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Tag: Private Property Rights

State approval to farm? Lawmakers debate new limits on seed and pest control
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

State approval to farm? Lawmakers debate new limits on seed and pest control

By Sen. Byron Pelton | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Colorado’s farmers and ranchers already face significant challenges, including volatile commodity prices, rising input costs, labor shortages, and unpredictable weather. They should not also have to contend with a state legislature that increasingly seeks to regulate how they protect crops and livestock.  Yet that is precisely what Senate Bills 26-062 and 26-065 represent: a top-down attack on agriculture that increases costs, undermines private property rights, and signals deep disrespect for the men and women who feed our nation and the world. A Direct Hit on Practical Pest Control SB26-062 would significantly restrict the sale and use of common rodenticides and glue traps. While intended to pr...
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Private Dollars, Public Rivers: Who Is Really Restoring Colorado’s Streams?
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Private Dollars, Public Rivers: Who Is Really Restoring Colorado’s Streams?

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice Colorado’s rivers are usually talked about as public assets. Debates tend to revolve around access, ownership, and enforcement. Far less attention is paid to a simpler question: who actually pays for the work when rivers need fixing? A recent Common Sense Institute report examines that side of the equation, focusing on stewardship and private investment while building on the group’s earlier work on law and history. Many Colorado landowners have invested in restoring rivers and streams, and the results don’t stop at their boundaries. Work Most People Never See River restoration doesn’t really have a finish line. The report estimates restoration and upkeep costs typically range from $300,000 ...
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O’Donnell: Colorado’s new wildlife commission will conserve everything—except common sense
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Approved, Commentary, State, Top Stories

O’Donnell: Colorado’s new wildlife commission will conserve everything—except common sense

By Mike O’Donnell | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice The Democratic Party swept to power in Colorado in the 2018 general election (the first time since 1936) under the guise of being a progressive party with the best interests of all Coloradans at heart. When they assumed office they embraced, en masse, the philosophy of the RadicalxChange movement, which—depending on your level of cynicism—shares some unsettling parallels with those catchy World Economic Forum slogans about how we’ll all “own nothing and be happy” by 2030. (No, that line’s not in the RadicalxChange handbook, but the vibe isn’t far off.) The movement also espouses adopting a “more democratic” concept for elections known as quadratic voting. Colorado was THE first test case for quadratic voting EVER in the...
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Activism over science? Proposed ballot measure #82 would gut CPW authority, opponents say
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Approved, Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Activism over science? Proposed ballot measure #82 would gut CPW authority, opponents say

By Amanda Hardin | Rocky Mountain Voice Correction: We mistakenly said Initiative #82 was already in the signature-gathering stage. As of June 2, 2025, it hasn’t gone before the Title Board yet and isn’t cleared to collect signatures. We regret the error and have updated the article accordingly. Critics across Colorado’s hunting, ranching, and wildlife management communities are sounding the alarm over a 2026 ballot measure they say could upend science-based conservation and rural land rights. Initiative #82, called the Colorado Wildlife and Biodiversity Protection Act, would create a new regulatory body, the Wildlife and Ecosystem Conservation Commission (WECC). The commission would hold far-reaching powers over endangered species protections, wildlife corridors, land use, and ev...
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