The mountain area’s newspaper since 1958
WEEK OF JULY 3, 2025
VOLUME 66 | ISSUE 33
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New policy goals for public land discussed Extractive uses in, protection out for federal lands BY HANK LACEY NEWSLINE COLORADO
tion,” EPRD director Peter Eggers told the Pinkard representatives. “Keeping rec center open, not interfering with the traffic of daily visitors, we appreciate that.” Additionally, the EPRD board agreed to prioritize the natatorium and Buchanan Park construction over the fieldhouse, which could delay the third project by a year. The fieldhouse is planned to include court space, a walking track, a recreation studio and offices. “I’d rather push it back until we’re well on the way with the park and the pool,”
The Trump administration’s revised Department of the Interior strategic plan calls for expanded fossil fuel development across federal lands, while omitting any reference to public land sales first raised in an earlier draft. Required under a 1993 statute and in 2010 amendments to that law, the draft plan outlines high-level goals for the Interior’s management of 480 million acres of federal land, including approximately 24 million acres in Colorado. Language emphasizing a commitment to extraction is particularly stark. In a break from contemporary descriptions of the natural resources under federal management, the Trump administration declared in a proposed introduction to the plan that the department “is the U.S. balance sheet, and natural resources are the country’s assets.” “These lands — rich in energy, minerals, biodiversity, and recreational value — are worth trillions of dollars to current and future generations,” the draft introduction continues. Chris Winter, executive director of the University of Colorado Law School’s Getches-Wilkinson Center for Natural Resources, Energy, and the Environment, said the draft plan confirms what many in the environmental community have feared: a shift away from conservation in fa-
SEE EPRD, P7
SEE FEDERAL LANDS, P13
A natatorium with a competition-sized swimming pool with as many as eight swimming lanes will be added on the back side of the current Buchanan PHOTO BY JANE REUTER Recreation Center, according to plans revealed by the Evergreen Park & Recreation District board.
Fieldhouse delayed in favor of pool, park projects Original Rec Center contractor chosen for pool expansion BY JANE REUTER JANE@COTLN.ORG
The future of Evergreen’s recreation facilities became clearer recently with some key decisions the Evergreen Park & Recreation District board made June 24. The board voted to move ahead with a fieldhouse at Buchanan Park that will be separate — rather than attached to the current recreation center — a decision made based on es-
timates showing much higher costs to build an attached fieldhouse. The board agreed to delay the fieldhouse’s construction by a year. The board unanimously moved to hire Pinkard Construction for pre-construction services on the planned aquatics facility expansion at the Buchanan Recreation Center. That is the first of a two-part contract that is expected to also include later hiring them as the general
contractor for the aquatics facility, also known as the natatorium. Pre-construction services will include helping the board nail down final costs. Lakewoodbased Pinkard, which has built several similar projects in other Colorado communities, built the original Buchanan Recreation Center in 2003. Current plans show the natatorium opening in 2028, though Pinkard representatives said at this week’s meeting it could make it happen much sooner — in late 2026 or early 2027. “Part of the reason we chose you was your timelines and your attitude about construc-
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