado, 478,500 […]
Posted inNews, Outdoors
Plan to buy remote Sweetwater Lake and transfer it to Forest Service gets boost from Eagle County communities
Conservationists pushing to buy and protect Sweetwater Lake are nearing $1 million in donations, as the White River National Forest vies for as much as $8.5 million in support from the Land and Water Conservation Fund. The Eagle Valley Land Trust is working to raise $3.5 million for the $9 million purchase of the 488-acre, […]
Posted inColoradans, Environment, News
County suspends new mining permit applications, blocking expansion of limestone mine near Glenwood Springs
County officials in Colorado have imposed a moratorium on new or amended mining and gravel projects for the next six months to allow time to create a 2030 comprehensive plan and adjust the land-use code. The Post Independent reported Monday that the moratorium imposed in Garfield County means Rocky Mountain Resources Industrials cannot make changes to its […]
Posted inBusiness, Environment, Growth, News, Outdoors
Conservationists hope to tap Land and Water Conservation Fund to preserve land and water on Sweetwater
Adrienne Brink came out to Sweetwater Lake above the Colorado River near Dotsero in 1969 for a backcountry horseback trip. She and her husband bought the horse packing outfitter in 1975. They bought the Sweetwater Lake Resort — cabins, restaurants, boat launch and a campground — in 1984 Since she landed on the lake in […]