Rocky Mountain Voice

Menu

Tag: State Land Board

What are biodiversity credits, and how are they being used in Colorado?
No Comments
Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

What are biodiversity credits, and how are they being used in Colorado?

Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project I watched something on Facebook recently, one of those "I'm going to tell you the truth" kinds of videos. I didn't copy the link. It's not worth referring back to anyway. The gist of the video is simple: the man in the video claims that part of the reason for species reintroduction (he is not from Colorado, nor talking about Colorado) is so that the landowners can make big money selling biodiversity credits. I asked every land conservation trust I could find an email for and, with one exception, could not find one that admitted to selling biodiversity credits. A lot of the ones that emailed me back said that no market for selling them exists as of yet in Colorado. This doesn't mean that the topic has no value; it...
Read More
Colorado’s Land Board swaps agriculture for a revenue experiment
No Comments
Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

Colorado’s Land Board swaps agriculture for a revenue experiment

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project Acquiring the Lake Fork Ranch to expand “conservation opportunities”. I saw an interesting press release from our Governor recently. It’s linked first below.Quoting:“The Colorado State Board of Land Commissioners (State Land Board) has approved the acquisition of the approximately 800-acre Lake Fork Ranch, located just west of Leadville in Lake County.”Governor Polis, DNR Director Dan Gibbs, and State Land Board Director Nicole Rosmarino all gushed about the new acquisition. To save space, I attached their quotes from the press release as screenshot 1. The quotes here, touting success for rural communities (Polis) and preserving agricultural use (Gibbs), put me in mind of an earlier rundown of the Nat...
Read More
Gabel: State land board pick once cheered eco-terrorism—now she could control 2.8M acres
No Comments
Approved, denvergazette.com, State

Gabel: State land board pick once cheered eco-terrorism—now she could control 2.8M acres

By Rachel Gabel | Commentary, Denver Gazette Much of the land around Vail that is now developed as resorts, ski slopes, and golf courses first belonged to sheep ranchers with Greek roots. By the 1960s, development was pushing them out of the valley and activists were bemoaning the negative effect on wildlife that took place when livestock grazing was replaced by progress. In 1998, Vail Resorts was on the cusp of developing 2,2oo acres of backcountry. The plan riled activists, especially those devoted to preserving the habitats of elk and Canada Lynx that thrived before development came to town. Members of the radical Earth Liberation Front (ELF) and the now-defunct Rocky Mountain Animal Defense (RMAD) marched and chanted through Vail with police on their tails, wielding decibel me...
Read More
Gaines: Polis’ picks for land board proves Colorado’s gone to the wolves
No Comments
Approved, Commentary, State, Substack

Gaines: Polis’ picks for land board proves Colorado’s gone to the wolves

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project I wrote about Polis advisor Nicole Rosmarino being the sole finalist for the directorship of the State Land Board recently. That newsletter is linked first below if you want or need context.On the heels of that newsletter, I got a message from a reader alerting me to the other two appointments that Governor Polis made to the State Land Board--this is the same board mind you that makes decisions on grazing leases, mineral-extraction (oil/gas) leases, and provides revenue to schools--Mark Harvey from Pitkin County and James Pribyl from Louisville. Harvey was appointed to fill the agriculture seat on the board and Pribyl the citizen-at-large seat.If the name Pribyl sounds familiar, you're not alone. He was a former member of the ...
Read More

FD863768-0ACF-495E-9D21-2EF784DFFA6B[1]

Join us at RMV's Freedom Festival

Click Here for Tickets!

This will close in 0 seconds