Environment

Editor's Note: The Hewlett Fire was reported on Monday 05/14/12 on the Canyon Lakes Ranger District of the Roosevelt National Forest. The updates collected here are from Monday (05/14) and a few from Tuesday (5/15). You can find our updates on the fire from 5/15 and 5/16 archived in this post.

Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park is now open for the summer season. This isn’t the only mountain roadway opening almost two weeks ahead of schedule.

The Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission has approved big game hunting license numbers for the upcoming fall hunting seasons.

The oil drilling boom along Colorado’s Front Range is generating a lot of tax revenue for cash-strapped governments. But it’s also putting a strain on state regulators whose job it is to make sure all the drilling and well sites aren’t polluting.

There are now more than 47,000 active oil and gas wells in Colorado, but the state employs just seventeen inspectors to keep tabs on them. One solution being floated is to allow local governments to hire their own inspectors to ease some of the workload. But it’s getting mixed reviews across the state.