Average summer-month temperatures in Pitkin, Garfield counties up between 2 and 3.5 degrees as runoff comes earlier and streamflows decline.

Researchers expect more smoke days per year, while public health experts uncover far-reaching consequences

“We not only do have to keep them because there was nowhere to go with them, and then all of a sudden we find ourselves in the middle of a drought. We basically got to the point where we had to get rid of them, whatever price was being offered.”

When natural foods aren’t abundant, bears are forced to move around more, searching for calories. This makes bears more vulnerable to hunters, and it also leads to an increase in roadkills and conflicts in developed areas. 

The number of enforcement contacts — in which rangers had to remind people of the rules through a simple conversation, a warning or a ticket — exploded in the spring, especially in May.

Fees from Pitkin County’s Renewable Energy Mitigation Program are likely to continue to decline because of recent changes to the building and energy codes.

Recent changes to Pitkin County’s land-use and energy codes hold new and renovated residential buildings to strict efficiency standards that officials say will significantly reduce greenhouse-gas emissions.

Amid the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic, people continue to turn to nature for solace, and local environmental organizations are adjusting to the crisis and working to prepare for what comes next.