HMC's Colorado Smart Growth Scorecard is included in the EPA Smart Growth Office's Resource Guide on scorecards.

EPA Smart Growth put the guide together to share information on the range of scorecards available in the U.S. and organizes them into useful categories such as 'Municipal Level Scorecards', 'Project Specific Scorecards,' and 'Component Scorecards. The categories will help communities determine which scorecard best fits their needs.

Glenwood Springs' economy has continued its strong growth since the opening of Glenwood Meadows commercial center last fall.

The city's sales tax revenues are up 38.6 percent in February over the same month a year ago. Removing a quarter-cent sales tax increase approved by voters last fall from the equation, the increase is still 29.2 percent. Read the full article in the Post Independent

Meanwhile, the City of Rifle is also enjoying an increase in revenues in 2005. The general fund revenues from 2005 were 114 percent over projections for the year and sales and use tax revenues at 127 percent over original projections.

The oil and gas industry contributed to an increase in both car sales and parts, which is up 198 percent since it now includes vendors servicing oil and gas drilling equipment. Motel occupancy, which is also tied to gas industry impacts, was up 45 percent in January. Read the full article in the Citizen Telegram

The Roaring Fork School District board selected current Assistant Superintendent Judy Haptonstall to replace retiring Superintendent Fred Wall. She will start her new job July 1.

Haptonstall said she will be making phone calls to meet with people in the community about the direction the district should go in the coming years.

The school district will soon advertise for assistant superintendent and try to have it filled as soon as possible. Congratulations to Judy!

The large oil and gas company could have potentially faced millions of dollars in fines in accordance with the city’s code which calls for a $1,000 per well per day fine.

EnCana has filed the permit application and has posted a $250,000 bond for reclamation. Officials have also assured the city that there is a steady contact person for them to work with and all permitting regulations would be followed in the future.

In March, the Colorado Wildlife Commission declared the 13-mile stretch of the Fork between Basalt and Carbondale as "gold medal" water - the designation it gives to the state's top fisheries.

The Roaring Fork from Carbondale to its confluence with the Colorado River already held the designation, as did the Fryingpan River from Ruedi Reservoir to its confluence with the Fork in Basalt. Recognition of the middle section creates a 42-mile stretch of gold medal water.

"Now what we have is the longest continuous section of gold medal water in the state," said Division of Wildlife spokesman Randy Hampton.Currently, less than 200 miles of Colorado's more than 9,000 miles of trout streams hold the designation, according to the DOW.

Key to recommendations to funding the county's new 20-year road improvement plan is imposing impact fees both on new housing developments and industrial activity.

Fees charged for typical single-family homes in nearby areas include $1,500 per home in Mesa County, $1,600 in Eagle County, and $3,500 in Pitkin County. LSC suggested impact fees for single-family homes would range from $1,200 to $2,640, depending on where they are located. Fees for industrial activity have not yet been established. However, the commissioners spoke of a $1,500 fee for each well drilled in the county.

Who pays for the impacts of new development and the standards to which county roads should be maintained (urban versus rural) are crucial questions commissioners couldn't resolve at this time, but they did direct staff to work on specific impact fee language for a discussion on the issue later this spring.

The estimated the cost of improvements in the proposed plan could go as high as $88 million over a 20-year period.

The preliminary transportation plan is available on LSC's website.

The Town of Carbondale is moving ahead to secure a Recreational In-Channel Diversion (RICD) on the Roaring Fork River for its proposed Gateway River Park (GRP) - hopefully before restrictive legislation makes its way through the state legislature. The law will not be retroactive, so if Carbondale gets it’s application in before the bill passes, the water right will be more valuable to the town.

The town authorized almost $40,000 for the first phase of the RICD application last week citing the GRP as a high priority for the town. It will likely cost at least another $40,000 to finish the work for the RICD.

Some provisions in Senate Bill (SB) 37, sponsored by Sen. Jim Isgar (D-Hesperus), and Rep. Kathleen Curry (D-Gunnison), would limit the power of a RICD. The bill was being debated and recently passed through the House Agricultural and Natural Resources Committee.

RICDs, have been contentious since cities like Fort Collins and Golden applied for them in the 1990’s claiming that keeping an allocated amount of water in a stream is a so-called “beneficial use.” As cities begin to see the economic benefits of an investment in a whitewater park, it is natural to want to protect that asset by securing water rights.

But water rights don’t come easy and most communities have been through long and costly legal battles to obtain the rights.

Senate Bill 37 will not make it any harder to obtain a RICD, but it would limit the scope of the right, relegating it to a second class water right, according to opponents.

To learn more about RICDs visit Colorado Water Conservation Board or The Colorado Environmental Coalition

Pitkin County Commissioners moved closer to final adoption of a new land-use code though additional revisions will delay it until commissioners vote a third time.

The new regulations will not take effect until more of the code is published and commissioners pass the entire code, which would likely be in May.

During the last few days dozens of building permits and land-use applications have flooded the county before the new, more restrictive code, was expected to take effect - more are likely on the way.

Some of the changes adopted by the Commissioners included increased setbacks for streams, wetlands and riparian areas. One of the more contentious changes regarded the proposed expansion of Rocky Mountain Institute, though there are a few other organizations to which the law would apply.

On first reading, the county decided to cap expansions of institutions in rural areas at 20 percent of their current size. But the proposed wording stated the 20 percent applied to the aggregate of all parcels an institution owns. The confusion led commissioners to directed staff to go back to the drawing board.

The county also spent some time closing a loophole in the code that allowed lower taxes for people with agricultural land. Commissioners didn't question legitimate agricultural uses, but people pretending to farm for the lower tax rate.

The revisions to the Pitkin County Land Use code are available on the county website.

TIME Magazine made the reality of global warming the cover story of their April 3rd issue.

The Aspen Skiing Company and Environmental Foundation Director Auden Schendler received kudos for their efforts in the "Climate Crusaders" section.

The whole Roaring Fork Valley probably deserved some ink given the work of the Community Office for Resource Efficiency, Solar Energy International, Rocky Mountain Institute, Rising Sun , Aspen Global Change Institute, as well as all the local governments in the region that have purchased wind power. Add Pitkin County's Renewable Energy Impact Program, Aspen's Canary Initiative and Carbondale's Green Rec Center and TIME probably could put the whole valley on a future cover.

With the end of the ski season the mass exodus of workers begins. Pitkin County's workforce drops by roughly 5,000 during mud season (April and May) from roughly 18,000 to 13,000. The number of jobs rebounds slightly to 16,000 during the summer months of June, July, and August.

In the second of a speaker series, the Roaring Fork Conservancy will host State Representative Kathleen Curry on Saturday, April 22nd at 5:30 pm in Paepcke Auditorium, Aspen.

Representative Curry will speak about recent and future Colorado water legislation and how citizens can get involved in making important water decisions. This event is part of a valley-wide Earth Day celebration.

The event is free and open to the public. For more information call the Roaring Fork Conservancy at 970.927.1290.

The Sopris Foundation hosts a forum for elected officials, entrepreneurs, ranchers and farmers, planners, concerned citizens, members of the philanthropic community to learn best practices applicable to mid-sized communities of the Intermountain West.