Category: Front Page

BUCKLEY SPACE FORCE BASE, Colo. – The 140th Wing, Colorado Air National Guard will conduct a change of command ceremony between outgoing Commander U.S. Air Force Col. Micah  (Zeus) Fesler and incoming Commander U.S. Air Force Col. Christopher (Wedge) Southard at 3:00 p.m., Aug. 29, 2021,   Hangar 801, BSFB, Aurora, Colorado.

Fesler assumed command of the 140th Wing in August 2019. During his tenure, he guided the wing through an unprecedented pandemic while becoming the lead U.S. Air National Guard Wing for Agile Combat Employment.  Under his command, the 138th Space Control Squadron completed their first combat deployment and the 140th Wing supported the largest Reserve Component period deployment tasking in the wing’s history.  Fesler was instrumental in navigating the 140th Wing through the largest domestic operations in Colorado’s history, providing more than 700 personnel in support of the Colorado COVID-19 response, presidential inauguration, and other state emergencies. 

Southard was appointed as 140th Wing vice commander in June 2020.  Prior to his role as vice commander, Southard served as 120th Fighter Squadron commander where he led the unit on a successful theater security package deployment to Kadena Air Base, Japan.  As the 140th Wing Operations Group commander, he deployed to Bagram, Afghanistan, serving with Active Duty mission partners as the deputy commander of the 455th Expeditionary Operations Group.  Southard was key in supporting the wing through the national pandemic and the wing’s activations in support of domestic operations. 

The 140th Wing is comprised of five groups, 12 squadrons, and two geographically separated units. The 1,600 personnel that fall under three Air Force Major Commands provide our nation with fighter, space-based early missile warning, and support forces capable of global employment.

Bios:

Col. Micah Fesler

https://www.140wg.ang.af.mil/About-Us/Biographies/Display/Article/1950793/colonel-d-micah-fesler/

Col. Christopher Southard

https://www.140wg.ang.af.mil/About-Us/Biographies/Article/2230105/colonel-christopher-southard/

DENVER – Colorado Parks and Wildlife is accepting applications for Board members responsible for the governance of the Outdoor Equity Grant Program created by bill HB21-1318. The deadline for the application was extended to Aug. 31 to ensure prospective Board members have enough time to submit an application.

The Board Member Application and additional application materials are posted on the CPW website. 

The purpose of the Outdoor Equity Grant Program is to increase access and opportunity for underserved youth and their families to experience Colorado’s state parks and outdoor spaces. The board is responsible for overseeing the grant program and awarding grants to applicants that will directly use the funding to engage eligible youth and their families by reducing barriers to Colorado’s great outdoors.

Individuals that sit on the Board can also be associated with an organization that intends to apply for a future grant. The Board members will be selected in collaboration with the Outdoor Equity Coalition which consists of more than 60 organizations that helped get the bill signed into law. Program grants will be distributed based on how an organization will impactfully create pathways for Colorado’s outdoors and offer environmental and outdoor-based educational opportunities for under-served communities. 

The Outdoor Equity Grant Program Board will have nine voting seats. Board members will serve for four years but may not serve more than 2 terms. As CPW works to establish the Board, the term limits for racial justice, environmental justice and conservation will be limited to two years initially. After the first two years, these terms will transition to four-year terms to allow for staggered terms.

For more information, visit cpw.state.co.us/Outdoor-Equity-Fund.aspx

August 27, 2021 – CBI –  Lakewood, CO –The Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) will virtually host its annual Missing in Colorado event on August 28, 2021.

Families of those missing for more than one year in the state are asked to visit the CBI website and access a number of resources available, as well as obtain the link to join the virtual event beginning at 8:00 a.m. on August 28. Additionally, families of the missing can call to speak with an advocate as well. A team of CBI victim advocates will be answering a dedicated phone line (303-239-4242) from 8:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. on August 28.  

Missing in Colorado gives families the opportunity to speak with other co-victims, victim advocates, and others as part of this important event. The event also provides resources to family members as they face the unimaginable impacts from having someone they love go missing. 

“Building on the success of last year’s virtual event, the CBI team is committed to ensuring the families of the missing have access to the latest information and tools to help them as they navigate through this devastating chapter in their lives,” said CBI Director John Camper. 

Coloradans can aid in the effort to give a voice to the missing by reviewing the CBI Cold Case Database, and the Missing Persons Resource Page and sharing any information that may lead to resolution in these cases.

In another effort to honor the missing in the state, a CBI investigative analyst built a series of slides highlighting 50 cold cases across the state. 

There are currently 1,437 total missing persons in the State of Colorado. Of those, nearly 678 have been missing for a year or more.  

During the 2020 Missing in Colorado event, CBI victim advocates met with approximately 15 families of the missing.   

Helpful Links: 
Missing Person Resource Page
CBI Cold Case Database

 

Erin Crider (mentor) and Ashley Lozano (mentee) spent last hunting season together hunting waterfowl, upland game birds and turkeys. They submitted their story and photos to the Take a Friend Hunting contest and received gift cards to SCHEELS.  

DENVER – For the third consecutive year, Colorado Parks and Wildlife is encouraging hunters to take a friend hunting. As a reward for hunters sharing their expertise and love of hunting, CPW has created a contest for mentors who take the time to pass on their knowledge, with prizes for the mentor as well as the mentee.

“I often run into people wanting to hunt but they just don’t know how to start. Most of them just need a mentor to help out,” said CPW Hunter Outreach Coordinator Bryan Posthumus. “It is so easy to ask your friends, co-workers, or family if they want to hunt and help them get started. Quite a few started out small game hunting. Many of the hunters last year are planning on hunting with their new hunting buddy this year.”  

How it works

Mentors can take a beginner hunter out or mentees can encourage an experienced hunter to teach them how to hunt and enter to win some great prizes by submitting a photograph and brief story of their time out in the field. Submissions will be judged by their ability to inspire and are due by Feb. 8, 2022. Mentor and mentee must be at least 18 years of age.

To be eligible to enter:

• Mentors must be at least 18 years of age or older at the time of entry and must hold a valid 2021 Colorado hunting license (the “hunting license”). 
• Mentors must have held a Colorado hunting license in at least 3 of the last 5 years (2016-2020).  
• Mentees must also be 18 or older at the time of entry and hold a valid 2021 Colorado hunting license. 

Mentees must also either have:

• never had a hunting license until 2021, 
• only had a hunting license in 2020 (e.g., a second-year hunter) or
• not had a hunting license in the past five consecutive years (i.e., since 2016). 

Both individuals must follow rules and regulations in the 2021 Colorado Hunting Regulations; this includes possession of all appropriate licenses. Employees of Colorado Parks and Wildlife, and their immediate family (spouse, parents, siblings and children) and household members of each such employee, are not eligible.
 
Contest participants must follow all applicable Colorado hunting regulations. 

Prizes

Prizes will be awarded at the end of the contest to winners of the photo/narrative competition. All prizes are non-transferable. No substitution may be made except as provided. The winner is responsible for all taxes and fees associated with prize receipt and/or use. Please check the website for more details and an updated list of prizes!

To learn more, see the official rules and find out more about how to Take a Friend Hunting in 2021. 

 

Commissioners seeking resident feedback ahead of the 8/30 meeting 

 

The Arapahoe County Board of Commissioners will hold a study session to discuss the County’s options regarding the public health order (PHO) issued earlier this week by the Tri-County Health Department.  The study session will be held on Monday, Aug. 30, from 1-2 p.m. The session will be live-streamed, and the Board is encouraging County residents to submit their opinions about this issue ahead of the session by completing a brief feedback form before Aug. 28. To date, the commissioners have received many comments from residents in support of and against opting out of the public health order, and the Board will review all resident feedback prior to the Aug. 30 meeting. 

 

On Aug. 17, the Tri-County Health Department’s Board of Health (BOH) voted six-to-two to direct Tri-County’s Executive Director Dr. John Douglas to put the PHO in place. It requires masking for staff and children in childcare centers and schools that serve students ages 2-to-12. This decision follows the endorsement by Tri-County of recent federal guidance that recommends mask wearing in public areas with high rates of community transmission.  

 

Study sessions are information-gathering meetings for the board and are open to the public, but these meetings are currently being held virtually due to COVID; anyone who wishes to observe the meeting can access the live-stream meetings via our Legistar portal.  

 

For the latest information about the public health order, visit Tri-County’s website.  

 

CPW Hot Sulphur Springs District Wildlife Manager Jeff Behncke examines moose tracks on Sundog Trail on the west side of Winter Park on Wednesday. 

 

Aug. 25, 2021

WINTER PARK, Colo. – A 62-year-old New Mexico man was attacked by a bull moose Wednesday morning while running with his two dogs on a trail on the west side of Winter Park.

The victim was taken to the emergency room of a local hospital with minor injuries and released later Wednesday. The dogs were unharmed.

The man was running on Sundog Trail around 7:30 a.m. with his two dogs off-leash when the attack occurred.

“The dogs were 40 to 50 feet in front of him and came running back toward him,” said CPW District Wildlife Manager Serena Rocksund. “He stopped and saw the moose at 50 feet. At that point, the dogs ran past him and left the scene.”

Rocksund said the man reported he took two steps forward to get a better look at the moose and “those two steps caused the moose to charge. He’s very lucky that his only injury is a hoof print-shaped laceration on the back of his head.”

Rocksund said wildlife officers did not find the moose after walking the trail system around Sundog Trail.

“This is a good reminder for folks to keep their dogs on leash and give moose plenty of space when recreating outdoors,” Rocksund said. “It’s hard to see around these corners with the thick vegetation on these trails, so having a dog on a short leash here is key.”

Other moose incidents this year
A 79-year-old woman was attacked by a cow moose and severely injured on Friday, Aug. 13, around 9 p.m. in a rural area outside a home south of Glenwood Springs.

On Saturday, Aug. 7, a man walking along a willow bottom heading towards a lake in Clear Creek County was charged by a bull moose he just happened to come across. The viral video shows just how quickly a moose can decide to charge on a person. That man came away uninjured as he dived behind a tree, which the bull moose hit.

On May 29 in Steamboat Springs, a gentleman was knocked over on his back and stomped by a cow moose with two calves. The victim stated that his small dog was outside unleashed when he heard it start barking and realized there was a moose in the area. He stepped forward to grab the dog and that is when the moose charged at him. That man was examined for minor injuries on site.

Fifteen years ago on March 26, 2006, a man from Grand Lake was attacked and critically injured by a bull moose as he walked to church. That man later died from his injuries on April 6. 

CPW produced a video illustrating how people can be safe and responsible around moose. The video is available on YouTube.

To learn more about living with moose, please visit our website.

 

A cow moose and calf were relocated in a wildlife transport trailer to more suitable habitat near Craig on Thursday.

GRAND LAKE, Colo. – Colorado Parks and Wildlife officers rescued a moose calf trapped in the basement foundation of a house that burned in last year’s East Troublesome Fire, reunited it with its mother and relocated both to more suitable habitat.

CPW officers received a call the morning of Aug. 19 from residents of the Aspen Pine Estates in Grand Lake reporting a moose calf had fallen into the four-foot-deep foundation left when the rest of the structure burned.

The neighbors tried to rescue the calf themselves by creating a ramp with boards that might have allowed the calf to climb out. But it was unable to get enough traction to make the steep climb.

CPW Officer Serena Rocksund responded to the calls for help and found the calf with its agitated cow nearby. 

“The calf’s mother would come up to the foundation, walk over to the calf and touch muzzles and walk away about 40 yards,” Rocksund said. “The residents saw the calf and mother were stressed and needed help so they called CPW.”

Rocksund tranquilized both the cow moose and calf and the animals were placed inside a wildlife transport trailer to be relocated to more suitable habitat. The moose calf and cow were released in suitable habitat near Craig later that afternoon.

“It’s a good reminder that folks need to fence off foundations and cover their window wells because animals can get trapped and die,” said CPW Area Wildlife Manager Jeromy Huntington. 

“We’ve had some increased reports of human-moose conflicts near Grand Lake since the East Troublesome Fire burn and we didn’t want to take the risk that this moose might get trapped again if we released it near the burn area.”

Huntington said CPW has been working to grow the moose population in suitable habitat near Meeker and Craig.

“So this relocation actually was a win-win for these moose and the CPW project,” Huntington said.

Visit CPW’s website for more information about moose in Colorado and avoiding wildlife conflicts. 

Photos: Top, a moose calf has become separated from her mother after getting trapped in the foundation of a house that burned in last year’s East Troublesome Fire. Bottom, the moose cow and calf are released in suitable habitat near Craig.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) is an enterprise agency, relying primarily on license sales, state parks fees and registration fees to support its operations, including: 42 state parks and more than 350 wildlife areas covering approximately 900,000 acres, management of fishing and hunting, wildlife watching, camping, motorized and non-motorized trails, boating and outdoor education. CPW’s work contributes approximately $6 billion in total economic impact annually throughout Colorado.

DENVER – Colorado Parks and Wildlife is accepting applications for Board members responsible for the governance of the Outdoor Equity Grant Program created by bill HB21-1318. The deadline for the application was originally set for Aug. 23 but was extended to Aug. 31 to make sure we provide prospective Board members with enough time to submit their application.

The Board Member Application and additional application materials are posted on the CPW website. 

The purpose of the Outdoor Equity Grant Program is to increase access and opportunity for underserved youth and their families to experience Colorado’s state parks and outdoor spaces. The board is responsible for overseeing the grant program and awarding grants to applicants that will directly use the funding to engage eligible youth and their families by reducing barriers to Colorado’s great outdoors.

Individuals that sit on the Board can also be associated with an organization that intends to apply for a future grant. The Board members will be selected in collaboration with the Outdoor Equity Coalition which consists of more than 60 organizations that helped get the bill signed into law. Program grants will be distributed based on how an organization will impactfully create pathways for Colorado’s outdoors and offer environmental and outdoor-based educational opportunities for under-served communities. 

The Outdoor Equity Grant Program Board will have nine voting seats. Board members will serve for four years but may not serve more than 2 terms. As CPW works to establish the Board, the term limits for racial justice, environmental justice and conservation will be limited to two years initially. After the first two years, these terms will transition to four-year terms to allow for staggered terms.

For more information, visit cpw.state.co.us/Outdoor-Equity-Fund.aspx

A picture off the trail camera wildlife officers placed at the site where the collared mountain lion cached the collared mule deer

HOT SULPHUR SPRINGS, Colo. – Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials observed a compelling intersection of two wildlife projects at the end of July when a deer affixed with a GPS satellite collar gave off a mortality signal just east of the Continental Divide.

At the same time, a mountain lion also being tracked by a GPS collar deployed in CPW’s lion density monitoring work on the West Slope, showed it was nearby the location of the mule deer’s mortality signal.

A wildlife officer hiked into the location, found the carcass of the doe and placed a trail camera at the site. That camera picked up the collared mountain lion consuming the collared deer, a time-lapse of which you can see here.

To wildlife officials, it showed the uniqueness of these two marked animals crossing paths how nature would have it. The circumstance also presented an opportunity to share what can be learned from collared deer and mountain lion projects.

“Better understanding species interactions, in particular predator and prey, is a huge benefit that has resulted from GPS technology,” said CPW Terrestrial Biologist Bryan Lamont. “In this case, both of these animals had traveled many miles away from where they had originally been caught and collared to only randomly cross paths. When determining female mule deer survival rates, this kind of information can help managers more accurately calculate the exact causes of mortality.”

CPW has been monitoring mule deer populations, particularly population dynamics and the relationship to winter survival, on the western slope for over two decades. 

Wildlife officials monitor herds in five intensive mule deer geographic areas with the use of GPS satellite collars that allow managers to track the animals. Weekly snow measurements combined with temperature data also help biologists understand how winter conditions may influence mule deer survival.

The ability to survive is limited by the quality and quantity of forage and predation. That can be compounded by the severity of the winter and also population density, as competition over the available forage can increase their probability of succumbing to mortality factors such as disease and starvation or malnutrition.

The two most limiting factors for the growth of a mule deer population is the survival of does and fawns.

The doe mule deer killed and consumed by the mountain lion in this specific case was collared in 2020 between Kremmling and Ute Pass. The mountain lion’s collar was deployed in January, 2021 in northern Middle Park. 

Mountain lions prey primarily on ungulates, especially deer, but also elk, moose, bighorn sheep and pronghorn. Prior research studies by CPW of mountain lions on the Front Range showed that 66 percent of lion kills were of mule deer, with over half of those being fawns. On average, a mountain lion could consume a deer a week.

“While it is very uncommon, from time-to-time we will have a collared mountain lion interact with a collared deer, particularly collared fawns,” Lamont said.

The reason this mountain lion had a GPS satellite collar is because the animal is a part of a new project CPW launched last winter to better understand lion population numbers on the west slope. A 10-year project looking at multiple study areas, it started in Middle Park for the first 2-3 years. You can learn more about the lion study from this video produced last March.

After collaring 25 lions last winter, biologists are now relying on trail cameras to help them derive lion density in the study area.

“We can use that sort of relationship of marked individuals and unmarked individuals over a month or two of sampling in the winter to actually get a density or abundance – a number of mountain lions in that population – as an estimate,” said Mark Vieira, CPW’s Carnivore and Furbearer Program Manager.

Although the trail camera that captured the convergence of the deer and mountain lion was not part of either study, it did capture a little bit of Colorado’s wildness. Mountain lions are rarely seen feeding on their prey.

“Mountain lions are amazing creatures in terms of what they are able to do, taking down animals that are three or four times their size, and at the same time staying largely undetected by people,” Vieira said.

The population size of the deer herd the collared doe comes from (Data Analysis Unit D-9) was estimated to be 13,470 animals in 2020. Colorado has an overall statewide population of greater than 427,000 deer. CPW estimates we have 3,800 to 4,400 independent/mature mountain lions, not including dependent young, in Colorado.

GPS coordinates from collared wildlife are sent to biologists through email, texts and collar database software.

“Technology plays an important role in wildlife management for the collection of necessary data to inform decisions,” said Shannon Schaller, Deputy Regional Manager for CPW’s Northeast region. “This intersection of projects was illustrated with those technologies.”