HEALTH WORKERS WILL GET COLORADO'S FIRST VACCINE DOSES TODAY

Colorado will receive its initial shipment of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine Monday morning and the first doses to be administered in the state will go to frontline health care workers later in the day, according to the governor's office. The first people to be vaccinated in Colorado will be frontline health care workers during an event in Fort Collins with Polis on Monday afternoon. Phase 1 of the state's vaccine distribution plan will inoculate health care workers in contact with COVID-19 patients, staff and residents of nursing homes and first responders.

COLORADO ACTIVATES MUNICIPAL EMERGENCY DROUGHT PLAN

The state of Colorado last week activated the municipal portion of its emergency drought plan for only the second time in history as several cities say they need to prepare for what is almost certainly going to be a dangerously dry 2021. The move follows the activation of the agricultural portion of the plan last summer by the state. According to the latest rating from the U.S. Drought Monitor, the entire state is experiencing drought, with two-thirds of the state in extreme or exceptional drought, the high classification of drought.

FORMER STORAGETEK CAMPUS SOLD TO DENVER REAL ESTATE FIRM

Denver-based real estate investment firm Brue Baukol Capital Partners issued a news release Friday announcing that it closed on a deal to purchase the former StorageTek campus in Louisville. The price was not disclosed on the 475-acre property. Brue Baukol has been working for years trying to turn the property, which it calls Redtail Ridge, into a mixed-use development. Brue Baukol bought the site from Phillips 66. ConocoPhillips, the predecessor of Phillips 66, bought the land at the junction of U.S. 36 and the Northwest Parkway for $55.6 million in 2008.

IT'S OFFICIAL: NO RESERVATIONS FOR HOLIDAY SKIING IN ASPEN

Officials of the Aspen Skiing Co. have been seriously debating implementing a reservation system for passholders during the holiday weeks. Over the weekend, Skico announced there will be no reservation system put into place for the Christmas-New Year's weeks. IKON passholders, who get five or seven days at Aspen Snowmass depending on the pass they purchased, will still need to book in advance to use their allotted days; that policy has been in effect all season. Factoring into the decision was the new snow last week which allowed the opening of more terrain on Aspen Mountain and Snowmass. Aspen Mountain received 16 inches of new snow, with 19 inches at Snowmass.

PITCO'S VISITOR TESTING AFFIDAVIT REQUIREMENT BEGINS TODAY

Today, Pitkin County will begin its bold travel affidavit program which requires that all overnight visitors to Aspen or Pitkin County 10 years old and older provide proof of a negative test result for COVID-19 or be tested, at their expense, within 72 hours of arrival, or quarantine for 14 days after arrival. The affidavit, along with other information is available at covid19.pitkincounty.com. As of Friday afternoon, 900 people had submitted affidavits to the county's website and the affidavit page had received more than 30,000 views since it went active last week.

RFTA RIDERSHIP WILL GO UP NOW THAT IT IS WINTER SEASON

Officials of the Roaring Fork Transportation Authority reported that RFTA buses had an average daily ridership of just under 4,000 passengers during the fall. On Nov. 22, when the winter season started, the average daily ridership increased 57 percent to 6,276. When the winter schedule started, RFTA increased the number of one-way trips from 527 to 1,025. Once ski season is in full operation, RFTA projects ridership will hit 10,000 passengers a day. The figures are influenced by the capacity limits imposed by the Colorado Dept. of Public Health and Environment, which allow RFTA buses to carry only 50 percent capacity.

ROBERT REDFORD SELLS SUNDANCE RESORT

Robert Redford is selling the Sundance Mountain Resort, the iconic Provo Canyon property that Redford opened in 1969. Redford will sell the 2,600-acre resort to Broadreach Capital Partners and Cedar Capital Partners. Redford announced the sale Friday, but no price was disclosed. Sundance has been Redford's Utah home for more than half-a-century. Redford spent years in evaluation and negotiations over the sale and the new owners plan to spend half as much as the sale price on improvements with additional ski runs and a high-speed lift with eventually the addition of a day lodge. In the announcement Friday, Redford said he and his family have formed a partnership with Utah Open Lands to conserve more than 300 acres of the resort land.

RESERVATIONS FILLING UP AT VAIL, SUMMIT SKI AREAS

Vail Resorts implemented a reservations system for its 34 North American ski areas this year in an effort to limit numbers on the mountains to address concerns arising from the COVID pandemic. For the four properties in Vail and Summit County: Vail Mountain, Beaver Creek, Keystone and Breckenridge, reservations are full for the Dec. 19-20 weekend. Reservations are also full at all four resorts on Sunday, Dec. 13. Both Vail and Breckenridge have full reservations Dec. 28 to Jan. 2. Reservations are subject to change, and previously closed reservations have re-opened this season as resort capacity is altered depending on terrain availability.

YVRA FINISHES UP RENOVATION IN TIME FOR WINTER SEASON FLIGHTS

The $5.2 million renovation project at the terminal at Yampa Valley Regional Airport is now complete, in time for the beginning of the winter schedule, which includes Southwest Airlines for the first time. Although Delta Air Lines opted out of flights from Hayden to Atlanta and Minneapolis this season, the addition of Southwest will still increase the number of flights over last year. The renovation project converted an outdoor curbside luggage area into an indoor space that will be the home for Southwest.

BRECKENRIDGE TOURISM OFFICE HAS ITS OWN COLOR LEVEL VERSION OF MARKETING

Staff from the Breckenridge Tourism Office gave a presentation Thursday, providing a community update on the tourism's office approach to marketing in times of the coronavirus pandemic. The tourism office does provide messages for winter tourists, but concentrates now on summer marketing. The marketing messages are directly related to the state's COVID-19 dial. In levels red and orange, the marketing messages include phrases like “Safely adventure out” and “Protect what you love.” In level green, marketing would involve a national campaign similar to strategies before the pandemic.

FORMER INTERIOR SECRETARY SALAZAR FORMS CONSERVATION CENTER

Ken Salazar has always had a laser focus on the land growing up in the San Luis Valley through his political career in Colorado, the U.S. Senate and as Secretary of Interior in the Obama Administration. When Salazar was head of the Colorado Dept. of Natural Resources, he led the effort in 1992 to secure voter approval for Great Outdoors Colorado, which funded open space, trails, waterways and wildlife programs in the state from lottery revenue.
Salazar is now a partner with the international law firm WilmerHale and two years ago, he co-founded the Salazar Center for North American Conservation. The center's other co-founder is Tony Frank, chancellor of the Colorado State University System. The center will be located at the CSU Spur complex at the National Western Center. The center will become a clearinghouse for some of the best conservation policies and practices, not just in Colorado, but reaching to Canada and Mexico as well. The center's executive director is Beth Conover, formerly with the Gates Family Foundation. The center is particularly interested in addressing conservation issues in urban areas as well as large landscapes.

LARGEST COLORADO FOUNDATIONS

Ranked by total assets, Dec. 31, 2019:

1. The Colorado Health Foundation, coloradohealth.org: $2.66 billion
2. Daniels Fund, danielsfund.org: $$1.59 billion
3. The Denver Foundation, denverfoundation.org: $995 million
4. El Pomar Foundation, elpomar.org: $618 million
5. Temple Hoyne Buell Foundation, buellfoundation.org: $476 million
6. Gates Family Foundation, gatesfamilyfoundation.org: $471 million
7. Community First Foundation, communityfirstfoundation.org: $454 million
8. Boettcher Foundation, boettcherfoundation.org: $311 million
9. Rose Community Foundation, rcfdenver.org: $306 million
10. NextFifty Initiative, next50initiative.org: $223 million