Cameron Peak fire in 2020, from my house. This year's Alexander Peak fire was partially stopped because the Cameron Peak fire had already burned through the area.
I had such a good time with the meet-up at the Wild Animal Sanctuary, I have arranged for another one this coming Sunday afternoon, August 11th at 1PM, at Recess Beer Garden in Denver, CO. The menu looks varied and it was suggested by long-time Kosack Leftcandid who will be able to join us for lunch. The venue doesn’t take reservations, so we’ll just go monopolize a couple of tables on their patio. One of the reasons I thought this might be a good place is that my dogs will be allowed to join us and they’re good dogs, yes they are. If anyone wants to bring their dogs along, they say they don’t limit the number of dogs in a group, but they must be on leashes the whole time. They even have a couple of menu items for the puppers. Please put in the comments if you’re able to attend so we can save space for you.
I hope none of you were in the burn areas of this past week’s series of fires. I wouldn’t be too surprised if most if not all of them were started by humans in one way or another. The one in Jeffco is being investigated as being human caused. The one close to Nederland is already known to have been started by accident, as was the one in Estes Park.
People, Colorado has been bone dry without much moisture for most of the summer! Burn restrictions are in place! Yet there was a video on the news a few days ago purporting to show a current group of people setting off fireworks in a wooded area. If people were held liable for the cost of fires they started, I’d like to think some reckless people might choose a different way of being stupid.
The fires along the front range have been put out or are being contained with evacuation orders mostly lifted. The one in western Colorado seems to be a big one but it will soon be able to be confronted as resources are released from the front range fires. I haven’t left Estes Park except for a quick trip down to Longmont for a prescription once US36 was reopened. I didn’t want to be away from my animals in case the Alexander Peak fire started moving. Fortunately, the winds have been very, very quiet for several days so the fire stayed pretty much where it was. We’ll have some rain this week, but with thunderstorms, there’s always a possibility of lightning starting more fires. I think I may have some PTSD left over from being evacuated in 2020. A price we pay for living in a scenic state.
I have been seeing some news notes but I also appreciate that some of you folks have been posting your own diaries about things like the Tina Peters trial getting underway. John in Denver posted a diary www.dailykos.com/… on the story. The AP story apnews.com/… says she’s claiming as her defense that she just wanted to preserve data. Ah, the sweetheart. That explains using stolen credentials to break into the data center. That explains posting the login and password information on a public site. Yes, she was doing this as her civic duty. I hope she doesn’t mind when the civilians judging her do their civic duty and throw her in jail.
greenchilidem wrote a story that she published Sunday, but it seems to have been written at the end of April. Still, there’s some information that may be of interest about the spread of efforts to prevent counties and towns out on the western slope from being sanctuary cities for undocumented immigrants.
There were also a couple of articles on a subject near and dear to my heart. In the struggle for ranchers and wolves getting used to having to co-exist, apparently the wolves are doing what wolves do — killing some sheep and calves and the ranchers haven’t figured out yet how to stop that from happening other than the age-old killing of the wolves by the bigger, badder predators on the land — ranchers with guns. Since ranchers aren’t allowed to just hunt wolves willy-nilly, there are some problems with the ranchers over the wolf reintroduction program.
From the Denver Gazette:
“It just keeps happening and we’ve done every non-lethal option," she said. "We have dogs, we have flashing lights, we have sounds, we have construction workers here. And every attack on our sheep has been in broad daylight.”
According to the state's Wolf Management Plan, CPW officers are allowed to kill a wolf if it's been found to be "chronically" killing livestock. If a wolf is caught in the act of killing livestock, ranchers are required to request permission from CPW before killing it. To date, all such requests by ranchers have been denied.
…
The state's reluctance to allow ranchers to kill problem wolves has hurt relationships between CPW and the private land owners. Ranchers have reported mental health issues due to the state's handling of the wolf reintroduction program. Ranchers were further enraged when state officials continued to push non-lethal methods after a pair of wolves were confirmed to have a pup in June.
This series of problems between wolves and livestock has led to another problem in the state. From theFencepost.com
Colorado Parks and Wildlife confirmed that the tribe that previously agreed to allow wolves to be translocated has rescinded their agreement.
The Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation say they won’t be sending 15 wolves from their reservation in Washington to Colorado in late 2024. In a June 6 letter to CPW Director Jeff Davis, the tribe cited concerns communicated to them by tribes in Colorado who have publicly objected to the release of wolves.
The letter reads in part, “It has come to our attention that necessary and meaningful consultation was not completed with the potentially impacted tribes. Out of respect for the sovereignty, cultures and memberships of Indian Tribes in Colorado and neighboring states, who may be impacted by this project, the Colville Tribes cannot assist with this project at this time.”
Colorado Parks and Wildlife will still try and obtain some more wolves to release per the original plan, but most of the states with wolves have already said they’re not going to supply them to Colorado. That was a reason Colorado made the agreement with the Colville Reservation, which isn’t bound by the states. Now that agreement is rescinded and CPW may run into similar problems if Colorado pursues agreements with other tribes that may have wolves on their lands.
I don’t have a solution; I’m relying upon the wildlife professionals. I do admit I did vote to bring wolves back to Colorado and I’m also in favor of wolverines being brought to Colorado. I don’t make my living off ranching in wolf country, though. Stay tuned, as I’ll bring you updates as I see them.
Over 200 new laws going into effect on August 7th:
www.coloradopolitics.com/…
This is an article highlighting some of the most interesting including:
- An income tax credit for the cost of the first two years of college education for families making less than 90K/year
- Outlawing use of the term “Excited Delirium” in describing encounters between police, EMS, and other first responders when dealing with the public.
- Regulating law enforcement’s use of “Prone Restraint”
- Reintroduction of wolverines by Parks and Wildlife
I could talk about Jenna Ellis, now suspended lawyer from Colorado who made plea deals in Georgia and now Arizona so she could get out of felony charges of helping with the fake elector schemes in those two states, but I don’t wish to waste pixels on her. For her to get my sympathy, she should have held to her law oath not to lie to the public, stood up to Trump and not become involved in what was obviously (to everyone with a brain) an effort to subvert an election that Trump had lost. Instead, she was with those people until the law came calling, filing charges against her and many others, and now she hopes for some sympathy. Bleep no! After her agreeing over the weekend to turn state’s evidence in Arizona, the ones who need to be worried are those in other states who are facing charges like in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin and Nevada. If they’ve had anything to do with Jenna Ellis, they know now she will also give them up if she’s facing charges. They need to get before the Attorneys General of those states to get their plea deals before she wrecks their chances. Then again, being involved in these efforts means they aren’t smart, so I’ve wasted too much time already.
Please let me know in the comments if you can come next Sunday to the meetup at the Recess restaurant. I would like to meet all y’all if possible. My dogs would also love to meet you folks, and any dogs you bring. Until then, the floor is yours...
