Author: Rachel Gabel
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When a species is managed atop a pedestal, it isn’t management — it’s emotion | Rachel Gabel
With petitions being tossed around like glitter at prom, it’s time for reasonable voters to sharpen their pencils and speak up. The first, of course, is in response to the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission’s blatant disregard for their director, legal counsel, stakeholder, and staff and their direction to initiate rulemaking on a petition related…
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Recognizing the value of generational work | Rachel Gabel
The Lesser Prairie Chicken habitat in southeastern Colorado is a swath of prairie that begins in Cheyenne and far-southeastern Lincoln counties and moves south and east into Kiowa, Prowers and Baca counties. This is cattle country where the short grass is nutrient dense, and a little bit of rain makes the prairie explode. A little…
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Green energy shouldn’t come at expense of Colorado farmers, ranchers feeding us | Rachel Gabel
In 2023, the Department of Energy released the National Interest Electric Transmission Corridors (NIETC) study identifying areas they speculate would experience transmission capacity constraints of congestion. The map identified more than 2 million acres or 24% of the state of New Mexico and a corridor area in southeastern Colorado ranging from five to 15-miles wide…
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Those who cannot live without wild things | Rachel Gabel
Aldo Leopold wrote in his Sand County Almanac, “There are some who can live without wild things and some who cannot.” The collection of essays first published in 1949 was accepted by a publishing house after a steady stream of rejections. His work long outlived him as Leopold died of a heart attack while fighting…
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Stealing voters’ expectation of expert wildlife management | Rachel Gabel
Sen. Byron Pelton is my senator and a vote for him (or theoretically any other elected official) is a vote of confidence that he will represent his stakeholders. It is expected that he will vote for what his stakeholders want, based on what he knows to be true and what is communicated to him by those he is elected…
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Someone’s lying in latest activist embarrassment for Polis’ CPW Commission | Rachel Gabel
Either Samantha Miller is lying, or Gov. Jared Polis is. If Miller is lying, she is so secure in the red carpet rolled out for animal activists by this administration she is willing to put words in the governor’s mouth. If Polis is lying, the deck is stacked against his own agencies and their expertise…
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Poison, poultry and prostitution — the Colorado legislature marches on | Rachel Gabel
Many weeks my search history is odd but the past two weeks might worry our county sheriff if he didn’t know me as well as he does. This week has been the week of poison, poultry and prostitution. Not to be confused, of course, by brodifacoum, beavers and butorphanol. In other words, the Colorado legislature…
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Colorado farmers fight fires one day, stand in line for ashes the next | Rachel Gabel
Fires on the plains are not the roaring, mosaic burns in the mountains that leap across canyons and leave the skeletons of trees behind as monuments of destruction. In this country, the first gust of wind hits like a left hook and gets the attention of everyone. The weatherman smiles and talks about precipitation chances…
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Rat’s nest of a bill prioritizes rodents over people | Rachel Gabel
Democrat Sens. Lisa Cutter and Cathy Kipp, and Rep. Elizabeth Velasco have introduced a rat’s nest of a bill in SB26-062 Rodenticide Use Restrictions. The three mouseketeers are seeking to prohibit a person from selling, distributing, applying, or using certain types of rodenticide and rodent glue traps in the state except as authorized for restricted…
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How to handle the national cattle herd at its lowest level in 75 years? | Rachel Gabel
This time of year, the salebarns are full of bidders, buyers and cream pie connoisseurs. The adrenaline and anxiety in the building and around the ring is as thick as the gravy served in the café. In the back of the barn, the crews are bringing loads of cattle, many of which are 600-ish to…