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Tag: Western Slope

Colorado Delegation Unites to Demand $140M Water Funds Release
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State, Approved, The Colorado Sun

Colorado Delegation Unites to Demand $140M Water Funds Release

By Shannon Mullane | The Colorado Sun The state’s congressional delegation sent a bipartisan letter to federal agencies, calling on them to fund Colorado River drought-response projects. Colorado’s entire congressional delegation, Republicans and Democrats alike, is calling for the release of $140 million in frozen funds for Colorado River water projects. In January, the last days of the Biden administration, the Bureau of Reclamation awarded funding for 17 projects as part of the federal drought-response effort in the overstressed Colorado River Basin. Three days later, President Donald Trump issued sweeping executive orders that aimed to reshape federal spending priorities to match his administration’s policies. The Colorado projects were caught in the maelstrom. Co...
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Colorado Tourism Growth Pulls Back with Booking Dips and Flat Spending
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State, Approved, The Colorado Sun

Colorado Tourism Growth Pulls Back with Booking Dips and Flat Spending

By Jason Blevins | The Colorado Sun Colorado hosted 95.4 million visitors who spent $28.4 billion in 2024, an increase largely from day-trippers. The state is worrying about a decline in international visitors who stay longer, spend more. After several years of record-setting traffic, it appears Colorado’s Western Slope tourism economy has hit a plateau. Some communities are even reporting declines in visitor traffic and spending, marking the first slowdown since the pandemic. State tourism officials started warning a softening tourism market last year as vacationer traffic into the state ebbed. Last year Colorado hosted 95.4 million visitors who spent $28.4 billion. That’s up 2.1 million visitors from the crowd that spent $28.3 billion in 2023. Most of that increase in visits las...
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Governor Polis Gets an Earful from Rural Towns Tired of Being Ignored
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State, Approved, Colorado Politics

Governor Polis Gets an Earful from Rural Towns Tired of Being Ignored

By Hap Fry | Colorado Politics STEAMBOAT SPRINGS • Once upon a time, Marsha Daughenbaugh supported Gov. Jared Polis from her working cattle and hay ranch some 8 miles outside of Steamboat. “Let me preface this,” Daughenbaugh said, while making day-before preparations for a Fourth of July gathering for family and friends, before pausing and adding, “I voted for Governor Polis the first go around, but I’ve become very disappointed in what he has become and what his approach to agriculture has been.” “I feel like he has a much deeper, more urban interest in his heart,” Daughenbaugh said. “I was born and raised here,” said the well-spoken 72-year-old rancher. “My folks worked very, very hard to put this ranch together. I believe deeply in agriculture. We all have to do what we can ...
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‘This is no longer an agriculture-friendly environment’: Colorado ranchers slam Polis agenda
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Colorado Politics, Approved, State

‘This is no longer an agriculture-friendly environment’: Colorado ranchers slam Polis agenda

By Rachael Wright | Colorado Politics Ranchers and farmers assess Polis administration Janie VanWinkle is contemplating something she never thought she’d ever consider — selling the family ranch after four generations of living and working in Colorado. “The political environment is so toxic that if we do speak up at all, it falls on deaf ears,” said VanWinkle, a Western Slope rancher. “This is no longer an agriculture-friendly environment or atmosphere. Five years ago, I could never imagine having this conversation with my family.” Colorado's agricultural industry is the state's second-largest economic driver, accounting for more than $47 billion in activity and employing more than 195,000 people. The export of Colorado cattle as of 2024 generated nearly $4.5 billion, making Co...
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Colorado insurance division warns of 28% hike—Democrats blame Congress, not policy
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Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Colorado insurance division warns of 28% hike—Democrats blame Congress, not policy

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics Health insurance for the individual market in Colorado could increase by 28% for 2026, according to the Colorado Division of Insurance. And the rate for the Western Slope could be even higher, averaging as much as 38%, the division said on Wednesday. Rate filings will become public on Friday. The division attributed the above-average increases to President Donald Trump’s federal tax bill, recently passed by Congress. "These circumstances are not unique to Colorado, and other states will likely have similar increases," the division said in a statement Wednesday. The driver for those increases is the loss of financial assistance that helps people afford health insurance, and which also puts downward pressure on premium rates. That assis...
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Western Slope river channel tests positive for invasive and ‘devastating’ zebra mussels—again
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, Local

Western Slope river channel tests positive for invasive and ‘devastating’ zebra mussels—again

By Michael Booth | Colorado Sun New rounds of samples for the voracious creatures keep turning up positive, complicating containment The Colorado River is now officially “positive” for invasive zebra mussels in the latest failure of containment for the voracious species, after three new samples came up with larvae July 3, from between Glenwood Springs and Silt. The main stem Colorado River discoveries piled on top of a confirmed “large number” of adult zebra mussels in a private body of water in western Eagle County, and two more positive larvae tests, at Highline Lake and Mack Mesa Lake, both near the Utah border, Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials said Wednesday. Sampling was redoubled throughout June after tests found a single zebra mussel larvae, or veliger, in the Colorado...
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State board to hear Front Range concerns over Western Slope’s $99M Shoshone river deal
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

State board to hear Front Range concerns over Western Slope’s $99M Shoshone river deal

By Shannon Mullane | Colorado Sun Front Range providers and others will voice their concerns in September about the Western Slope’s plan to purchase the historic and highly coveted water rights tied to Shoshone Power Plant Colorado’s top water board unanimously agreed Tuesday to hear out Front Range water operators’ concerns about a Western Slope plan to purchase historic Colorado River water rights. The Colorado River Water Conservation District, which represents 15 Western Slope counties, negotiated a $99 million deal to purchase water rights tied to the century-old Shoshone Power Plant, owned by a subsidiary of Xcel Energy.  The River District and the Front Range groups — Aurora Water, Denver Water, Colorado Springs Utilities and Northern Water — all want to maintain th...
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Anderson: On Flag Day, let’s remember what still holds us together
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Approved, Commentary, National, Top Stories

Anderson: On Flag Day, let’s remember what still holds us together

By Nina Anderson | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice With Flag Day approaching, I took a moment to swap out the American flags at our home—a tradition we've kept ever since our son joined the Navy nearly three years ago. That decision changed how we saw everyday things. Since then, that flag hasn’t come down once. It stays up through wind, rain, and snow. We fly it for him, and for what he represents. We were raised to treat that flag with respect, because it stood for something bigger than ourselves. So no, changing it out isn’t just a chore. It’s a way of showing we still care. It's an act of gratitude and principle. Such dignity is shown by never allowing it to touch the ground, ensuring it is properly illuminated if flown at night, and when it becomes too worn, it should ...
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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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Multiple wolf attacks hit Western Slope ranchers—CPW accused of broken promises
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Approved, Local, The Colorado Sun

Multiple wolf attacks hit Western Slope ranchers—CPW accused of broken promises

By Tracy Ross | Colorado Sun Three ranches near where wolves were released in January say Colorado Parks and Wildlife is not keeping its promise to let them know when the collared animals are near Ranchers are calling multiple wolf attacks on cattle over Memorial Day weekend in Pitkin County “devastating” and evidence Colorado Parks and Wildlife is failing to keep its promise to alert ranchers when wolves are in range of their livestock.   The attacks occurred over three days on the Crystal River Ranch, in the Crystal River Valley, and on the Lost Marbles and McCabe ranches, in the Roaring Fork Valley.  The first happened early Friday morning on the Crystal River Ranch, according to Tom Harrington, manager of the ranch and president of the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association....
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