SENTINEL EXPRESS C O M M E R C E
VOLUME 34 32
C I T Y
50cI
ISSUE48 6 ISSUE
EEK OF EBRUARY 24, 10, 2022 TW UESDAY , NFOVEMBER 2020
New COVID-19 restrictions will prohibit indoor dining, personal gatherings
Pandemic proves a boon for conserving land
Record numbers pursuing conservation easements as land, water prices increase BY JASON BLEVINS THE COLORADO SUN
Tony Caligiuri was ready for it to fall apart. Instead, the pandemic gave conservation in Colorado a boost. Soaring land values, spiking prices for water, legislation boosting incentives for landowners who protect their land and growing pressure to develop open land has fueled a record year for conservation easements in Colorado. “We were bracing ourselves for the whole business to collapse, but it’s done the exact opposite,” said Caligiuri, the head of Colorado Open Lands, which has protected 637,000 acres in 668 easements since 1981. The past year has been the busiest ever for the nonprofit Colorado Open Lands. And the coming year looks even busier. “The incentives have never been better and we have never seen this much demand in 40 years,” said Caligiuri, whose group has merged with five other land trusts in the past five years. “It’s just been
exponential growth. We have a waiting list of 100 projects. Demand is growing faster than we can keep up.” Only a few years ago, Colorado Open Lands was handling about six easements a year. Now they are doing 25 deals with landowners who are earning more to forever protect their land from development. Last year, Colorado Open Lands launched a campaign to raise $3 million to support landowners pursuing easements. The trust has recently hired five new employees for both conservation work and stewarding land that is set aside for conservation. Bob Warner’s parents started farming and ranching near Fort Lupton more than a century ago. He was born on the farm 85 years ago. The Colorado State University graduate and Air Force pilot who flew for Continental Airlines for 38 years grows hay, alfalfa and corn on about 1,500 acres. He raises cattle there, too. From his home he can see the farmhouse where he was born and the one-room schoolhouse where he learned to read and write. Now he’s locking up his land in a conservation easement that will keep his family’s fields forever filled with cattle, grasses and corn. He spent 46 years serving on boards for three conservation districts that overlap his property, including the
Bob Warner’s ranch foreman Patrick Hladky, coaxes calves across the road to where PHOTOS BY KATHRYN SCOTT, SPECIAL TO THE COLORADO SUN they will pasture with their mothers.
Platte Valley Conservation District, the West Adams Conservation District and the Southeast Weld Conservation District. “I’ve spent a lot of years working to keep land in conservation and in agriculture in perpetuity,” he said. “I guess now it’s my turn.” This story is from The Colorado Sun, a journalist-owned news outlet based in Denver and covering the state. For more, and to support The Colorado Sun, visit coloradosun. com. The Colorado Sun is a partner in the Colorado News Conservancy, owner of Colorado Community Media.
Bob Warner spends a morning checking on his cattle and on the men who are working his family ranch near Fort Lupton, Colorado. “The cows are kind of like children-they run and play and have foot races. I just like to be around them.”
27J School board promotes new deputy superintendent
A long line of cars outside the city of Brighton’s rapid testing site at Riverdale Regional Park. The site has hadHe to appointed close earlyWill many days in recent Pierce to be the weeks due to high demand. Adams County’s test positivity rate deputy14-day superintendent at the Jan. of the 27J Schools board was 15.9 percent, as of Nov. 17, according25tomeeting Tri-County Health Department. of education. The both appointment was Brighton and Commerce City’s test positivity rates were higher than effective Feb. 1. 13 percent. Forty-five people in Brighton District and 29 inspokeswoman Commerce City have Janelle died from COVID-19 related health issues. To limit ofexecutive COVID-19, Asmus saidthe thespread board’s succession policy requires a plan STAFF REPORT at least 15 counties moved to tighter restrictions that prohibits indoor and to delegate the superintendent’s repersonal gatherings.
District says change made solely as a part of district’s succession planning
27J Schools in Brighton changed its district organizational structure and, in the process, created a line of succession if Superintendent Chris Fiedler cannot make decisions for the district.
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sponsibilities if the superintendent is not available for such reasons as travel, transition in positions or medical issues. Photo by Belen Ward Pierce’s salary, roles, duties or job description won’t change.
By Ellis Arnold
Colorado Community Media
“27J Schools is so fortunate to As such Denver counties continue have anmetro extraordinary educa-to inch closer to local stay-at-home tional leader in Will Pierce. Itorders makes sense to fulfill our succession planunder Colorado’s system of coronavirusning with an relatedneeds restrictions, theexperienced state announced district leader who’s already pasasionately new level serving, of rules that prohibits indoor leading, and supdining and personal gatherings — a porting academic success for every change that applies toour the27J majority of the student attending Schools,” Fiedler said in a statement. Denver metro area and many counties in Pierce earned his bachelor’s other regions. degree from Western State College, The state’s COVID-19 dial,basketball which has where he was a standout been in effect since September, the set player and caught the eye ofisscouts of different levelsHe of restrictions thatfrom each from the NBA. turned away
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LOCAL 3 2 •Restorative justice part OBITUARIES •27J Schools moves 5 4 of DA’s OBITUARIES LEGALS agenda Dec. 1 online-only 8 5 LEGALS SPORTS CLASSIFIED CLASSIFIEDS 11 6
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BUSINESS SPORTS • Adams City Football • Vestas to lay off 200 player heads to Iowa employees
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county is required to follow based on the severity of a county’s local virus spread. The dial grew out of the state’s safer-atthoughts of professional basketball home order the policyan that came after in favor of — becoming educator. He earned his master’s the later statewide stay-at-home order degree this from of Denver springthe andUniversity allowed numerous typesand of recently businessescompleted to reopen. the administrator licensure program at the Univerrecently switched to color sityThe of state Colorado-Denver. identifiers — and Pierce haslevels beenblue, withyellow the district orange rather than numbered levels to for 20 years. His first stop was as—the fi rst principal for two new elemenavoid confusion. Until Nov. 17, level red tary Pennock and West meantschools, a stay-at-home order. Now, level Ridge. The district’s statement said red — “severe risk” — is the secondhis leadership vision and SEE CHANGE, P8
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