The annual count by CPW’s Southeast Region team seeks to provide “an accurate assessment of the current herd population and ratio of males to females,” according to a release by CPW. “The data is used to assess trends in the population size, make hunting license recommendations, and determine current herd health.”

The first recorded survey of Bighorn Sheep on Pikes Peak was in 1949 when 205 were counted. Annual counts have been conducted by CPW since 1988. The official count in 2024 was 82.

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Three of the four active fires in western Colorado were sparked last Thursday during a lightning storm. The 2,274-acre Sowbelly fire, which hasn’t grown since Monday, was started by the same storm.

A 40% chance of snow showers and a high of 43 are forecast Saturday before the weather clears in time for Easter.

On their way to a ranger-led Winter Ecology field trip to Rocky Mountain National Park, a group of 17 sixth graders from Boulder’s Shining Mountain Waldorf School delivered hand-made cards of appreciation to park rangers.

The students’ gesture comes on the heels of federal employees across the country, including National Park Service employees, being laid off and having funding cut in an attempt to reduce federal spending, led by the recently formed Department of Government Efficiency.

One card, written by twelve-year-old Annalise Sturgis, read “What you do is really important and I want you to know that we are very grateful for all the effort you put into the work that we need so much.”

After stopping by the Beaver Meadows Visitor Center, delivering the cards and visiting with park staff, the students strapped on snowshoes and embarked on their multi-hour trip where park rangers Belen del Valle Coello and Caden Wilson led them up Bear Lake Trail. Along the way students learned about plants and animal identification, how they survive the high-alpine winter conditions, as well as how to safely navigate and minimize their impact on the landscape.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Denver office said on social media that it was working with the FBI, DEA, Customs and Border Protection, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the U.S. Marshals Service to search for more than 100 members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua in Aurora.

ICE raids hit apartment buildings in Aurora, Denver; feds say they’re targeting Tren de Aragua gang