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USDA move to Fort Collins could add 6,000 jobs and $1B in output, study finds
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Colorado Politics, Approved, State

USDA move to Fort Collins could add 6,000 jobs and $1B in output, study finds

By Marissa Ventrelli | Colorado Politics The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s planned relocation of up to 2,600 employees to Fort Collins could bring more than $1 billion in new business output and over 6,000 new jobs to the area by the end of next year, according to a study by the think tank Common Sense Institute. In July, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced that the department would be relocating up to 2,600 personnel and operations to five new hubs, including Fort Collins. According to CSI study authors Dr. Caitlin McKennie and Cooper Pollard, the move is expected to “stimulate job creation, bolster local businesses, and enhance collaboration with Colorado State University,” which ranks 23rd in the nation for agricultural sciences. Agriculture plays a “vital role...
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The push to redefine beneficial use ignores 100 years of western water law
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GregWalcher.com, Approved, Commentary, State

The push to redefine beneficial use ignores 100 years of western water law

By Greg Walcher | Commentary, GregWalcher.com Last week when some marauding teens bashed a mailbox with a bat, angry neighbors posted on nextdoor.com, “there needs to be a law against that.” Is that just an impulse reaction, or do they really not know there is a law against that. Since 1909, it has been a federal offense to tamper with, vandalize, deface, or destroy mailboxes, under penalty of three years in prison and a $250,000 fine. People often think things ought to be illegal that already are, that we should regulate things we already do, even that things ought to be defined that already are. I couldn’t help wondering how serious recent headlines were, announcing that several environmental industry groups had petitioned the Bureau of Reclamation to stop allowing water to be wast...
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Colorado River faces new threat as zebra mussels take hold
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Fox31, Approved, State

Colorado River faces new threat as zebra mussels take hold

By: Spencer Kristensen | FOX31 KDVR DENVER (KDVR) — Colorado Parks and Wildlife officially declared a portion of the Colorado River as “infested” with invasive zebra mussels after sampling detected adult zebra mussels in the river and another nearby lake in Grand Junction, CPW announced in a press release on Monday afternoon. “While this is news we never wanted to hear, we knew this was a possibility since we began finding veligers in the river,” said CPW Director Jeff Davis in the press release. “I can’t reiterate this enough. It was because we have a group of individuals dedicated to protecting Colorado’s water resources that these detections were made.” On Aug. 28, the Aquatic Animal Health Lab suspected veligers, the microscopic larval stage of zebra mussels, were collected fr...
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Religious Freedom and Property Rights Collide in Teller County over “Illegal” Greenhouse
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, Local

Religious Freedom and Property Rights Collide in Teller County over “Illegal” Greenhouse

By Jennifer Brown | The Colorado Sun A court battle over the greenhouse hinges on religious freedom, conflict of interest and the state Farm Stand Act. A battle between a Divide couple who built a greenhouse next to their home and Teller County commissioners who want them to tear it down has moved to the courthouse. Commissioners have sued Virginia and Zac Loop, seeking a judge’s order to force the couple to dismantle the 2,856-square-foot rectangular greenhouse where they had planned to harvest mangoes, avocados and other fruits and vegetables that don’t grow at 9,200 feet. The county is seeking $2,000 in initial fees plus $200 per day for every day the greenhouse has stayed up since the Teller County Community Development Department ordered the Loops to take it down. So fa...
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State school trust lands were meant to fund education, not environmental agendas
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GregWalcher.com, Approved, Commentary, State

State school trust lands were meant to fund education, not environmental agendas

By Greg Walcher | GregWalcher.com A land ownership checkerboard exists in nearly every state because of an oddity called “state school trust lands.” The federal government granted those lands at the time of statehood, under the Land Ordinance of 1785. Thomas Jefferson’s system divides and records land into townships, each with 36 one-square-mile sections. New states entering the union were each given 2 sections per township, to be held in trust to fund public schools. State Land Boards were created to manage those lands – in my state of Colorado it’s 4 million acres. The Board was charged with administering the lands “in such a manner as will secure the maximum possible amount” for the school fund. The Lincoln Institute of Public Lands explains, “That singularity of purpose continues...
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Shoshone Water Rights Could Bolster Fish, Wildlife and Recreation on Colorado River
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State, Approved, The Colorado Sun

Shoshone Water Rights Could Bolster Fish, Wildlife and Recreation on Colorado River

By Shannon Mullane | The Colorado Sun Allowing the state to use Shoshone’s water rights to help the environment could save fish and improve the aquatic environment, according to state studies. Colorado water officials will gather in Durango this week to decide whether a pair of powerful Colorado River rights can be used to benefit the environment.  The Colorado River District, supported by a broad Western Slope coalition, has entered into a $99 million agreement with Xcel Energy to buy two key water rights tied to Shoshone Power Plant, located on the Colorado River near Glenwood Springs. Part of the deal is to add a newly approved use to the existing water rights: keeping water in the river to help the aquatic ecosystem.  That environmental use, called an in-stream flow ri...
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Colorado Ranchers Face Lasting Struggles After Lee Fire Scorches 137,000 Acres
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Local, Approved, The Gazette

Colorado Ranchers Face Lasting Struggles After Lee Fire Scorches 137,000 Acres

By Jonathan Ingraham, Michael Braithwaite | The Gazette 'I've got some cattle whose feet are going to fall off, their backs so burnt that their hide is cracking and breaking,' one rancher said. Cattle feverishly mooed in the middle of the early August night, an unusual sound to hear at that hour.  Their unease was brought on by the Lee fire, which was quickly encroaching upon their enclosure at the 103-year-old Halandras family ranch, about 23 miles south of Meeker.  The wildfire that started from lightning strikes on Aug. 2 was devouring prime northwestern Colorado grazing land that the family — and other ranchers — rely on faster than emergency crews could contain a stable fire line. Regas K. Halandras recalled family members and ranch hands jumping into act...
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Polis Claims Trump Tariffs Hurt Jobs but Many See Benefits
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State, Approved, The Gazette

Polis Claims Trump Tariffs Hurt Jobs but Many See Benefits

By Marianne Goodland | The Gazette A report released Thursday by Colorado’s governor said President Donald Trump’s tariffs policy is disrupting the state’s economy and courting a recessionary scenario. State economists have, in fact, been sounding the risk of a scenario for a year — preceding both the White House’s tariffs changes and the congressional budget that Democrats blamed for Colorado’s $800 million deficit. As recently as June, analysts said the chances of a recession in the next year stood at 50% and climbing. Since Trump took office, tariffs have increased sevenfold to about 21% in Colorado, according to the report. Nationwide, it’s closer to 24%. A year ago, the tariffs averaged around 3%. The last time tariffs went that high occurred in 1910, Gov. Jar...
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Wolf Reintroduction Sparks Debate at Upcoming Colorado Town Hall
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State, Approved, The Gazette

Wolf Reintroduction Sparks Debate at Upcoming Colorado Town Hall

By The Gazette Staff | The Gazette Agriculture and outdoor recreation are considered two of Colorado’s most important industries. The outdoor recreation industry contributes over $65.8 billion and 511,000 jobs to Colorado’s economy, while the agriculture industry generates $47 billion and 195,000 jobs annually, according to the most recent data. Yet as Colorado Politics’ recent Rural Reckoning series indicated, these two powerhouses don’t always get the attention that industries do in the halls of the Capitol. A town hall on Tuesday, Sept. 9, sponsored by The Gazette and The Common Sense Institute, will dive more deeply into the importance of these industries to Colorado’s economic success, and the policies necessary to ensure they thrive. The Common Sense Institute is a non...
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Rio Grande crisis leaves farmers desperate and states divided
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Fortune, Approved, National

Rio Grande crisis leaves farmers desperate and states divided

By Susan Montoya Bryan, Morgan Lee | The Associated Press via Fortune A simmering feud over management of one of North America’s longest rivers reached a boiling point when the U.S. Supreme Court sent western states and the federal government back to the negotiating table last year. Now the battle over waters of the Rio Grande could be nearing resolution as New Mexico, Texas and Colorado announced fresh settlement proposals Friday designed to rein in groundwater pumping along the river in New Mexico and ensure enough river water reliably makes it to Texas. New Mexico officials say the agreements allow water conservation decisions to be made locally while avoiding a doomsday scenario of billion-dollar payouts on water shortfalls. Farmers in southern New Mexico increasingly have...
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