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Colorado - Thu. 07/23/26 |
A Free Business Publication from Alpine Bank
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WILDFIRES HAVE FEDERAL RESOURCES STRETCHED VERY THIN
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As of July 21, about 41,000 wildfires have scorched almost 4 million acres, an area more than three times the size of Grand Canyon National Park, across the U.S., according to the National Interagency Fire Center. Both the number of wildfires and the total acreage burned are trending around 130 percent above the 10-year average. There are still eight fires burning in Colorado, including the 100,000+ acre Aspen Acres Fire and the fast-growing Big Gulch Fire near Craig. The National Interagency Fire Center has upped its preparedness level to 5, which is the highest level, indicating that “national resources are heavily committed” and areas with active wildfires “must take emergency measures to sustain incident operations.” On Tuesday, the interagency center’s daily report showed that almost 21,000 firefighters and support personnel, including about 1,125 engines and 125 helicopters, were battling 72 large fires and numerous smaller fires across the country.
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SCHOOL OF MINES NEW STUDY: CLIMATE CHANGE MEANS DROUGHT IS OUR FUTURE
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This year’s devastating snow drought in the Upper Colorado River Basin was made 14 times more likely by years of global climate change, according to a new study by Colorado School of Mines researchers, published Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Low snow years have always been possible in the West, the researchers said, but climate change is making it more frequent and more devastating. By the 2050s, their modeling shows, snowpack drought like the states west of the Continental Divide experienced this past winter will be happening more than three of every 10 years, and nearly nine of every 10 years by the 2090s. The researchers used modeling to take this season’s historically low snow conditions and compare it to snow drought frequency and severity from before climate change, about 1850 to 1900.
“What was the probability of having an event that bad in the world we’re living in now, versus the world without climate change?” The results showed that in the West as a whole, climate change made this year’s severe drought more than four times more likely than before global warming began. In the Upper Colorado River basin, with Colorado as the headwaters, that risk exploded to 14 times more likely after climate change, according to Adrienne Marshall the study’s lead author. Marshall, who is a computational hydrologist and assistant professor of geology and geological engineering at the School of Mines said the size of the impact surprised her. She expected an increase in likelihood of just 20 or 30 percent due to climate change - not the many times over that she found.
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GOVERNOR CREATES COMPETITIVENESS COUNCIL TO BOOST STATE
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Over the past year and a half, Colorado has seen the number of payroll jobs in the state fall by 6,200. That ranks Colorado 12th worst in the country for total job losses and 14th worst in the percentage job losses since Jan. 2025, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Rachel Rose, deputy director of the Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT), told the Colorado Economic Development Commission last week that this is now a critical time because the state is "facing increasing headwinds." This week, Gov. Jared Polis announced the formation of a new competitiveness council, composed of public and private sector partners. Polis has already directed Rose and OEDIT Executive Director Eve Lieberman, in cooperation with the Colorado Economic Development Council, to host a series of “convenings” across the state.
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HOTCHKISS RANCHER NEW HEAD OF COLORADO CATTLEMEN’S ASSOCIATION
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Mark LeValley, the co-owner of LeValley Ranch in Hotchkiss, was selected as the president of the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association at the association’s annual convention in Denver in June. LeValley has been on the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association Board of Directors since 2016. LeValley replaces outgoing Colorado Cattlemen’s Association President Curt Russell. Mark and his wife, former Colorado Cattlemen’s Association President Robbie LeValley, are among the soon-to-be six generations of the LeValley family to own and operate the LeValley Ranch, a cow-calf and stocker operation comprised of private land and Bureau of Land Management allotments.
The ranch grazes its public and private land in a deferred rotation, offers big-game and upland bird hunting, and co-owns and co-operates Homestead Meats in Delta. LeValley served as a representative for agriculture on the Colorado Wildlife Commission, Colorado State Board of Stock Inspection, as well as numerous water committees, and community boards. The 2026-2027 Colorado Cattlemen’s Association Board of Directors also includes Western Slope ranchers like Lenny Klinglesmith (Meeker), Dan McCarty (Rifle), and Andy Spann (Gunnison).
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NEW FINES FOR FIRE RESTRICTION VIOLATIONS IN EFFECT IN SUMMIT COUNTY
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On July 21, the Summit County commissioners, as expected, approved on second reading an updated fire restriction ordinance that increases fines for violations. The ordinance allows law enforcement officers to fine people who violate fire restrictions up to $1,000 per violation. Previously, the county fined fire restriction violators $150 for their first violation, $500 for their second and $1,000 for their third. County communications director Adrienne Saia Isaac wrote in an email that state statute limits the fines at $1,000 per violation, so county ordinance now allows for the maximum fine possible. If a violation starts a fire, she stated, it can lead to criminal penalties as well.
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ASPEN’S WHEELER OPERA HOUSE: NATIONAL HISTORIC THEATRE AWARD WINNER
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On July 12, the League of Historic American Theatres presented its 2026 Outstanding Historic Theatre Award to Aspen’s Wheeler Opera House. The award was presented during the league’s 50th National Conference & Theatre Tour in Indianapolis, Ind. The Historic Theatre Award aims to honor a theatre that demonstrates excellence through community impact, quality of programs and services, and quality of the restoration or rehabilitation of its historic structure, according to the league. This is the first time that the Wheeler Opera House has received this recognition, joining only 21 other theaters with that distinction. Eliza Voss, senior vice president of Destination Marketing from the Aspen Chamber Resort Association, said, "This award really underscores how the Wheeler Opera House serves as both an architectural and cultural steward for the history of Aspen. Our history has a significant impact on our identity, which is why it’s so important to preserve that.”
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KVNF RAFFLES OFF A BRAND-NEW 2026 TOYOTA TACOMA SR5
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KVNF Community Radio is raffling off a brand-new 2026 Toyota Tacoma SR5, valued at $43,749. This annual raffle is one of KVNF's largest fundraisers, helping support community radio programming and operations across Western Colorado. Tickets are $20 each or 3 for $50, with no limit on the number of entries per person. Only 5,499 tickets will be sold. Ticket sales end August 30, 2026, or when all tickets are sold out. The winning ticket will be drawn on August 31, 2026.
Tickets can be purchased:
- Online at kvnf.org
- At the KVNF Studios, 233 Grand Avenue, Paonia
- At select summer events throughout the region
KVNF's Summer Raffle is made possible through the generous support of Alpine Bank, Bighorn Toyota, and Big B's Delicious Orchards. Proceeds from the raffle support KVNF's mission to engage our communities through access to diverse music, news, and voices.
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TROUT UNLIMITED BRINGS RECLAMATION & MINING CONFERENCE BACK TO DURANGO
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Diverse professionals, researchers, policymakers and others interested in water quality will gather in Durango on Aug. 30 to Sept. 2 to share perspectives and expertise about mining and its impact. Trout Unlimited is bringing the semiannual Rocky Mountain Mining & Reclamation Conference back to Durango, for the first time since 2016. Trout Unlimited (TU), a national nonprofit focused on healthy rivers and clean water, is the conference’s new host organization. Past conferences have been in Leadville, Ouray, Silverton, and other historic mining towns. The last time the conference was in Durango was August 2016, during the one-year anniversary of the Gold King spill.
This year’s Mining & Reclamation Conference theme is “Rocky Mountain Resilience – Reclaim, Reprocess & Re-imagine Mining." The first evening, Sunday, Aug. 30, provides a meet-and-greet reception with a keynote address by Colorado School of Mines’ Dr. Molly Morgan at The Powerhouse. The conference offers a full day of concurrent technical talks and evening exhibitor happy hour on Monday, Aug. 31. Then, Tuesday, Sept. 1 features field tours to historic mine sites and reclamation areas, and an evening reception and dinner at the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad Museum. The conference finishes on Wednesday, Sept. 2 with a half day of technical talks and closing remarks at Fort Lewis College. More information and registration for the conference are available at the link below.
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LONDON REAL ESTATE: MORE HOUSING NEEDED, BUT OBSTACLES ABOUND
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London needs more houses. However, new construction is at a standstill. Building new houses is plagued by compounding factors of “Byzantine” regulations, skyrocketing building costs, high interest rates and as always, politics. The city’s official annual target is 88,000 new homes. In 2024-25, there was groundbreaking on 4,170 housing units. At the same time, the population grew by 100,000. London would need to build 1.1 million more houses to reach the western European average homes per capita. Last year, Vienna built three times more houses than London despite being a much smaller city. A major impediment to new construction is the planning system in the city. It was enacted in the 1940s and was designed to limit the city’s expansion.
Unlike the zoning-based models used elsewhere across the developed world, London planning operates on a case-by-case system that is largely up to a small group of bureaucrats in each of the capital’s 32 boroughs and the City of London. They consider a range of subjective criteria: whether a proposed project is out of character with existing buildings, or out of scale, or blocks too much light. When coupled with declining numbers of construction workers and high costs, basically nothing gets built. In the last quarter of 2025, work stopped on more than 5,000 homes at some 50 development sites, often because the building contractor went bust. Sky-high prices have weakened demand, while construction costs continue to climb.
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LONDON REAL ESTATE: ONE NEIGHBORHOOD IS A HOT MARKET
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The London real estate market is in a big slump. In the Prime Center London district, real estate prices dropped 11.1 percent last year, to an average of USD$2.423 million. The Prime Outer London district saw a 1.8 percent dip in prices to just under $1 million. However, there is one neighborhood in that district that is headed in the opposite direction. That is St. John’s Wood, a neighborhood long noted as being eclectic, international, as well as aristocratic, and perhaps even better known as the home of the Abbey Road recording studio. Ever take a picture of you and three friends/family walking across the intersection?
Average sale prices in St. John’s Wood have jumped 15 percent in the past year, according to estate agent Hamptons, hitting roughly $9 million. At the top end, prices are much higher. St. John’s Wood was created by the wealthy, landowning Eyre family, which purchased the land in the early 19th century and developed it into London’s first “garden suburb,” with leafy streets, plentiful open spaces and pretty villas. Its location offered a balance of discretion and convenience: It was removed from the homes of high society around Buckingham Palace and Mayfair, yet still within easy reach of them. The neighborhood later became a popular spot for artists and went on to gain international fame in the 1960s when the Beatles began working at a studio on the neighborhood’s Abbey Road.
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WORLD’S MOST POWERFUL PASSPORTS, GREATEST GLOBAL ACCEPTANCE
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The annual Henley Passport Index is a measurement of the number of destinations that can be visited visa-free or visa-on-demand. Citizens of Singapore, which is the No. 1 passport in this year's ranking, enjoy access to 192 travel destinations out of 227 around the world visa-free. In a three-way tie for the No. 2 spot, South Korea, Japan and the United Arab Emirates each provide access to 188 destinations without a visa.
The top 10 Most Powerful Passports, ranked by visa-free access:
- Singapore: 192
- Japan, South Korea, United Arab Emirates: 188
- Sweden: 187
- Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Spain: 186
- Austria, Greece, Malta, Portugal, Switzerland: 185
- Hungary, Poland, United Kingdom: 184
- Australia, Canada, Czechia, Latvia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Slovakia, Slovenia: 183
- Croatia, Estonia: 182
- Liechtenstein, Lithuania: 181
- Iceland, United States: 180
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MANY OF THE RICHEST IN THE U.S. ARE IMMIGRANTS
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Forbes updated its ranking of the richest foreign-born citizens currently living in the U.S. There are a record 144 immigrant billionaires worth a collective $2.2 trillion on this year’s list, up from 125 worth $1.3 trillion on last year’s ranking. They account for nearly 15 percent of all American billionaires and a quarter of the country’s billionaire wealth. Three of the world’s ten richest people are U.S. immigrants.
Top ten U.S. immigrant billionaires, with birth country:
- Elon Musk: $927 billion, South Africa
- Sergey Brin: $272 billion, Russia
- Jensen Huang: $176 billion, Taiwan
- Thomas Peterffy: $107 billion, Hungary
- Mirian Adelson & family: $33.4 billion, Israel
- David Sun: $30.5 billion, Taiwan
- John Tu: $30.5 billion, China
- Peter Thiel: $27.9 billion, Germany
- Rupert Murdoch & family: $22.1 billion, Australia
- Adam Foroughi: $18.9 billion, Iran
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MARKET UPDATE - 07/22/2026 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 07/16/2026)
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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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