Klaus Obermeyer represents the pioneering face — and heart — of skiing. His lifelong passion for the sport led him to innovate much-needed gear during skiing’s infancy. Now, at age 105, his positivity and contributions continue to ripple throughout the industry.

He started skiing on his family’s property at age 3. His father owned a sporting goods store, and, as a child, Obermeyer fashioned his first pair of skis by tying a flexible orange chestnut crate — imported into the store from Italy — to his feet with string.

Born Dec. 2, 1919, in the small Bavarian alpine village of Oberstaufen, Germany, he originally studied aeronautical engineering in Munich before moving to Sun Valley, Idaho, where he sold Bavarian neckties and shoestrings. Shortly thereafter, he became a ski instructor in Aspen, where he realized students didn’t have proper clothing to keep them warm and dry on the mountain. In 1947, he launched Sport Obermeyer, and in 1961, he opened its first warehouse in Aspen.

Though he didn’t invent the parka, the industry credits him for designing more functional and fashionable parkas; he fashioned his first one from down comforters his mother insisted he take to the U.S. to stay warm. He formulated high-elevation sunscreen and was one of the first to offer traditional ski sweaters, seamless turtlenecks, kids “I-Grow” extendable length jackets and pants, and “ski cashmere” knits with a merino wool face and a cashmere back. He also pioneered the flow fit boot, double-prong ski stopper, tapered and dual-tapered aluminum ski pole, mirrored sunglasses, and double lens goggles.

He initially gained momentum by selling Koogie ties, two fluffy yarn pom-pom balls connected by a string. He sold them at Hotel Jerome, ultimately convincing actor Gary Cooper to wear one, and the style took off from there.

One of his favorite features he championed came in the form of the Klaus Stash pocket, which he originally used as a teenager to smuggle sugar and tobacco into resorts by sewing a pocket into his jacket. Now, all Obermeyer jackets feature an inside stash pocket in the back. 

“We didn’t start Obermeyer to get rich. We started it because we love skiing. Teaching skiing in Aspen, you could tell what was missing. Aspen has been our laboratory for 75 years. Early, we saw that the skis were too long, the poles were too heavy, there were no sunglasses that worked well, and a sweater wasn’t enough to ski in,” Klaus says in a video. “We saw an opportunity to make the skiing life a better one for the skiers in America who came to Aspen. That’s how our business started: by making these things that worked better and solved problems.”

He recalls how Aspen was nearly deserted after World War II, with plenty of homes selling for $400 when miners left. Yet, he immediately recognized its beauty — and potential.

“It was a ghost town, but then it snowed, and the sun came out the next day. I went up on the mountain, and it was just like skiing on goose feathers. The second day, the same thing happened, and I said, ‘I’m never leaving here. This is the best place in the world for skiing,'” Obermeyer says through email. “There were no parking problems in 1947. We’d park our cars at the Hotel Jerome for the winter and never touch them until the snow melted. That’s where the ski school meeting place was, across from the Hotel Jerome. Aspen started little.”

He continued to carve into the mountain’s “goose feathers” until age 100, adhering to his motto: The longer you ski, the longer you live. To this day, he’s hard-pressed to pick a favorite run — even though Buttermilk named Klaus Way after him. However, he did come to prefer groomed runs.

“It doesn’t matter which mountain it is or which run or what conditions there are. I do not discriminate between them. Some are longer; some are shorter, but they’re all fun. I just love skiing,” he says.

He had to wait until the ripe age of 90 for Aspen Skiing Company to grant him a lifetime pass, along with a 100-year pin, similar to the pins it awards when skiers and riders reach 100 days in one season. When he received the pin, he said: “That is so nice, I think I need to do another 100 years.”

He has eaten healthy throughout his life to remain fit for skiing, and he also swam daily until age 100. Now, he practices yoga and aikido.

He says the secret to life is a positive attitude, which he credits for playing a huge role in his longevity.

“Life is very much like skiing. You apply the extension of energy in skiing, too. You love the mountain. You’re the center of your own universe. You’re given all these choices and opportunities: Where to turn, how fast to go, how to enjoy it,” he says. “You have a positive energy; you cannot fear or have negative energy.”

He extends that love to the environment through the company’s award-winning environmental practices.

“We must step lightly on the planet,” he says. “We are here for only a very short period of time, and it’s not right to destroy something which gives us such great beauty and asks for nothing in return.”

He has designed Obermeyer products with both a long lifecycle and recycling in mind. For example, Thermore and PrimaLoft lines integrate recycled plastic bottles into their design.

This season, the company debuts Blue Thread through its Off Grid collection. While Obermeyer has traditionally focused on resort wear, Off Grid caters to backcountry adventures and features an eco-friendly nylon yard generated from discarded ocean waste, such as fishing nets and oyster rope. The line extends his pioneering steps toward a more sustainable future, with “best-in-class performance that you can feel good about,” according to its marketing material.

Throughout his life, he has earned plenty of awards and accolades, including the National Ski Hall of Fame Medal of Honor, Colorado Ski Hall of Fame, Colorado Business Hall of Fame, and Aspen Chamber Resort Association’s Aspen Business of the Year.

Of course, one of his “personal accolades” are his four kids, who work in every field, from ski instructing to photography — and who have given him plenty of grandkids.

Obermeyer has remained in Aspen since 1947, and, at age 105, he says he wouldn’t do anything differently.

“I’m thrilled to have such a long and positive life,” he says, adding, “Aspen is a phenomenal town. The climate lends itself very well to outdoor sports, in winter and summer. There is always something fabulous to do or experience.”

The city’s preliminary sales tax report for October shows a 4.17% increase in revenue compared to the same month last year, putting year-to-date collections roughly 1.8% higher than 2023 returns through October.

When comparing this October to the same month last year, the notable changes in collections by category are in Construction at 15.25%; Marijuana at -10.20%; and Sporting Goods at -14.08%.

Accommodations tax collections came in 7.17% higher compared to October 2023, pushing year-to-date collections in the category roughly 6% higher compared to the first 10 months last year.

Finance Director Kim Weber said earlier this year the city expects to see tax revenue increase by roughly 2% this year compared to 2023.

Short-term rental taxes collected by the city in October came in 4.4% higher than the same month last year. Year-to-date collections from short-term rentals in the city are 89.8% higher through October compared to the same time period in 2023.

This increase is linked to an exemption in 2023 where reservations booked on or prior to Dec. 31, 2022, for stays occurring Jan. 1-Oct. 15, 2023, were not subject to the city’s short-term rental tax.

The city saw a 23.7% drop in building use taxes collected in October compared to October 2023. The tax fluctuates based on the number of building permits issued, use-tax reconciliations completed and the size and number of developments in the city.

Yearly building-use tax collections through October are 96% higher compared to 2023 figures through the same time period.

“The main drivers of the increase in building-use tax are the increase in commercial buildings and multi-residential building permits. The valuation for these two categories is almost 60% higher than the prior year. These include projects such as the Holiday Inn Express, Amble, Riverview and Central Park Project,” said Finance Director Kim Weber last month.

“In summary, most all permit types increased from 2023, plus we had several large commercial permits issued in 2024,” she added.

It’s the second year for Rural is Rad Week and co-founder Robin Hall said she is thrilled to see the movement grow from four or five businesses the first year to close to 40 this time around.

“Last year it went well, but admittedly it was our first year getting off the ground. We had a handful of maybe three to five brands involved,” Hall said. “This year we have really been working to spread the word and raise some enthusiasm. In the last 12 months we’re at about 30 to 40 brands in our directory — everyone from Big Agnes, Bar-U-Eat, Eagle Creek and Town Hall Outdoor Co. to brands out of Crested Butte in the southwest all the way over to Grand Junction — we’ve really expanded across the state, which has been neat.”

Rural is Rad Week began Nov. 30 and will run through this Saturday.

The goal of Rural is Rad is to drive revenue for rural businesses, provide an alternative to shopping big and build a year-round community between the businesses, the customers and each other.

Rural is Rad Week features special discounts, unique product releases, and in-person events at participating retailers, breweries and more. The movement includes small business from handcrafted goods and gear to sustainable apparel and one-of-a-kind experiences.

“This year, for Rural is Rad Week, brands are finding unique ways to give back to their rural communities or give discounts and incentives for customers to shop and find interesting, cool rural businesses doing neat things benefiting their communities,” Hall said.

Rural is Rad was dreamt up by Colorado entrepreneurs Hall, of Town Hall Outdoor Co., Kelly Mazanti of Buttnski and TJ Smith of Stray Wild. The movement was formed through a shared objective to build awareness for rural brands and to help founders who experience shared challenges working in remote places with limited resources.

“It gives these founders an outlet to talk on the back end, and really behind-the-scenes,” Hall said. “Whether it be therapy or high-fives or direction or resources, we’re all here to help each other. I think (Rural is Rad) is a compelling story that’s honestly been easy to sell, and we’re just trying to get members in the network because consumers are really falling in love with it.”

Rural is Rad celebrates the uniqueness of rural businesses and is committed to empowering small, independent brands to thrive in the outdoor and lifestyle industries, alongside more established brands that have made the conscious choice and effort to remain rurally rooted.

Hall said the businesses in Rural is Rad are not solely in the outdoor recreation or apparel industry. Rural is Rad includes artists, ranchers and even a campground host. Hall insists that those outside the outdoor industry can also find value in the resources that Rural is Rad offers.

“They don’t need supply chain support,” she said. “They may need an accountant or marketing visibility support. Everyone rurally needs help, and between all of us we can all help each other, and that has been neat to see. Our goal is to help folks get on that path no matter what stage or the business they’re in, whether you’re Big Agnes or Town Hall, or you are a little outdoor artist from Pagosa Springs — everyone needs help in some way.”

The Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club is kicking off its winter competition season this weekend with Jumpin’ & Bumpin’ at Howelsen Hill on Dec. 7-8. 

The hill will host two major events — the Ski Jumping and Nordic Combined Winter Start and U.S. Cup Opener, and the Rocky Mountain Freestyle season opener moguls competition. 

Ski Jumping and Nordic Combined

The best U16-and-older ski jumping and Nordic combined athletes in North America congregate at Howelsen Hill each year for the Winter Start competition. Hosted by the Rocky Mountain Division and the SSWSC, it is the first U.S. Cup event of the 2024-25 season. 

Nearly 70 athletes participate on the HS75- and HS100-meter ski jumps for the first of two Junior World Championship Team tryouts. 

The competition begins at 9 a.m. Saturday with jumpers flying off the HS100, followed by the HS75 hill until 1 p.m. Nordic combined athletes then take their talents to the rodeo arena for the 5-kilometer cross country ski race at 3 p.m. 

Sunday has a similar schedule with HS100 jumps running 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m. and the cross country race again at 3 p.m. in Romick Arena. 

Awards ceremonies are set to take place each day at 4:30 p.m. in Olympian Hall. 

Moguls 

Along with the Nordic events, Rocky Mountain Freestyle will host the 2024 Ski Town USA Freestyle competition at Howelsen Hill with elite moguls skiers competing from around the country. 

Howelsen Hill is home to one of the only mogul courses open in North America and the event will begin with an hour of training runs before competition starts at 12:45 p.m. with the first of two runs. 

The second competition run takes place under the lights at Howelsen Hill at 5:30 p.m. with awards to follow at 8 p.m. on the Howelsen Lodge patio. 

Spectators are welcome to watch and celebrate the start of the winter season at any of the events. Those who are unable to attend in person can view the livestream on SSWSC.org.

The podium celebration at Saturday’s World Cup giant slalom race in Killington was one of the more subdued in recent memory. 

Sweden’s winner, Sara Hector, as well as runner-up Zrinka Ljutic of Croatia and bronze medalist Camille Rast of Switzerland — held straight faces as the music played. The crowd politely applauded. 

Just moments before, they’d been holding their breath. 

After racing to a 0.32-second first-run lead over Hector, Mikaela Shiffrin stepped into the gate as the day’s final racer, poised to claim her 100th-career World Cup win in front of a home audience. But the 29-year-old lost control in the third sector. She slipped onto her inside hip during a right turn and crashed through the next gate, losing a ski before sliding to rest in the netting along the outer edge of the course. Shiffrin remained on the ground for several minutes as safety personnel rushed to check her status. She was taken down in a sled, waving to the crowd.

After the race, Shiffrin shared on Instagram a video of her hip being treated. “Not really too much cause for concern at this point,” she said. “I just can’t move, I have a pretty good abrasion.” She wrote that she will be “cheering from the sideline” on Sunday’s slalom race.

It was a harsh conclusion to a day which started well for the all-time winningest Alpine skier. Shiffrin — who has won six of seven slaloms held in Killington but never a giant slalom at the Vermont venue — said her first run was the best GS run she’s ever skied on the Superstar slope.

“Very satisfied with the first run,” Shiffrin told media after the morning session. “I can always be more aggressive, always. Everybody feels that. But I felt smooth and clean and so many of the things that I was hoping to feel. I’m excited for the opportunity on the second (run) to give it another go.”

Clouds, wind and cold temperatures made for icy conditions in the afternoon.

“To me, I was a bit surprised how much darker it was when I got in the pitch,” Ljutic said of the conditions. “I usually feel really good on this icy snow and in my head I tried to connect even more in the second run.”

Shiffrin’s American teammates, Paula Moltzan and Nina O’Brien, also thrived, finishing fifth and sixth, respectively. O’Brien moved up four places on her second run. Hector — the reigning Olympic GS champion — even flashed a smile at the top of the pitch, embraced the steep start and skied aggressively through the middle rollers right down the final pitch and into the lead. 

“I am so proud of myself, it’s amazing. I just tried to really enjoy it, have fun. I wanted to remember that I really love to do this,” Hector told FIS media. “It’s really, really cool to get to feel these emotions again.”

By contrast, Shiffrin’s skiing appeared stiff in the early going. She lost 0.12 in the first sector and another 0.03 in the second before crashing in the third. In addition to her pursuit of the century mark, Shiffrin could have tied Ingemar Stenmark for the most World Cup podiums (155) had she been able to finish in the top three. 

“Congratulations to the winners and my teammates for incredible performances,” Shiffrin stated.

Coloradans’ split opinions on the state’s reintroduction of gray wolves have made their way across the border into Canada.

One week after a group of 26 organizations asked British Columbia wildlife officials not to supply Colorado with more wolves, a group of wildlife advocacy organizations is making their own appeal to the Canadian province. 

“We urge you to resist any calls to break or reconsider this vital agreement,” wrote Rob Edward, president of the Rocky Mountain Wolf Project, in a Dec. 3 letter to British Columbia officials on behalf of 13 other signatories. “To do so would undermine a visionary partnership and embolden those seeking to disregard the democratic process in Colorado.”

The letter is also signed by representatives from the Center for Biological Diversity, Colorado Nature League, Colorado Nature Action, ColoradoWild, Wolf Awareness, WildEarth Guardians, the Colorado Wolf and Wildlife Center, Defenders of Wildlife, San Juan Citizens Alliance, the Western Watersheds Project and Wolf and Wildlife Advocates. Matt Barnes, a conservationist listed as a human-carnivore specialist and rangeland scientist, and Norman Bishop, a member of the Wolf Recovery Project with the Yellowstone Center for Resources, are also listed among the signatories. 

British Columbia’s Ministry of Water, Lands and Resource Stewardship reached an agreement with Parks and Wildlife earlier this year to supply Colorado with its next 15 wolves. The capture and release operations are planned for January through March.

The letter expresses support for the partnership between British Columbia and Parks and Wildlife and asks the wildlife ministry to stand firm in its decision to supply wolves amid calls from livestock and agriculture producers asking the opposite. 

On Nov. 26, a group of 26 organizations — representing various agricultural and livestock groups — asked British Columbia to reconsider sending the wolves, claiming Colorado’s reintroduction efforts have been “plagued with problems” for the animals and ranching community. 

The letter mirrors the concerns of a petition submitted to Colorado Parks and Wildlife by a nearly identical group of organizations. The petition, sent to the agency’s commission in September, asks the state agency to pause reintroduction efforts until several conflict mitigation and funding programs are fully implemented. It contains seven specific requests ranging from defining chronic depredation to fully developing programs for carcass management, range riding and other nonlethal approaches.

“Without programs in place, we will be right back where we were in April of 2024,” said Tim Ritschard, president of the Middle Park Stockgrowers Association, on behalf of the petitioners at the November commission meeting. 

The first confirmed depredation events with Colorado’s reintroduced wolves were in April in Middle Park. Ultimately, the volume of livestock killings in the area led to the removal and relocation of the Copper Creek pack to a wildlife sanctuary.

“Essential programs to minimize conflict are underdeveloped and underfunded,” Ritschard said. “Even if (Colorado Parks and Wildlife) has a plan, livestock producers don’t know it.”

The petition was presented to the commission in November but remains undecided as the commissioners await a staff recommendation before it will decide whether to deny the petition or consider any rulemaking. 

The December letter from wildlife advocates calls this request “a direct affront to the decision made by Colorado’s voters and to the spirit of cooperative conservation between our regions.”

“The livestock industry’s portrayal of this program as a ‘calamity,’ as noted in their September 2024 petition to ‘pause’ further translocation, grossly mischaracterizes the actual success of wolf reintroduction efforts,” Edward wrote in the letter. 

A collaboration between Colorado Parks and Wildlife and the Colorado Avalanche Information Center will provide avalanche forecast updates to the Colorado Trail Explorer mobile app, COTREX, allowing recreationists to be better prepared for conditions.

According to the CAIC 2023-24 Season Summary, 5,632 avalanches were recorded through June 10. Over 140 people were caught in avalanches during the season, with 59 people buried and 13 injured. Of the 120 incidents involving people, there were two fatalities.

To continue efforts to keep recreationists safe during the winter, COTREX will provide updated trail information across local, state and federal agencies.

According to the CAIC, more than 235 land managers contribute data on over 50,000 miles of trails across the state.

Some of the avalanche forecast features include active avalanche warnings, the ability to turn on or turn off statewide forecast areas in the map layers section, and danger ratings for selected geographic areas.

“For CAIC, providing the public with timely information is key to helping people avoid avalanches and stay safe in the backcountry,” said CAIC Director Ethan Greene in a statement. “By adding avalanche forecasts and alerts to the COTREX app, we’re making it easier than ever for people to access essential safety information right from their phones. This collaboration will empower people to make informed decisions and enjoy Colorado’s mountains safely.”

The CORTEX app offers real-time updates for other trail conditions like closures, wildfire zones and other safety hazards. The avalanche forecast updates is designed to help recreationists stay safe all year.

“We know avalanche conditions can change rapidly, so we want to do our part to share valuable safety information from reliable outdoor experts with our outdoor community,” said CPW Deputy Director Heather Disney Dugan.

CAIC notes that the COTREX app is not a standalone resource for recreationists. To be properly prepared for backcountry activities, people are encouraged to also check the CAIC Avalanche Forecast Map. 

All recreationists should also travel with avalanche safety gear and understand how to use it.

“Coloradans love getting outside and the Colorado Parks and Wildlife COTREX app is a fantastic way to learn of new trails and trail conditions and explore new areas of our state,” said Dan Gibbs, executive director of the Department of Natural Resources. “The addition of Colorado Avalanche Information Center avalanche forecasts and warnings will help even more Coloradans as they travel in our backcountry over the winter and keep them updated on the most accurate and latest snow conditions.” 

To view the COTREX map, visit Trails.Colorado.gov.

To view the CAIC Avalanche Forecast Map, visit Bit.Ly/3OFyhmU.  

Ensuring that the art communities can flourish across Colorado takes creative solutions. A new policy framework from the Colorado Business Committee for the Arts creates a roadmap to address some of the top challenges for the state’s creative industries and to make the most of the opportunities ahead.  

Based on feedback from over 800 individuals through surveys, focus groups and interviews, the framework aims to represent the collective vision of the creative community across Colorado. 

“It recognizes the profound role that arts and culture play in shaping the social fabric, economic vitality and collective identity of communities” reads Colorado’s Art Policy Framework final report. “At its core, this framework is an affirmation that the arts are not merely an ornamental aspect of society but a fundamental driver of human expression, innovation, and connection.”

While advocacy has long been relevant to the Colorado Business Committee for the Arts’ mission, the framework marks a shift for the 39-year-old organization.  

“Advocacy was always part of our mission, but sort of advocacy with a little ‘A,'” said Meredith Badler, the organization’s deputy director. “It was really during the pandemic that we got more involved at the state legislature as well as at the federal level, and so a lot of our initial advocacy work was very reactive.”

Today, the organization has a contract lobbyist, a grassroots mobilization tool called the Colorado Arts Action Network, an active policy committee and important partnerships to support its advocacy efforts. 

The pandemic made it apparent that previous efforts were not always inclusive of the entire state and barely scratched the surface of need but also that there was an eagerness from people to have their voices heard in this arena, Badler added. 

It’s here that the need for a policy framework became apparent. 

“For a long time in Colorado there just hadn’t been a unified and coordinated voice for arts advocacy,” Badler said. “It really came from this idea of being more inclusive and proactive in our advocacy work going forward.”

What are Colorado’s priorities to support the arts? 

The framework establishes where it should focus its future advocacy and lobbying efforts through four priorities that exemplify what the organization heard through its stakeholder process. 

The first priority speaks to the need for policies that are locally and culturally responsive. 

In mountain and rural communities, the organization heard significant feedback around the need to amplify arts assets, events and cultural heritage through statewide tourism and local promotion, Badler said. These communities also expressed a need for more resources and capacity including in education, concerns about the affordability and availability of arts space and threatened liveability for creative employees, all of which are addressed in the framework. 

While the stakeholder process showed more similarities than differences between Colorado’s communities, there are still unique needs depending on where you live, Badler noted. 

“It’s a big, diverse state and the needs of a community — just even thinking about the Roaring Fork Valley, what people need in Rifle in Glenwood and the climate in Aspen — are very different,” she said. 

This top priority speaks to the need to understand “that every community or demographic or discipline may have some distinct needs, and we need to be thinking about that from the beginning as we’re suggesting, monitoring or supporting policy going forward,” Badler said. 

Policies that meet this could include creating and supporting municipal-arts partnerships, protecting dedicated arts spaces, using art as a tool to support mental health and ensuring equitable and daily access to arts.

The second priority revolves around supporting the creative economy and ensuring there are sustainable funding models — be it grants or financial incentives — supporting art infrastructure and including the creative sector in economic and tourism strategies.

The third priority is centered around bolstering the liveability of creative workers. This includes making sure creatives have access to affordable housing, fair compensation and professional development. 

The fourth and final priority is making sure arts education is supported and expanded for all ages. This includes policies to expand, improve, mandate and fund preschool to 12th grade public arts programs as well as integrating arts into educational and career pathways. 

Turning the framework into action 

With the framework set out, the next step includes making a more tactical legislative agenda and ensuring these priorities are reflected in future policy at the federal, state and local levels. 

Critically, with a tight state budget and uncertain future for federal arts funding under President-elect Donald Trump, this will include collaboration and being creative about how to support the arts beyond funding. 

“How can we make sure arts and creative industries are incorporated into other initiatives?” Badler said, adding that this includes looking at things like: “What’s happening in the housing space, and how can we make sure artists and gig workers can access those opportunities? What’s happening in mental and behavioral health, and how can we make sure that arts interventions are eligible for those opportunities?” 

Federally, there are concerns that under the pending Trump administration, arts funding could take a hit including the National Endowment for the Arts. In his first term, Trump attempted to eliminate this program, from which the state of Colorado receives around $85 million to fund statewide programs. 

“It’s something we’re looking very closely at,” Badler said. “Not only would (changes to the National Endowment for the Arts) impact direct grants to cultural organizations and projects here in the state, but our state arts agency gets a significant amount of matching funds from the (endowment) every single year.”

In addition to these large-scale efforts, the policy framework also suggests that local advocacy and progress are critically important. 

One survey respondent from the San Luis Valley put it this way: “When local communities are empowered to make decisions about what is happening in the community — whether it is arts related or education or otherwise — you get more buy-in and more genuine projects.”

As such, the full 54-page report includes a comprehensive list of the concerns and potential solutions presented throughout the stakeholder process with the goal of guiding local advocates and efforts. 

“While (Colorado Business Committee for the Arts) doesn’t have the capacity to be at every city council meeting across the state, we’re hoping that this can be a resource for those local advocates and that we can provide any support or guidance that’s available,” Badler said. 

In recent years, the organization also created the Colorado Arts Action Network, a grassroots mobilization tool to help people stay informed about and involved in arts policy. 

“I think the call to action is really signing up for the Colorado Arts Action Network,” Badler said. “That’s how we’ll really start. It will help people be able to stay more informed and take action going forward as we bring this roadmap to life.” 

The Colorado Energy Office has started ramping up a new program to assist local governments with climate action work.

The new division is being created as the result of a $60 million grant from the Environmental Protection Agency awarded to the state agency in July.

Russ Sands, who was formerly with the Colorado Water Conservation Board, has joined the energy office to direct the new Local Government Climate Action Division. He will be joined by new and existing staff at the energy office.

“Partnerships with local governments are essential to achieve our ambitious climate goals, and we are specifically focused on supporting local efforts to save Coloradans money, improve air quality, and protect the environment,” said Ari Rosenblum, the public information manager for CEO, in a written statement in response to Big Pivots questions.

“We will work with local communities to help plan and implement emissions reduction measures, leveraging federal, state, and local funding and innovative financing solutions, such as energy performance contracting, to achieve local goals.”

State law requires Colorado to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 through programs that support renewable energy development, electrification, and energy efficiency across many sectors.

The federal money resulted from the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. The law delivered $4.3 billion to the EPA, which has awarded it to 25 applicants across the country, including two in Colorado.

In July, the Denver Regional Council of Governments received $200 million for building decarbonization across a nine-county area.

The state energy office got $129 million. A portion of the grant will be devoted to monitoring and reducing methane from coal mines and landfills. Another portion will be devoted to large-building decarbonization.

The remaining $60 million will go to the local government climate action accelerator. To get the money, Colorado needed to create a Priority Climate Action Plan that conforms with the EPA-established measures. The 81-page document was informed by the state’s Roadmap 2.0.

What sorts of local policies and projects could get funded? The Local Climate Action Accelerator program says local governments will be able to apply for grants for work falling under the related headings of policies and implementation: The policy headings are:

Buildings: adopting state minimum energy codes but also those that exceed state requirements, and incentives and financing for energy efficiency, electrification, and renewables.

Land use: Encouraging accessory dwelling units and attached homes, policies that encourage multi-family housing and mixed-use development near transit and in commercial areas, implement policies to discourage greenfield development, and implementation of robust parking reduction policies, adopt best practices in EV charging permitting and reforming utility-scale renewable energy permitting.

Transportation: adopting plans for high-quality active transportation infrastructure, plans for bus rapid transit, policies to encourage transit and reduced parking.

Waste: adopt jurisdiction-wide waste policies and encourage adoption of zero-emission vehicles for hauling waste.

The Colorado Energy Office website says that hiring and procurement will occur during the autumn of 2024, while the program design will occur with stakeholder input through the winter. By next summer CEO expects to begin distributing grants to local governments.

Sands, the first director of this program, previously was with the Colorado Water Conservation Board for six and a half years, including for most of the last five as the section chief for water supply planning. Prior postings had been with the One World One Water Center at Metropolitan State College, the Brendle Group, and the City of Boulder.

For more information, visit energyoffice.colorado.gov/cprg.

Allen Best is a Colorado-based journalist who publishes an e-magazine called Big Pivots. Reach him at allen.best@comcast.net or 720-415-9308.

Imagine a best-selling, 900-page novel using “a sad, bewildered nothing of a river” as its centerpiece, connecting the earth’s geologic origin and dinosaur age to 1970s rural Colorado.

Now imagine that novel becoming a touchstone for its times, yet still relevant today, as our nation approaches its 250th anniversary. The book is James A. Michener’s “Centennial,” an unlikely novel published a half-century ago. By creating a microcosm of the country, he explained America to itself in anticipation of the 1976 bicentennial.

That the Pulitzer-prize winning Michener chose as his landscape the West — and the little-known South Platte River on Colorado’s northeastern plains—is surprising only in that this was his first epic novel related to the U.S. mainland.

But ever since he briefly lived in Greeley, Colorado, in the late 1930s before his writing career began, the winding South Platte River stuck with him. As a young college professor, Michener recognized the wealth of stories resulting from the hardships of people surviving in an arid area.

After Michener’s service on a national bicentennial committee left him frustrated, he decided to return to the Centennial State, Colorado, which gained statehood in 1876. He hoped to tell a tale of the American experience, and in the opening chapter a character states, “If we can make the Platte comprehensible to Americans, we can inspire them with the meaning of this continent.”

Forgoing stereotypical Western stories of railroad builders and farmers’ daughters, Michener fictionalized selected histories of settlement and created relatable characters.

Native Americans, French trappers, Mennonite settlers, farmers of German-Russian descent, English ranchers, Mexican and Japanese laborers—all depended on the South Platte River and its tributaries in the dry, inhospitable land. They also had to depend on each other.

By starting with the land’s formation, Michener depicts every character as an immigrant. He estimates human arrival in the region at about 12,000 years ago, and those Indigenous peoples and their descendants remain present throughout the story. As more people arrived and society evolved, everyone built lives in relationship with the river.

For many, the river provided a pathway to the West. For a few, it revealed golden nuggets, though the real wealth was the water itself.

Yet what Michener presents as progress gradually becomes recognized as unsustainable. The memorable Potato Brumbaugh has not only the innovative idea of irrigating crops but also the radical concept of digging a tunnel under the Rocky Mountains to import water from west of the Continental Divide. When this source is not enough, groundwater pumping increases, with dire consequences.

Such innovation—water-related and otherwise—is important to understand today, but also significant is knowing the history of how communities got built. Michener also shows the conflicts that arose with each wave of newcomers bringing their own ideas about how to live.

He also demonstrates changing attitudes, including acceptance of racial differences and increasing dismay over environmental destruction. His story concludes in the early 1970s, referencing Watergate, international conflict and immigration. Characters face inflationary times and polluted air and water. They know they need to solve the coming water shortages.

Not much is different today.

The key difference is that as Michener’s characters decry the environmental damage caused by their ancestors and neighbors, they also recognize they need to know their history and honor their longstanding connections to the land and water.

This is what modern humanity has forgotten. Through the innovations of pipes, plumbing and chemical treatments, we have relegated our rivers to the background, as if they were merely an unending supply of water at our command. We have lost our connections to natural resources, to history, to each other.

As we now prepare for our 250th anniversary, “Centennial,” both the novel and the groundbreaking 26-hour television miniseries airing from 1978 to 1980, reminds us of the country’s strengths.

Nearly 900 pages in, a character skips a Colorado-Nebraska college football game to survey the South Platte by plane. As he nears the Nebraska state line, he says, “No one in Colorado will believe it, but this river is more exciting than football.”

Imagine if more people, in all states, felt the same way.

Patricia J. Rettig is a contributor to Writers on the Range, writersontherange.org, an independent nonprofit dedicated to spurring lively conversation about the West.  She is the archivist for the Water Resources Archive at the Colorado State University Libraries