This past weekend in Estes Park was highlighted by one of the most popular festivals we have. Even this bull elk came by, but that was likely because he had his harem taken away by a rival. When I saw him right next to where the festival was being held in Bond Park, he was tussling with those bushes behind him — he could beat them up, sort of. There was a cow elk behind the bushes, but he either didn’t know she was there or she was also ignoring him. The police auxiliary was making sure people didn’t give this guy an easy target as he was close to multiple walking paths and the male elk are easily upset at this time of year.
It’s not easy fighting for females, trying to make sure your group (called a harem by male biologists) doesn’t wander off to an elk with bigger antlers (where have we seen that happen in human interactions?) and having figurative sand kicked in your face by the bigger bullies. By the way, this photo is a good comparison between the size of an elk and the size of a car. Best to keep one’s distance from them, especially in this season when they’re hopped up on testosterone and looking for fights.
I have the following volunteers for the dates listed. I will fill in on
October 14: acpa
October 21: John in Denver
October 28: Merry Light
November 4: Election Eve for RichM
November 11: Veterans Day, and hopefully not the dawn of a new revolution.
I have now voted for the Harris/Walz ticket for POTUS/VPOTUS
I’m pleased to say that I have now voted in the 2024 election. With the encouragement from the Kosacks at the Denver meetup, I went to the Larimer County administrative offices last Monday and they printed off a ballot for me (Larimer county alone has 50 ballots for the various jurisdictions, what with all the various federal, state and local jurisdictions, all the special amendments, local issues and more on the ballot). The sticker above replaces the “I Voted” flag sticker that had been the badge of responsibility for many years. This design, IIRC, was done by a public school student and came with the ballot envelope. This year there are many digital designs that are being sent out to different jurisdictions for those who are registered for tracking your ballot through the state. You can see some of them, including the one that was this year’s award winner for the state, also designed by a school student, in the article from Colorado Public Radio.
Yes, I voted for Democrats down the line, though I had to change my vote for my county clerk — I didn’t realize that my clerk who seems to be doing a good job is a Republican. She wasn’t part of any election denialism that I know of, but I still feel better voting for a Democrat in these troubled times. I mailed in my ballot on Wednesday (1st class postage of 73 cents or a single Forever stamp) is what I was told for my ballot. Those of you who might have more than two heavy sheets of ballot paper may need more postage — check with your county clerk — it may be on their voting website.
From Colorado Politics — Colorado judge rules that vote to remove Dave Williams as state GOP chair violated party bylaws
In case you thought we might be through with the odious Dave Williams and his bigoted emails and abuses of procedure with having the state GOP endorse in primary races (especially his) and spending money to support those campaigns, the Republican party has once again managed to screw up their own ouster effort of their party chairman. Looks like we’ll still have Dave Williams to kick around some more.
Debate Night — No, I’m not talking about Walz taking out Vance.
October 8th is, I believe a debate between Congresswoman Yadira Caraveo and Gabe Evans on 9News. Since it starts at 6PM, I believe it will be moderated by Kyle Clark. This is likely the closest race in Colorado for Congress (for the 8th district), so make a note to watch it.
From the Colorado Sun — Legislation for western Colorado
You may remember I recently mentioned some groups seeking to have President Biden designate a large chunk of the western part of the state — larger than Rocky Mountain National Park — as a new National Monument. I know I mentioned it somewhere, but here’s a link to the group wanting the National Monument.
Anyway, there’s an alternative being proposed by Colorado’s two Senators — Bennet and Hickenlooper, that’s based off several years of their discussions with stakeholders, counties, towns and interest groups. This is a bit different, since this will go through Congress (if anything can go through Congress). It’s called the Gunnison Outdoor Resources Protection Act.
Colorado’s U.S. Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper on Thursday introduced one of the most ambitious Colorado public lands bills in decades, proposing to increase protections for more than 730,000 acres in the Gunnison River Basin.
The Gunnison Outdoor Resources Protection Act — or GORP Act — has been in the works for nearly 10 years as local advocates and Bennet worked with diverse groups to better protect the basin’s mountains, rivers, lakes and valleys.
“At the heart of every discussion over the bill was a shared respect for the generations before us who preserved these lands and a shared responsibility to future generations … who will make their homes and livelihoods in Gunnison,” Bennet, a Democrat, said Thursday during an online news conference.
Bennet said “careful and thoughtful” work on the bill includes a provision to transfer the 19,080-acre Pinecrest Ranch near Gunnison, which is owned by the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, into a reservation trust that will make management of the ranch land easier for the tribe. The legislation does not close any roads or trails and protects grazing rights. It does not impact water rights or existing leases for mining or oil and gas drilling. It protects motorized boating in the Gunnison Gorge.
It’s a lengthy article and it specifically mentions how this is an alternative to the National Monument idea on the western border of the state. The act would protect some areas but not necessarily remove current operations, remove some areas from mining, add areas to current wilderness areas — in short, lots of good for carefully researched and negotiated areas in western Colorado.
Also on the environment: www.denverpost.com/… (this should be a gift link)
There has been a bipartisan bill to try and fix the problem of hard rock mining pollution that is working its way into watersheds and underground water sources all over the western US. It is slowly making its way through Congress, starting in the Senate and it was passed unanimously after a lot of work. It is now over in the House, where it has gone farther than it ever has before (it has been underway for years). With respect to Colorado:
More than 23,000 abandoned mines dot public and private land across Colorado’s mountains and hills, according to the Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety. At least 500 of those measurably harm nearby water quality by leaking acidic water packed with dissolved metals and sulfates. Those substances can turn streams and wetlands an unsettling orange.
...
Under current law, Trout Unlimited would have to assume permanent liability for the pollution if it decided to address the discharge at its source. The nonprofit would also be required to treat 100% of the pollution, which is not always possible or financially feasible, said Churchwell, the group’s mining coordinator.
“Our contention is that if we can remove 25%, 50%, 75% — isn’t that better than none at all?” he said. “And none at all is the program that we have today. We can’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.”
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Now Congress is attempting to remove that barrier. The pending bill, the Good Samaritan Remediation of Abandoned Hardrock Mines Act of 2024, would create a pilot program for up to 15 remediation projects led by good Samaritan organizations. A number of Colorado lawmakers are co-sponsors of the bill, including both senators and Reps. Brittany Pettersen, Joe Neguse, Lauren Boebert and Jason Crow.
Again, a lengthy article and I hope the gift link works. I haven’t tried them before on DailyKos, so please let me know if there are problems reaching it. I have sometimes been critical of our Senators, but kudos to Senators Hickenlooper and Bennet from our state, some of the House members, as well as bipartisan support from Senators and Representatives from around the west. The Denver Post article concerns the Colorado impact of the bill, but this term it was started by Senator Martin Heinrich of New Mexico and if you do a Google search, you can see that many bipartisan Senators and Congressmen from around the west are touting this bill.
I look forward to your comments in the section below. Thanks to those who are going to be filling in while I’m gone. I’ve decided to write one more Open Thread on October 7th but I won’t be around to reply to comments, as I’ll be in the air, I think. I take off on October 6th and finally reach my destination on the 8th, so I THINK I’ll be boarding my final flight around the time the diary posts, but don’t hold me to that. In any event, I won’t be in mental state to respond to anything. The floor, now and forever, is yours...
