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Tag: Rural Colorado

Hunter: Rural leadership shines through in Fort Morgan Chamber’s future
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, Local, Top Stories

Hunter: Rural leadership shines through in Fort Morgan Chamber’s future

Drake Hunter | Commentary, RMV NE CO Newsroom, Rocky Mountain Voice When rural Colorado shows up for each other, the whole state gets stronger. That belief echoed throughout the Off-the-Clock Networking Hour on June 25, where Leticia Morales was welcomed as Executive Director of the Fort Morgan Area Chamber of Commerce.  Held in the spirit of connection and collaboration, the event brought together local leaders, media partners, and civic voices who share a common goal: strengthening the bonds that make Morgan County, and all of Colorado, thrive. As a lifelong resident of Morgan County, Morales’ appointment represents both a homegrown success story and a bold step forward for the Chamber’s vision. “This is more than just a new chapter for me, it’s a new opportunity for all...
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Montrose Commissioner Pond: GORP Is a Land Grab. Period.
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Approved, Commentary, Local, Top Stories

Montrose Commissioner Pond: GORP Is a Land Grab. Period.

By Sean Pond | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice The Gunnison Outdoor Resources Protection Act GORP is being advertised as a community driven conservation success story. It’s not. It’s a federal land grab wrapped in pretty paper, designed to sell the illusion of balance while slowly destroying everything that makes Western Colorado worth living in. This bill doesn’t protect the land. It strangles it. They’ll tell you grazing is still allowed. Sure. But what good is a grazing permit if you can’t access your cows? If you can’t get there to fix fences, build a pond, haul salt, or rescue a sick calf? If you can’t use a pickup or a UTV or bring in the tools you need to survive?  When you strip away access, you strip away use.  It’s like giving you the right to own ...
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Hardin: Why the NRA-ILA legislative roundups matter more than ever
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Approved, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Hardin: Why the NRA-ILA legislative roundups matter more than ever

By Amanda Hardin | Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Last week, Rocky Mountain Voice partnered with the NRA-Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA) to host two critical Second Amendment Legislative Roundups—first in Lakewood, then in Fort Morgan. These events weren’t just a chance to hand out bumper stickers and shake hands; they were about mobilization. Colorado’s gun owners are facing unprecedented legislative attacks, and what we saw in those rooms was the beginning of a serious response. The first event took place on June 10 at Bristlecone Shooting, Training & Retail Center in Lakewood. Over 45 citizens gathered to review the flurry of anti-gun bills that crossed the governor’s desk this year, including the newly signed Senate Bill 25-003. Attendees walked away not only wit...
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Montrose Commissioner Pond: Why I’m Drawing the Line and Standing Against Federal Land Grabs
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Approved, Commentary, Local, National, Rocky Mountain Voice, Top Stories

Montrose Commissioner Pond: Why I’m Drawing the Line and Standing Against Federal Land Grabs

By Sean Pond | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice The views expressed here are my own and do not represent an official action or position of the Montrose Board of County Commissioners. I was appointed to represent the people of District 3 in Montrose County, and I took an oath to uphold the Constitution. That includes defending our land, our rights, and our way of life here in Western Colorado. In recent months, there’s been a coordinated push to place more of Colorado under federal control. We already fought back against the proposed Dolores National Monument, a 500,000-acre land grab, and we won.  Then came a 68,000 acre National Conservation Area proposal in Mesa and Montrose Counties. We stood our ground again and stopped it.  But now we’re facing two more ...
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Montrose Commissioner Pond: The Constitution isn’t a suggestion—it’s a line in the sand
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Approved, Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Montrose Commissioner Pond: The Constitution isn’t a suggestion—it’s a line in the sand

By Sean Pond | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Something is happening in Colorado. You can feel it. Not on the surface, but beneath it. Beneath the silence. Beneath the carefully packaged language of equity, sustainability, and progress. We are being conditioned. Slowly, quietly, and deliberately. Conditioned to comply. Conditioned to accept change without question. Conditioned to believe that liberty is negotiable, that tradition is outdated, and that resistance is somehow wrong. But here’s the truth they don’t want you to hear. The Constitution doesn’t need to evolve. It needs to be defended. Freedom isn’t something you bargain with. It’s something you protect. And this get-along-with-everybody mentality? That’s the problem. That’s the trap. In my first 100...
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Rural towns squeezed by state’s bureaucratic delays and shifting wastewater mandates
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Approved, State, Water Education Colorado

Rural towns squeezed by state’s bureaucratic delays and shifting wastewater mandates

By Jerd Smith | Water Education Colorado Dozens of small towns in Colorado have banded together to protest new wastewater treatment permits that are designed to protect state rivers and streams, saying they  contain new rules that are too costly to implement and they haven’t had time to make the necessary changes to comply. The controversy comes as climate change and drought reduce stream flows and cause water temperatures to rise, and as population growth increases the amount of wastewater being discharged to Colorado’s rivers. In response to the towns’ concerns, the water quality control division of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment has taken the unusual step of holding off on taking enforcement action against at least some of the towns that say they can’t...
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Linnebur: Rural Colorado’s energy boom isn’t luck—it’s leadership
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Approved, State, The Daily Sentinel

Linnebur: Rural Colorado’s energy boom isn’t luck—it’s leadership

By Tyler Linnebur and Evan Underwood | Commentary, The Daily Sentinel Rural Colorado is experiencing a surge in economic growth thanks to smart federal policy and local energy leadership. Federal energy tax credits, combined with Colorado’s all-of-the-above energy strategy, are revitalizing rural communities by creating diverse, durable jobs and attracting new investment. By supporting both traditional and renewable energy sources, Colorado is proving that a balanced approach delivers real results where they’re needed most. Energy legislation over the past few years reinforced efforts to boost clean energy production and manufacturing across the country. These programs support technologies ranging from solar and wind to energy storage, electric vehicles, and advanced manufacturing. B...
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Lawmakers pitch new insurance fee for wildlife and bike lanes, rural Coloradans cry foul
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Approved, State, The Post Independent

Lawmakers pitch new insurance fee for wildlife and bike lanes, rural Coloradans cry foul

By Ali Longwell | The Post Independent Colorado lawmakers are looking to add a fee to car insurance policies that would raise funds for road infrastructure aimed at reducing vehicle collisions with wildlife, pedestrians and cyclists.  The idea is being floated as part of a bill co-sponsored by Reps. Andrew Boesenecker, a Larimer County Democrat, and Meghan Lukens, a Steamboat Springs Democrat, and Sens. Faith Winter, a Front Range Democrat, and Dylan Roberts, a Frisco Democrat.  “This bill creates a sustainable solution to a serious public safety problem,” Lukens said. “This bill will save lives, prevent injuries, reduce insurance costs, and protect the wildlife that defines our state. It’s a responsible investment that pays for itself many times over.”  The “Mot...
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Rural Colorado school districts that once served students online could see brunt of major state budget cuts
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Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

Rural Colorado school districts that once served students online could see brunt of major state budget cuts

By Erica Breunlin | The Colorado Sun As Colorado lawmakers try to solve a state budget crisis, Gov. Jared Polis’ office is advocating for a new set of changes to student averaging that would significantly impact a handful of rural school districts and charter schools that found a lifeline for their budgets by enrolling online homeschool students. Vilas School District RE-5, in far southeastern Colorado, along with Plainview School District Re-2, about 100 miles to the north, and three Colorado Early Colleges campuses in recent years ran online enrichment programs for homeschool students with help from an outside vendor. Those programs — which the districts and charter schools no longer operate — emerged during the pandemic, when the Colorado Department of Education relaxed rules a...
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