Input sought on state parks plan
Colorado Parks and Wildlife is asking for the public's help in directing its future. Public meetings focusing on the agency's 2015 Strategic Plan are scheduled throughout the state, with one set for Durango from 6:30-8:30 p.m., Wed., March 18, at the Durango Public Library.
This new plan will set a vision, goals and strategies for Colorado's state parks, wildlife and outdoor recreation areas that is shared by citizens, as well as the state Parks and Wildlife Commission and CPW staff.
"More and more people are participating in a variety of outdoor activities," CPW's Southwest Region Manager Patt Dorsey said. "Parks and Wildlife is charged with managing state parks, the state's wildlife resources, and with planning and maintaining wildlife-related recreation. As the state grows, so do the demands on our resources."
CPW operates 42 parks that receive more than 12 million visitors annually. The agency also keeps tabs on the state's wildlife and sells about 850,000 hunting and fishing licenses every year.
In Durango, the agency manages the Perins Peak and Bodo wildlife areas as well as BLM lands between Overend Mountain Park and Twin Buttes. The latter has been identified for a trail that would connect town to Twin Buttes, which is currently only accessible via Highway 160.
The connector is something the community has expressed interest in, according to Mary Monroe-Brown, executive director for Trails 2000.
"We have these two large swaths of city open space and the community has requested connecting those two pieces," said Monroe-Brown. The city, along with CPW staff, Trails 2000 and BLM officials sat down two years ago to discuss options, but since then the BLM has changed its mind.
Monroe-Brown said next week's meeting is a good time to revisit the issue and let the agency know people are still interested. "We believe it's an important piece, and that we can balance wildlife needs with recreation needs," she said.
CPW recently completed a State Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan, a public opinion poll that found trails-based activity overwhelmingly was the most popular outdoor recreational pursuit in the state, with 250 million activity days per year.
"Colorado has always offered great outdoor recreation opportunities and we want to make sure those continue," said Dorsey.
Among the many challenges the agency faces are aging facilities, long-term funding and increasing public demand for more recreation. This is in addition to contending with wildlife management, such as big game, fisheries, watchable wildlife opportunities and habitat.
"We want to know what people want and expect from Colorado Parks and Wildlife," Dorsey said.
Those who can't attend the meeting can comment online at cpw.state.co.us/StrategicPlan. Online comments must be submitted by April 3.
Judge rejects coal mine expansion
The Four Corners Power Plant may be cooling some of its jets while a lawsuit over expansion of the nearby Navajo Mine is sorted out.
Last week, Colorado Federal District Judge John L. Kane overturned a 2012 Office of Surface Mining (OSM) decision to allow a 714-acre expansion of the 13,000-acre Navajo Mine, located on the Navajo Reservation west of Farmington. The mine currently produces nearly 8 million tons of coal a year, and the expansion would have allowed for the removal of another 12.7 million tons. But the plan was deemed illegal when Kane determined the OSM failed to consider the environmental effects from burning the coal, which feeds the nearby Four Corners Power Plant, also on the reservation.
According to Kane, the OSM environmental assessment violated the National Environmental Policy Act by ignoring harmful impacts from mercury pollution.
Environmental groups lauded the decision and its implications for the plant, which has been tagged as one of the dirtiest in the country.
“Coal mined at the Navajo Mine is ... causing widespread impacts to the air, land, waters and people in the region. OSM has long denied its responsibility to recognize this clear truth,” Shiloh Hernandez, a lawyer with the Western Environmental Law Center, which argued the case, said.
The Four Corners Plant supplies power to New Mexico, California, Texas and Arizona. The majority of the plant is owned by Arizona Public Service Co., which retired one of the plant's five towers in 2014 under a plan with the Environmental Protection Agency to reduce emissions.
However that still leaves 1,500 megawatts of “dirty” power unchecked, according to critics. “For far too long, these communities have born the brunt of dangerous coal pollution. We can feel the impacts in the water we drink and the air we breathe,” Nellis Kennedy-Howard, senior campaign representative with the Sierra Club, said.
The Navajo Nation bought the mine in 2013 from Australia-based BHP Billiton for $85 million.
Kane ordered litigants to outline solutions by March 23. Plaintiffs include Diné CARE, S.J. Citizen’s Alliance, Amigos Bravos, Center for Biological Diversity and the Sierra Club.
– Missy Votel