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CPW will protect Gray wolves and US 287 one of the deadliest roads in Colorado Kennedy Pickering
287 traffic study calls for improvements
A new study on traffic safety along U.S. 287 in Boulder County calls on officials to develop improvements that could reduce fatalities.
The study found that nearly a third of all fatal crashes in Boulder County in 2021 and 2022 were on HWY 287.
The Daily Camera says the study recommends the installation of a barrier between north and south bound lanes, from just north of Longmont, to the Boulder-Larimer County line. It recommends a second barrier from south of Longmont down to Arapahoe Road. Many of the fatal crashes, it says, involved drivers crossing the highway’s centerline.
The Longmont City Council voted unanimously to accept the findings of the study.
CPW will protect Gray wolves
State wildlife officials are rejecting pleas from a group of Colorado ranchers who are asking the state to kill two gray wolves suspected of killing livestock.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife has been inundated with requests from ranchers all over the western slope. The requests to kill the wolves come after seven cattle were killed over three days in Grand and Jackson Counties earlier this month.
The ranchers believe two out of the ten collared wolves re-introduced into Colorado last year are responsible for the cow and calf deaths.
Parks and Wildlife Director Jeff Davis said that the wolves suspected in the killings are about to reproduce and that killing the male would be irresponsible management.
In a statement, WildEarth Guardians commented, “Colorado has eleven known wolves right now and some 2.8 million cows. We are sympathetic to the livestock owners’, but that’s why there is a robust compensation program. We ought to be celebrating the fact that these wolves are denning and hopefully going to have pups. This is what Colorado voters wanted and what restoration looks like.”
A rancher’ group called the Middle Park Stockgrowers said they are disappointed and discouraged by the decision not to kill the wolves. They have vowed to continue their efforts.
Green energy building rules lawsuit
A group representing Colorado commercial real estate owners and developers is suing the state and the City of Denver over new “green energy” rules.
According to the Denver Post, the lawsuit was filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Denver.
It asks that new city and state environmental regulations be thrown out because they illegally go beyond federal guidelines by requiring expensive renovations to reduce carbon emissions.
A spokesperson for Conservation Colorado called the lawsuit a baseless attack on innovative programs that address pollution from big buildings.
Buen trial closing arguments
The fate of a former Clear Creek County Sheriff’s deputy charged in the shooting death of Christian Glass is now in the hands of a jury.
Both the prosecution and defense made their closing arguments yesterday in the second-degree murder trial of Andrew Buen.
Buen is also charged with official misconduct and reckless endangerment in the shooting death of 22-year-old Christian Glass. Buen has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Glass was returning from a trip to Moab in June 2022 when his car got stuck on a rock in Silver Plume. He called 911 for help. Prosecutors say he was having a mental health crisis as then-Deputy Buen and other officers arrived. Buen’s defense attorneys said that, in reality, Glass was drunk or on drugs.
Buen spent about an hour trying to persuade Glass to leave his car. When that failed, a bodycam video showed Buen broke the car’s window and ended up shooting Glass five times. Before Buen broke the window, he was in conversation with supervisor Kyle Gould, who was not at the scene but was watching a live-streamed video. Gould pled guilty in November and can no longer be in law enforcement or security in Colorado, among other penalties.
9News says that the deciding factor for the jury will be whether Buen was justified in using force to get Glass out of his car.
Colorado gets solar grants
The Biden administration has granted $156 million each to the Colorado Energy Office and Oweesta, a tribal-based nonprofit in Longmont. The funding aims to assist low- and moderate-income families in installing rooftop solar panels.
This allocation is part of the Environmental Protection Agency’s “solar for all” competition, which designated $7 billion for sixty applicants to enhance solar access.
According to Colorado Newsline, Colorado will utilize its funding to facilitate the installation of solar power in single- and multi-family homes as well as community solar projects. Energy Office Executive Director Will Toor stated that expanding access to rooftop solar will aid the state in achieving its clean energy objectives, reducing energy costs, and promoting the broader use of solar energy.
Community wildfire protection plan webinar
Boulder County will host a webinar next month to review its Community Wildfire Protection Plan updates.
The plan, which hasn’t been updated since 2011, identifies ways to reduce the risk of wildfire. According to Colorado Hometown Weekly, the new version is expected to be completed this year.
The Community Wildfire Protection Plan webinar is scheduled for May 23rd.
