Talking about Colorado’s homeland security in Denver, and break dancing in the Springs. Plus, Senator John McCain returns to the state, the Colorado Department of Education releases test scores, and Governor Ritter seeks federal assistance.
1,000 acres of formerly privately owned land has been added to Cheyenne Mountain State Park, located in southwest Colorado Springs. The Cheyenne Mountain State Park Service held a public meeting Tuesday evening to discuss plans for the park’s newly acquired property. KRCC’s Rachael DeWitt attended the meeting and has this report.
Fireworks laws, a beef recall, firefighting air tankers, and wild horses and burros.
The U.S. Forest Service has long tried to get kids outside and away from computers, TVs and video games… but the country’s top forester says efforts have become more urgent in recent years. The agency is hosting its first ever National Get Outdoors Day this Saturday, and Denver is expected to have one of the largest events in the country. Bente Birkeland reports.
Forestry officials believe the mountain pine beetle will kill virtually all of Colorado’s mature lodge pole pine trees within the next 3 to 5 years. That will leave millions of acres of forestland vulnerable to wildfire. As KUNC’s Brian Larson reports, cutting down the trees is an option to reduce the fire risk–and one that could spur a new state industry…
The state announced it’s latest round of GO_CO grants this week. This time nearly 60 million dollars is being awarded to counties, cities and trusts across Colorado. Bente Birkeland reports from Denver.
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Photo by: Don Goede
Despite a couple of local grassfires this week, and small flare-up in Manitou in September, Colorado has been relatively wildfire-free this year. The 14,000 total acres that burned here is about four times fewer acres than burned in New Mexico, and far smaller than the 615,000 acres that torched in Utah. But one good year doesn’t mean fire danger has gone away. On Friday, Oct. 19, a bi-partisan group of Congressional reps and Senators sent a letter to the U.S. Forest Service urging full funding of hazardous fuels reduction projects in the Rocky Mountain Region. Colorado’s delegation was joined by counterparts in Wyoming and South Dakota. Colorado College Student Jaimie Stevenson reports that locally, the Pike San Isabel National Forest is looking at a 12% cut in its fuels reduction budget from last year, and that fuels reduction projects probably didn’t have much impact on the mild fire season this year.
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A proposed land swap in southwestern Colorado is generating controversy. Outside Durango, a company wants to expand a golf course and development onto neighboring land now owned by the Forest Service. In exchange, they're offering property that the government says could provide important habitat for rare native trout. Bente Birkeland reports.
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