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A woman sets off on her water outing Friday at Chatfield State Park, wisely with a life jacket on.

DENVER – As Colorado’s weather starts to warm and paddle sport enthusiasts come out of hibernation, Colorado Parks and Wildlife would like to remind them to be careful of the windy and cold water conditions.

The best safety precaution one can take is to wear a life jacket at all times while out on the water.

“We see a large increase in requests for help from kayakers and stand-up paddleboarders during windy conditions,” said Kris Wahlers, Park Manager at Chatfield State Park. “It’s not unusual for paddlers to plan to stay close to shore, but get blown across the lake or into spots difficult to get out of when wind comes up.”  

Getting blown off course can happen very quickly and is difficult to return from because of a headwind and waves. People use a lot of energy paddling and maintaining balance making it harder to paddle in those conditions.  

What’s worse, it is easy to lose your balance and get separated from your paddleboard or kayak in windy conditions. It’s best to avoid being in those conditions from the get-go, and that plays into the responsibility of the user to know before you go.  

Check the weather report before you come to the lake and watch the conditions while you are there. 

“Wind typically moves in from the west in the early afternoon, pay close attention to that direction and time to avoid being caught unaware,” Wahlers added. “If you do get caught, it’s best to wait for conditions to improve or to walk along the shoreline if possible. Anytime you’re paddling, the easiest way to stay safe is to wear your life jacket.”

Power boaters need to be aware as well.  

“It’s generally easier for power boats in windy conditions while everything is in good working order,” Wahlers said. “If they lose power, that can change very quickly.”  

Boaters are asked to make sure their boat is in good working order, bring plenty of fuel, an anchor if they need to keep from moving during a power loss and a paddle if they need to move. A good rule of thumb for anchoring is to have three times more rope than the water is deep, so 150 feet of rope in 50 feet of water. Not having enough rope doesn’t allow the anchor to set well and it could work itself out.

Take precautions to protect your​self from the heightened dangers of sudden, unexpected cold water immersion while on early and late season boating outings, especially on small boats.

“Anglers, swimmers, paddlers and all boaters must be aware of the risks of cold water,” Wahlers said. “Paddlers and any boater on the water can take precautions and prevent being suddenly thrown overboard, swamped or stranded in cold water.”

Sudden immersion in cold water can cause gasping and inhalation of water and hypothermia, resulting in unconsciousness or swimming failure as muscles become numb. Wearing a life jacket will keep your head above water and support your body should your swimming ability fail or you become unconscious.

CPW officers have noticed a lot of people overestimate their ability to ‘swim out of a problem.’ Because of this, CPW recommends anyone out on the water wear a life jacket.

With a foreign-born population of more than 44 million, the U.S. has the largest number of immigrants in the world. In fact, research from the Pew Research Center shows that the U.S. immigrant population accounts for one-fifth of the world’s migrants. While U.S. immigrants come from almost every country in the world, Mexico is the most common country of origin for the foreign-born population.

From the period of 1850 to 2020, when the most recent data is available, the foreign-born population share hit a high of 14.8% in 1900. From 1920 to 1980, the share of immigrants fell, dropping to a low of 4.7% in 1980. Until recently, the immigrant share of the population had been climbing and was at a near historic high in 2019 before the pandemic. The share of immigrants dropped slightly in 2020 to 13.5%, down from the 13.7% it had stood at for the last several years.

Accounting for 24.8% of the foreign-born population, Mexico claims the largest number of U.S. immigrants. The Chinese and Indian immigrant populations are also large, making up a collective 12.2% of the foreign-born population. Pew Research Center analysis of Census Bureau data shows that about one million immigrants arrive in the U.S. each year, and the most common region for new immigrants is now Asia, which recently surpassed Hispanic countries.

While immigrants live in every U.S. state, some parts of the country have larger foreign-born populations than others. Over one-fourth of California’s population is foreign-born—mostly coming from Mexico—making California the top state for immigrants. New Jersey and New York also have large immigrant populations, with 22.7% and 22.4% of their populations being immigrants, respectively. Alternatively, Montana and West Virginia have very small immigrant populations, accounting for just 2.2% and 1.6% of their populations, respectively.

To determine the U.S. states with the largest immigrant populations, researchers at BackgroundChecks.org analyzed the latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau. The researchers ranked states according to the foreign-born population share. Researchers also calculated the most common country of origin, the total foreign-born population, and the total population.

The analysis found that immigrants account for 9.5% of the Colorado population, compared to 13.5% nationally. Here is a summary of the data for Colorado:

• Foreign-born population share: 9.5%
• Most common country of origin: Mexico
• Total foreign-born population: 539,514
• Total population: 5,684,926

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

• Foreign-born population share: 13.5%
• Most common country of origin: Mexico
• Total foreign-born population: 44,125,628
• Total population: 326,569,308

For more information, a detailed methodology, and complete results, you can find the original report on BackgroundChecks.org’s website: https://backgroundchecks.org/cities-largest-immigrant-population.html

Map of CWD infection rates in harvested adult male deer in Colorado, 2017-2021.

STERLING, Colo. – At the May CPW Commission meeting in Sterling, CPW Terrestrial Programs Supervisor Matt Eckert provided an update to the Commission on the agency’s chronic wasting disease (CWD) testing efforts. Eckert summarized the agency’s findings from mandatory CWD testing for the 2021-2022 hunting season as well as lessons learned over the first five-year rotation of mandatory testing (2017-2021 hunting seasons).

From 2017-2020, CPW focused mandatory testing on deer because deer have the highest disease infection rates and greatest need for disease management. During this time, CPW examined CWD levels across all 54 deer herds. CPW focused on elk in 2021, which provided the first reliable infection rate estimates for elk since the mid-2000s. In 2022, CPW will restart the five-year rotation, shifting its attention back to deer.

A variety of management methods have already been utilized around the state since mandatory testing began. When infection rates are greater than 5%, wildlife managers have utilized tactics such as:

• Reducing population or density
• Reducing male/female ratio (males tend to have double the infection rates of females)
• Changing the age structure (4- to 6-year-old bucks tend to have the highest infection rates)

Resulting data will continue to inform the management actions CPW takes to lower disease infection rates.

“Overall, the decision to commit to annual mandatory testing has been resoundingly important to understanding the status of this disease in Colorado,” Eckert said. “It’s helped us in acquiring and communicating reliable infection rate estimates and laying a foundation to assess herd-specific management actions to combat CWD. We are now taking management actions in 27 of our 54 deer herds.”

2021 Mandatory CWD Testing Summary

Map of CWD infection rates in harvested adult and yearling elk in Colorado, 2017-2021.

In 2021, CPW tested its 14 highest priority elk herds, with special emphasis on those that overlap high-prevalence mule deer herds. Eckert said the testing helped CPW learn that:

• CWD in elk is still relatively low in elk herds statewide.
• Detection of infected yearling elk is higher than expected.
• Geographic patterns of high infection level areas generally overlap for elk and deer.

“Not only were we interested in generating reliable estimates of CWD infection rates in elk, but we also wanted to analyze relationships of CWD infection rates among mule deer and elk harvested in the same areas,” Eckert said. “If management actions prescribed in our most infected deer herds successfully maintain or reduce CWD, those same actions taken for deer may also affect CWD infection rates in elk over time.

“We would not be able to determine this relationship and response to disease management efforts in deer without knowing the infection rates in both deer and elk in overlapping herds,” Eckert said. “Additionally, we retested six mule deer herds to increase the number of harvest submissions used to estimate infection rates in those herds.”

Read the complete CWD update to the Commission here.

What is CPW doing to address CWD?
CPW is working to ensure the long-term health of deer, elk and moose herds. Over time, this means minimizing the number of animals that get infected and die from this disease. To date, management actions have been prescribed for 27 deer herds that intend to reduce infection levels to below 5%. More information about our plan to manage CWD is available in the Colorado Chronic Wasting Disease Response Plan.

The CWD Response Plan establishes a compulsory management threshold, which means when infection rates exceed 5% in adult (older than 2 years) male deer, then some form of management actions will be taken to reduce infection rates until they fall below the 5% threshold. CPW identifies various management actions in the plan that are available to local managers to prescribe in herd management efforts, all of which have the potential to help reduce infection rates in deer herds. 

What are the health risks to humans?
CWD is a prion disease that affects Colorado’s deer, elk and moose. The disease course generally lasts 2 – 3 years in deer and is always fatal. Although there has been no evidence that CWD has transmitted to a human, the Center for Disease Control, CPW and the Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment all recommend that hunters not eat the meat of a CWD-infected animal.

More information about CWD is available on CPW’s website.

More information on prion diseases is available on CDPHE’s website.

CPW and CYCA share a goal – to inspire people to connect with the outdoors while learning how to balance outdoor recreation with mindful conservation.

DENVER – Colorado Parks and Wildlife is partnering with the Colorado Youth Corps Association (CYCA) to hire 41 weeks of service corps this summer to repair off-highway vehicle (OHV) trails impacted by increased visitation and wildfire damage.

Colorado’s outdoors continue to see an increased demand for outdoor recreation and wildfires that pose challenges to Colorado’s trail network. Increased trail use can lead to more rapid trail erosion and heavily burned wildfire areas can shift the connectivity of some trails due to postburn hot spots in forest areas.

“As we monitor how human use and natural disasters impact our outdoor spaces, we are dedicated to protecting our trails so they can be enjoyed for years to come,” said CPW’s State Trails Program Manager Fletcher Jacobs. “CPW is fortunate to partner with so many wonderful organizations that share our passion to connect people to Colorado’s outdoors through educational experiences. We value our collaboration with CYCA because it allows us to work  with our local outdoor communities at a grassroots level, and get our hands dirty together to  rebuild recreational areas that bring people joy.”

CPW and CYCA share an organizational goal – to inspire young people to connect with the outdoors while learning how to balance outdoor recreation with mindful conservation. This partnership demonstrates the commitment of both entities to work together towards a mutually beneficial stewardship strategy.

While Colorado’s OHV recreators already play a critical role in sustaining motorized trails for the state by annually funding over $5 million in trail improvements, these projects give interested youth and young adults the opportunity to contribute to trail maintenance in a tangible way.

“Spending time in nature helps teach us, inspires us and nourishes our bodies and minds,” said CYCA’s Executive Director Scott Segerstrom. “Working together with CPW on these trail projects is a wonderful way to empower our corps members and demonstrate that they can make a significant difference to help conserve our public lands. Through experiential learning, our corps members are gaining knowledge on how they can transform landscapes and give back to their community.”

CPW staff and CYCA-accredited conservation service corps will be working on the following motorized trail maintenance projects this year:

Grand Lake-Williams Fork Fire Rehab
Rehabilitation and reconstruction of Williams Fork/Keyser Creek and Grand Lake Trail Systems, including signage, kiosks, resource protection fencing, trail structures and routes. The estimated quantity of open OHV trails and roads affected by wildfire in the two areas is over 200 miles and includes more than 32 trail bridges.

Rainbow Trail Maintenance
The primary purpose will be to reroute seven miles of this multi-use single-track trail. This section of the Rainbow Trail has been closed since 2016, so work will be done to restore the trail’s continuity and access to public lands. The secondary purpose of this project is to mitigate safety threats created by trail damage and hazard trees, particularly in the Hayden Pass burn area.

Killpecker/Swampcreek 2022 Trail Project
Post Cameron Peak Fire, Canyon Lakes RD plans to reopen motorized use to both trails as soon as possible. The Swampcreek Trail needs a saw crew to remove dead and down trees after the Cameron Peak Fire and remove any potential tree hazards. The Killpecker Trail needs a specialty crew to install size-restricted “V-Gates” on trail access points to limit unauthorized users onto single-track trails.

Red Mountain Gulch Day Use Area
This popular site along the Alpine Loop is almost predominantly used by OHV enthusiasts. Work to be completed by a hybrid crew includes wildfire mitigation work, piling of small aspen growth and brush for pick-up by Hinsdale County Road & Bridge Department for relocation to debris pile, reduction of overgrowth, painting of vault toilet and picnic tables and pavilion, installation of new signs, reinstallation of parking beams, re­establishment of picnic sites and trail work.

OHV Trail Maintenance on CPRD
The Forest Service Recreation crew will survey the trails to be maintained, and work alongside the Youth Crew. The goal of the project is to take care of deferred maintenance that accumulates on 56 miles of single-track trails. The work will include trail clearing (tree removal), drainage and tread work, corridor cleaning and trailhead improvement.

Penrose Commons Trail Maintenance
The work will improve the condition of the routes and add approximately 1,000 feet of fencing in key locations where trail widening is occurring to encourage riders to stay on the trail. Maintenance would be completed on multiple segments along the trail system, consisting of backslope issues, fixing trail grade, repairing drains, removing debris and trimming trail corridors.

Basalt to Gypsum Youth Corp Grant
The Basalt to Gypsum trail system is growing in popularity. The incised tread is no longer supporting the heavier impact. Providing proper drainage on the trails would help bring this motorized system closer to being sustainable. The trails need backlogged maintenance focusing on clearing and constructing drainage structures, tread work, corridor clearing, maintenance and sight clearing.

In addition to these seven trail maintenance projects, CPW has reallocated six weeks of crew funding to complete the Alpine Loop project that was awarded last year but not completed.

Alpine Loop Backcountry Byway
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will install signage and metal fire rings at approximately 200 dispersed campsites along the Alpine Loop. All campsites are accessible by motorized vehicles and OHVs. Crews will have two main tasks: to remove all rock fire rings in the project area and install the new fire rings and site posts within designated sites. In some cases, BLM will work with crews to limit and contain vehicle impacts with placement of worm fences and log barriers.

For more information on CPW’s Trails Program, visit https://cpw.state.co.us/.