Author: Liz Forster, The Gazette

Five ranches at the foot of Pueblo County’s highest peak have secured permanent protection from developers hoping to build subdivisions in the rural area. In conjunction with the San Isabel Land Trust, the 500-acre Huckleberry Hills Ranch Inc. finalized a conservation easement for its property below 12,347-foot-tall Greenhorn Mountain. “It was important to families whose…

Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials are confident that Canada lynx in the state will not die out even if the Trump administration removes them from the endangered-species list. The move by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service toward delisting the species follows a report issued in the waning days of the Obama administration expressing confidence…

Colorado U.S. Attorney Bob Troyer painted the first picture of how his office would move forward with marijuana prosecution following Attorney General Jeff Session’s announcement of a reversal in an Obama-era marijuana policy. Colorado has “already been guided by these principles in marijuana prosecutions” and that “consistent with the Attorney General’s latest guidance, continue to take this approach…

The El Paso County Treasurer’s Office has been inundated with an unprecedented amount of residents prepaying their 2017 taxes after Congress adopted the tax overhaul last week. Under the Republican-sponsored tax bill, the cap for itemized state and local tax deductions will be set at $10,000 starting Jan. 1. The limit applies to any combination…

An extra layer of protection was added to one of Colorado’s largest intact cattle ranches and least-known scenic gems last month, highlighting Colorado’s private land conservation. With a $1.9 million grant from Great Outdoors Colorado, another 25,000 acres of JE Canyon Ranch was placed under a conservation easement by The Nature Conservancy and Colorado Cattlemen’s…