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Colorado - Mon. 06/29/26 |
A Free Business Publication from Alpine Bank
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FIREFIGHTERS KILLED, INJURED IN BLAZE NEAR UTAH LINE, GOV. CALLS OUT NATIONAL GUARD
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Three firefighters died and two were injured after being overtaken by flames while battling a nearly 30,000-acre wildfire in western Colorado near the Utah border, federal officials reported Sunday. The firefighters were caught in a “burnover incident” and deployed their fire shelters, U.S. Forest Service officials said. A burnover is when a wildfire overtakes firefighters or their equipment, leaving them no time to escape. Colorado Gov. Jared Polis declared a disaster emergency on Saturday and authorized the use of the National Guard to fight the fires. On Saturday morning, Utah firefighters responded to two new wildfires, the Snyder Mesa and Jones fires, and the two fires pushed by high winds quickly spread into Mesa County, across the state line in Colorado. The two fires merged into one, consuming the small Knowles and Gore fires already burning on the Western Slope and scorching a combined 28,000 acres, according to the Colorado governor’s office.
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UNITED OFFERS NEW, NONSTOP FLIGHTS DIA TO TURK & CAICOS
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United Airlines Friday announced a new nonstop service between Denver International Airport and Providenciales International Airport this winter, the airport that serves the Caribbean destination of the Turks and Caicos Islands. The flights begin on Saturday, Dec. 19, and continue on a weekly basis on Saturdays through April 24, 2027. The flight time for the flights is about five hours. Turks and Caicos will be United’s fifth destination in the Caribbean from DIA, joining existing service to Nassau, Bahamas (NAS); Montego Bay (MBJ), Jamaica; Punta Cana, Dominican Republic (PUJ); and San Juan, Puerto Rico (SJU). PLS brings the number of nonstop destinations in the Caribbean served from DIA to six, and the number of DIA nonstop international destinations to 35. With the addition of Providenciales, United now offers flights to more than 200 nonstop destinations from Denver, including 24 international cities across 13 countries.
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GREAT AMERICAN BEER FEST MOVING OUTSIDE AT LEVITT PAVILION, TICKETS ON SALE
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For 40 years, the Great American Beer Fest has been an autumn tradition in Denver, filling the Colorado Convention Center. This year will mark a significant change, with the two-day event, Oct. 10-11, being held at the Levitt Pavilion Denver in Ruby Hill Park, near the intersection of Soth Platte River Drive and West Florida Avenue. It will be the first time the GABF will be outdoors, and to reduce the number of people driving to Levitt Pavilion, GABF organizers are urging festivalgoers to use rideshares, a downtown shuttle (for an extra $21.48), public transportation or — as a last resort — drive (designated driver tickets are $29). Tickets for the Great American Beer Fest went on sale Jun 23. Single-day tickets start at $60 per person, with shuttle service and all-in add-ons available for an additional charge. More information can be found at greatamericanbeerfestival.com.
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WATER LEVEL AT DILLON RESERVOIR HAS PEAKED, LOW WATER, LOW DEMAND
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Water levels in the Dillon Reservoir have now peaked for the summer, having reached a maximum 80 percent capacity on June 17 from which it will now decrease over the summer and autumn. The water level this year was 19.5 percent lower than last year when water levels reached 99.5 percent capacity on June 27, 2025. “Last year, we were about 1,000-acre feet from full,” said Nathan Elder, Denver Water’s water supply manager. “This year will be about 50,000-acre feet from full. So that’s a pretty significant amount down.” Denver Water customers have been very attentive to drought restrictions in place and demand is down 18 percent compared to what the utility would typically expect given this year’s weather conditions.
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PALISADE PEACHES: 3 WEEKS EARLY THIS YEAR
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Fruit growers in the Grand Valley and Palisade report excellent harvests this spring, with cherries and apricots already off the trees in most orchards, making the harvest about three weeks early. That is true for Palisade peaches as well with some growers already harvesting their third variety of peaches by the last week of June. Peach growers in Palisade were fortunate this spring as a very early bloom left the trees vulnerable to frost damage and there was very little in Palisade, even with a cold spell in April. Growers in the North Fork region lost their entire crop from the spring freeze. Gwen Cameron of Rancho Durazno in Palisade said of the harvest, “Rather than peaking in mid-August, the peak of peaches will fall more like mid-July through early August.”
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THIS IS A YEAR FOR “MONUMENT PLANTS”
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Although the lack of snow during the winter, coupled with warm temperatures have resulted in a less than brilliant season for wildflowers in Colorado, there is one remarkable exception, the green gentians or “monument plants.” Green gentians tower as high as six feet and are covered with a mass of flowers. Those plants are in a mass flowering period known as a masting event, which started four years ago with a wet summer, but some are blooming for the first time in 20 years or even 50 years. As the plants die off this summer (probably not until mid-July), they will deposit seeds that will not produce flowers for years to come. One of the most accessible places to see the green gentians in bloom is at the Engineer Mountain Pullout off U.S. Hwy. 550 on Coal Bank Pass (mile 56-57), where there is a meadow full of them close to the parking lot.
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LIMITED AVAILABILITY OF “OLATHE SWEET” CORN, BUT SALES IN OLATHE WAREHOUSE
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Olathe farmer and Olathe Sweet corn patent holder John Harold, owner of Tuxedo Corn, had announced earlier this spring that drought conditions that caused a reduction in irrigation water from the Uncompahgre Valley Water Users Association, and the continuing problems with the corn earworm pest. forced his company to not contract for sales in Kroger/City Market stores, as well as some other contractors this year. However, Tuxedo Corn will begin harvest of a crop in mid-July and corn will be available at Tuxedo Corn Co.’s Olathe warehouse. Harold said the company sells about 20,000 boxes from the warehouse each year, with people coming from nearby states to buy pallets of corn.
Harold said the company will harvest about 175 acres of corn this year, far less than half its average crop. Presale orders remained strong, even without the large contractors like Kroger/City Market, and Harold will run two delivery trucks on a weekly basis between Colorado, New Mexico and Wyoming to fulfill presale orders.
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ASPEN NUMBERS SHOW A WEAK WINTER, ALTHOUGH ASE NUMBERS NOT AS BAD
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Numbers for retail sales, accommodations, transportation and overall tourism for the winter season in Aspen/Snowmass were down, as was expected because of the poor snowfall. However, passengers arriving and departing from Aspen-Pitkin County Airport were not down as significantly as those for lodging, retail sales and other categories. From January through May, passengers on commercial flights totaled 318,878, down 2.4 percent from the 326,677 served during the corresponding period in 2025. According to Bill Tomcich, consultant for Fly Aspen Snowmass, the number of Aspen-area residents using ASE for outbound flights reduced the impact of fewer arriving visitors.
Taxable sales for January through April totaled $521.4 million, down 4 percent from a year earlier. Lodging sales for the same period totaled $172.3 million, a decline of 3 percent. Figures provided by Destimetrics, a firm that tracks spending on lodging, show a 6.4 percent decline in occupancy for the November-to-April season. Occupancy was listed at 55.2 percent for the combined Aspen-Snowmass market during winter-spring 2025-26, compared to 59 percent for the same six months of 2024-25. April 2026 suffered a nearly 9 percent decrease in occupancy, at 34.8 percent compared with 38.2 percent in the same month last year.
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SKICO OFFICIALS PRESENT COMPREHENSIVE OVERVIEW OF ASPEN SKIING & COMMUNITY
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Executives of the Aspen Skiing Co. and parent company Aspen One made a series of presentations, visiting the Aspen City Council, Snowmass Village Town Council and the Pitkin County commissioners. Their wide-ranging topics focused on the ski industry, Aspen as a ski town, Aspen as a community and its relationship with the skiing company. Overall, “The trend lines aren’t good,” for the future of skiing, Aspen One CEO and President Dave Turner and SkiCo CEO Geoff Buchheister repeatedly said. Those trends for the industry as a whole: declining population of skiers; warming climate with shorter winters; increased global competition as more Americans travel overseas to ski. For operations in Aspen: increasing costs; aging infrastructure; and the compounding issues of affordable housing affecting the labor force and traffic congestion an impediment to the skiing experience in Aspen/Snowmass.
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USFS RELEASES SWEETWATER LAKE MANAGEMENT OPTIONS
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The White River National Forest last Thursday released a draft environmental study for the Sweetwater Lake Recreation Management and Development Project, moving forward a years-long planning effort to determine how the popular recreation area will be managed in the future. The Draft Environmental Impact Statement evaluates four alternatives for managing 844 acres surrounding Sweetwater Lake and identifies a preferred option that would authorize Colorado Parks and Wildlife to manage the area under a 20-year special use permit. The release of the Draft EIS begins a public comment period that runs through Sept. 23, giving residents and stakeholders an opportunity to weigh in before the Forest Service issues a final decision.
The proposal represents the latest step in a process that began after the Forest Service acquired 433 acres surrounding the lake in 2021 through the Land and Water Conservation Fund, protecting the property from potential private development. The acquisition, combined with 413 acres of adjacent National Forest System land, greatly expanded public access to the area. The Forest Service will host two open house-style public meetings to answer questions about the Draft EIS. Meetings are scheduled from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. on July 22 at the Glenwood Springs Library, and July 23 at Gypsum Town Council Chambers. Additional information about the project, including the full Draft EIS and instructions for submitting comments, is available through a link cited in the source article, below.
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DEPT. OF INTERIOR LAUNCHES REVIEW OF WILDERNESS AREA POLICIES
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On June 10, the U.S. Dept. of Interior launched a 60-day public comment period on proposed recreational climbing guidance and potential updates to wilderness study area management policies for lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Park Service. The Department is seeking public input on two important efforts:
- Establishing a consistent approach to recreational rock-climbing management across designated wilderness areas and second, evaluating whether existing wilderness study areas and lands with wilderness characteristics policies should be updated, clarified or revised to improve management and use of some of America’s most treasured landscapes. The proposed recreational climbing guidance establishes consistent, common-sense standards for evaluating and managing climbing activities, including the use of fixed anchors, in accordance with existing laws and policies. The guidance is intended to improve clarity for climbers, land managers and partners, enhance public safety and support continued access to world-class climbing opportunities on federal lands.
- The Department is seeking recommendations on potential improvements to wilderness study areas and lands with wilderness characteristics for policies used by the Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Park Service. The review will help determine whether existing policy documents should be updated or clarified to improve consistency, increase transparency and ensure public lands continue to be managed effectively in accordance with applicable laws.
Each bureau has published a Federal Register notice to initiate the comment period. In Colorado, the policies under review apply to more than one million acres of public land, including beloved backcountry areas. The Rocky Mountain National Park Wilderness, for example, comprises about 95 percent of the park and is governed by the Interior Director’s Order on Wilderness Stewardship, one of the documents that is under review. In Colorado, the Bureau of Land Management oversees five designated wilderness areas: the Black Ridge Canyons; Dominguez Canyon; Gunnison Gorge; Powderhorn; and Uncompahgre wildernesses, and more than 50 wilderness study areas. Wilderness study areas in the state include popular areas like Castle Peak and Bull Gulch in Eagle County, as well as 14ers like Handies Peak, Red Cloud Peak and Sunshine Peak.
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GOLFWEEK’S 2026 10-BEST PUBLIC GOLF COURSES IN COLORADO
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Golfweek released its annual U.S. golf course rankings this month, ranking the top courses in various categories, including the top 10 public and private courses for all 50 states. Here are Golfweek's Top 10 Public Courses in Colorado, which are scattered across the state:
- Flying Horse Golf Club, North course (Colorado Springs)
- (tie) The Broadmoor Golf Club, East course (Colorado Springs)
- (tie) The Golf Club at Redlands Mesa (Grand Junction)
- Red Sky Golf Club, Fazio Course (Wolcott)
- Red Sky Golf Club, Norman Course (Wolcott)
- Bear Dance Golf Club (Larkspur)
- RainDance National (Windsor)
- TPC Colorado (Berthoud)
- Haymaker Golf Course (Steamboat Springs)
- CommonGround (Aurora)
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MARKET UPDATE - 06/26/2026 Close
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(Courtesy of Alpine Bank Wealth Management*)
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Canadian dollar (per U.S. dollar)
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Mexican peso (per U.S. dollar)
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30-year fixed mortgage rate (Freddie Mac 06/25/2026)
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*Not FDIC insured. May lose value. Not guaranteed by the bank.
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Alpine Bank is an independent, employee-owned organization with headquarters in Glenwood Springs and banking offices across Colorado's Western Slope, mountains and Front Range. Alpine Bank serves customers with retail, business, wealth management*, mortgage and electronic banking services. Learn more at alpinebank.com.
*Alpine Bank Wealth Management services are not FDIC insured, may lose value and are not guaranteed by the bank.
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