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Colorado - Thu. 05/15/25 |
A Free Business Publication from Alpine Bank
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MAJOR CHANGE COMING TO COLORADO STATE LAND BOARD
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The Colorado State Land Board is part of the state constitution and was formed when Colorado became a state in 1876. The Colorado State Land Board was created to manage the 4 million acres of federal land grant by the U.S. Congress at statehood to support public schools. The mandate to make money for schools differentiates state trust lands from other public lands and it would take a statewide vote to change that mission since it is part of the state constitution.
However, in 1996, Colorado voters passed Amendment 16, which adjusted the land board’s maximum-dollar mandate to allow the land board to include land conservation, stewardship, resource protection and “community stability” alongside things like leasing land to oil and gas drillers, mining companies or commercial real estate developers. This week, Gov. Jared Polis signed legislation to create a 21-person committee, the State Trust Lands Conservation and Recreation Work Group, that will focus on how to better infuse conservation, community needs and recreation into the land board mission. The group will make recommendations to the land board by September 2026 and new policies could be adopted by early 2027.
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DENVER DISTILLERY WINS TOP AWARD FROM AMERICAN DISTILLING INSTITUTE
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Talnua Distillery in Arvada was named America’s Greatest Whiskey for 2025 at the American Distilling Institute’s 2025 International Spirits Competition. The winners were announced Wednesday. Talnua’s Bourbon Cask & Stave Series Whiskey won the highest whiskey honor. In total, 700 spirits were entered in this year’s competition. Judges based evaluations on overall quality and taste, assigning scores of 0 to 100. Spirits that score 90 points or more earn a gold medal. Judges can award a double gold if the liquor is considered exemplary. Those earning both gold and double gold get considered for the “best in class” honor.
Talnua also earned a gold medal for its American White Oak Cask Bottled in Bond whiskey, and a silver for its Old Saint’s Keep whiskey released in 2025. Stranahan’s in Denver earned five medals total, including two double-gold, two gold and one silver; Pullman Distillery in Frisco brought home two bronze medals; Littleton’s Rocker Spirits collected two silvers; and Salida Distillery garnered one silver and one bronze.
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DENVER WATER: REDUCE WATER USE, CHANGE WATERING DAY, USE NATIVE GRASSES
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Greg Fisher, Manager of Demand Planning for Denver Water, told members of the city of Denver’s Land Use, Transportation and Infrastructure committee this week that Denver Water is actively working to assist residents in finding more diverse landscape options that save water and require less maintenance. Watering residential lawns in Denver, with its hot dry summers, is one of the most significant demands on water supplies. Water use for residential watering is significantly higher on Mondays and Wednesdays, and those days have high peak use and Denver Water is asking customers to change their watering days from Mondays and Wednesdays to other days of the week.
Denver Water has these summer watering restrictions:
- Lawn watering is prohibited between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m.
- Water two days a week, water only on a third day when needed. Watering more than three days per week is not allowed
- Avoid letting water pool; don’t spray water on concrete or asphalt
- Repair leaky sprinkler systems within 10 days
- Don’t irrigate when it is raining or during high winds
- Use a hose nozzle with a shut-off valve when washing vehicles
- Denver Water customers considering transforming landscapes may request a free bag of native grass seed, a mix of Sundancer buffalograss and Alma blue grama, by visiting denverwater.org.
- Denver Water has also partnered with the Boulder nonprofit Resource Central to offer a limited number of discounts (up to $750) on 2025 turfgrass removal services for residential customers.
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LUXURY HOME IN BOULDER SELLS FOR RECORD $14.5 MILLION PRICE
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On Tuesday, The Agency, a real estate firm in Boulder, announced that it sold a five-bedroom luxury home in Boulder for $14.5 million this month. That is the highest price ever for a residential property in the city. The home, at 1505 Sunset Blvd., has an unobstructed view of the Flatirons from every upstairs bedroom, has six bathrooms, as well as featuring a wine cellar, exercise room and game room along with a heated pool and outdoor kitchen. The home is nearly 7,000 square feet in size and was on the market for about six months. In comparison with other sales, there were a few homes that sold for around $10 million in 2020 and 2021, and a house next door sold for $13.5 million in 2023, according to The Agency.
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EAGLE COUNTY VOTES NOT TO LICENSE STRs IN UNINCORPORATED AREAS
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The Eagle County commissioners Tuesday decided not to implement an STR registration program, which involved a fee, in unincorporated areas of the county, including those in the Basalt-El Jebel area, and instead directed staff to “collect macro level data,” to monitor STR impacts over time in unincorporated Eagle County. In deciding not to implement the STR licensing program now, the commissioners said most of the STRs in unincorporated Eagle County are in the Beaver Creek, Bachelor Gulch and Arrowhead homeowners associations, where the communities require STR registration. A 2022 STR analysis by land use consulting firm Economic and Planning Systems identified the Basalt, El Jebel and Roaring Fork areas with 71 active STRs in July 2022, far lower than other areas of Eagle County. A second option of a program that only applies to STRs outside of the resort HOAs had legal questions related to requiring some STRs to participate in the licensing program, but not others.
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JIM & SHAREN BRANSCOME DONATE $1 MILLION TO CMU-MONTROSE
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Former Montrose residents, Jim and Sharen Branscome, have donated $1 million to Colorado Mesa University-Montrose through the CMU Foundation. The Branscomes, who now live in Scottsdale, Ariz., have been supporters of CMU-Montrose for many years. In 2013, they established the Doyle E. Burns Fund; Burns was Sharen Branscome’s father. These scholarship funds have been awarded to students who reflect potential and need. Many CMU-Montrose students have pursued careers in nursing and healthcare using the Burns Fund. The Jim and Sharen Branscome Endowed Fund of $1 million will directly support students pursuing certifications to work in a variety of technical occupations, by funding students who do not want to attend college and need post-secondary education to have the skills to compete in the job market.
The Branscomes also have scholarship endowments at three other colleges: Berea College and Alice Lloyd College, schools that serve Appalachian students, and Adams State College in Alamosa, Sharen’s alma mater. Before relocating to Scottsdale in 2015, Jim Branscome served on the local advisory board of CMU-Montrose and on the CMU Foundation Board in Grand Junction, from 2008-2012.
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CITY OF DURANGO MOVING AHEAD WITH TOURISM MAKEOVER
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The city of Durango has completed its merger with Visit Durango and now is working to formulate a structure and plan to balance tourism interests with those of the city residents. The city is now undertaking the recruitment process of creating a nine-member Tourism Advisory Commission. The commission will be composed of industry representatives and residents, and the city is now interviewing seventeen applicants for the advisory commission. Of the nine members of Durango Tourism Advisory Commission, the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad and Purgatory Resort will have dedicated seats. There are also dedicated positions for Fort Lewis College and the Durango Chamber of Commerce. The dedicated seats will nominate applicants and will still need Durango City Council approval.
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PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD FOR TELLURIDE SKI RESORT IMPROVEMENTS
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The U.S. Forest Service has opened the public comment period for proposed construction and improvements to Telluride Ski Resort. Staff of the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forests (GMUG) is conducting an environmental assessment for the proposed projects. The Telluride Ski Resort wants to replace Lifts 7 and 8, widen the Galloping Goose Skiway, build the Lift 9 Jaws Skiway, transform the existing High Camp warming hut into a full-service restaurant, build a new mountain bike connection trail, make the installations on the Heritage Trail permanent, and conduct tethered logging projects for forest health.
- For Lift 7, Telski has not made a final decision for the new lift, but is considering a fixed-grip triple, a fixed-grip quad, or a detachable quad with a total capacity between 1,200-2,400 people per hour. The new lift would have generally the same alignment as the existing chair.
- For Lift 8, which brings skiers and riders over to Lift 9, the resort is looking at an upgraded fixed-grip double, triple or quad chair with a capacity of 950-1,200 people per hour.
- Off Lift 9, Telski plans to build a new ski trail that is a better, less steep egress route for skiers and riders than the existing slope. The “Jaws Skiway” could also allow the resort to open Lift 9 earlier in the season since it would have access to the current snowmaking system.
- The High Camp warming hut at the top of Lift 12 is the site of a new proposed full-service restaurant.
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A-BASIN TO ROLL OUT NEW PARKING PROGRAM
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Arapahoe Basin Ski Area launched a parking reservation system in the 2024-25 ski season, which required parking reservations on weekends and select holidays in all of A-Basin’s main parking lots. The 2025-26 ski season will be the first full season offering unlimited access to Ikon Pass members and for the season, parking reservations will only be required on Saturdays and Sundays between Jan. 3 and May 3. Parking will continue to be free after 1 p.m. on weekends. Parking reservations will continue to cost $20 per vehicle, with a free option for vehicles that carpool with four people. Last season (2024-25) each parking account could only hold up to two reservations at a given time. For the 2025-26 season, each account will be able to hold up to four separate reservations at a time. Each account will still only be able to hold one reservation per day.
A-Basin will again offer a limited number of season parking passes, which will go on sale to the general public beginning May 20. The parking season passes, which will still require a reservation but at no extra cost, will be about $230. Parking reservations will be required for the Early Riser Lot, the High Noon Lot, the Last Chance Lot and the Upper Last Chance Lot. Customers will also be able to buy parking access to The Beach, where rates vary, or in the Admin Lot, which costs $40 per reservation. Accessible parking reservations are free. There will be Snowstang buses again, running from Denver's Union Station directly to A-Basin.
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ROMAN EMPIRE BROUGHT ROADS, AQUEDUCTS, LATIN TO EUROPE, AND CHESTNUT TREES
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The expansion of the Roman Empire to Europe brought a single form of governance to the entire region, as well as roads, aqueducts, and a system of trade, connecting all the different people and cultures of Europe. What is much less known is how the Romans transformed Europe’s forests. The Romans spread sweet chestnut trees everywhere they went. The Romans did not plant the trees for their fruit as in Roman society, chestnuts were for the poor, rural people. The Romans were interested in the new poles extracted from sprouts of the trees. Nonetheless, sweet chestnut trees became a substantial element in the landscape in many parts of the continent and chestnuts remain part of the cuisine of many countries, including France and Portugal.
More than 6 million acres of land in Europe are covered by sweet chestnut trees, an area equivalent to the size of the island of Sardinia. Sweet chestnut trees can grow as tall as 115 feet, with a circumference of 23 feet and can live for 1,000 years. The oldest known sweet chestnut tree in the world is in Sicily, Italy and is estimated to be up to 4,000 years old. The Romans used a method of growing the trees known as coppicing for securing the poles that were the raw materials for their military expansion. Coppicing is basically cutting trees back to ground level to encourage new growth. With the cutbacks and very fast resprouting of the sweet chestnut trees, the Romans secured many poles that were naturally very high in tannins, making the wood resistant and long-lasting. Thus, the Romans had a renewable resource for building fortresses or any kind of construction.
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INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL STATISTICS FOR MARCH AND APRIL
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Data released by the National Travel and Tourism Office (NTTO) show, in general, that international visitor numbers and expenditures by those visitors in the U.S. remained stable for the first quarter of 2025:
- International visitors have spent more than $63.6 billion on U.S. travel and tourism-related goods and services January through March 2025
- That is an increase of 2 percent when compared to the same period last year
- International visitors have injected, on average, $707 million a day into the U.S. economy this year
- In March, purchases of travel and tourism-related goods and services by international visitors traveling in the U.S. totaled $10.5 billion
- Compared to $11.7 billion in March 2024, a decrease of 10 percent when compared to the previous year
- In April, non-U.S. citizen air passenger arrivals to the U.S. from foreign countries totaled 5.04 million
- That is up 2.9 percent compared to April 2024
- That number represents 88.2 percent of pre-pandemic April 2019 passenger volume
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COUNTRIES WITH THE MOST BILLIONAIRES, 2025
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In the Forbes 39th annual world’s billionaires list, as of March 2025, there were 78 countries and territories that had at least one billionaire citizen in 2025. Here are the ten with the most billionaires, and their total net worth:
- United States: 902 billionaires, with a total net worth: $6.8 trillion
- China (not including Hong Kong): 450; $1.7 trillion
- India: 205; $941 billion
- Germany: 171; $793 billion
- Russia: 140; $580 billion
- Canada: 76; $359 billion
- Italy: 74; $339 billion
- Hong Kong (which is an autonomous territory of China): 66; $335 billion
- Brazil: 56: $212 billion
- United Kingdom: 55; $238 billion
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MARKET UPDATE - 05/14/2025 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 05/08/2025)
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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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