Agreement reflects joint efforts to reduce harmful air pollution in Colorado communities
DENVER (July 25, 2022)- The Department of Justice, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the State of Colorado today announced a settlement with DCP Operating Company LP and five other subsidiaries of DCP Midstream LP that will strengthen leak detection and repair practices at eight natural gas processing plants in Weld County, Colorado, located within the Denver Metro/North Front Range Ozone Nonattainment Area.
The settlement was filed today in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado along with a complaint that alleges DCP violated leak detection and repair requirements in federal and state clean air laws, resulting in excess emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOC) and other pollutants to the atmosphere. As part of the settlement, DCP will take corrective actions and pay a $3.25 million civil penalty for the alleged violations.
“Leaks from equipment like valves, pumps, and connectors are a significant source of harmful air pollutants,” said Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division.“Enforcement actions like this are critical to improving air quality, particularly in places facing air quality challenges like Weld County.”
“EPA continues to deliver cleaner air through the rigorous enforcement of the Clean Air Act,” said EPA Regional Administrator KC Becker. “This settlement will reduce emissions of over 288 tons of volatile organic compounds and 1,300 tons of methane from production areas near northern Colorado communities, a majority of which are disproportionately impacted by pollution.”
“The Air Pollution Control Division’s Leak Detection and Repair Program is among the most innovative programs in the nation. Because of our inspectors and enforcement action team, we are able to hold DCP accountable to reducing their emissions from potential leaks,” said Jill Hunsaker Ryan, Executive Director of the Colorado Department of Public Health and the Environment (CDPHE). “The resources obtained from the settlement will help contribute to our Community Impact Fund, a program which supports community-led environmental justice projects.”
“The Colorado Attorney General’s Office is proud to support the Air Pollution Control Division in this important work to protect and improve Colorado’s air quality, particularly in communities disproportionately impacted by air pollution,” said Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser. “This settlement serves as a model for addressing complex issues through collaboration between our state agencies and federal counterparts like EPA and the Department of Justice.”
Under the settlement, DCP has agreed to strengthen its leak detection and repair practices at the Greeley, Kersey/Mewbourne, Platteville, Roggen, Spindle, O’Connor and Lucerne natural gas processing plants, as well as the to-be-constructed Bighorn natural gas processing plant. These commitments include installing equipment that leaks less pollution to the atmosphere, reviewing compliance with leak detection and repair requirements, and repairing leaking equipment faster. DCP will also improve staff training for leak detection and repair at its facilities. Additionally, DCP has agreed to use optical gas imaging technology to improve the visual detection of leaks and address them quickly.
DCP will also install additional pollution reduction measures at the Kersey/Mewbourne natural gas processing plant that are intended to mitigate the harm caused by its past emissions. Specifically, DCP will install a dry seal recompression system on two turbines at the Kersey/Mewbourne plant. This project will cost an estimated $1.15 million and is expected to reduce VOC emissions by 26 tons per year and methane emissions by 375 tons per year.
The Denver Metro/North Front Range nonattainment area, which includes Weld County, does not meet national air quality standards for ground-level ozone pollution. Equipment leaks at DCP’s plants emit VOCs, which lead to the formation of ground-level ozone. Ozone contributes to serious public health concerns, including respiratory illness, aggravation of existing heart disease and temporary breathing difficulty for people with asthma. Young children and the elderly are especially sensitive to these impacts. Leaks from equipment at DCP’s plants also emit methane, a powerful greenhouse gas.
Working with CDPHE, EPA’s enforcement program is increasing efforts in Colorado to ensure compliance and protect the health of vulnerable populations. Several of the natural gas processing plants covered under this settlement are located in disproportionately impacted communities.
The consent decree is available for public viewing at https://www.justice.gov/enrd/press-room. The United States will publish a notice of the Consent Decree’s lodging with the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado in the Federal Register, and will accept public comment for 30 days after the notice is published. The Federal Register notice will also include instructions for submitting public comment.
DENVER – Governor Polis is encouraging Coloradans to safely celebrate the 146th annual Colorado Day this Monday, August 1. Colorado Day is celebrated on August 1st, the day Colorado joined the union and officially became a state in 1876. The Governor invites Coloradans to take part in safely celebrating Colorado in their communities and in their lives.
“Colorado day is an opportunity to celebrate our beautiful state, support our small businesses, visit one of our world-class state parks for free, and experience everything Colorado has to offer,” said Gov Polis. “We will continue doing everything we can to save people money and to build a Colorado for all.”
On August 1st,entrance to all state parksis free, and beginning in January, annual state park pass prices will be cut by more than half. Visit any ofthe 42 state parks across Colorado and appreciate the world-class outdoors. The History Colorado museum is also offering free admission and providing fun activities and attractions to learn about Colorado history. To register and see more details visit their site. Other museums, venues and entities are offering a variety of ways to celebrate Colorado Day.
Coloradans can take advantage of the ‘Zero Fair for Better Air’ initiative offering free RTD transit beginning August 1st, Colorado Day, and lasting through the end of August. Governor Polis signed a bipartisan law waiving all RTD transit fares for the month of August to save people money and help improve air quality. The Pegasus and Bustang travel services which are a low-cost way to access mountain towns off of I-70 will continue to be half off normal fair prices.
The Governor’s Residence at Boettcher Mansion is hosting a Colorado Day event from 11:30 am to 2:00 pm offering free historical tours, a scavenger hunt around historical sites, will have food trucks and other Colorado vendors, and more. Please register in advance.
JetBlue Airways is buying Spirit Airlines for $3.8 billion in a deal that could increase competition at the top end of the U.S. airline industry while eliminating the largest discount airline for travelers on a tight budget.
The agreement announced Thursday capped bidding war that began in April, and it came one day after Spirit’s attempt to merge with rival discount carrier Frontier Airlines fell apart.
JetBlue and Spirit would become the fifth-largest U.S. carrier, with about 9% of the market. The combined airline would move much closer to the leaders _ American, United, Delta and Southwest _ while leaving the rest of the pack far behind.
The only major obstacle remaining is the U.S. Justice Department. Antitrust regulators in the Biden administration have been critical of mergers, which they believe hurt consumers by limiting competition. The Justice Department sued to block a partnership between JetBlue and American Airlines.
JetBlue’s case for regulatory approval rests on two main arguments: JetBlue says its reputation for lowering fares, together with the size of a JetBlue-Spirit combination, mean it could force bigger airlines to cut prices. And JetBlue has already volunteered to give up Spirit gates and takeoff and landing slots at airports in New York and Boston that could be given to smaller low-cost airlines, which would boost competition.
“The real issue here though is clearly what can we do in the U.S. to make a more competitive airline industry against the large, big four airlines,” JetBlue CEO Robin Hayes said in an interview. “We believe the most disruptive, the most effective thing that we can do is build a bigger JetBlue more quickly than we otherwise could.”
New York-based JetBlue won Spirit, but its stock barely moved Thursday and has dropped 43% since it jumped into the bidding in April. Other large airlines lost 17% to 28% in the same period.
Shares of Spirit, based in Miramar, Florida, rose 5.6% to close at $25.66, nearly $8 below the price that JetBlue is paying. Frontier, now positioned to become the largest U.S. discount carrier, soared 20.5% higher.
“I think shareholders are seeing this as a windfall. To be the low-cost carrier in the United States is huge,” said Frontier CEO Barry Biffle, who just spent nearly six months trying to merge his Denver-based airline with Spirit.
Spirit CEO Ted Christie was thrust into the awkward position of defending a sale that he fought against until the end. After arguing since April that regulators would never let JetBlue buy Spirit, he struggled Thursday to explain why he changed his mind.
“A lot has been said over the last few months obviously, always with our stakeholders in mind,” Christie said on CNBC. “We have been listening to the folks at JetBlue, and they have a lot of good thoughts on their plans” for convincing the regulators.
Hayes said Spirit planes will be converted to JetBlue’s configuration, which allows for more legroom and means there will be fewer seats for sale on each flight. He said JetBlue will increase the pay of Spirit employees.
JetBlue and Spirit have been talking for the past several weeks, mostly about things such as how Spirit can retain key employees while its fate is up in the air. The financial terms of the deal did not change after early July.
A series of mergers over the last 20 years led to four carriers dominating the U.S. market. Many consumer advocates worry that fares will rise after JetBlue takes over Spirit.
“Spirit is going to disappear, and with it, its low-cost structure,” said William McGee of the anti-merger American Economic Liberties Project. “There is no question that fares are going to go up.”
Diana Moss, president of the American Antitrust Institute, said competition would be eliminated on dozens of routes along the East Coast where JetBlue and Spirit now compete. She said the elimination of yet another small player “is going to be very harmful for consumers.”
But others see potential benefit from the deal.
“The larger airlines have carved up the nation, and there’s no real competition,” said Charlie Leocha, founder of the non-profit Travelers United group. “I really believe this (JetBlue-Spirit agreement) will provide JetBlue a chance to grow quickly, and having one more competitor will help consumers.”
Many analysts believe that Frontier, Allegiant, Sun Country and others can fill the gap left by Spirit in the low-fare segment, but it might take a few years.
Spirit and similar rivals Frontier and Allegiant charge rock-bottom fares that appeal to the most budget-conscious leisure travelers, although they tack on more fees that can raise the cost of flying. Spirit Airlines regularly ends up as the worst, or close to the worst, when airlines are ranked by the rate of consumer complaints.
JetBlue and Spirit will continue to operate independently until the agreement is approved by regulators and Spirit shareholders. The companies said they expect to close the deal no later than the first half of 2024. The combined airline would have 458 planes, be based in New York and led by Hayes.
JetBlue will pay $33.50 per share in cash for Spirit, including a prepayment of $2.50 per share in cash when Spirit shareholders approve the transaction. A ticking fee of 10 cents per share each month starting in January 2023 through closing would pay Spirit shareholders for any delay in winning regulatory approval.
If the deal doesn’t close due to antitrust reasons, JetBlue will pay Spirit a reverse break-up fee of $70 million and pay Spirit shareholders $400 million, minus any amount paid to the shareholders prior to termination.
JetBlue Airways has agreed to buy Spirit Airlines for $3.8 billion and create the nation’s fifth-largest airline if the deal can win approval from antitrust regulators.
The agreement Thursday capped a months-long bidding war and arrives one day after Spirit’s attempt to merge with fellow budget carrier Frontier Airlines fell apart.
Spirit CEO Ted Christie is being thrust into the awkward position of defending a sale to JetBlue after arguing vehemently against it, saying that antitrust regulators would never let it happen.
“A lot has been said over the last few months obviously, always with our stakeholders in mind,” Christie said on CNBC. “We have been listening to the folks at JetBlue, and they have a lot of good thoughts on their plans for that.”
JetBlue’s case for regulatory approval rests on two main arguments: That its size makes it better positioned to force bigger airlines to reduce fares; and that it has already volunteered to give up Spirit gates and takeoff and landing slots at key airports in New York, Boston and Florida.
JetBlue CEO Robin Hayes said those concessions will let other low-cost carriers, including Frontier, bolster their presence and thus increase competition.
“The real issue here though is clearly what can we do in the U.S. to make a more competitive airline industry against the large, big four airlines,” Hayes said in an interview. “We believe the most disruptive, the most effective thing that we can do is build a bigger JetBlue more quickly than we otherwise could.”
Together, JetBlue and Spirit would have about 9% of the U.S. air-travel market. American, United, Delta and Southwest control about 80% when international flights are included.
Hayes said Spirit planes will be converted to JetBlue’s configuration, which allows for more legroom and means there will be fewer seats for sale on each flight. He said JetBlue will increase the pay of Spirit employees.
JetBlue and Spirit have been talking for the past several weeks, mostly about things such as how Spirit can retain key employees while its fate is up in the air. The financial terms of the deal did not change after early July.
Shares of Spirit, based in Miramar, Florida, rose 4% in midday trading Thursday, to $25.31, still below the price that JetBlue is offering. JetBlue shares slipped 2%, and Frontier _ seen as benefitting if Spirit disappears as a discount competitor _ jumped 19%.
Spirit Airlines regularly ends up as the worst, or close to the worst, when airlines are ranked by the rate of consumer complaints. Still, some consumer advocates worry that fares will rise if it disappears.
Spirit and similar rivals Frontier and Allegiant charge rock-bottom fares that appeal to the most budget-conscious leisure travelers, although they tack on more fees that can raise the cost of flying.
“Spirit is going to disappear, and with it, its low cost structure,” said William McGee of the anti-merger American Economic Liberties Project. “Once Spirit is absorbed (into JetBlue), there is no question that fares are going to go up.”
Others, however, say that Frontier will grow _ it has a large number of planes on order _ and fill any gap left by Spirit in the cheapest segment of the air-travel market.
JetBlue and Spirit will continue to operate independently until the agreement is approved by regulators and Spirit shareholders, with their separate loyalty programs and customer accounts.
The companies said they expect to conclude the regulatory process and close the transaction no later than the first half of 2024. If that happens, the combined airline would be based in JetBlue’s hometown of New York and led by Hayes. It would have a fleet of 458 planes.
JetBlue said Thursday that it would pay $33.50 per share in cash for Spirit, including a prepayment of $2.50 per share in cash payable once Spirit stockholders approve the transaction. There is also a ticking fee of 10 cents per share each month starting in January 2023 through closing to compensate Spirit shareholders for any delay in winning regulatory approval.
If the deal doesn’t close due to antitrust reasons, JetBlue will pay Spirit a reverse break-up fee of $70 million and pay Spirit shareholders $400 million, minus any amounts paid to the shareholders prior to termination.
Spirit and Frontier announced their plan to merge in February, and Spirit’s board stood by that deal even after JetBlue made a higher-priced offer in April. However, Spirit’s board could never convince the airline’s shareholders to go along. A vote on the merger was postponed four times, then cut short Wednesday when Spirit and Frontier announced they were terminating their agreement, which made a Spirit-JetBlue coupling inevitable.
JetBlue anticipates $600 million to $700 million in annual savings once the transaction is complete. Annual revenue for the combined company is anticipated to be about $11.9 billion, based on 2019 revenues.
DENVER – An important public meeting where Colorado Parks and Wildlife will discuss hunting license allocation and preference points with hunters, among a host of other topics, will take place Thursday, Aug. 4 at the Northeast Region Sportsperson Caucus.
That meeting will be held in-person from 6-8 p.m. on the third floor of the Scheels in Johnstown (4755 Ronald Reagan Blvd.) on Aug. 4. It will also be streamed live via CPW’s statewide Facebook page, for those who are unable to attend in person.
Northeast Region Manager Mark Leslie and staff will be providing updates from CPW on hunting, angling and other topics within the region.
Attendees of the meeting will also be electing one delegate that will serve as a regional representative at the statewide Sportsperson’s Roundtable. This elected individual will be one of two representing the Northeast Region on important issues at the statewide level. Nominations for the regional delegates are currently being accepted and during the Aug. 4 meeting, voting will take place to elect the new delegate.
To apply to be a regional delegate, please email Margo Federico at . The deadline to apply is Monday, Aug. 1.
Regional delegates have the opportunity for direct communication with CPW and acting director Heather Dugan about hunting, fishing and other issues in the Northeast Region. Regional delegates will be expected to attend the statewide Sportsperson Roundtable that meets twice a year. The next statewide meeting is being held later in August.
CPW relies on the roundtable to help give guidance in setting policies, regulations and resource management.
During the Northeast Region Sportsperson’s Caucus, staff from CPW will also be providing general updates on the following topics, along with fielding questions from attendees:
Review of waterfowl in region and the waterfowl hunting season
Status update on Chronic Wasting Disease – focus on white-tail and mule deer on the northeast plains and its effect on license allocations and buck harvest.
A look at pheasant, quail and turkey populations.
Small-game walk-in access properties.
Pronghorn population status update.
CPW fishing access properties.
If you wish to submit questions in advance of the meeting to be sure your topic is covered, please email those to .
Who: CPW Northeast Region Sportsperson Caucus What: In-person meeting with live streaming available via CPW’s Facebook page When: Thursday, Aug. 4 | 6-8 p.m. Where: Scheels in Johnstown (4755 Ronald Reagan Blvd) on the third floor Info: Call 303-291-7227 for addition information
Jumbo Reservoir, State Wildlife Area, Colorado Walleye Association Tournament
Archive photo of Jumbo Reservoir (courtesy of Mandi Brandt/CPW)
BRUSH, Colo. – Colorado Parks and Wildlife is announcing an emergency public fish salvage at Jumbo (Julesburg) Reservoir effective immediately (Monday, July 25).
Due to high irrigation demand created by severe drought, the water level in Jumbo Reservoir is expected to decline to a point that will likely result in a loss of the entire fishery resource. Water levels are expected to be below the boat ramp in early August, which would eliminate access for trailer-launched boats.
The public salvage is being announced in order to optimize use of the fishery resource as outlined:
— The emergency fish salvage is permitted only at Jumbo (Julesburg) Reservoir from sunrise to one half hour after sunset. — All anglers must have a valid Colorado fishing license in accordance with state statutes. — No commercial angling is allowed. — Only angling methods that are currently legal at the reservoir are allowed. Learn more by clicking here. — Current size, bag, and possession limits for all species are suspended for Jumbo (Julesburg) Reservoir until the emergency public fish salvage is terminated. — Notification of the emergency public fish salvage opening and closure will be made through press releases, and signs will also be placed at the reservoir. — If weather conditions change and significant rain events occur near Jumbo Reservoir, CPW may rescind this public salvage. — No motorized vehicles, including dirt bikes, ATVs, or UTVs, are allowed on the lake bed. — The end date of the emergency public fish salvage will be announced by Colorado Parks and Wildlife.
If the fishery resource is lost, CPW plans to rebuild Jumbo’s fishery as soon as water levels allow, according to local fisheries biologist Mandi Brandt.
“It is very unfortunate to possibly lose such an incredible and popular fishery,” Brandt said. “The fishery plays an important role in the local economy. This public salvage provides a great opportunity for anglers to take advantage of the current resource in Jumbo Reservoir, which includes walleye, saugeye, crappie, yellow perch, smallmouth bass, bluegill and channel catfish.”
Fortunately, CPW has experience rebuilding fisheries and will plan on doing just that when adequate water levels return to Jumbo.
If the fishery at Jumbo needs to be rebuilt, anglers are encouraged to fish the other reservoirs on Colorado’s northeastern plains.
“North Sterling and Prewitt Reservoirs both have great walleye and crappie populations for anglers to utilize, and Jackson Reservoir is a great walleye and wiper fishery.”
Similar to all northeastern plains reservoirs, Jumbo Reservoir was constructed to store irrigation water for agricultural use. Water used to fill the reservoir is diverted from the South Platte River between the towns of Proctor and Crook, and flows through a 22-mile earthen inlet canal before reaching the reservoir.
First filled in 1907, Jumbo Reservoir is 115 years old. Since the primary function of Jumbo Reservoir is to store irrigation water, water levels routinely drop during the irrigation season. During a typical year, water levels are drawn down by approximately 15 feet. During dry years more water is needed for agricultural purposes, drastically reducing water levels and creating many fish management challenges.
Due to severe drought conditions, the reservoir was completely drained in the early fall of 2006. Severe drought conditions returned in 2012 and 2020, resulting in CPW initiating public fish salvages in those years.
General Information: Jumbo Reservoir is a 1,578 acre water (at full capacity) located on the Jumbo State Wildlife Area. Fishing pressure is moderate to high.
Location: Logan and Sedgwick Counties. From I-76 take Exit 155 and head 3 miles north to Hwy 138. Take Hwy 138 1 mile northeast to CR 95. Take CR 95 2 miles north to the reservoir.
Denver – Governor Jared Polis appointed by executive order Eden Vardy of Aspen, Richard Reading of Denver, and Gabriel Otero of Fruita to the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission on July 1, 2022. They serve terms that expire on July 1, 2026.
Vardy was reappointed to serve as a representative of production agriculture and a member west of the Continental Divide. He is the founder and executive director of The Farm Collaborative, a farm and nonprofit that connects children and the community to nature and their food sources, and engages the next generation to become the farmers of tomorrow.
Reading was appointed to serve as a representative of the public at large. He is the Vice President for Science and Conservation for the Butterfly Pavilion, the first stand-alone nonprofit insect zoo in the United States, where he oversees the Research and Conservation, Curatorial, and Horticulture departments.
Otero was appointed to serve as a representative of sportspersons and a member west of the Continental Divide. He is the Senior Campaign Specialist for the Wilderness Society, a nonprofit land conservation organization dedicated to protecting natural areas and federal public lands in the United States, where he develops and implements National Monument and Wildlife Refuge campaigns.
Reading and Otero replace commissioners Charles Garcia and Luke Schafer, who attended their last Commission meeting in Buena Vista in June. At the meeting, CPW Acting Director Heather Dugan expressed gratitude for the outgoing commissioners.
“I appreciate the perspectives you both brought which allowed me to look at things through your lens and see where you were coming from,” Dugan said. “Both of you have made CPW better and added to our history and I want to thank you for your service.”
The CPW Commission is a citizen board, composed of 11 governor-appointed members which sets regulations and policies for Colorado’s state parks and wildlife programs. For more information on the CPW Commission and existing members, visit cpw.state.co.us.
After two years of spiking real estate prices, mortgage rates, and rents, the housing affordability crisis in the U.S. is more apparent than ever. Policymakers, economic experts, and regular U.S. households have been searching for tools to alleviate the pressure of housing costs. Expanding manufactured housing is one possible solution.
The category manufactured housing includes housing units that are prefabricated in a factory and then transported to their ultimate destination. Because these units tend to have simple designs and materials that make them efficient to produce, they are often significantly less expensive than site-built homes. A 2021 report from the Manufactured Housing Institute found the average cost per square foot of a manufactured home was $57, less than half the $119 cost of a site-built home.
For lower and middle income families, this more affordable option has significant appeal. Currently, 22 million Americans live in manufactured homes, and manufactured homes represent around 1 in 10 new homes constructed in the U.S. each year. And the quality of manufactured homes has increased as well, with better materials, greater energy efficiency, and improved designs.
Manufactured home shipments have approximately doubled in the last decade, to around 120,000 per year. While today’s figure remains well below historic peaks, the growth over the last decade represents a reversal of decline that began in the late 1990s. The manufactured home industry suffered with homebuyers able to easily obtain mortgages in the housing bubble of the early 2000s but began making a comeback in the recovery from the Great Recession.
While manufactured homes remain relatively low-cost, the growing demand for manufactured housing–and for housing in general–has pushed prices higher in recent years. Since 2014, the average sale price of a manufactured home has grown by 79.4%, approximately equaling the 77.5% increase for all homes in the Zillow Home Value Index over the same span. Prices have risen even more steeply for manufactured homes just in the last two years amid the red-hot real estate market and supply chain challenges for manufacturers.
Manufactured housing varies in popularity across the U.S., but the South stands out for its higher concentration of manufactured homes. Fast-growing, high-population southern states like Texas, Florida, and North Carolina lead in the total number of manufactured home shipments annually. But as a share of all new single-family homes, top locations include lower-income states like Mississippi, West Virginia, and Kentucky whose residents may be more drawn to manufactured homes as an affordable option.
The data used in this analysis is from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Manufactured Housing Survey (MHS), the U.S. Census Bureau’s Building Permits Survey, and Zillow’s Home Value Index data. To determine the states investing most in manufactured housing, researchers at Construction Coverage calculated manufactured home shipments as a share of all new single-family homes in 2021 (the sum of manufactured home shipments and single-family housing units authorized by building permits). In the event of a tie, the state with more total manufactured home shipments was ranked higher.
The analysis found that in Colorado, 3.4% of all new single-family homes authorized in 2021 were manufactured units versus site-built. Out of all states, Colorado is investing the 8th least in manufactured housing. Here is a summary of the data for Colorado:
Manufactured homes as a share of all new single-family homes: 3.4%
Total manufactured home shipments: 1,015
Total site-built single-family home permits: 30,246
Average sale price of manufactured homes: $88,200
Median price across all homes: $589,634
For reference, here are the statistics for the entire United States:
Manufactured homes as a share of all new single-family homes: 9.5%
Total manufactured home shipments: 105,772
Total site-built single-family home permits: 1,115,360
Growing your own crops, herding your cattle, heating your bathwater on the stove — “The Pioneer Woman” star Ree Drummond proves that any city dweller can transition to self-sustaining rancher.
So, where in America could you live like a modern-day Laura Ingalls Wilder or Anne of Green Gables?
To come up with our ranking, we looked at eight different factors
Colorado‘s Rank in Some Key Metrics (1st = Best)
Wind Energy Use – 7th
“Best States to Start a Farm or Ranch” Rank – 9th
Percentage of Female Farm Producers – 9th
indicating a state’s friendliness toward farming (especially for women) and surviving off the grid.
State rankings
The upshot
Alone in the Lone Star State
If you dream of being a cowgirl (and isolating yourself from society), it doesn’t get better than Texas, our No. 1 Best State for Pioneer Women. Earning nearly 11 points more than Oklahoma, our silver medalist and Ree Drummond’s home state, the Lone Star State is most ideal for living off the grid.
Forget the generator — Texas leads in renewable energy use. The state produces the most wind energy (27% of the national total, in fact) and ranks only behind California in solar installations.
Farming or ranching promise to be a breeze here, too. Texas ranks an impressive fourth in this metric but loses points in the Female Farmer-Friendliness category for employing fewer women at its farms than in nearly half of the other states. Feel free to break that glass ceiling after breaking ground in Texas, ladies.
Pioneer for a Day in Utah
You’d think the only state to officially celebrate Pioneer Day would fare well in our ranking, but you’d be mistaken. The Beehive State — whose official state motto is “Industry” ironically because “early pioneers … had to rely on their own ‘industry’ to survive” — finished at a disappointing 44th place.
What went wrong? Some context is important here: Pioneer Day marks the day when the first Mormon pioneers settled the Salt Lake Valley in 1847. The holiday remembers the bravery of those settlers who sought freedom from religious persecution in Nauvoo, Illinois. In other words, it has little to do with celebrating the pioneer way of life.
Objectively speaking, Utah is not an ideal state for wannabe pioneer women. It ranked below average in nearly every metric except for solar energy use at No. 12. You can still be a Pioneer Woman in Utah — you’ll just need a lot more industry than you would in 43 other states.
Western (Front)ier and Center: Pioneer’s Paradise
Western and Central U.S. states clearly favor the Pioneer Woman lifestyle. Six of our top 10 states — such as Montana (No. 4), Colorado (No. 8), and Washington (No. 10) — lie in the West. Meanwhile, the other four make up part of the Central region. Iowa (No. 3) and Kansas (No. 9) are among them.
Many of the states in the upper half of our ranking are also prairie states, where the vegetation is dominated by grasses and shrubs and the climate is temperate. This combo makes these states best suited to farming and remote living.
Salty, Rusty States
Think twice before literally putting down roots in New England, Mid-Atlantic, and upper Midwest states like New York (No. 43), Pennsylvania (No. 50), and Indiana (No. 49). These states make up the super majority of our bottom 10.
They’re all part of a region known as the “Salt Belt” because of the heavy salt content on roads in winter. That salt ends up rusting many cars — hence the region’s other nickname, the “Rust Belt.”
Turns out this region is a bit rusty when it comes to welcoming pioneer women, too. It’s easy to blame the region’s poor rankings on its cold climate, but our worst states simply lack the right conditions for pioneer women.
There are some bright spots, though: Connecticut, New Jersey, and Rhode Island all rank high in share of female farmers. New York and Pennsylvania have plenty of big-box hardware stores, and New Jersey is among the top producers of solar energy.
Behind the ranking
For each of the 50 states, we first gathered publicly available data on the factors listed in the table below.
We then grouped those factors into two categories: Off-Grid Lifestyle-Friendliness and Female Farmer-Friendliness.
Next, we calculated weighted scores for each state in each category.
Finally, we averaged the scores for each city across both categories. The state that earned the highest average score is considered “Best” (No. 1), while the city with the lowest is “Worst” (No. 50).
Sources
Federal Housing Finance Agency, LawnStarter studies, national home improvement chains (Ace Hardware, Home Depot, Lowe’s, Menards, and True Value), Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy, Solar Energy Industries Association, and U.S. Department of Agriculture
Final thoughts: How to live like a Pioneer Woman
A quieter, simpler life is the promise of the new American frontier.
But going back to basics can be hard with such easy access to restaurants and grocery stores and modern comforts like cars, cellphones, and microwaves. (To be fair, Ree Drummond kept all of her gadgets.)
Whether you stay in the city or escape to your own patch of pastoral utopia, here are some ways to live more like a 21st-century Pioneer Woman:
1. Start an urban garden. If you hail from a concrete jungle, you can still grow your own fruits, vegetables, and herbs and even share your bounty with your neighbors. Build a container garden or vertical wall garden.
2. Compost your yard waste and food scraps.Composting is one of the easiest and cheapest ways to improve the quality of the soil in your backyard. You could even compost your grass clippings and use the nutrient-rich soil for your urban garden.
3. Raise chickens in your backyard. If you’re one of the lucky city dwellers to have a yard, consider keeping chickens for easy, free access to eggs. Check your city’s chicken ordinance beforehand to make sure you don’t step on any legal toes.
4. Cook from scratch. Ree Drummond is most popular for her downhome recipes. Take a page out of her cookbook and concoct a delicious dish in your own kitchen rather than eating out. Who knows, you might discover a hidden talent and become the next Food Network star.
5. Buy produce from farmer’s markets. Not only can you find fresher fruits and veggies from farmer’s markets, but you’ll also support your local farmers and minimize greenhouse gas emissions from shipping produce to your grocery store.
6. Learn wilderness survival skills. Hopefully you’ll never have to send a smoke signal to call for help. But if you pursue a remote life (as in “out in the wild,” not “working from home”), you’ll definitely want to learn how to rub two sticks to make a fire, so read up on basic survival tactics.
Weathered gifts fill a makeshift memorial Tuesday morning, Aug. 14 near South Sable Boulevard and East Centrepoint Drive. No formal plans for a memorial have been announced, but many expect the site near the Century Aurora 16 theater to become some sort of permanent fixture in Aurora. (Marla R. Keown/Aurora Sentinel)
By DAVE PERRY, Sentinel Editor
Ten years is not long enough.
A decade after James Holmes unleashed a new kind of horror on July 20, 2012 in Aurora, when he killed 12 people and physically maimed dozens more in the Aurora theater shooting, the anguish simmers just under the surface, surprising me still.
Time, as it turns out, does not heal all wounds.
That became apparent over the past few days as we collected our thoughts, memories and interviews into a package of material marking 10 years after the massacre. Calling it an “anniversary” seems obscene to me, like so many things have become after that day and the years since.
This recollection marks the 1,413th story filed by The Sentinel about the shooting, since that day. It’s been mountains of words and photographs that never seem to suffice.
I didn’t realize how close to the surface those July 20 emotions remain for me until I was talking with Heather Dearman last week about events planned for the decade commemoration. Neither of us made it through our brief conversation before we tried to keep on in choked-up voices.
Dearman’s cousin, Ashley Moser, was gravely injured during the shooting. Her daughter, Veronica, just 6, was killed. Since the shooting, Dearman has been an iconic force in creating the city’s stunning memorial to the shooting victims. She helps orchestrate events each year that focus on allowing everyone to heal in their own way, or in any way possible.
I don’t think that’s possible for me.
I first realized that during a journalism conference several years ago. I was on a panel focusing on how newsrooms handle disaster stories. Sadly, Colorado newsrooms have had plenty of experience with calamities over the years. Things like wildfires and other disasters seem to regularly turn a host of Colorado newsrooms into something akin to war rooms.
My fellow journalists talked about the grueling hours that follow disasters. This, in an industry that already mercilessly blurs the professional and personal lives of all its disciples.
As disaster unfolds, reporters deal with information blockades, unrelenting tension and in some cases, fear. Colorado journalists are a storied lot, regularly involved in the kind of events that make reporters’ hearts quicken and people draw near.
On July 20, 2012, as the police scanner was crackling in the dark newsroom when I shuffled in, I knew the drill.
In the almost 30 years I’ve been doing this, I’ve had too many occasions to wallow in the funk of death. Traffic deaths. Shooting deaths. Deaths from disease. Death from weird accidents. Deaths from war. The stench of death hangs on people and places like mildew. It never ceases to be offensive or less shocking.
In time, it fades but never completely goes away.
Dealing with death as a journalist is like being part of a show. I couldn’t possibly pose questions to a parent who’s lost their son in battle or a lake drowning — for the sake of a story. But I have often portrayed a reporter who could and did.
Many times I have played the journalist horrified by the details of a calamity but still write a story or flesh out details, like with the Aurora Chuck E. Cheese’s shootings, or the 1998 Labor Day massacre and the Columbine massacre.
I’ve raced around death unfazed to make changes in style, in fact, and on time. Sometimes, after playing the part of the stolid reporter, I’ve made morbid banter about the situation or simply looked past the grisly reality, only to toss around tough talk later on.
July 20 was like nothing I’ve ever encountered in so many ways. The shocking proximity and sheer gruesomeness of the massacre came close to being overwhelming, but it wasn’t. That came later.
Aurora Police Chief Dan Oates encourages continued support for the families of the massacre victims Tuesday afternoon, July 24 at the Bozarth Auto Dealership near South Havana Street and East Asbury Avenue. Ed Bozarth, his family, and partners donated three separate checks totaling $50,000 to the victims’ families, the Aurora Police Department and the Aurora Fire Department. (Marla R. Keown/Aurora Sentinel)
The newsroom that day wasn’t a cacophony of commands and movie cliches. It was fearsomely silent. With clenched jaws and darting eyes, about 15 of us scrambled to relay layers of horror as they unfolded at the theater, at Holmes’ apartment and his former school on Anschutz.
Despite the complexity of covering the event, the chaos, the magnitude of the horror, and the endlessly ringing phones, we all stayed in character. Staffers at The Sentinel gave flawless performances of journalists under the gun.
No doubt we all carried off mountains of anguish from the task of wallowing in the stench of so much atrocity and death for so long, but relief in the form of a few stolen sobs, a lot of deep breaths and a little restless dozing made the show possible for endless hours when no one left.
And then days went by. Victims’ stories turned into obituaries. Then weeks passed and the details about guns, insanity, donations and the crime scene turned into another court story. Time, so it seemed, had grown over the raw fear and pain from my role as a newspaper editor in one of those places where these kinds of things happen. We spend every day for months covering the gruesome and grueling trial.
I confused being numb with being healed.
So I was taken aback when I picked up my cue at a conference and launched into my lines about what happened in Aurora, in our newsroom.
Without warning, it was July 20 again. It was kids we knew crawling away from a ferocious gunman across dead bodies and pools of blood in a smoky dark theater just steps from our newsroom. It was cops I knew who dragged dying kids the same age as my daughter to chaotic emergency rooms in a scene reserved for wars or terrorist attacks.
It was Tom Sullivan’s face at Gateway High School, just hours after the shooting. He and his family raced to the front of the school, choked with people sent there by police and families desperate to find their loved ones. Tom was frantically waving around a photo of his son, Alex. He was near hysteria with fear and agony, begging anyone in the crowd who recognized Alex to tell him where he was and if he was alive.
He wasn’t.
When people talk about how awful mass shootings are, you will never know how truly ghastly these calamities are unless you’re a victim of the atrocity, or you encounter someone like Tom Sullivan as it unfolds. He was nearly destroyed that day when confronted with having lost a child to such an atrocity. Tom was among the courageous from that day and went on to become a state lawmaker. He’s worked tirelessly to stop more days like July 20.
Tom’s face, the crowd of petrified people, the makeshift memorial, it all just reappears. It’s too much, too close, too fast.
I couldn’t stay in character, and I had to frequently stop talking to keep it together as I relayed the oppressive grief, anger and horror each of us here at The Sentinel endured for days, then weeks and now years. Even as I write this, I still can’t play the journalist part for this scene. I don’t want to.
Ten years later, it’s the same.
I can’t tell you how disheartening it’s been to discover that my fail safe, the one thing I think we’ve all counted on, is a myth. Time does not heal all wounds. Not this one. Not yet.
Sisters Hailey and Aubrey Dearman, cousins to Veronica Sullivan, write notes of sympathy and love on a cross bearing a photo and name of Sullivan, in the late evening hours of July 19, 2018 during a candlelight vigil at the 7/20 Memorial Foundation Reflection Memorial Garden. Photo by PHILIP B. POSTON?Sentinel Coloradoat a memorial site across the street from Century 16 theater Sunday afternoon, July 22 near South Sable Boulevard and East Exposition Avenue, in Aurora. Supporters of the massacre victims flocked to the memorial site throughout the day. (Marla R. Keown/Aurora Sentinel)Supporters of the Aurora community light a candle at a memorial site across the street from Century 16 theater Sunday afternoon, July 22, near South Sable Boulevard and East Exposition Avenue. A gunman wearing a gas mask and body armor opened fire in a crowded Aurora movie theater with an assault rifle, shotgun and pistol during a midnight showing of “The Dark Knight Rises” movie killing at least 12 people and injuring more than 50 others. (Marla R. Keown/Aurora Sentinel)1,000 paper cranes were folded by a community in Missouri and were sent to Aurora to assist in the time of grief following the 7/20 theater shooting. Some cranes have scripture written on them and other notes of compassion and sympathy. Photo by PHILIP B. POSTON/Sentinel ColoradoSupporters for the Aurora Community gather at a memorial site across the street from Century Aurora 16 theater, Wednesday afternoon, July 25 near South Sable Boulevard and East Exposition Avenue. Aurora Fire Chief Michael Garcia, Police Chief Dan Oates, FBI Special Agent in Charge James Yaccone and several other high-ranking police and fire officials visited the memorial (Marla R. Keown/Aurora Sentinel)The sun sets behind the 7/20 Memorial Foundation Reflection Memorial Garden which is now complete after the installation of the sculpture Ascentiate. The sculpture features 83 cranes, 70 for those injured and 13 for those lives lost, including the unborn child of Ashley Moser. The garden is located near the Aurora Municipal Center and is open to the public. Photo by PHILIIP B. POSTON/Sentinel ColoradoCandles and words of hope fill a makeshift memorial Wednesday morning, Aug. 1 near South Sable Boulevard and East Centrepoint Drive. City officials have not offered any formal plans for a permanent memorial or any definite timeline for the future of the temporary memorials on Sable and the Aurora Municipal Center. (Marla R. Keown/Aurora Sentinel)Century 16 has a new facade and re-opened for business on Jan. 17, 2013. (Marla R. Keown/Aurora Sentinel)Weathered gifts fill a makeshift memorial Tuesday morning, Aug. 14 near South Sable Boulevard and East Centrepoint Drive. No formal plans for a memorial have been announced, but many expect the site near the Century Aurora 16 theater to become some sort of permanent fixture in Aurora. (Marla R. Keown/Aurora Sentinel)Supporters of the Aurora shooting victims write words of hope and love on crosses early Saturday morning, July 20 at the makeshift memorial near East Centrepoint Drive and South Sable Boulevard. More than 200 people gathered around Greg Zanis’s handmade crosses placing candles, teddy bears and flowers at the base of the crosses and writing notes to the victims. (Marla R. Keown/Aurora Sentinel)
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