By Shannon Lukens.
The Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation say they won’t be sending wolves from their reservation in Washington to Colorado after all. They changed their mind and notified Colorado Parks and Wildlife in a letter on June 6. That letter says it is because those Colorado tribes that could be impacted by wolves weren’t consulted. Out of respect for the Indian Tribes of Colorado, they won’t be sending 15 wolves here for the next round of reintroduction. CPW Director Jeff Davis says it is disappointing, but that they’ll work on other sources for wolves.
Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming have also refused to provide wolves to Colorado for reintroduction efforts.
In the meantime, there are more wolf depredations in Grand County. That investigation is ongoing right now.
More on the Story —Colville Tribe says they won’t send wolves to Colorado now
Yampa Valley Regional Airport in Hayden is receiving $1.2 million to pay for a new Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting vehicle, and equipment to enhance passenger safety. This was part of multi-million dollar funding from the FAA as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The announcement of the award came from U.S. Senators Bennet and Hickenlooper.
Results from the recent Community Feedback Survey on Housing from Yampa Valley Housing Authority have been released. Some of the highlights are that most respondents (82.9%) say affordable housing in the community is ‘poor’ or ‘very poor.’ The lack of affordable housing is impacting local business with 72 percent of employers saying they are having difficulties recruiting and retaining employees. The survey said there is strong community support (83.2%) for providing affordable housing options to support local economic growth and most agreed that government entities should subsidize housing to make sure it is affordable. YVHA writes in the press release, “Results will be shared with city staff, consultants, and the broader community to ensure transparent communication and incorporate public feedback into future housing strategies.”
There will also be a lottery system for housing allocation at The Cottonwoods at Mid Valley.
More on the Story — Community Survey results on Housing are released
The SBT GRVL Ride is Aug. 18. Staff of the biking event have been working on bringing awareness of the ride to the cyclists and to the rural residents along the race course.
They have 17 people going door-to-door to talk to residents who live along the route in rural Routt County. Here’s Greer Van Dyck with SBT GRVL.
“There are about 360 residences. We are really getting in there. We’ve had some very positive and impactful conversations. We’ve been so grateful for the time that we’ve been given. It’s been very meaningful for us to have these rural community members spend time with us.”
In a press release on the event, it says the key focus of changes this year are to minimize disruption to the locals and rural community, increase safety, improve rider conduct, and improve communication.
Organizers also have donated over $112,000 to local non-profits and this year that includes the Routt County 4H Scholarship Foundation.
The SBT GRVL website also has a Local Community tab which includes a graphic that says “Respect the Routt,” which is specific to the cyclists on how to properly interact with the rural Routt County community.
More on the Story — SBT GRVL staff is reaching out to Routt residents on the route
Two events tonight…
It is Family Night at Steamboat Art Museum from 5-7 p.m. It’s free with arts, crafts, games and prizes and you can see the current exhibit about one family’s journey on the Oregon Trail. The Steamboat Art Museum is at 8th and Lincoln.
Then at 7 p.m. at Bud Werner Memorial Library, a survivor of the Oct. 7 attack in Israel is speaking. Yoni Viloga was with his family when terrorists infiltrated their kibbutz in Israel, and they were able to defend their home. Yoni will share the account of what happened on that day. He’ll be speaking at 7 p.m. tonight in Library Hall. That is free to attend. Please RSVP at www.JewishSteamboat.com/witness
At Saturday’s Produce Drive at City Market, just over 1,060 pounds of food was collected, and a lot of it was cereal. It will all go to LiftUp of Routt County. The Steamboat Group coordinated the collecting and is trying to raise $50K this year, which they’ll match half of that. A fund to donate is set up through Yampa Valley Community Foundation.