Category: Front Page

ELDORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Eldorado Canyon State Park is announcing wildlife closures in the Rattlesnake Gulch area, effective immediately, to protect nesting golden eagles on the south side of the canyon.

This closes the upper loop of the Rattlesnake Gulch Trail, above the Crags Hotel Ruin and the Continental Divide Overlook and includes the Continental Crag climbing area. These areas are closed to all uses, including rock climbing, through July 15 or until further notice.

Golden eagles are protected by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service under authority of the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Disturbing a golden eagle nest can carry a fine of up to $5,000 and one year in prison.

For more information on rock climbing, visit: http://cpw.state.co.us/thingstodo/Pages/Rock-Climbing.aspx. To learn about other climbing areas, and all of the activities available at Eldorado Canyon State Park, visit: http://cpw.state.co.us/placestogo/Parks/eldoradocanyon.

DENVER – Today, Governor Jared Polis announced he signed a letter with governors from across the country urging the U.S. Congress to suspend the federal gas tax to help provide savings and real relief for Americans struggling to keep up with gas prices as a result of Russia’s aggression and engagement in a dangerous geopolitical conflict in Ukraine.

 

Governor Polis has consistently called for Congress to act and suspend the federal gas tax and Gov. Polis has proposed a delay in Colorado’s gas fee. 

“The Gas Prices Relief Act as introduced in the House and Senate – H.R. 6787 and S. 3609 respectively – would alleviate the consumer cost of rising gas prices while protecting the federal government’s capacity to make infrastructure investments.

First, it saves Americans at the pump by suspending the 18.4 cent per gallon federal gas tax for the rest of the year.  Money saved at the pump translates into dollars back in consumers’ pockets for groceries, childcare, rent, and more,” the Governors wrote to House and Senate Leadership. 

“But importantly, the legislation would also ensure the Highway Trust Fund stays solvent. The bill would authorize the U.S. Department of Treasury to transfer general fund dollars to replace the temporarily lost revenue of a halted federal gasoline excise tax.” 

“Furthermore, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) dedicated an additional $118 billion to the Highway Trust Fund, and the Trust Fund’s capacity to finance the construction and maintenance of roads, bridges, and highways across the country would not be diminished by the legislation. For these reasons and more, we know it is possible to invest in infrastructure and also provide meaningful relief to consumers at the pump,” the letter continued. 

Governor Polis was one of the first governors in the country to support the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), when paired with Colorado’s own bipartisan infrastructure package, will make progress on fixing our roads and investing in infrastructure. 

“At a time when people are directly impacted by rising prices on everyday goods, a federal gas tax holiday is a tool in the toolbox to reduce costs for Americans, and we urge you to give every consideration to this proposed legislation,” the Governors concluded. 

DENVER – Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s Colorado Outdoor Equity Grant Boardhas elected Yesica Chavez as Chair and Benilda “Benny” Samuels as Vice Chair.

The board, created by the passage of House Bill 21-1318, will award grants designed to widen accessibility to the outdoors for Coloradans from underserved communities. The grants also are designed to provide environmental, experiential, outdoor, stewardship and conservation education for Colorado youth or families, and that address inequities Coloradans face in accessing the outdoors. 

The board is composed of members representing communities that have faced barriers to accessing Colorado’s outdoors and are responsible for the governance of the Outdoor Equity Grant program.

“I am honored to serve as the first Chair of the newly formed Colorado Outdoor Equity Grants Board,” Chavez said. “And I’m excited to help shape a new path for outdoor recreation, conservation and sustainability and to make outdoor spaces a more just, equitable and inclusive place.”

Samuels was equally excited about the opportunity.

“The Outdoor Equity Fund will increase access to the restorative powers of the land so that we can all enjoy it, respect it and conserve it,” Samuels said.  
The Colorado Outdoor Equity Grant Board is accepting applications through April 8 to fund programs that bring about transformative change throughout communities.

About Yesica Chavez:
Yesica is a first-generation graduate who earned a B.S. in Psychology with a minor in Ethnic Studies from the University of Colorado Denver. She coordinated various projects in the environmental justice, sustainability, and equity/inclusion sectors while earning her bachelor’s degree. As a young person herself, she understood the importance of including young people in decision-making that affects our future. She grew up in Denver and remembers seeing the mountains from a distance from her home in Montbello, but she never felt connected to them. She hopes that by serving on this board, she will be able to help close the gap between underserved youth and outdoor recreation by funding programs that are already doing so or hoping to start. In her free time she likes to hike, rock climb, snowboard and spend time with her family. 

About Benilda “Benny” Samuels:
Benny Samuels is a seasoned multicultural, multi-lingual leader in health, human service and nonprofit. In her 30-year career, Samuels has led transformational programs that have increased access, equity, voice and power (in the form of self-sufficiency) for children, families, and communities, with an intentional emphasis on supporting communities of color and those living in poverty and furthest from opportunity across Colorado and nationally. Her accomplishments include the Statewide Colorado Family Planning Project, which reduced unintended pregnancies in Colorado by 40 percent in 4 years. Benny also implemented the W.K. Kellogg Foundation multi-million-dollar grant investment and flagship national demonstration project, Community Voices, enrolling thousands of children in the Child Health Plan Plus and uninsured adults into Medicaid and the Colorado Indigent Care Program. Most recently, Benny led the operations of a $56 million investment for Nurse-Family Partnership to scale the model by making it accessible to thousands of first-time mothers living in poverty.  

More information on the Colorado Outdoor Equity Grant Board is available on CPW’s website. 

Photo captions: left, Benilda “Benny” Samuels. Right, Yesica Chavez.

Like many sectors of the economy, the energy industry has faced new challenges as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Shifts in demand, production capacity, and distribution networks related to the virus have led to imbalances in supply and demand. Businesses and consumers who rely on petroleum and its byproducts are now confronting shortages in supply—and seeing higher prices as a result.

While the current conditions are unique and likely temporary, concerns about oil shortages are nothing new. Since before the energy crisis of the 1970s, experts have warned of “peak oil”—the point at which oil production from available reserves reaches maximum capacity and begins to diminish. But despite predictions that oil production is poised for decline, advances in geological understanding and technology like horizontal drilling and fracking have actually expanded production in recent years.

These new techniques were first widely adopted in the early to mid-2000s, and since then, the oil business in the U.S. has transformed. From the early 1980s to around 2008, U.S. oil production fell from 3.1 billion barrels to 1.8 billion per year while oil imports more than doubled from 2.1 billion to around 5 billion. Since then, imports have fallen sharply while production and exports have grown. Oil production today is over 4 billion barrels annually, and in 2020, the U.S. became a net exporter of oil for the first time.

One important metric for capturing the growth in the oil industry in the U.S. is proved reserves. The U.S. Energy Information Administration defines proved reserves as the estimated volume of hydrocarbon resources that are recoverable under current economic and operating conditions, which can shift based on new discoveries, shifts in production capacity, or improved techniques and technologies. Proved reserves in the U.S. had peaked historically at 39 billion barrels in the early 1970s before falling by more than half, to 19 billion, in 2008. In the years since, proved reserves have spiked to above 44 billion barrels as new extraction techniques have taken hold.

Some states have seen greater effects from the recent boom in oil production than others. Texas has seen a 51.7% increase in the size of its proved oil reserves over the last five years, further cementing its place as the top oil state in the U.S. With more than 18.6 billion barrels of proved oil reserves, Texas now has more than three times the total of the next-highest state, North Dakota (5.9 billion). But some other states have also been rapidly climbing up the list of major oil-producing states, with states like New Mexico (134.1% increase over the last five years) and Oklahoma (64.9%) seeing dramatic growth in the size of their reserves due to improvements in production.

The most recent EIA data available shows crude oil proved reserves in Colorado totaled 1.4B barrels in 2019, following a 17.8% increase since 2014. Out of all U.S. states with at least one million barrels, Colorado has the 7th most crude oil proved reserves. Here is a summary of the data for Colorado:

• Crude oil proved reserves (million barrels): 1,414
• 5-year change in proved reserves (percent): +17.8%
• 5-year change in proved reserves (million barrels): +214
• Number of operating refineries: 2

For reference, here are the statistics for the entire United States:

• Crude oil proved reserves (million barrels): 44,191
• 5-year change in proved reserves (percent): +21.5%
• 5-year change in proved reserves (million barrels): +7,806
• Number of operating refineries: 124

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, growing rent debt and the possibility of widespread evictions have been a major worry for many households and for the economy as a whole. Renters are more likely to work in the sorts of lower-wage occupations that have been most disrupted by the pandemic, like retail and hospitality, and less likely to have savings or other assets to help them weather hard times. These factors have made it harder for renters to keep up with their payments, and in turn, many landlords—especially smaller-scale property owners—are struggling to make up income and cover payments to lenders.

To stave off economic disruption from these conditions, policymakers identified financial support for renters as a need early in the COVID-19 pandemic. The federal government established eviction moratoriums to protect renters and appropriated nearly $50 billion in emergency rental assistance to help renters make payments, and many states and local governments supplemented these efforts as well. But the Supreme Court struck down an eviction moratorium in August 2021, and after a slow start, states are now rapidly spending down their share of the federal rental assistance programs.

The picture for renters has improved somewhat over the course of the pandemic, but many renters are still struggling, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey. The percentage of renters who reported being behind on their payments increased substantially in the first few months of the pandemic as early COVID-19 lockdowns temporarily shuttered many businesses and eliminated millions of jobs. After spiking at 21.4% in July of 2020, this share began to drop as lockdowns eased, but rose again with a major wave of cases late in 2020 that once again hobbled many parts of the economy. In 2021, a decline in cases early in the year, the availability of vaccines, and overall improvement in the economy kept the share of renters behind on rent below 16% for much of the year.

But as with many aspects of the economy during the pandemic, the downstream impacts of things like business closures, layoffs, and a lack of child care were more likely to affect certain socioeconomic and demographic groups. In part, because job loss during COVID was more heavily concentrated among low-wage workers, so too was trouble paying bills, buying food, and making rent. According to data from the Census Bureau, the likelihood of being behind on rent drops substantially with each higher level of education. Of those with less than a high school diploma, an average of 22.2% were behind on their rent during the same time period. That figure declines to 18.1% for high school graduates or GED holders, 14.4% for those with some college, and just 7.6% for those with a bachelor’s degree or higher.

Similarly, many of the states with a higher percentage of renters who reported being behind on payments are those with lower household incomes or higher poverty rates. However, some locations with relatively high incomes, like New York and Rhode Island, also rank highly in the share of residents behind on rent due to their higher cost of living. And in these areas, struggles to afford rent fall disproportionately on certain populations, such as renters with children.

The data used in this analysis is from the U.S. Census Bureau. To determine the states with the most people behind on rent, researchers at Stessa calculated the percentage of renters who reported being behind on their payments during the second half of 2021. In the event of a tie, the location with the higher percentage of renters with kids behind on their payment was ranked higher. All statistics reported are weekly averages from July–December of 2021.

The analysis found that an average of 8.2% of Colorado renters fell behind on their payments. During the last six months of 2021, Colorado had the 2nd lowest percentage of renters behind on their rent payments in the U.S. at any given time. Here is a summary of the data for Colorado:

• Percentage of renters behind on their payment: 8.2%
• Percentage of renters with kids behind on their payment: 14.0%
• Total renters behind on their payment: 79,377
• Median household income: $77,673
• Poverty rate: 9.0%

For reference, here are the statistics for the entire United States:

• Percentage of renters behind on their payment: 15.5%
• Percentage of renters with kids behind on their payment: 21.5%
• Total renters behind on their payment: 8,236,146
• Median household income: $67,340
• Poverty rate: 11.9%

For more information, a detailed methodology, and complete results, you can find the original report on Stessa’s website: https://www.stessa.com/blog/states-highest-percentage-people-behind-on-rent/

DENVER – At a hybrid in-person/virtual meeting in Denver, the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission will discuss for final consideration allowing the release of privately-owned game birds during an established season for falconry training under specific conditions, big game regulations review, annual furbearers and small game regulations review, annual waterfowl and migratory bird hunting regulations review, adding a means by which leftover peregrine falcon capture permits could be purchased on a first-come, first-served basis, and an annual review of regulations related to wildlife properties, including:

• Updating regulations for Creede State Wildlife Area (SWA)
• Creating a seasonal closure on Fish Creek SWA from December 1 – June 30 annually
• Clarifying how to obtain an access permit for Higel SWA
• Clarifying regulations on John Martin Reservoir SWA and Queens SWA
• Updating regulations for San Luis Lakes SWA
• Changing regulations for the Big Springs, Brett Gray Ranch, Karval, and Punkin Center State Trust Lands (STLs) to prevent overcrowding and provide consistency with other STLs
• Changing the opening dates of recently enrolled STL properties in Moffat County to August 15

The CPW Commission will also discuss for final consideration regulations related to setting the price of the Keep Colorado Wild annual pass, updating the reference to the U.S. Federal Poverty Guidelines applicable to the Centennial Pass, and Aquatic Nuisance Species (ANS) regulations related to exempting vessels or other floating devices that are “hand-launched and human-powered” from mandatory ANS inspections. The CPW Commission will also discuss regulations related to updating the disease testing requirements for cervids in commercial parks to maintain consistency with the revised requirements of the Colorado Department of Agriculture, piloting a timed entry reservation system at Eldorado Canyon State Park, 2022 Non-Motorized Trail and Land and Water Conservation Fund Grant Funding Recommendations, federal relisting of gray wolves, recommended proposals for the Colorado Wildlife Habitat Program, a Hatchery Modernization Assessment from HDR Engineering and herd management plans for units D-11, E-10, and D-42 at its meeting on Wed., March 9 and Thu., March 10. The meeting will be streamed live on CPW’s YouTube page.

The meeting is scheduled to begin at 8:15 a.m. on Wed., March 9 and adjourn at 5:30 p.m. The commission will reconvene at 8 a.m. on Thu., March 10 and adjourn at 1 p.m.

Additional agenda items include:

• Department of Agriculture update
• Department of Natural Resources update
• Financial update
• Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO) update
• Wolf Planning update
• CPW 125th anniversary overview
• Fishers Peak State Park Master Plan update
• Backcountry Search and Rescue update

A complete agenda along with all materials for public review for this meeting can be found on the CPW website. The public is encouraged to email written comments to the commission at . Details on providing public comments for virtual 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.