Welcome to the February 2026 Keep Routt Wild Newsletter!

Hello, Keep Routt Wild followers!

In this month’s newsletter we have two breaking news features.

First, there will be a forum discussing impacts from Stagecoach Mountain Ranch on Wednesday, February 18. Keep Routt Wild be one of the presenters.

Second, we were just alerted that CDOT and CPW are considering building an equipment depot and employee housing at Chuck Lewis State Wildlife Area.

Read about these two news items below, along with our standard section of “What We’ve been Reading and Watching”, summarizing conservation news from the region.

For those who are unfamiliar with Keep Routt Wild, we are a community organization dedicated to the preservation of wildlife and wild places in Routt County. To find out more about Keep Routt Wild, go to our website, or follow our nearly daily postings on Facebook.

We are a 501(c)3 non-profit, and we humbly ask you to consider a donation to Keep Routt Wild here. Thank you.

Stagecoach Mountain Ranch Forum: Wednesday February 18

On February 18 the Trappers Lake Sierra Club is presenting a forum by a panel of experts on issues of concern with the proposed Stagecoach Mountain Ranch (SMR) development.  The forum will take place in Library Hall at Bud Werner Library at 5:30 pm.

Former Steamboat Springs City Manager, Gary Suiter, will be the keynote speaker. CSU professor, Bob Woodmansee, will describe potential impacts to water and ecosystems.  Keep Routt Wild’s Larry Desjardin and TJ Thrasher will address wildlife concerns.  City Councilperson Amy Dickson will outline concerns of the City of Steamboat Springs related to SMR.  John Spezia will speak to impacts on traffic, roads, and climate concerns.  Roger Ashton will speak on affordable housing issues.

As reported in the Steamboat Pilot, Keep Routt Wild submitted detailed comments on the proposed Stagecoach Mountain Ranch (SMR) development to the Routt County Planning Department. While much of the public debate surrounds economic and social issues, our focus is entirely on wildlife and other natural resource impacts, reflecting our charter. Our interest in SMR goes beyond this individual project, as this will be one of the first major projects under the County’s new UDC (Unified Development Code) that addresses wildlife mitigation. Therefore, this project will set a precedent of how wildlife mitigation is treated in Routt County for years to come.

The Pilot did a good summary of our comments, and you can read the story here.

Alternately, you can read our entire submitted comments here.

As the headline above notes, we urged a specific evaluation to occur. From our comment summary:

We aren’t waiting for someone else to do this. We are partnering with Rocky Mountain Wild in performing this GIS analysis, and will unveil the results at the February 18 forum. We hope to see you there!

CDOT/CPW Considering Moving Highway Equipment Depot from Rabbit Ears Pass to Chuck Lewis State Wildlife Area, adding Employee Housing.

We were alerted by several nearby property owners that Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) and Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) are considering moving the entire highway plant currently near Rabbit Ears Pass to Chuck Lewis State Wildlife Area.

According to Ed Trousil and others, they were contacted by CPW Area Wildlife Manager Kris Middledorf alerting them that this move was actively under consideration. We contacted Mr. Middledorf, who confirmed that this proposal was on the table, but no official internal paperwork had been submitted yet to formally pursue the action. The impetus for the move seems to be driven by CDOT’s desire to move truck operations and related employees closer to Steamboat Springs, while also offering an option for CPW employee housing.

Mr. Trousil told us, “Recently we have been advised that the CPW wants to allow a CDOT highway plant to be moved from the top of Rabbit Ears pass to the Chuck Lewis State Wildlife Area (25-40 trucks per day).” He went on to recite the history behind the wildlife area.

“We were part of the 1999 transaction where CPW (DOW at that time) received 100% funding from GOCO to purchase all of the river frontage from Yampa Valley Land & Cattle,” Trousil said. “In 1999, we received an Honorary Proclamation from Governor Owens as a major participant in the purchase of the Yampa Valley Land & Cattle property for the sake of open lands and wildlife habitat.”

Mr. Trousil described to us the wildlife on the property. “Since our protection of this wildlife corridor, we have seen a dramatic increase in the migration numbers of elk and moose.  Within 1000 feet of the proposed CDOT plant, there is a creek that has spawning Rainbow Trout, a Columbia Sharp-Tailed Grouse lek, and an Osprey nest.” 

Mr. Trousil noted, “Disturbing many of these wildlife attributes are prohibited by CPW’s “Recommendations to Avoid and Minimize Impacts to HPH from Land Use Development in Colorado,” and added a chart from that document, which we have independently verified:

Indeed, we pulled up the CPW wildlife maps and saw that the entire SWA is within a Columbia Sharp Tailed Grouse production area. Additionally, Mr. Trousil has identified a new active lek directly on the wildlife area. We will keep the location confidential to avoid human disturbance.

Mr. Trousil states, “I am sure that the intent at that [purchase] time was for conservation and protection of our riparian environments.  This purchase was not funded by GOCO in order to reserve sites for warehouses, highway plants, or residences.”

We’re sympathetic to the plight of public agencies and local businesses desperately trying to find housing for their employees. Nevertheless, this was never the purpose of Chuck Lewis State Wildlife Area. As stated by Travis Duncan, Public Information Officer at CPW, in CPW’s Colorado Outdoor Magazine, “Colorado’s SWAs were originally acquired - and are managed today - primarily to restore, conserve, manage, and enhance wildlife and wildlife habitat.” He states, ”CPW manages more than 350 SWAs around Colorado. These lands are first and foremost meant to conserve important habitat for Colorado wildlife, they are not state parks.”

We agree. Chuck Lewis State Wildlife Area should keep its mission completely focused on conserving this special area of the Yampa River.

What we’ve been reading and watching

(Click on any title to read the article.)

Laura Clellan, tapped as interim Colorado Parks and Wildlife boss, named sole finalist for the permanent job

“Laura Clellan, who has led Colorado Parks and Wildlife as acting director since Nov. 25, has been named the sole finalist for the permanent job. She was selected after a search that spanned several weeks and included around 150 candidates.”

The snowpack is ‘pretty ugly,’ but still not the worst Colorado has ever seen

“The data is in: It’s not the least snowy winter that Colorado has ever seen — at least not yet — but it’s close. … [G]oing back in Colorado’s history, 1976-77 and 1980-81 are two winters often considered “the worst” for snow."

A Wolf Dies in Routt County, While Being Collared by CPW on Jan. 28

“A gray wolf died Wednesday in Routt County. Colorado Parks and Wildlife says it is the three-year-old breeding male in the King Mountain Pack. It was being collared and that’s when it died on Jan. 28, according to CPW. A necropsy will be performed in Fort Collins to see if there were any other underlying conditions that contributed to the death of Wolf #2305. Despite the death of the adult male, CPW says an adult female and a pup from the King Mountain Pack were successfully captured and collared. CPW says four pups were observed during the operation.”

Colorado’s ‘out of control’ costs tied to wolf attacks on livestock come under fire by lawmakers

“When lawmakers created the Wolf Depredation Compensation Fund in 2023, they set it up to receive an annual allocation of $350,000. Parks and Wildlife can also use federal dollars and nonlicense revenue from its wildlife cash fund to pay the claims should they exceed the fund balance. … A Jan. 5 news story from The Coloradoan reported that 10 livestock producers filed claims that exceeded $1 million for losses related to wolves in 2025."

Colorado’s reintroduction of wolverines is based on science

“In 2024, after hearings and amendments, a bipartisan bill to reintroduce wolverines passed and was signed into law. Senate Bill 171 was introduced by then-Sen. Perry Will (now Garfield County Commissioner), a Republican with a wildlife biology degree, a family background in ranching, decades of wildlife management experience and a singularly impressive wild west mustache. … Altogether, the process has been driven by scientists and elected officials, supported by compromise, inclusive of the public and those potentially impacted, bipartisan, and transparent."

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