Author: I-70 Scout

BURLINGTON, CO – The Colorado Division of Fire Prevention & Control (DFPC) will be hosting an incident management/response exercise at the South Republican State Wildlife Area (SWA) north of Burlington, CO from Monday, May 6, 2024, to Wednesday, May 8, 2024. Participating agencies will be exercising their ability to respond to a mock scenario revolving around a wildland fire in the SWA that threatens to impact historical sites and has the potential to cross over into the state of Kansas. DFPC and other state and local emergency responders will participate in the exercise, which will be conducted as realistically as possible to mimic DFPC and local participation in an expanding wildland fire incident. Residents can expect to see multiple emergency vehicles in the area of US Highway 385 and County Road 2 during the exercise. This exercise was designed to practice coordination between DFPC, local and other State agencies and to build incident management capacity for wildfire and all-hazard incidents throughout the region. An emphasis will be placed on incident management processes and procedures. “It’s important to conduct ongoing training and exercise with our state and local partners,” explained Phil Daniels, Deputy Chief of the Wildland Fire Management Section at DFPC. “These multi-agency exercises keep skills and abilities sharp and allow participants to work through processes and procedures in an environment that isn’t as stressful or has the consequences of real life.” In addition to DFPC, exercise participants include: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Boulder Fire-Rescue Black Forest Fire Rescue Four Mile Fire Department Security Fire Department Kansas Forest Service El Paso County Incident Management Team Colorado Springs Utilities Colorado Parks and Wildlife For additional information or media inquiries, please contact Tracy LeClair at (970) 841-9230.

I-70 will be closed in both directions for two nights between Colfax Avenue and Tower Road in Aurora on May 2 and May 3. These closures will allow crews to place a pedestrian bridge over the interstate just east of Tower Rd. Eastbound traffic will be directed off of I-70 at the Tower Rd exit then will follow the detour south on Tower Rd and east on Colfax Ave. to return to I-70. Westbound traffic will be directed to exit I-70 at Colfax Ave. and will follow the detour west on Colfax Ave. then North on Tower Rd. to return to I-70. The closure will take place during nighttime hours on Thursday and Friday from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. Detour signage will be in place to guide traffic around the closure during this time.

This work is part of the Aurora High Line Canal Trail improvement project, further activities will continue through its anticipated completion in spring 2024. Project information can be found at AuroraGov.org/HLCT.

Collared gray wolf activity recorded by Colorado Parks and Wildlife from March 26 to April 23, 2024. A larger map is linked below and available at cpw.state.co.us. DENVER—An updated map was published today on Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s (CPW) website to continue informing the public, recreationists, and livestock producers on where collared wolves have been in the past month. CPW will update this map with new information monthly to reflect data for the past 30 days or so, produced on the fourth Wednesday of every month. Colorado Parks and Wildlife – Collared Gray Wolf Activity Map – April 2024 CPW also launched a new Gray Wolf Depredation Report webpage to inform the public about confirmed livestock depredations by wolves in Colorado. This page will be updated each time CPW staff investigates and confirms a new depredation event.   Updates: This map was created using GPS data from all functioning collars in Colorado. Two of the ten collars placed on wolves translocated in December are no longer providing signals to CPW biologists. This includes the collar that failed in March and an additional collar that was partially functional in March but has since failed. The animals with the failed collars are traveling with other animals with functional collars, which currently allows CPW to monitor those animals. CPW has confirmed that the animals with the malfunctioning collars are still alive based on visual confirmation from an airplane. Movements of reintroduced wolves have been confirmed in watersheds east of the Continental Divide and onto the Front Range. This will be the last press release announcing Collared Gray Wolf Activity Map updates. The website will continue to be updated with recent activity on the fourth Wednesday of every month. Sign up for CPW’s Gray Wolf Reintroduction Enews to stay informed. Statement from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: On April 18, 2024, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service became aware of a deceased gray wolf in Larimer County, CO. As a federally listed species under the Endangered Species Act, the Service is investigating and has sent the carcass for a necropsy to determine the cause of death. Initial evidence suggests that this wolf likely died of natural causes, but a final determination will not be made until the necropsy is completed. This wolf was one of the ten recently released by Colorado Parks and Wildlife in December 2023, and the Service is working cooperatively with CPW in our investigation. No additional details are available at this time. This is an active investigation, and all inquiries on this topic should go to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service PIO Joseph Szuszwalak (). About the GPS collar data Currently, the collars are programmed to record a position every four hours. Once four locations are recorded, the packet of four locations is then transmitted via satellite to CPW biologists. Some factors, such as dense cloud cover and closed terrain, can delay the frequency of position recording and data transmission. By looking at the data, CPW staff can learn where wolves have been, but they cannot tell where wolves are at a current point in time, nor can they predict where the wolves will go. To protect the wolves, specific GPS data will not be shared. This map depicts watersheds where collared wolves in Colorado have been for the past 28 days. A watershed is a geographic unit that drains water into a specific water body. These are also known as Hydrologic Unit Codes (HUC). Information is shared at the HUC 10 level. Watersheds are the appropriate mapping unit to display wolf activity information because wolves are far more likely to use geographic features to affect their distribution than they are political boundaries. The HUC 10 scale provides detailed information that can help agricultural producers be informed of the general areas where wolf activity is known to exist without being too general (i.e., as a county-level map would be) and also is not so specific to risk the protection of individual wolves (as a finer scale HUC12 map would be). Learn more about  HUCs at https://water.usgs.gov/GIS/huc.html. For a watershed to indicate wolf activity, at least one GPS point from the wolf collars was recorded within the watershed’s boundaries. Because a watershed indicates wolf activity, it does not mean that a wolf or wolves are present throughout the entire watershed or that they are currently in it.  In order to protect the welfare of the wolves, CPW may buffer public-facing maps during sensitive times of the year (e.g., breeding, denning, or other sensitive times). Through immigration from other states, potential collar failure or loss, and the natural reproduction of pups, the proportion of wolves with collars transmitting data will be reduced over time. Therefore, the accuracy of this map will diminish over time as the activity of uncollared wolves may not be included in it. The long-term intention is to maintain at least two collars in each pack. To learn more about wolves in Colorado, visit the CPW Wolves in Colorado website to find a variety of educational materials. Online resources include: Living With Wolves brochure  Producers Guide to Livestock Depredations; Una guía para el productor sobre la depredación del ganado​ (En Español)​​  Coyote or Gray Wolf: How to Spot the Differences flyer  Wolf Resource Guide: Hands-on Resource to Reduce Depredations  Keeping your pets safe where wolves are present Listen to a recent episode of the Colorado Outdoors Podcast, “The Colorado Gray Wolf Reintroduction.” In this episode, we hear from our Colorado Parks and Wildlife team members actively engaged in reintroducing gray wolves in Colorado. Tune in as they share their experiences, recounting their work in Oregon, where wolves were captured for relocation to Colorado, and from the release sites in Colorado.

Guard Space unit at Greeley Air National Guard Station hosts open house for community, partners

BUCKLEY SPACE FORCE BASE, Colo. – The 233rd Space Group, Colorado Air National Guard, will host an open housefor Northern Colorado communities at Greeley Air National Guard Station, Greeley, Colorado, from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., April 30, 2024.

The open house event will serve as an opportunity to learn about the GANGS and meet key leaders from the community and the Colorado National Guard.

“Greeley Air National Guard Station and the 233rd Space Group have a huge local, state and national level impact, yet many in the community don’t know we’re here, what we do or how we can contribute,” U.S. Air Force Col. Stephanie Figueroa, 233rd commander, said. “As an Air National Guard unit, it’s important to me and the Airmen of the 233rd that we continue to serve the communities we live in by building partnerships locally and sharing and capitalizing on their expertise.”

The 233rd is comprised of nearly 400 Airmen consisting of dual status technicians, Active Guard and Reserve, and traditional guard members. Its mission is to provide the National Command Authority and the joint war fighter with vital global missile warning and attack information through a mobile, survivable and endurable capability.

These space professionals, along with 600 more based in 7 states, one territory, and the District of Columbia, who perform or support space missions every day, remain unaligned with the U.S. Space Force.  Establishing a Space National Guard will integrate NG space units and align efforts under one service, reduce bureaucracy, enable common space warfighter culture, and can be accomplished within existing NG resources.  The alternative of transferring these ANG units to the USSF would cost taxpayers about $1B.

The 233d Space Group is comprised of the 138th Space Control Squadron, 137th Space Warning Squadron, 233d Space Communications Squadron, 233d Security Forces Squadron, and 233d Logistics Readiness Flight.

Attendees will have the opportunity to meet with CONG leadership, state and local community leaders, government officials and representatives from police and fire departments, school leaders, members of the American Legion, National Fire Service, and Chambers of Commerce.

Registration is required for all attendees. Please visit: https://tinyurl.com/GANGSopenhouse

In the case of inclement weather, the event will be rescheduled to May 2, 2024.

MONTROSE, Colo. – At a hybrid meeting in Montrose, the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission will open for consideration changes to allow the use of artificial light for wolves causing damage, allowing pooled grazers to apply for wolf permits and compensation, and defining domestic bison as livestock. The Commission will also consider the adoption of all limited license numbers for black bear, deer, elk, pronghorn and moose for all game management units in the state that have limited licenses for these species for the 2024 big game seasons. The second step of a three-step process considering changes to the 5-year big game season structure for 2025-2029 is also on the agenda. The Commission will also consider adopting regulations for disqualification factors when participating in the Landowner Preference Program under CRS 33-4-103 and adopting regulations to implement SB23-059, Local Access Funding to State Parks and Wildlife Areas. The meeting is scheduled to begin at 8 a.m. on Wed., May 1 and recess at 2 p.m. The Commission will reconvene at 8 a.m. on Thur., May 2 and adjourn at 5:20 p.m. The meeting will be streamed live on CPW’s YouTube page. Additional agenda items include: Department of Natural Resources Update Department of Agriculture Update Financial Update Ute Mountain Ute and Southern Ute Indian Tribes – Brunot Treaty Area and Tribal Hunting Wolverine Update Wolf Update Ridgway State Park Update 2025 OHV Grant Recommendations Discussion of Commission Officer Elections Colorado Wildlife Habitat Program Draw Process Workshop A complete agenda along with all materials for this meeting can be found on the CPW website for public review. The public is encouraged to email written comments to the commission at . Details on providing public comments for hybrid meetings are available on the CPW website. The Commission meets regularly and travels to communities around the state to facilitate public participation. Anyone can listen to commission meetingsthrough the CPW website. This opportunity keeps constituents informed about the development of regulations and how the commission works with Colorado Parks and Wildlife staff to manage the parks, wildlife and outdoor recreation programs administered by the agency. Find out more about the commission on the CPW website.

(COLO)–The Colorado State Patrol wants all Coloradoans to be safe on the roadways regardless of their choice to use legal, impairing substances. Any drug, whether alcohol or marijuana, affects a motorist’s ability to drive safely. While many myths surround the impacts of marijuana and driving, marijuana affects areas of a person’s brain that control bodily movements. These impacts can include balance, coordination, slower reaction to hazards, impaired cognitive performance, and judgment. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration conducted a study of drivers involved in serious injury or fatal crashes from 2019 to 2021 and found about 26% of the drivers in the study had active THC, or marijuana, in their bodies at the time of the crash. If you have plans to participate in the use of cannabis or other impairing substances on 4/20, practice responsibility as you celebrate. Make a plan not to drive and enjoy one of the options available to maintain a safe roadway system for everyone: Assign a trusted designated driver who will not drink or use drugs when going out with a group of people you know. Arrange a ride home from someone who has not been drinking alcohol and/or using drugs, using a rideshare service, or calling a taxi. Plan on taking public transportation. The most important thing you can do is to not drive and remind your friends and family to do the same – make a plan together.

Residents can celebrate Earth Day by signing up for recycling at their homes, a service now available in all parts of unincorporated Adams County.

In February, the Board of County Commissioners (BoCC) unanimously approved an ordinance that requires all trash collection providers operating in unincorporated Adams County to offer curbside recycling services to their residential and commercial customers. The ordinance does not mandate what trash providers can charge for recycling services paid by the resident or business.

Extensive research and community input found lack of convenient access to recycling services in unincorporated parts of the county was a top barrier to diverting waste from the landfill. In a residential survey, respondents overwhelmingly reported recycling was a worthwhile effort and believed Adams County should do more to increase access to recycling services and programs in unincorporated areas. Only 30% of the survey respondents believed households in their community had access to convenient recycling services.

“Residents told us recycling is important to them, but many in unincorporated Adams didn’t have access to services at their homes. Now, those residents can enroll in curbside recycling through their preferred trash collection company if they choose,” said BoCC Chair, Emma Pinter. “What a great way to celebrate Earth Day, signing up for a recycling service for the first time!”

The development of the Waste Hauler Licensing Ordinance is part of Adams County’s efforts to increase recycling and waste diversion rates across unincorporated areas from approximately 16% in 2022, to 40% by 2034. The county’s efforts align with the Sustainable Adams County 2030 Plan and the state’s goal of 39% waste diversion by 2026, and 51% diversion by 2036 along the Front Range.

Adams County received a grant from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment’s Front Range Waste Diversion (FRWD) program to pursue this project and develop the Solid Waste Hauler Licensing Ordinance.

Residents and businesses in unincorporated Adams County should contact their waste hauler to find out more about curbside recycling services and costs. More information about recycling and other waste reduction initiatives can be found at adcogov.org/recycling-and-waste-diversion.

Arapahoe County and the Sheriff’s Office invite residents to join a conversation with County representatives 

   

ARAPAHOE COUNTY, CO—April 8, 2024— Arapahoe County District Three Commissioner Jeff Baker along with special guests, Animal Services Field Supervisor Alyssa Haden and Arapahoe County Sheriff Kenneth C. McKlem, Bureau Chief, Public Safety, invite residents for a Conversation with the Commissioner on Wednesday, April 10, from 6-7:30 p.m. 

During this informal conversation, Baker, McKlem and Haden will provide updates in response to requests from residents in eastern Arapahoe County who are concerned about law enforcement and animal service issues. Following a brief presentation, they will answer questions from the public. 

Who:                                 Arapahoe County Commissioner Jeff Baker, Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office Bureau Chief Kenneth McKlem and Alyssa Haden, Animal Services Field Supervisor 

What:                                Conversation with the Commissioner 

When:                              Wednesday, April 10, 2024, from 6-7:30 p.m. 

Where:                             American Legion in Byers, 278 W. Front St. Byers, CO 80103 

Photo Opportunities:    Commissioner Baker, Bureau Chief McKlem, and Supervisor Hayden from the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office meeting with community members 

The Morgan Community College (MCC) Fort Morgan campus will provide limited services on Friday, April 12, from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM due to scheduled professional development training for faculty and staff. During this time, MCC Student Services staff will be available in the Welcome Center, located by entering Cottonwood Hall from the east side of campus or by phone at (970) 542-3100.  The Center locations in Bennett, Burlington, Limon, and Wray will be closed.

The campus will resume normal operations and reopen on Monday, April 15, 2024, at 8:00 a.m.

MCC appreciates the community’s understanding and apologizes for any inconvenience.