Tidbits & Facts About Colorado 

SOME FACTS ABOUT COLORADO 

State, County and City Ordinances 

Sightseeing and Recreation 

Wildfire Prevention Starts with You
by Sheriff Ted Mink

Wildfires don't have an off-season. In January 2009, a Boulder County fire burned nearly five square miles and came perilously close to a suburban neighborhood. The truth is, wildfires can happen anytime in Colorado, and their impact can be widespread and devastating.

Jefferson County is highly susceptible to wildfire. Most of Jefferson County's terrain is forest, or is peppered with flammable plants and grasses. Residents in the foothills are at the greatest risk, but many suburban homes are also susceptible to wildfire.  

PROTECT YOUR HOME...
Protecting your home from wildfire is your responsibility. Wildfires can be fast and furious; you should not assume that firefighters will be able to save your home. Experts recommend modifying the area around your home to slow the rate and intensity of an advancing fire. Doing so also protects the forest in case of a structure fire. When wildfire strikes, a structure's roof is its greatest weakness. Using class A roofing materials, such as asphalt shingles, slate, clay tile, or metal will reduce the chance of the roof igniting. Prune all trees so the lowest limbs are six to 10 feet from the ground. Remove dead or overhanging branches.
Within five feet of the home, use non-flammable landscaping materials, such as rock, pavers, annuals, and high-moisture-content perennials.
Remove leaves and pine needles from gutters and around your home and attachments, such as decks and fences. 

OTHER SUGGESTIONS...
Never place fireplace embers near your house or on your deck. Dispose of ashes in a metal container that can be tightly closed, douse with water, place the closed container outside your home away from combustible materials and leave in the container for several days before disposing of them. Be cautious while using power tools outside as some chainsaws and other tools can spark and catch the ground on fire. There are no guarantees that a home will be fireproof. But if you take action to be "firewise," you can greatly increase the chances that your home will withstand a wildfire. For more on wildfire preparedness, visit the Colorado State Forest Service Website and take a look at additional publications

Anytime is a good time to consider wildfire prevention and preparedness, but with summer just around the corner, we urge you to address these issues now.

Recreating Jeffco has vast forests relatively close to a major city, making it popular for outdoor recreation. Human use of wildlands always brings the risk of human-caused wildfires. Help prevent these fires by following these guidelines.  

Build campfires away from overhanging branches, steep slopes, rotten stumps, logs, dry grass and leaves. Build the campfire in an enclosed fire ring or pit. Use an existing fire ring if possible. Keep the campfire small. A good bed of coals or a small fire surrounded by rocks gives plenty of heat. Have a 10-foot clearance around and above the campfire. Have a bucket of water and a shovel nearby. Never leave a campfire unattended. Even a small breeze could quickly cause the fire to spread. Forgo a fire if it is windy. Before leaving camp, thoroughly douse the fire with water, scatter or bury the cold ashes, and cover the fire pit with soil. Campfires may be banned if wildfire danger is high. Watch for signs and obey them. 

Although campfires offer warmth and cheer, they can also destroy organic matter in the topsoil and their ash may inhibit plant growth. Lightweight gas stoves are more efficient and faster for cooking than fires, and they leave minimal impact. More information on low-impact fires is available on the Leave No Trace Web site.

Smoking: When smoking outdoors, grind out your cigarette, cigar, or pipe tobacco in the dirt; then dispose of it properly. Never toss a cigarette butt out the window of your car.

Fire restrictions and fire bans: The sheriff has the authority to enact a fire ban or fire restrictions for the county. Fire restrictions and bans are set based on a scientific approach that considers weather conditions, fuel* conditions, human activity levels, and the availability of firefighting people and resources. Restrictions cannot be enacted based on public opinion. Each year we find many people on both sides of the fence regarding fire restrictions. The decision is made with the best interests of the community in mind.

Check our Web site, www.jeffcosheriff.com, throughout the summer for notifications regarding fire bans or restrictions. 

GARDENING AT ALTITUDE TIPS:
Check out the following links for some helpful hints about gardeneing at altitude...
PLANTS:
CO State University
Denver Botanic Gardens
Denver Water Dept. 

GARDEN CLUBS:
Evergreen Garden Club
Conifer Newcomers and Neighbors 

WEEDS:
Colorado Weed Management Association
Community Weed Awareness Campaign 

GARDENS:
Denver Botanic Gardens 

WILDLIFE:
CSU Jefferson County Extension
Deer and Elk
Voles and Gophers 

WATER:
CO Division of Water Resources
Harvesting Rainwater Info.
Front Range Sustainable Landscaping Coalition 

SENATE BILL - SB80 - Exempt Cisterns Passed:
SB80 permits the use of cisterns to collect precipitation from up to 3,000 sq. ft. of rooftop. The bill restricts the use of collected water to fire protection, livestock watering, household use, or irrigation of up to one acre of lawns or gardens.
Colorado Fun Fact! 

Denver's brainy populace places the city in the ranks among the smartest in the country. With nearly 40 percent of the 25 and over population achieving at least a bachelors degree, Denver is the 15th most educated city in the United States according to the United States Census Bureau.  

COLORADO EDUCATION SYSTEM: 

Education is a critical factor in the quality of life of a given area. There are over 30 major colleges and universities in Colorado. The state has always had a highly-educated population. In fact, over 30% of adults over the age of 25 in Colorado have college degrees.
The University of Colorado in Boulder is the thirs largest employer in Colorado, second only to various state and federal governemt agencies. Slightly over 1% of the jobs in Colorado are with the university, which employs nearly 24,000 people.
This emphasis on the importance of education has had many posiitive effects on life in Colorado. For one thing, there is a strong commitment to public schools, which helps enhance the quality of life for communities all over the state.
Buting a house in Colorado is an excellent choice at this period of time, and Machielle Marks can help you find the ideal Colorado home for sale. 

INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT COLORADO:  

Highest Climb. The highest vertical climb is not on a mountain but up the north side of the Black Canyon . Rising 1,700 feet, this sheer rock
face is even higher than the famous Diamond on Longs Peak and was not conquered until 1969. 

Deepest Snow. In 1899 Crested Butte recorded 254 inches of snow near the top of Kebler Pass. That year, snow buried a train near Leadville and left only stove pipes showing above cabins at many mountain towns. Usually, Wolf Creek Pass near Pagosa Springs gets the most snow in Colorado. 

Oldest Hotel. The Peck House in the little town of Empire , near Berthoud Pass , is Colorado 's oldest hotel. It was built in 1859 by James Peck. Early guests included President Ulysses S. Grant and other famous people. 

Highest Town. Leadville is the highest (10,200 feet) incorporated town in Colorado and the entire U.S. It has also had the highest rate of
premature babies in the U.S. Researchers concluded that the altitude causes smaller babies. 

Largest Nuggets. The biggest gold nugget in Colorado weighed 135 ounces and was found near Breckenridge in 1887 by miner Tom Broves. The
biggest silver nugget weighed 1,840 pounds and was found at an Aspen mine in 1894. 

Largest Elk Antlers. Measuring 52 inches at the widest point, the antlers of an elk: killed in 1899 near Crested Butte are still on display at that town's visitor center. In 1961, Boone and Crockett researchers declared it to be the largest elk: rack in history. 

Toughest Climate. No crops are grown around the town of Silverton, north of Durango . At 9,318 feet elevation, Silverton's growing season
between frosts is only two weeks. San Juan County here is reportedly the only county in the U.S. without a single acre of agricultural land. 

Worst Drought. About every 40 years, Colorado experiences a drought, according to tree-ring researchers. The worst was in the 1200s. It
lasted 25 years and may have driven the Indians from Mesa Verde. During the Dust Bowl on the eastern plains, one cloud of dust on April 4,
1935, gathered itself to 1,000 feet high and 200 miles wide. It traveled at 60 miles an hour, suffocated hundreds of animals and damaged many people's health. 

Driest Town. Delta, south of Grand Junction, gets less rain per year than Tucson, Arizona. 

Musical Dunes. Winds blowing around the Great Sand Dunes near Alamosa create sounds resembling music. That's how Music Pass above the dunes
got its name. 

Women's Rights. Colorado was the second state in the U.S. to give women the right to vote. Wyoming was the first. You would think the eastern
states would have been more progressive, but it took the frontier adventure to make men realize how strong and intelligent women were. 

YOU KNOW YOU'RE FROM COLORADO IF...
1. You'll eat ice cream in the winter
2. When the weather report says it's going to be 65 degrees you shave your legs and wear a skirt.
3. It snows 5 inches and you don't expect school to be cancelled.
4. You'll wear flip-flops every day of the year, regardless of temperature.
5. You have no accent at all but can hear other people's. And then you make fun of them.
6. "Humid" is over 25%.
7. Your sense of direction is: toward the mountains and away from the mountains.
8. You say "the interstate" and everyone knows which one.
9. You think that May is a ttotally normal month for a blizzard.
10. You buy your flowers to set out on Mothers Day, but try to hold off planting them until just before Fathers Day.
11. You grew up planning your Halloween costumes around your coat.
12. You know what the Continental Divide is.
13. You don't think Coors beer is that big a deal.
14. You went to Casa Bonita as a kid and as an adult.
15. You've gone off-roading in a vehichle that was never intended for such activities.
16. You always know the elevation of where you are.
17. You wake up to a beautiful, 80 degree day and wonder if it's going to snow tomorrow.
18. Everybody wears jeans to church.
19. You actually know that South Park is a real place, not just a TV show.
20. You know what a "trust fund hippie" is and you know its natural habitat is Boulder.
21. You know you're talking to a Coloradoan when they refer to it as Elitches, not Six Flags.
22. A bear on your front porch doesn't bother you.
23. Your two favorite teams are the Broncos and whoever is beating the crap out of the Raiders.
24. When people out east tell you they have mountains in their state too you just laugh.
25. You go anywhere else on the planet and the air feels "sticky" and you notice the sky is no longer blue.