Columnist Laura Pritchett writes that Fort Collins should seize the chance to save the Hughes Stadium tract from development and overuse, while honoring its past and preserving it for future generations.
open space
Posted inClimate, Environment, News
Boulder County cement plant neighbors say proposed pact is rushed, too easy on pollution
Neighbors of the Cemex quarry and cement kiln near Lyons say a deal to extend mining and cement production for 15 years in exchange for valuable open space breaks Boulder County commitments to end the heavy industrial operation and cut the largest local sources of greenhouse gas emissions. They also say Cemex may be leaving […]
Posted inClimate, Environment, News
Boulder County has choices to make about smokestacks, a quarry and open space. Which way will they go?
Boulder County residents driving Colorado 66 are all too familiar with the view on the way to Lyons or Rocky Mountain National Park: A big Cemex quarry on the north, gouging into a popular open space area and tumbling rocks into a conveyor belt overhead, and the imposing smokestacks of the Cemex cement kiln on […]
Posted inEnvironment, Growth, News, Outdoors
Eldorado Canyon may become Colorado’s first state park with timed entry
People traveling to Eldorado Canyon State Park by car will need a timed-entry ticket on summer weekends if the parks commission approves a recommendation this week, in a first-ever attempt by the state to handle soaring use across Colorado open spaces. Online reservations would be free under the proposal, but would limit car visits to […]
Posted inCulture, Equity
Colorado Springs’ America the Beautiful Park was once home to dozens of families. Here’s their story.
By Dan Boyce, CPR News America the Beautiful Park in Colorado Springs has a complicated history. Dozens of families, many made up of racial minorities, were gone when the city decided to raze the neighborhood and park there in the 1990s and early 2000s. But for former residents of the Conejos neighborhood in downtown Colorado […]
Posted inColoradans, Economy, Environment, Growth, Health, Housing, News, Outdoors
Who are parks for? Proposed housing development has Westminster neighbors fighting for space.
WESTMINSTER — Eric Wycoff remembers well the struggle to find a suitable park experience when his family was younger. The all-day adventure meant loading everyone into the car to drive clear across town — just so his stepdaughter could enjoy playgrounds and wide-open fields. On the days his wife needed their only car for work, […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Opinion: Forever means forever. Colorado’s iconic landscapes require “perpetual conservation easements” protection
There has been a lot of talk in the local news lately about perpetual conservation easements. What is this tool, and why should people care? A perpetual conservation easement is a voluntary legal agreement between a landowner and a land trust or government entity to protect land — and its associated natural resources — forever. […]
Posted inBusiness, Coloradans, Energy, Environment, News, Politics and Government
Acres of barren Boulder soil are headed to rehab (and that might just help fight climate change)
Walking toward the western edge of his farm, Marcus McCauley pauses to roll a cigarette, lighting up before jumping the fence dividing his property west of Longmont from the neighboring farm. A coyote walks across the far end of the 120 acres, traversing a patchwork landscape of exposed dirt and low greenery, pocked with prairie […]