Club 20 was founded in 1953 to enable Western Slope cities, counties and businesses to speak with one voice to the state legislature in Denver.

Today, the venerable 62-year-old lobbying organization is being led by one of its youngest executive directors, a former aide to U.S. Rep. Scott Tipton, R-CD 3, named Christian Reece.

Reece grew up in an Air Force family, traveling and relocating frequently, until her father retired and moved his family to Rifle, where she went to high school. She attended Mesa State College (now Colorado Mesa University) and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Biology and a minor in Chemistry, planning to enter medical school.

“When I chose not to go to medical school, I worked for a year for a security agency,” Reece explained.

That was followed by four years in fundraising with Habitat for Humanity, then a couple of years of assisting Congressman Tipton. She was appointed executive director of Club 20 on February 9.

“I worked with Club 20 a lot in Tipton’s office,” she said, making her very familiar with issues of importance to the Western Slope.

Her duties as executive director are varied and somewhat intangible.

“It’s public relations, lobbying, bill monitoring,” Reece stated. “It’s making sure our membership is being heard.”

Club 20 (despite the name, 22 counties are actually represented) has 10 policy committees concerned with Western Slope issues such as public lands management, oil and gas development, coal mining, forestry, water availability, severance taxes, agricultural tourism, and the pressing need for high-speed broadband service.

“It’s 2015,” she remarked. “It’s crazy that we don’t have broadband in western Colorado.”

Club 20 and Region 10 are working with Delta-Montrose Electric Association and other Western Slope owners of fiber-optic networks to investigate ways to piggyback broadband service to schools, government offices, businesses and homes.

Club 20’s board of directors and policy committees all meet twice a year to discuss policy resolutions that will guide Club 20’s unified voice in addressing the state legislature. The spring meeting of the Club 20 board will be March 27-28 at Colorado Mesa University, where topics such as the Endangered Species Act listing of the Gunnison sage grouse and labeling of genetically modified foods will be discussed. Colorado State University professor of agriculture Dr. Todd Gaines will speak about GMO’s and John Swartout, a Republican selected by the Hickenlooper administration to compile information about the sage grouse, will address that topic at the spring meeting; Congressman Tipton has been invited but has not yet confirmed that he will attend.

“We discuss what are current issues or issues that we anticipate happening,” Reece said. “I use those resolutions to represent Club 20. Those are hugely important in giving me my direction.”

The Western Slope’s hoped-for economic recovery is lagging far behind the Front Range.

“They’re all in crisis. Each county has a different one,” Reece said while sipping coffee in a Delta coffee shop.

“Delta County is getting one hit after another,” she noted. Delta County’s economy has been plagued by coalmine layoffs, the loss of an egg-producing chicken ranch, planned oil and gas wells that have been sued out of existence, and a declining population. Energy workers are leaving for greener pastures in states like North Dakota.

The Western Slope is composed of approximately 70 percent public lands, and there is a growing movement that demands the federal government divest itself of Colorado’s public lands and allow the state to manage them.

Club 20 is encouraging the state legislature to hold hearings on the proposed public lands transfer.

“It seems there is a movement, if nothing else, to get the attention of our public lands management agencies, that they’ll see these are important issues,” Reece said. “Utah’s doing a study” after its legislature passed a resolution encouraging the federal government to divest itself of that state’s public lands. Club 20 is advocating a similar study to determine the costs associated with state management of public lands.

“What we have to do to offset the cost of managing those lands,” she said, would probably require 10 to 20 percent more oil and gas drilling.

There is a common saying on the Western Slope: “Whiskey is for drinking, water is for fighting.”

“Water scares me to death,” Reece said. “Western Colorado’s future, when it comes to water, is one we need to pay close attention to.”

More dams are needed for water storage because trans-mountain water diversions to the Front Range are depleting the western Colorado water supply.

“If we don’t keep it here, it just goes down the stream to the Gulf of Mexico,” Reece added.

Renewable energy mandates passed by the state legislature over Club 20’s objections are increasing energy costs on the Western Slope during a time when oil and gas prices are dropping.

Keeping energy affordable is “hugely important,” she said.

The most controversial agricultural issue discussed by Club 20 is marijuana.

“Club 20 has discussed it at length, but we have no position,” Reece said.

Club 20 was organized in 1953 to demand that the state legislature finance road paving in western Colorado. At that time, only 10 percent of the roads had been paved.

“The broadband issue of 1953 was transportation,” Reece said. “That worked pretty well. The consensus was that we should keep this going.”

Club 20’s organizational chart consists of four executives who are paid staff, a 16-person executive committee, a 40-person board of directors composed of designees from each county and at-large representatives, as well as the 10 policy committees.

“We are always looking for new members,” she said. “We accept anybody who wants to be a member,” (including cities, counties, non-profit organizations, and large and small businesses.) “With that strong and diverse membership base we can come together and find out what’s in the best interests of western Colorado.”

During election years, Club 20 hosts debates for virtually every open elected office on the Western Slope.

“Club 20 has become a very powerful voice that people respect,” Reece concluded.