A local advocacy group has renewed longstanding questions about how pumping water from Grand County to the Front Range disrupts Colorado’s largest and deepest natural lake
Grand Lake
Posted inColoradans, Economy, Housing, News, Politics and Government, Wildfire
Grand Lake voters turn out in force to retain Mayor Steve Kudron in recall sparked by workforce housing plan
The election to recall Grand Lake Mayor Steve Kudron not only ended in disappointment for the town’s old guard, but it may have also empowered a new wave of residents to become involved in local politics. Longtime Grand Lake residents filed a petition with the town to recall Kudron, citing improper leadership, fiscal irresponsibility, violation […]
Posted inBusiness, Economy, Growth, Housing, News
Grand Lake, still reeling from East Troublesome fire, is being shaken again by mayoral recall over housing
Like a dozen Grand Lake mayors before him, Steve Kudron smiled and waved at his constituents during the annual Buffalo Days parade last month. But Kudron added a twist no one had ever seen in 74 years of Buffalo Days. The vintage Hummer he paraded in sported a sign reading: “Vote No! Stop the Recall […]
Posted inClimate, Environment, News, Outdoors, Wildfire
20 years of planning saved Rocky Mountain National Park from the worst of the East Troublesome fire. It will take 20 more to fix the damage.
Early on the morning of Oct. 23, Mike Lewelling stood at the Forest Canyon Overlook on Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park and stared 2,500 feet down into what he called a cauldron of fire and swirling wood smoke. The East Troublesome fire had Lewelling, the park’s fire management officer for 15 years, […]
Posted inEnvironment, News
How three families that lost their homes in Colorado’s record-breaking 2020 wildfires are coping
The worst wildfires on record raged in Colorado last year. Hundreds of thousands of acres burned, hundreds of homes went up in flames and two people were killed. Though the flames are out, Grand, Boulder and Larimer counties — where the most structural losses occurred — have only just started down the long road to […]
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 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 […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Opinion: Recovery from East Troublesome fire will take sustained support
I have told the story a hundred times. It starts with me saying: “We had 15 minutes,” and ends with my audience asking, “What can we do?” My neighbors and I had 15 minutes on Oct. 21 to prepare for evacuation as the East Troublesome fire flooded its way across Grand County, destroying everything in […]
Posted inWildfire
“Worse than anything you could have imagined”: How the East Troublesome fire became so destructive
The Colorado Sun interviewed about a dozen firefighters, first responders and evacuees to piece together a timeline of the East Troublesome fire’s terrifying 100,000-acre run on Oct. 21
Posted inNews, Wildfire
More than 300 homes were destroyed by the East Troublesome fire
More than 300 homes were destroyed by the East Troublesome fire last month when it made an epic run across Grand County and became the second largest wildfire in Colorado’s recorded history. The news was shared Sunday evening by Grand County Brett Schroetlin, who added that an additional 100 to 200 secondary structures — including […]