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Is it spring yet? A Colorado State Open Thread, 4/21/2025 [1]

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Date: 2025-04-21

OK, so most of you are probably experiencing spring. Here in Colorado, spring has many forms, and up in the mountains we got a dose of several inches of beautiful heavy powder last weekend. It was much appreciated and it did wonders for our snowpack, which had been drying out over the past few weeks. At this point, we still could use what we can get, but we’re in much better shape than we were in just a week ago.

This Colorado State Open Thread is written by, for, and with loving attention (most of the time) with the expectation that most of the readers will have some sort of ties to our lovely square(ish) state of Colorado. Even if you have no ties to our state, perhaps by the time you have finished reading as much or as little as you care to, you may choose to come back another few times until you become as hooked on the state as the rest of us.

Most of the writing is done by reporting on the news from various newspapers around the state, by magazines, by people who want to write their thoughts and opinions about the state or even by those who want to share their ideas and memories about the state, including why they feel the state is so special to them. It becomes a column on Daily Kos that is written by, for and to the people of the site and even though I tend to write most of the content, I ask for input from my readers on a frequent basis, like I will be doing these next few weeks. I will be out of the state, out of America, and to an extent, out of my mind for the next five weeks on the opposite side of the planet again. I will probably have some irregular opportunities to read Daily Kos and news on Colorado, but I would love for some of these Open Threads to be written by some of the readers who have some ideas and thoughts to share. I will be posting the barest of Open Threads ahead of time just as placeholders; please stop by and say “Hi” to one another and we’ll see how that format works during my absence.

In the meantime, last Saturday, I did get to the latest Hands Off rally in Estes Park last Saturday,

Much better weather, though the snow did make an appearance the day and night before

and it seemed like people were in better spirits. I counted about the same number of folks as on April 4th (130), but other folks counted as many as 200. I think the people in the cars were more numerous and at least I didn’t see anyone flipping us off from the cars, though I did hear of reports from some other folks. People were also on both sides of the street so they caught cars coming and going. I didn’t see any signs that really caught my attention.

I had a friend who was down in Denver taking pictures of the protest. He said he guessed that there were about 5000 people there, with about 50 counter-protesters, maybe from an organization like a church. Another friend had his (Maltese?) dog with a sandwich board dog as part of the Boulder protest and (s)he was very popular. Did you folks see anything notable at any protests you went to? Please share in the comments down below. I didn’t see anything in the DK mothership about problems at any protests or about Trump trying to impose draconian restrictions on protestors, so I’m hopeful there will continue to be protests on through the spring months and that I can join in when I return.

Speaking of protests and DOGE, there was a spontaneous protest today when rumors that DOGE was on the Boulder campus of the US Department of Commerce today. US Congressman Joe Neguse Came onsite to investigate and was able to determine that it was mistaken information but he said people have to remain vigilant. This link is a shareable link to the Denver Post on the story.

Ooh, Yay! Trump is going to reverse a Biden Rule to preserve the Environment within the Bureau of Land Mismanagement. Yes, the sarcasm is heavy with this one. This comes from the Colorado Sun.

Public lands protection took another hit last week when the White House Office of Management and Budget posted the administration’s intent to roll back a Biden-era ruling that put conservation on equal footing with energy development, livestock grazing and recreation on 81 million acres of BLM land including 8.3 million in Colorado. Posting the notice is a part of the formal process to list rules at the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, so a rule hasn’t been proposed yet, said Kathleen Sgamma, Trump’s appointee for BLM director until she withdrew her nomination after a 2021 letter critical of Trump that she wrote as president of the Western Energy Alliance resurfaced. She recently resigned from the oil and gas trade group. But conservation groups like Backcountry Hunters and Anglers are raising the alarm, because the Public Lands Rule, which is on the chopping block, reflects years of work from multiple stakeholders “to ensure the long-term health of the landscapes we rely on for healthy fish and wildlife habitat,” they say, and “rescinding it in its entirety is a direct affront to those who value America’s wild places, and the democratic process used to steward them for the benefit of all of us as public land owners.” The notice aligned with a meeting called by Interior Secretary Doug Burgum last week when he let Interior Department employees know the job of the agency is to “manage and protect” public lands, not just protect them. “We’re in the world of and, not or.” he said.

Enjoy being in the US while I’m out in 100 degree weather and perhaps a rainy season. Until I’m back, and even afterwards, the floor is yours...

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/4/21/2317915/-Is-it-spring-yet-A-Colorado-State-Open-Thread-4-21-2025?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web

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