Public Comments

Thank you to the commissioners for all of their hard work this year on redistricting. As I reviewed the latest congressional maps, I am happy to see that Denver is basically kept together in one district. I have lived in the Denver metro area for the last few years and think it is important for Denver to be united for it to have the best congressional representation. A big thanks again to the commission!

I am against any redistricting. I live in the tourist zone of Steamboat Springs. My husband and I are ranchers, getting anything agricultural on our ballots is a nightmare now. Changing the districts only makes it more so. Our voices need to be heard and our needs should be considered.

Hello, my name is Brita Horn. A mom, ranchwife, and volunteer fire chief. I have lived in Routt County for over 30 years and have been married to lifelong rancher Gary Horn and raised two daughters. I have also been the Routt County Treasurer and Public Trustee and served on the Routt County Planning Commission as the South Routt Representative. I am speaking for myself as a landowner and registered voter. Last time I looked; the Earth is not flat. Neither is the land depicted in the latest Congressional (Staff #3) map for CD2. It might seem so with the pretty (flat) green shading over the Continental Divide on the website; however, it is not flat ground like our eastern and southern parts of the state. Matter of fact, the nine highest peaks in Colorado are above 14,000 feet. with over 9 million acres of federal lands with aspen, fir and pine forests, are on the Western Slope. Our best practices of managing the high-country forest for all to enjoy have been maintained with terrific partnerships between Western Slope communities and federal agencies for decades. We manage the land for multi-use of livestock grazing, tourism, hunting, recreation, energy and public land education. Also matter of fact, these forests exist west of the continental divide that continues south into New Mexico. The rural Western Slope lifestyle does not and should not cross the divide. Where we live and work is our community of interest and does not represent the urban/suburban communities of Boulder, Clear Creek, Gilpin and Larimer counties. I ask the commission to either chose the preliminary congressional map or the Club 20 map that would keep all CD3 in one district with rural lifestyle being the community of interest. Thank you in advance for your consideration in this important matter, Brita Horn Western Slope landowner

Thank you to the Commission for listening to public comments and putting forth the September 23rd third staff plan map. It is wonderful (and about time) that rural Colorado has a seat at the table. This map delivers that by ensuring two rural districts. Great job!

I support this map I have attached.... the final redistricting map. The people of Colorado have a right to given their State. The entire State, not just Denver area. It's simple. Colorado people need to be heard. There should not be tricks being played in order to skew things to fit one group of people. Please honor the people of Colorado and those who have gone before us fighting for Freedom! Thank you!

I support this map I have attached. The people of Colorado have a right to given their State. The entire State, not just Denver area. It's simple. Colorado people need to be heard. There should not be tricks being played in order to skew things to fit one group of people. Please honor the people of Colorado and those who have gone before us fighting for Freedom! Thank you!

Dear Commission Members, Thank you for your work on this matter. I am writing to Oppose the current state senate map with respect to Montrose County, the current map appears to spilt Montrose city and put part of it in the district to the east which includes Gunnison county, first Montrose should never be spilt, we have common interest in water resources and economic activities. If a spilt should occur then it should be done at Cerro summit, not through the town of Montrose. Second, sitting elected officials should not be displaced by this action, this makes it appear that it is politically biased. Please revise this map and reunite Montrose County. as it should be. Thank you.

Hello, my name is Brita Horn. A mom, ranchwife, and volunteer fire chief. I have lived in Routt County for over 30 years and have been married to lifelong rancher Gary Horn and raised two daughters. I have also been the Routt County Treasurer and Public Trustee and served on the Routt County Planning Commission as the South Routt Representative. I am speaking for myself as a landowner and registered voter. I have seen a quote, loosely attributed to Mark Twain “Whiskey is for drinking and water is for fighting over” as a popular meme. The latest map with CD2 representing both sides of the Continental Divide Mountain (Boulder, Clear Creek, Gilpin, Grand, Jackson, Routt, and Summit. It includes the portion of Eagle County not in Congressional District 3. It includes all of Larimer County except for the cities of Loveland and Wellington, the portion of Windsor in Larimer County, and areas around those cities. It also includes portions of Weld County necessary to keep municipalities whole, including Berthoud, Erie, and Longmont) would also be on both sides of the water use debates. It would be incomprehensible for a Congressperson to represent both the west and east of the divide at the same time. One person cannot serve two masters: east and west watersheds. Currently, it is Western Slopes' duty to sustain the water basins that both are used in Colorado and leave our state. We need one person to continue speak for Western Slope water in WDC. Either choose the preliminary congressional map or the Club 20 map would keep all CD3 in one district with water being the community of interest. Also, my fellow landowners, ranchers, farmers and neighbors request the commission to return to the preliminary congressional map or apply Club 20’s map and keep CD3 and Western Slope whole. thank you very much for your attention to this matter, Brita Horn

Keep Communities whole. Keep Eagle County D3 with the Western Slope. Why does the Commission seem incapable of drawing a map that doesn’t include some part of the I-25 corridor in almost every CD? We do not have anything in common with the I-25 Corridor or Boulder. Colorado is a lot more than the I-25 corridor. This Violates the most fundamental principle of congressional redistricting: that communities of interest have representation in our Congress. Give those areas on the Front Range their Congressional voices, and give a voice to the Western Slope by keeping all of the Western Slope in CD3. The Western Slope’s vital relationship with water alone is enough to designate it as a community of interest bound by the shared responsibility of stewardship. However, the Western Slope also has commonalities regarding how the region uses water. The Western Slope’s agricultural, industrial, and recreation economies rely on well-informed local representatives to protect the community’s water at the state and federal levels. To split the Western Slope in any way would compromise the unity required to properly represent water interests in the region. There is also a clear divide between the Western Slope and front range communities, clearly designating western Colorado as a community with unique federal interests. Though many of our communities do not have the tax base of their front range counterparts, they still must provide the essential services of government: safe roads and bridges, law enforcement, public schools, and critical infrastructure with minimal resources. These challenges are not experienced by front range communities where virtually no federally owned lands exist. While federal lands are preserved for the benefit of all Americans, the day-to-day responsibilities of preservation fall upon those who live closest to those lands. These lands are managed for multiple uses – from livestock grazing to energy extraction to outdoor recreation. Over generations, communities on the Western Slope have worked with federal agencies to develop and demonstrate best practices for multi-use lands for the country and these uses are limited to county border. The Western Slope must be maintained as a result. Colorado has more than 24.4 million acres of forestland and many of these forests include the headwaters of rivers that provide reliable, affordable water supplies which are foundational to the environment, economy, and quality of life in rural Colorado. In fact, rangeland and forest are the predominant land uses in the Colorado Basin (85%), with forested land present throughout many parts of the basin. A substantial portion of the basin is comprised of federally owned land, with livestock, grazing, recreation, and timber harvesting as the predominant uses on those lands. A Colorado Statewide Forest Resource Assessment identified 642 watersheds susceptible to damaging wildfire, and 371 forested watersheds with high to very high risk from post-fire erosion, many of these watersheds, encompassing about 9.4 million acres of spruce-fir, aspen and pine forests that contain critical infrastructure for municipal drinking water supplies., ALL of these forests reside west of the continental divide. The San Luis Valley has unique agriculture interests and should not be divided. This region should be kept whole and united with other communities of interest. All of these above needs are best accomplished through the map released with the preliminary plan in June. I ask the Commission to adopt a map that closely resembles that initial plan. Residents of rural Colorado have unique interests and need representation in Congress whose constituency does not have divided priorities. Our voices deserve to be heard, undiluted by inclusion in a district with suburban and urban residents. Whether agriculture or energy production, public lands, water, natural resources, or cooperative businesses, most of our issues and needs in Congress differ from those of our Front Range urban and suburban friends and fellow Coloradans. We all care about education and transportation, but no rural county has (or will have) light rail, and no urban county will understand the needs of a small ranch operation. We deserve representation in Congress that isn’t forced to choose between our needs and the issues that matter to suburbia. The June preliminarily plan contains the best map for rural America and will ensure that our voice is heard through two distinct rural districts. Furthermore, if Teller, Park, Chaffee and Fremont counties are no longer going to be in the Fifth Congressional District, then then should be in the Third Congressional District with other communities of interest not lumped in with Jefferson County and other suburban counties with which they have nothing in common. Unfortunately, the first Staff Plan map released on September 3rd ignores the needs of rural America by removing rural counties in the current Third Congressional District that include Moffat, Rio Blanco, Routt, Garfield, Jackson and Grand counties and lumping them in with Boulder and Larimer, two counties with which they have little to nothing in common. This drastic departure from the current Congressional Districts is a disservice to both the residents of the Second and Third Congressional Districts. CD3, as drawn in the preliminarily plan released in June, made great improvements that unified communities of interest and shared public policy concerns. Tourism, education, public health, education, transportation, water and other mutual issues of concern for our residents were well represented on that map. I was excited about the possibility of a district that ensured the people of the Third District were well represented and connected. Unfortunately, the first staff plan released September 3rd decimates the rural voice in northwest Colorado and disregards the critical communities of interest that make up the fabric of western Colorado. These recent changes to the map ensure that residents on the other side of the mountains and in Denver who share little in common with us are responsible for making decisions on behalf of rural Coloradans. Whether you are living in Craig, Durango, or Yuma - these changes to the map do not allow our voice to be heard or our interests to be fairly represented. The Rocky Mountains create a natural boundary between the eastern and western parts of the state. The Western Slope has unique infrastructure, outdoor recreation and tourism challenges that unify our counties and communities of interest. Our infrastructure is not mainly centered around growing populations as it is in the front range, but around the mountain passes, rivers, and lands that make up the Western Slope. The heavy snow and other similar weather patterns in the west also connect the similar kinds of needs for roads, which vary from the eastern and front range part of the state. The economy, with regard to tourism and outdoor recreation, of the western slope contains almost all of the ski areas and encompasses what people think of when they think of Colorado: hiking, mountain biking, hunting, camping, fishing, skiing and snowmobiling. It is because of these reasons that I support the preliminary plan for CD-03 released in June. Whether we are speaking regarding shared interests such as our energy grid on the Western Slope, or our values at home, rural Coloradans on the Western Slope cannot be fairly represented without the region being kept intact. Keep the West Slope whole. The preliminarily plan released on June 23rd is the fairest map that is consistent with the Congressional Constitutional language approved by voters. The Rocky Mountains provide the obvious divider between the western slope and front range communities. However, once Colorado’s water basins and federal lands are taken into consideration, the east-west configuration seems to be the only way to accurately represent Colorado’s population across the state. The Western Slope is responsible for the roughly 80% of water that leaves Colorado; this means that those of us who live in the Western Slope are responsible for maintaining the water basins. Water is often a major issue and it is important that we have one Congressman who is able to represent ALL of the water on the Western Slope. Additionally, federal lands comprise more than 55% of the land in western Colorado, which is in stark contrast to the front range. This necessitates the need for a single Congressman , and points to the reality that the daily responsibilities of upkeep for our federal lands are taken on by locals all across the Western Slope; we must be united to tackle these tasks. Please keep the Western Slope intact. As a long-term resident of western Colorado, I always wonder how redistricting will affect our part of the state. The map released with the June 23 preliminarily plan respected our way of life and the geographical areas connected to that. The Western Slope is united in many ways, the large amount of federal lands and tourism being some of the top ways. The front range communities steward different types of lands and engage in different kinds of economic activities than we do on the West Slope, both of which need accurate representation. The preliminary plan serves the West Slope best. I urge the Commission to adopt a map that mirrors than plan. The Western Slope is home to a majority of the state's forests and with the multitude of forest fires in the west slope over the last three decades, it is of utmost importance to keep the western portion of the state together so our representative can most effectively address this issue. Just over 55% of the western land in Colorado is federally-owned, so in order to get the management solutions we need for our forests on a federal level, we must keep the West Slope together. Two rural districts currently make up a large portion of the state, representing various issues, industries and communities that require specific representation. The eastern plains and San Luis Valley are the home to many people that work in agriculture. We need to make sure the agriculture industry maintains a strong voice for these communities of interest at the federal level. Meanwhile, the Western slope is home to significant energy, tourism and public land communities. Ensuring two rural districts that include all communities of interest, as drawn in the map for the June preliminarily plan, will ensure Colorado’s urban and rural communities are best served by all of our Representatives. The ski industry is one of the driving forces for tourism in Colorado and unites the western part of our state, as almost all ski resorts are west of the Continental Divide. It makes the most sense to keep all ski areas together in one district. Additionally, the mountainous area in the West that allows for such great skiing also creates unique challenges for infrastructure. While the front range can align infrastructure changes with growing populations, we in the West have to consider geography and weather in addition to population density. Keeping the Western Slope whole will put a Congressman in the best position to improve our infrastructure and best serve our ski communities. Colorado generates over 95-million-acre feet of water annually, and about 10-million-acre feet leave the state through its borders. Of the 10-million-acre feet that leave Colorado, 81%, or 8.1-million-acre feet, exit through the Western Slope. This means that the Western Slope is responsible for stewarding a large portion of Colorado’s water, which will be made far more difficult if the Western Slope is split up. Communities like Moffat, Rio Blanco and Garfield will be ignored by their Representative and not receive the attention they deserve, particularly when it comes to water, if they are lumped into the Second Congressional District and removed from the Third. Please keep the Western Slope whole so our water-related issues can best be addressed in Congress.

I live in Wellington Colorado which from my personal observations leans heavily Republican. I don’t understand carving it out of District 2 and adding it to District 4 (which already leans Republican). As it stands presently Wellington adds a bit of a conservative slant to district 2 but moving it to district 4 will just add more conservatives to a district that already votes mostly Republican.