Comfortable Colorado Sunday, fam.
Someday again within the center ‘90s, I had adopted entrepreneurial mates to Fort Collins to take part in a full-fledged battle amongst three upstart enterprise publications and was constructing sources by saying sure to anybody who needed to share a phrase concerning the city, the financial system, the neighborhood. Accountants. Retailers. Medical doctors. Realtors. Gary Wockner.
I don’t assume Wockner made a enterprise case for shielding the Poudre River that day, however I left our unplanned chat at a espresso store with clear emotions about how necessary the ribbon of water working by means of city was and an invite to understand it, too.
This was earlier than Wockner dug in to combat the huge Glade Reservoir venture and rebranded as a river warrior. Earlier than he distributed posters of different defenders standing bare within the river, holding hand-lettered playing cards over their heads studying “Save the Poudre.”
I modified jobs many instances, however wherever I’ve been, Gary Wockner has been a relentless character on the atmosphere beat, his protection of the Poudre fiercening over time. This week’s cowl story by Jerd Smith gave me a bit extra perception into the person who simply received’t stop — and the best way his work has influenced how we use and regard our rivers.
Meet the water warrior we like to hate
Gary Wockner seems to be out over a stretch of his beloved Poudre River that winds by means of Fort Collins. (Kira Vos, Particular to the Colorado Solar)
Water agitator Gary Wockner, founding father of Save The Poudre and Save the Colorado, is having a bang-up 2025, successful a $100 million settlement from Northern Water in March, and persuading a federal decide in April to cease development of the partially full Gross Reservoir Dam venture, at the very least quickly. Now essential appeals within the case might finally decrease the quantity of water Denver Water, the dam’s proprietor, shall be allowed to divert from the Higher Colorado River system in Grand County.
Wockner is a controversial determine within the water world. He has filed 9 main lawsuits in opposition to Colorado water initiatives throughout his 25-year run as an activist. With this yr’s wins, we determined to inform readers a bit extra concerning the man who’s cherished by fierce river protectors, and who attracts few, if any, variety phrases from the water institution.
READ THIS WEEK’S COLORADO SUNDAY FEATURE
No want to attend for the Crested Butte Wildflower Pageant July 11-20, the viewing season is already in full swing within the Gunnison Valley. Photojournalist Dean Krakel went on just a few hikes and returned with some stunning photos and suggestions for the place to seek out hillsides awash in sensible pre-peak colours. Drifts of lupine and balsamroot are already blanketing the hillsides of the decrease valleys, he mentioned. Crimson columbine may be discovered within the shady recesses alongside the banks of streams and creeks together with wild iris and stands of golden banner. Paintbrush, blue flax and white and lavender phlox carpet the bottom alongside lots of the decrease trails.
A mild rain passes over the Gunnison Valley on Tuesday close to Crested Butte. After an extended dry spell and beneath regular winter snowpack, every day afternoon rains have helped awaken wildflowers. (Dean Krakel, Particular to The Colorado Solar)
A faint rainbow turned evident after the storm moved by means of on Tuesday, as if to level out a discipline thick with paintbrush and arrowleaf balsamroot on a hillside above the Gunnison River. (Dean Krakel, Particular to The Colorado Solar)
Lupine flowers flourish on a hillside above Brush Creek close to Crested Butte on Thursday. Lupines are symbolically linked to wolves as their identify comes from the Latin phrase lupinus, which means “wolfish.” Lupines are generally described as predatory as a result of they’re able to thrive in soil the place different vegetation wrestle to develop. (Dean Krakel, Particular to The Colorado Solar)
The nectar of purple columbine, rising alongside the Slate River close to Crested Butte, incorporates practically twice the sugar content material of all different columbine species in North America and is a nutrient wealthy meals for hummingbirds. (Dean Krakel, Particular to The Colorado Solar)
Fields of arrowleaf balsamroot exhibit their vibrant yellow flowers above the Slate River. Balsamroot was utilized by Native People who ate the roots and stems after baking or steaming. The flowers are fairly in style as a meals supply for elk and deer. (Dean Krakel, Particular to The Colorado Solar)
Pondering of climbing Longs Peak? Assume once more.
(Peter Moore, Particular to The Colorado Solar
It was the autumn of 2020, and I had survived COVID, so I went searching for the following most harmful factor I might consider: Climb Longs Peak!
I had been haunted by that prospect since I moved to Colorado and took my automobile to the emissions testing facility in Fort Collins. I pulled into the bay and there it was, completely framed within the doorway: Longs freaking Peak!
It took me a full three years to summon the nerve, the talents, the gear, and oh yeah, the nerve, to deal with Longs. I made it up, and again, so now I’m an knowledgeable.
Right here’s my step-by-step information to climbing Longs Peak. Or not.
CHECK OUT PETER MOORE’S TIPS FOR TACKLING COLORADO’S 15TH TALLEST PEAK
“Sonata in Wax” performs haunting piano backdrop to protagonist’s struggles
“For weeks now Ben’s kept his discovery to himself. He’s played the strange piece for no one. In every spare moment, meanwhile, he’s hammered away at his amateurish research, trying to identify composer and performer, trying to make musical sense of what he’s hearing.”
EXCERPT: A protagonist captivated by a century-old recording drives this debut novel by Edward Hamlin, which explores twin narrative timelines and a theme that hinges on a lie of omission and the implications of confession. Hamlin, an achieved musician and composer himself, melded his ardour for music with strains of household historical past to provide this Colorado E book Award finalist for Novel. Bear in mind Chase and Sanborn espresso? Hamlin is the final residing descendant from the Sanborn facet, Boston social elites who determine into the portion of the story that’s historic fiction.
READ THE SUNLIT EXCERPT
THE SUNLIT INTERVIEW: Hamlin explains how a lot he loved penning this specific excerpt, which conjures the “ecstatic experience of hearing breathtaking music just when you needed it.” He additionally tells how the advanced plot required some administration expertise. Right here’s a slice of this week’s Q&A:
SunLit: What have been the largest challenges you confronted in penning this ebook?
Hamlin: Managing the sequence of reveals was difficult, as they crossed a large solid of characters and 100 years of plot occasions. Preserving monitor of who knew what when actually required a spreadsheet. It was additionally a problem to make choices, each micro and macro, about the way to deal with the historic figures, particularly after they have been my very own ancestors. It could have been a lot simpler if I might have simply shared a meal with them.
READ THE INTERVIEW WITH EDWARD HAMLIN
LISTEN TO A DAILY SUN-UP PODCAST WITH THE AUTHOR
A curated listing of what you might have missed from The Colorado Solar this week.
A whole bunch of No Kings protests marches have been scheduled for cities throughout America Saturday, except for Washington, D.C., the place President Donald Trump deliberate a parade to rejoice the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Military, Flag Day and his personal 79th birthday. Cartoonist Drew Litton tell us the place he deliberate to be. (Drew Litton, Particular to The Colorado Solar)
🌞 Is promoting tens of millions of acres of U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Administration land in 11 Western states the answer to the housing disaster within the area? Particulars are scant, Jason Blevins, studies, however that’s the idea outlined by Inside Secretary Doug Burgum, who described the properties to be bought as “barren land next to highways with existing billboards that have no recreational value.”
🌞 Younger adults simply getting into the job market face fierce headwinds. Tamara Chung studies on a program aiming to arm new staff with a strong instrument to open doorways: social capital.
🌞 Prices to construct the controversial 88-mile Uinta Basin Railway have greater than doubled since 2020 and backers are searching for $2.4 billion in tax-exempt bonds to cowl a part of the $3.4 billion tab, Jason Blevins studies. Environmental teams concern that the elevated value of development will drive extra drilling and ship extra oil tankers rolling on tracks throughout Colorado.
🌞 U.S. Well being and Human Companies boss Robert F. Kennedy Jr. used a Wall Road Journal opinion column to fireside all 17 members of the U.S. Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, together with a Denver physician. John Ingold landed an interview with Dr. Edwin Asturias, an infectious illness specialist, who worries the mass dismissals will undermine the general public belief in choices that come out of the group sooner or later. In the meantime, extra instances of measles have been reported in Colorado final week.
🌞 There are a dozen new gun legal guidelines on the books — formally — in Colorado. Jesse Paul explains a bit about every of them.
🌞 Former U.S. Rep. Yadira Caraveo was on stage final week for a Again From Damaged Occasion hosted by Vic Vela. Taylor Dolven was there when Caraveo in contrast her suicidal ideas throughout her unsuccessful marketing campaign to maintain her seat to drowning, saying she pulled underneath those that got here to rescue. She additionally advocated for higher understanding of melancholy and nervousness and extra consciousness to acknowledge when somebody is struggling. And he or she mentioned she’s nicely and able to tackle a big group of challengers within the eighth Congressional District Democratic main subsequent yr.
🌞 Whereas Coloradans proceed to debate the knowledge of wolf reintroduction 5 years after a public authorization vote, bison that reintroduce themselves to the state by strolling throughout the border from Utah simply obtained the backing of Colorado regulation that makes it unlawful to kill them with no searching license, Michael Sales space explains.
After we meet once more subsequent week, it can formally be summer season and The Solar retailer has your again, restocked with gear to assist maintain you wrinkle-free and nicely hydrated all season lengthy. Verify all of it out at retailer.coloradosun.com
— Dana & the entire employees of The Solar
Corrections & Clarifications
Kind of Story: Information
Based mostly on details, both noticed and verified straight by the reporter, or reported and verified from educated sources.
