CORRECTION: The June 17 article, “Two more wolves die in western Colorado” misstated that the breeding male wolf of the King Mountain Pack died during a re-collaring operation in 2024. The wolf died during a re-collaring operation in early 2026.
Weiser for Gov.
As a local elected official working on solutions to affordable housing, climate, transportation, and the economy, I am excited to vote for Phil Weiser for Governor in the democratic primary. Weiser is an experienced statewide leader who we can trust to show up, listen to and collaborate with local communities. He has demonstrated his effectiveness, integrity and style of leadership through his 8 years as Attorney General, and by how he has run his campaign.
While Phil’s campaign is funded by thousands of Colorado residents, Bennet’s campaign is supported by a super PAC funded by out-of-state billionaires. Michael Bloomberg alone has contributed over $4.5 million to support a super PAC in support of Bennet.
I’ve heard some local environmentalists say they are ok with the out-of-state billionaire funding because they like Bennet’s record on the environment. What many people are not aware of is that Bennet has 2 years left in the U.S. Senate. As governor, Bennet would pick his replacement. Leaving the senate and handpicking his replacement leaves Colorado with two years of a non-elected U.S. Senator, and a massive loss in the seniority that is so critical for shaping policy in the US Senate.
The Senate is where key issues regarding public lands, national forests, national parks, and federal energy and climate policy can be addressed, along with cabinet and supreme court picks. The Senate is where many of the illegal actions of the Trump administration can be stopped. Bennet has served Colorado well. He can do even more to serve the people of Colorado and protect our democracy and environment by completing his current term in the Senate.
Vote for Phil Weiser for Governor; keep Bennet in the Senate.
Colin Laird
Carbondale Trustee
RE: zoning laws
Pat Hunter being a liberal lad and me a MAGA mensch, I almost never agree with anything he says. However, his June 18 Sun letter about zoning is spot on.
Our constant obsession with developing every possible piece of open space is detrimental to our quality of life. It’s not just Hwy. 82 or water availability, it’s too many people. We don’t need more people or businesses in our finite little valleys.
Pat’s right, all these dirt developer dirtbags care about is profit. If we want to preserve our small town auras, we need to change our zoning laws or change the officials that are allowing our paradise to be paved over for another “affordable” future ticket tacky tenement.
As for the global warming part of his letter, he’s full of bologna.
Bruno Kirchenwitz
Rifle
Contribute, GarCo!
The residents at Cavern Springs Mobile Home Park are competing with a group of outside investors from Texas, attempting to purchase the land on which their homes sit. The price is $23 million and the residents need to raise almost half that amount as a down payment. Recognizing that their workforce lives there, Pitkin County, Snowmass Village and Aspen contributed $4.5 million collectively to kickstart the effort. Glenwood Springs and Carbondale don’t have that kind of money but nonetheless, they came up with $1 million between them.
And then there’s Garfield County. The commissioners, sitting on over $115 million in reserves, cited budget constraints and refused to even agenda the request. When the BOCC adopted their 2026 budget (November 2025) commissioner Samson said, “We are able to draw down $10.5 million out of those reserves to cover what we need to do, and we still have $115 million in reserves to help us. We’re in good shape.”
Apparently, the commissioners don’t think keeping rich Texans from uprooting our local population is something we “need to do.” What do you think? What do you need to do on the first Tuesday in November?
Ron Kokish
TRUU Social Justice Committee
Vote for sheriff
Our next Garfield County Sheriff will be decided by Republican, unaffiliated and yet-to-be registered voters. With no Democratic challengers, the winner of the Republican primary between Dan Loya and Brent Baker WILL be our sheriff for the next four years.
A very important cautionary note for unaffiliated voters is that you will receive two ballots, one for Democratic candidates and another for Republican ones. You can and must vote one OR the other. If both are returned neither will count and your choices of all your best persons to represent you will be invalidated and not counted. For some unaffiliated voters, choosing which ballot to choose may be difficult. Choosing the “R” one will select our sheriff, while selecting the “D” one has important up-ballot candidates to choose from who will move onto the general election.
An encouraging note for those unregistered is to register. Your vote can make the difference in our county, which is closely divided almost by thirds between registered Democrats, Republican and unaffiliated.
Resources to compare candidates and help inform your decision include Baker’s website: baker4sheriff.com and Loya’s website: danloya4sheriff.com
Here is an interview of Loya translated from Spanish to English: youtube.com/watch?v=5F6YHr0Ihko and a 90 minute archived Colorado River Valley Chamber forum to view: tinyurl.com/54y83tpx
Your vote matters, always and especially now.
Greg Jeung
Glenwood Springs
People, wolves, livestock
Thanks for reporting on the tragedy of the wolves and the people involved/impacted by them. No one wins, and I have no answers. It feels as though the people who wrote the original bill to reintroduce wolves missed one thing. People, wolves, and livestock don’t do well together. Does anyone have a solution?
Kathy Hegberg
Basalt
Highway 82 squeeze
Our valley is at a breaking point, and it is time we face the truth about our future. For years, Garfield, Eagle and Pitkin counties have approved development projects in isolation, ignoring the catastrophic cumulative impact on Highway 82 and I-70. We are attempting to cram ten pounds of potatoes into a five-pound bag, and the result is gridlock that degrades our quality of life and, more importantly, threatens our safety.
Our infrastructure is failing. Yet, development continues, and regional coordination is ineffective or nonexistent. This is not merely an inconvenience for commuters; it is a profound public safety crisis.
Consider the reality of an emergency. The recent brush fire in South Canyon was a stark warning. If a relatively small event caused chaos on our roadways, what happens in a major wildfire? When our highways are already paralyzed by daily congestion, emergency services cannot maneuver, and residents are trapped. We are effectively gambling with human lives for the sake of unchecked growth.
I do not want to find myself, like the people in the Pacific Palisades fire, sitting in dead stopped traffic, running for my life out of my car to try to flee a fire. And that’s the direction I fear we’re headed.
It is time for the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) and local leaders to stop viewing development through the lens of individual permits and county lines. We need an honest, region-wide assessment of our safe carrying capacity from both CDOT (daily traffic) and fire evacuation (emergency) perspectives. We need leadership that prioritizes public safety over developer pressure.
We must demand a pause. We need to stop the silos, look at the aggregate reality of our growth, and hold our officials accountable for the infrastructure we actually have — not that which we wish we had. We moved here for the character of this valley, not to live in an endless, unsafe traffic jam. If we do not act now, we are failing the current residents of this region.
Susan Sullivan
Carbondale