New West Network

My Page: Bryan Hurlbutt

State of the Rockies Project

“Nurturing the Youth,” one section of the 2006 Colorado College State of the Rockies Report Card, assigns letter grades to all 281 counties in the Rocky Mountain West on youth care. County grades are computed using 24 different indicators, which fall into six generally categories: teen involvement, family support, educational opportunity, healthy surroundings, neighborhood safety, and community engagement. Click here for the "Nurturing the Youth" section of the report (PDF). What grade did your county earn? What’s going on in your community that is or is not being captured by this data? You’re the on-the-ground experts, so share your thoughts!

State of the Rockies Project

Some criticize the environmental movement’s apparent preference for protecting “nature” over humans. Sometimes it may seem that environmentalists are less concerned with humans than they are with trees and furry animals, but a report in the 2006 Colorado College State of the Rockies Report Card suggests that this preference is not likely based on any lack of concern for humans. Instead, it may be because those people that face the biggest environmental burdens are low-income and minority groups, who are underrepresented in the environmental movement.

“Environmental Justice—Income, Race, Ethnicity, and Toxic Pollution in the Rockies Metro Areas” finds that people living near sources of toxic polluters earn 14% (nearly $3,000) less per capita, are four percent more likely to be racially non-white, and six percent more likely to be ethnically Hispanic than people not living near toxic sources in the entire Rocky Mountain West. The analysis was also carried out for the largest 23 metropolitan areas in the eight-state region. For example, in Salt Lake City, Phoenix, Pueblo, and Albuquerque people living near toxic sources earn around 20% less per capita. Findings like this led to the emergence of the environmental justice movement in the United States. The environmental justice movement draws from both the environmental and civil rights movements to support the idea that everyone, no matter what income bracket, race, or ethnicity they belong to, has an equal right to clean air, water, and land. Click here for the Environmental Justice section of the Report (PDF). Read the report and share your thoughts!

Editor's note: The writer is the co-author of the 2006 Report Card. We are releasing segments of the report here on New West for your discussion.

State of the Rockies Project

Biodiversity, or the variety life, is critical to the functioning of numerous systems on Earth, but biodiversity is diminishing around the globe as species face a variety of amplifying threats, from habitat destruction to invasive species to pollution to climate change. Here in the Rockies, an abundance of life still exists relative to most other parts of the country, but today’s rapid development poses serious threat to species in the region.

“Preserving Biodiversity,” part of the 2006 Colorado College State of the Rockies Report Card, measures habitat threat in all 281 counties in the eight-state region. The report uses six indicators to compute threat in each county: percentage of urban landcover, percentage of agricultural landcover, gallons of daily withdrawals from water bodies, pounds toxic pollution emitted, projected population growth, percentage of lands protected (Wilderness, National Park, etc). How does your county rank? Click here for the Preserving Biodiversity section of the report (PDF).

State of the Rockies Project

Resource management in the Rocky Mountain West is often mired in bitter conflict between competing interest groups in the realm of law and politics. Today, however, ground is being broken in managing limited, highly valued resources through cooperative approaches that harness market incentives. “New Resource Management—Innovative Approaches in the Rockies,” a section of the 2006 Colorado College State of the Rockies Report Card, highlights several successful examples of creative collaboration in managing land, water, and wildlife around the region.

Are lawsuits and government regulations too divisive, or do they play an important role that the market can’t fill in managing limited resources? Should the examples in the report serve as models for resource conflicts around the West? Click here for the PDF of the New Resource Management section of the report.

Editor's Note: The writer is a co-author of the 2006 Report Card. Colorado College is releasing sections of the report here on New West for discussion.

State of the Rockies Project

Land trusts are leading the way in protecting the Rockies’ private land, using conservation easements to impede the suburban race to the range and preserve key cultural, historical, and ecological sites. “Conservation Easements—Protecting Private Land in the Rockies,” a section of the 2006 Colorado College State of the Rockies Report Card, inventoried the acres held under conservation easement by The Nature Conservancy and the Land Trust Alliance in each of the 281 counties in the eight-state Rocky Mountain West. The five counties with the most eased acres as a percentage of all private land are: Hidalgo County, New Mexico; Santa Fe County, New Mexico; Madison County, Montana; Chaffee County, Colorado; and Teton County, Wyoming.

The report praises the rise in conservation easements as an effective tool for protecting private land, but warns that easement abuse could stymie progress and notes the geographic isolation of the movement along the high terrain of the Continental Divide. Click here for the Conservation Easements section of the Report Card (PDF). Share your thoughts!

Editor's Note: The writer is the co-author of the 2006 Report Card. We're releasing sections of the report here on New West for you to read and discuss.

State of the Rockies Project

Almost one quarter of the West’s ranches have been converted to other uses in the past 30 years, and 24 million more acres of ranchland are expected to disappear by 2020 as traditional ranchers struggle to meet costs and face strong development pressure. But there are ways smaller ranches can make ends meet, as demonstrated in “Ranches in the Rockies—Threats and Signs of Hope,” part of the 2006 Colorado College State of the Rockies Report Card. Some ranchers are diversifying their operations by hosting hunting and fishing expeditions, accommodating dude ranchers, and niche marketing organic and natural meat. Others are adopting sustainable management techniques, like Holistic Resource Management, to increase output while cutting production costs.

Are ranchers struggling where you live? How are they altering their businesses to meet today’s challenges? Is it working? (Click here for the PDF of the Ranching in the Rockies section of the report card.)

Editor's note: The writer is a co-author of the 2006 Report Card. We are releasing segments of the report here on New West for your perusal and discussion fodder.

State of the Rockies Project

Snowpack on April 1 is estimated to decline substantially at all major ski resorts in the Rockies according to a study recently released in the 2006 Colorado College State of the Rockies Report Card. Projected snowpack losses range from 26% in Teton County, Wyoming (home to Jackson Hole), to 89% in Taos County, New Mexico, which could have devastating affects on the ski industry and communities in the region. Additionally, the region’s river basins, which depend on spring snowmelt to supply water to the region’s farms and municipalities, would see similarly drastic losses. And ecoregions in the Rockies will see temperature changes in the range of 5-7 degrees Celsius, putting serious stress on species in the region.

The State of the Rockies Project hired ATMOS Research and Consulting to downscale the HadCM3 global climate model for the 8-state Rocky Mountain West, outputting temperature, precipitation, and snowpack in 1976 and 2085 in 12 kilometer grids across the region. State of the Rockies analyzed the data to assess climate’s future impact on the region’s water resources, tourism, and ecosystems. Although these specific findings are not necessarily what will happen (since modeling climate is a tricky endeavor), this is a very realistic scenario, using a highly regarded, middle of the road climate model. The report suggests that mitigating fossil fuel use is important to minimizing human-induced climate change, but climate change is already underway. Therefore, it’s time to start seriously considering the implications of climate change and corresponding adaptation strategies. Click here for the Climate Change section of the report (PDF).

State of the Rockies Project

The Rocky Mountain region's distinctive features -- its vast open space, large proportion of federal lands, aridity, small population coupled with rapid population growth, abundance of natural amenities and natural resources, and popularity to vacationers -- create a unique set of challenges for the region, which are often ignored in national politics. The rest of the nation is able to take advantage of the region as it takes gold, timber, and vacation homes while leaving behind toxic landscapes, devastated forests, and cold-bed communities. A new report in the 2006 Colorado College State of the Rockies Report Card, "A Common Western Voice," urges that the region develop a strong voice in regional issues and suggests that hosting an early, blocked Western states presidential primary may be just the tool for doing so.

But is the Rockies Region really treated this poorly? Can the region work together to articulate a common voice? Is a blocked presidential primary enough to make the voice heard, and is it even a realistic possibility? (Click here for the "A Common
Western Voice" section of the Report Card (PDF)). Share your thoughts!

Editor's note: Bryan Hurlbutt is a co-author of the State of the Rockies Report Card. We'll be releasing sections of the report in the coming weeks for discussion here on New West.

2006 State of the Rockies

Some still hold a romantic view of the Mountain West as a lawless, backward land of rugged cowboys roaming remote locations, fending for themselves, and living off the land. This report, just released in the 2006 Colorado College State of the Rockies Report Card, dispels some of these common myths. "Rockies Baseline—Vital Signs for a Region in Transition" shows that in the Rockies region we are well-educated, highly mobile, and for better or worse, most of us work in offices. Additionally, the region’s population is growing over three times faster than that of the U.S. (Click here for the Rockies Baseline section of the report (PDF))

What’s your experience? Do you and your friends work on your own off of the land, or do you work with others in an office? Is the cowboy myth completely wrong, or is it still an important part of understanding the West? Read the report and respond!

Editor's note: The author is the co-author of the 2006 Colorado College State of the Rockies Report Card. We will be periodically releasing PDFs of the report throughout the next several weeks for you discussion.