MOUNT ELBERT — Lloyd Athearn pauses during an uphill climb to grab a tiny scrap of litter left on the trail by a careless hiker. It’s the easiest bit of trail maintenance the Colorado Fourteeners Initiative will accomplish on this misty August morning as the fog rises out of the forest and hovers on the […]
Great American Outdoors Act
Posted inColoradans, Environment, News, Outdoors
An abandoned coal mine near Aspen has become a mountain biking park for the masses
Gary Tennenbaum remembers the first time he first spoke with the new owners of a long-dormant coal mine up the Crystal River Valley, near Redstone. It was a few years ago and the owners, grandsons of Walmart founder Sam Walton, offered a plan unlike any other to the longtime director of Pitkin County Open Space […]
Posted inColoradans, Culture, Environment, News, Outdoors, Wildfire
Matriarch of Colorado outdoor volunteerism stepping down from “mothership of community stewardship”
BRECKENRIDGE — Ann Baker Easley deftly navigates an icy trail that winds past a wooden troll, an ice rink and a railroad park. “Pretty sure we built this. We worked on a lot of trails around here,” says the chief executive officer of Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado, which in the past five years has funneled […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Opinion: Colorado’s outdoor enthusiasts and the businesses that serve them have a strong advocate in Congress
In a state like Colorado, outdoor recreation is an integral part of life, and after a year of lockdowns and stay-at-home orders, more and more people are turning to the outdoors to benefit their physical and mental health. As the city of Boulder continues to grieve and recover from the tragic mass shooting on March […]
Posted inNews
Outdoor recreation leaders ask Congress to loosen rules restricting Land and Water Conservation Fund dollars
The pandemic has pushed an unprecedented number of Americans outdoors. It’s also crushed state and local budgets that are struggling to match federal dollars used to support public lands and parks. It’s an administrative paradox that the 13 states with outdoor recreation offices are hoping to fix. The diverse Confluence of States — which champions […]
Posted inBusiness, Climate, Economy, Energy, Environment, News, Politics and Government
Joe Biden’s pause on oil and gas development on public lands splits conservationists, industry
Conservationists are cheering the Biden administration’s 60-day pause on new energy development on public lands as a chance to overhaul an antiquated leasing program that has not been modified in decades. Oil and gas producers are not happy and they are warning of severe economic shocks from the decision announced Thursday. “Bowing to the environmental […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Opinion: This Colorado vet is counting on Hickenlooper to defend Colorado’s outdoor treasures
Like many Americans my age, I spent a lot of my youth outdoors. Growing up in the wide-open spaces of Texas, I learned basic nature skills as a Boy Scout, and spent many nights outside catching fireflies with my siblings. Still, I’d argue that my outdoor life really began when I fell in love with […]
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 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 inUncategorized
Democrats keep focus on public lands in Colorado, Montana Senate races despite GOP legislative win
BILLINGS, Mont. — Democrats seeking to pick up U.S. Senate seats in Montana and Colorado are falling back on a party playbook now familiar for the U.S. West: Paint their opponents as a threat to the public lands the two sprawling Rocky Mountain states are known for. The Republican incumbents appeared to have inoculated themselves […]