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Colorado - Fri. 06/27/25 |
A Free Business Publication from Alpine Bank
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MSU DENVER TO BUILD ITS FIRST STUDENT DORMS
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Metropolitan State University of Denver, long known as a commuter school on downtown’s Auraria campus, is building its first student housing project, which is expected to be completed in 2027. The university, which closed on a two-acre site at 12th Street and Auraria Parkway on Thursday, is spending $117 million on the Summit House project, a 12-story mixed-use residence hall. The first floor will be dedicated to food locations. The second floor is slated to become a workforce initiative called the Classroom to Career Hub to connect students with jobs. The top 10 floors will be housing for 550 MSU students. The university, which serves more than 17,700 students, does not plan to increase tuition or fees to pay for the building. A recent survey given to MSU Denver students found that one-third of participants commute more than 40 minutes to campus. More than 70 percent of participants who rent or live with family expressed interest in living on campus.
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ELBERT COUNTY SAYS NO TO XCEL ENERGY'S POWER PATHWAY PERMIT REQUEST
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Xcel Energy’s $1.7 billion Colorado Power Pathway transmission project has run into a rough road in Elbert County where the county commissioners Wednesday voted to deny project permits to the state’s biggest electricity provider. The 550-mile transmission project, designed to bring Eastern Plains wind and solar to the Denver metropolitan area, is set to run through the heart of Elbert County where it has encountered widespread opposition from ranchers and other landowners. Xcel Energy needs rights of way through 48 properties in the county, which sits east of Interstate 25 between Denver and Colorado Springs, but only 25 landowners have agreed.
Some have refused to let the utility on their land for surveys, and the utility has begun eminent domain proceedings on 13 properties. There had been calls from landowners and community groups for Xcel Energy to move the line from the center of the county to its less populated eastern edge, near Limon. The commission voted 3-0 to deny two permits the utility needs to start work in the county. The planning commission also voted 9-0 to deny the permits, saying the applications were incomplete. The county commissioners chided the company for starting condemnation proceedings on private property even before they had the permits in hand.
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POPULAR TRAIL TO CELEBRATE GROUNDBREAKING CEREMONY IN EARLY JULY
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Recreationalists not only in Eagle County, but throughout Colorado, should be excited to know that construction on a 7-mile gap along the Eagle Valley Trail between Wolcott and Eagle is starting soon. The construction along the popular Eagle County trail is another piece of the puzzle trying to connect the entire 63-mile-long trail system from the Vail Pass summit to near the Glenwood Canyon eastern mouth. The Eagle County Board of Commissioners announced it will host a groundbreaking celebration for Phase 1 of the final segment of the Eagle Valley Trail at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, July 1, at the Mott’s Landing parking area at the east end of the Horn Ranch Open Space. Eagle County said the project is estimated to cost approximately $13 million and is scheduled to be completed by July 31, 2026. The Eagle Valley Trail will also connect to trail networks in neighboring counties, providing more than 140 miles of off-highway riding from Breckenridge to Aspen.
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BRIDGE WORK IN GLENWOOD CANYON TO BEGIN IN JULY
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A major bridge maintenance project along Interstate 70 in Glenwood Canyon is set to begin in mid-July, according to a news release from the Colorado Dept. of Transportation. Contractor KSK LLC of Grand Junction will lead the effort, which includes replacing 23 bridge joints and repairing damaged guardrails between mile points 116 and 133. The work is scheduled to span two construction seasons, with a pause during the winter months and final completion anticipated in fall 2026. Work will take place near the following areas in Glenwood Canyon:
- Exit 119, No Name
- Exit 122, Grizzly Creek Rest Area
- Exit 123, Shoshone Power Plant
- Exit 125, Hanging Lake Trailhead
- Exit 129, Bair Ranch Rest Area
Drivers should expect lane closures up to 2.5 miles long in either direction throughout the duration of the project. I-70 will be reduced to one lane in each direction at times, with crews working from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Friday. The speed limit through the work zone will be reduced to 35 mph. More information is available at codot.gov or by calling 970-896-6953. Drivers are encouraged to check current road conditions and sign up for traffic alerts at cotrip.org or through the COtrip mobile app. Additional construction is taking place throughout the I-70 Mountain Corridor, with ongoing projects between Golden and the Utah Border. For maps and information, visit codot.gov.
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A LOOK AT WHERE THE WOLVES ARE
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About a year and a half into reintroduction efforts, Colorado’s gray wolves are continuing to settle into the state and explore similar watersheds, according to Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s monthly wolf map. Wolf activity appears to be slightly more condensed in Colorado’s central-northern counties compared to recent months, including April and May, where the wolves’ exploration started to stretch further west and south. On the most recent map, which shows the watersheds where wolves were between May 27 and June 24, wolves were pinpointed in Routt, Moffat, Jackson, Larimer, Grand, Summit, Lake, Chaffee, Park, Garfield, Mesa, Pitkin and Eagle counties.
It does show that watersheds in some southern counties, including Gunnison, San Juan, Hinsdale, Mineral and Saguache counties, had wolf activity. The map also shows that wolves have continued to brush up against watersheds along the western edge of some Front Range counties, including Boulder, Denver, Clear Creek, Gilpin, Larimer and Jefferson counties. Wolf activity also pushed up against Colorado’s border with Wyoming in Jackson and Larimer counties.
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MORE DURANGO VISITORS BOOKING HOTELS AT LAST MINUTE
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The Fourth of July travel forecast looks promising for Durango hotels and short-term vacation rentals, but an emerging trend has caught the attention of tourism professionals: More travelers are booking rooms at the last minute. “We have an extremely short booking window. I’m talking 24 to 48 hours,” said Barbara Bowman, interim executive director of Visit Durango. She said she suspects travelers are dithering because of uncertainty in the economy. Strater Hotel General Manager Tori Ossola has a different theory. She said visitors may be operating on a sense of spontaneity and discovery. It’s common, she said, for travelers to walk into the Strater Hotel, phones in hand and TripAdvisor pulled up, saying they just found Durango and decided to stay for a night – or several. She first noticed the last-minute booking trend several years ago but said it has become more pronounced this year.
Travelers staying at least three nights Sunday to Thursday in Durango or La Plata County can visit the Durango Welcome Center to collect a free $100 gift card redeemable at more than 100 Durango businesses, according to Visit Durango. The city of Durango’s Independence Day fireworks show was called off last week because of persistent hot, dry and windy weather, but plenty of activities remain for visitors in Durango and the surrounding areas.
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STAGE 1 FIRE RESTRICTIONS COMING FOR MESA COUNTY
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The Mesa County Sheriff’s Office and the Bureau of Land Management announced Stage 1 fire restrictions Wednesday. The restrictions extend beyond just Mesa County, covering all lands managed by the White River National Forest and the Bureau of Land Management Upper Colorado River District. However, the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forests are not implementing fire restrictions. Local firefighting agencies consider a number of factors when deciding on fire restrictions, including current and anticipated fire danger, resource availability and consistency with neighboring jurisdictions. Fire restrictions are evaluated weekly during fire season.
What Stage 1 Fire Restrictions prohibit:
- Personal use of fireworks
- Campfires outside of designated fire pits or fire rings
- Agricultural open burning without a Sheriff’s issued burn permit
- Use of explosive targets
- Smoking outside near combustible materials
- Operating or using any internal combustion engine, such as chainsaws, without a spark-arresting device properly installed, maintained and in effective working order
- Welding or operating Acetylene or other torches with an open flame except in cleared areas of at least 10 feet in diameter, you must have a chemical pressurized fire extinguisher
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ERIC CHURCH FILLS IN FOR LUKE BRYAN AT COUNTRY JAM
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Country Jam announced a major musician change Wednesday, the day before the music festival was set to begin. Eric Church will headline Country Jam’s Saturday lineup, replacing Luke Bryan on the festival’s final day. Cody Johnson and Bailey Zimmerman also will headline this year’s Country Jam. Bryan is unable to perform because of illness. Bryan was scheduled to play June 26 at Country Stampede in Bonner Springs, Kansas, and Friday at NebraskaLand Days in North Platte, Nebraska. Church is filling in for Bryan at all three festivals. “Festivals are part of the fabric of what made us who we are. Happy to fill in for Luke while he’s on the mend,” Church said on social media. “Not a lot of time to plan or get the whole crew and band together, so I’m bringing Jo (longtime backup singer Joanna Cotten) and we’re gonna do something unique and spontaneous.” This will be Church’s third appearance at Country Jam. He was a headliner in 2022 and in 2014.
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EAGLE PASSES EMERGENCY ORDINANCE RESTRICTING DENSITY IN TOWN
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When the Colorado Legislature passed House Bill 25-1093 in March, the goal was to target what it called “anti-growth laws” — local policies that reduce residential density in urban areas. However, the bill allows local governments to maintain or establish density standards that are in place as of July 1, 2025, creating a deadline for towns that don’t have such standards in place. Up until Tuesday, Eagle was one of those towns. Realizing that Eagle did not have clear density limits in place in some of the town’s mixed use and commercial zone districts and fearing that the new state standards could restrict the town’s ability to reduce density in those areas, the Eagle Town Council passed an emergency ordinance on Tuesday, establishing density standards downtown and in East Eagle. The version that was finally passed contained a 7,000-square-foot cap for buildings in the commercial/mixed-use zone district and a 1,200-square-foot limit on employee dwelling units.
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YAMPA VALLEY REGIONAL AIRPORT WINS COLORADO'S 2025 AIRPORT OF THE YEAR
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The Yampa Valley Regional Airport has been named Colorado’s 2025 Airport of the Year, an honor awarded by the Colorado Division of Aeronautics and announced during last week’s Colorado Airport Operators Association Spring Conference. The conference, hosted at The Steamboat Grand from June 18-20, brought together leadership from 25 Colorado airports, 28 industry exhibitors and a record 288 attendees, making it the most highly attended CAOA conference to date. The highlight of the event came when David Ulane, director of the CDOT Division of Aeronautics, presented the “Airport of the Year” award to outgoing Airport Director Kevin Booth, with incoming Director Tinneal Gerber and Operations Safety & Security Officer Vladan Chase also in attendance.
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ONE-OF-A-KIND SUMMER RIVER EXPERIENCE ON THE COLORADO RIVER
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The Middle Colorado Watershed Council invites locals and visitors alike to join the Downvalley River Revelers FAC Float — a unique Friday Afternoon Club adventure on the Colorado River that blends river recreation, education and gourmet riverside fare, all in support of local water conservation. The event takes place on Friday, June 27 at 3 p.m., beginning and ending at Rislende Riverside in Silt. The float will include a shuttle for all guests and will launch from either West Glenwood or New Castle (depending on river flow conditions) and conclude with a festive reception at Rislende. The float is professionally guided by Defiance Rafting, whose expert guides will highlight the river’s geology, ecology, and cultural stories along the way.
All proceeds benefit the Middle Colorado Watershed Council and its efforts to protect and restore the Colorado River and its surrounding watershed through education, outreach and conservation programming. Spots are limited and early registration is encouraged. Reserve your float by the deadline on June 26 at 3 p.m. at the link below.
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THESE 'REWILDING' PROJECTS MIGHT BE THE NEXT GENERATION OF NATIONAL PARKS
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If you want to see a critically endangered black rhino in the wild, your options are depressingly limited these days. But Kenya’s Ol Pejeta Conservancy—under the shadow of the country’s namesake mountain—almost guarantees a sighting. What makes this remarkable: Until 2003, the 90,000 acres of the conservancy were primarily devoted to raising cattle. That’s when a team of conservationists at Flora and Fauna International bought the land to “rewild” it into a preserve. By restoring land shaped by humans to its natural splendor, Ol Pejeta typifies that radical new approach to preserving the world’s wild places. The upside for curious travelers? Fewer crowds than big national parks or safari preserves, excellent opportunities to spot growing wildlife populations and the satisfaction that you are supporting a worthy cause.
Rewilding projects to visit around the world:
- Ol Pejeta Conservancy, Kenya: The Ol Pejeta Conservancy rivals many American national parks in size, and though it’s most known for its high-density population of black rhinos, it also hosts the Sweetwaters Chimpanzee Sanctuary, a collaboration with the Jane Goodall Institute and the Kenya Wildlife Service. Stay at the ultraposh Tambarare Camp (from $670 a night per person for stays longer than a week) or enjoy views of Mount Kenya from Sweetwaters Serena Camp (from $316 a night). Don’t miss an opportunity to meet the park’s enthusiastic anti-poaching dogs and see the last two northern white rhinos on Earth, currently kept under careful watch in an enclosed area.
- Patagonia National Park, Chile: This 752,504-acre reserve was designated a national park in 2018, in collaboration with the Chilean government. A longtime project of Tompkins Conservation, which outdoor-industry veterans Douglas and Kristine Tompkins founded, it combined the former Tamango and Jeinimeni Reserves with the 173,000-acre Chacabuco Valley Estate, one of the largest livestock ranches in the region. Hikers and road trippers alike can take in dizzying mountain views, pristine alpine lakes and wide-open skies. Opportunities abound to spot wildlife like the shy guanaco, a relative of the llama, and the Andean condor.
- American Prairie, Montana: Closer to home, the American Prairie reserve harnesses philanthropic donations to purchase and lease former ranch lands in Montana’s sprawling northeastern expanse. The nonprofit ultimately hopes to manage 3.2 million acres of rewilded land—enough to support a healthy prairie ecosystem, complete with roaming bison, black-footed ferrets and flocks of flamboyant sage grouse. Current lodging options range from humble campgrounds to luxury yurts, and more cabins are in the works, allowing even more people to spend the night in the region’s unique shortgrass prairie ecosystem. Can’t visit in person? The website just launched a Cameras for Conservation program, where wildlife lovers can help identify critters in remote-capture photos.
- Arkaba, Australia: Like many of the country’s public lands, 63,000-acre Arkaba, in South Australia’s arid outback, was once an enormous sheep farm. Purchased by Wild Bush Luxury in 2009, the area has been gradually transformed into a private reserve supported by tourism. These days, instead of endless herds of sheep, you’ll encounter kangaroos munching on natural grasses and rock wallabies hopping along a fossil-rich, rust-colored array of mesas. If staying overnight, you can choose an all-inclusive stay at the Arkaba Homestead (from around $1,360 a night for two people), in what feels like an upscale bed-and-breakfast, or a guided multi-day glamping trip led by naturalists through the mountainous countryside.
- Southern Plains Land Trust, Colorado: A member of the Land Trust Alliance, a conservation organization based in Washington, D.C., Southern Plains aims to restore the vast “American Serengeti” by acquiring private land and offering incentives to landowners to keep portions of their property wild. Based in the juniper-studded golden hills of southeastern Colorado, the trust restores local streams, flora and wildlife through reseeding native grasses and creating vital wildlife corridors through ranchlands. To visit the six areas overseen by the organization, sign up for a volunteer weekend or book a wildlife-focused tour of the Heartland Ranch Nature Preserve, one of the rewilded areas, with Reefs to Rockies.
- Wildland, Scotland: Golden eagles soar above the Caledonian pinewoods in this rewilding project in the remote Scottish Highlands. The 220,000-acre plot consists of a series of privately held historic estates, which were gradually purchased by Danish billionaire Anders Holch Povlsen starting in 2006. Along with his wife, Anne, he plans to restore this piece of the Highlands to its natural state. Wildland offers a handful of plush digs for travelers, from the Old-World elegance of the Glenfeshie Lodge (from around $9,625 a night for up to 10 guests) to the cozy coastal luxury of Lundies House (from around $990 a night).
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MARKET UPDATE - 06/26/2025 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 06/26/2025)
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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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