Glenwood Springs – Gov. Bill Ritter hopscotched across the state Tuesday to sign a slate of bills aimed at interests west of the Continental Divide centered on environmental stewardship.
Standing near Frisco, in front of a stack of downed pine trees killed by bark beetles, Ritter enacted a grant program to help property owners deal with the fast-spreading rash of dying forests in the mountains.
“You see what a terrible epidemic it is and how important it is to take it on in any way we can,” Ritter said as he signed HB 1130 before cheering locals.
The measure, by freshman Rep. Dan Gibbs, D-Silverthorne, and Senate President Joan Fitz-Gerald, D-Jefferson County, delegates the Department of Local Affairs to divide $1 million in seed money among pilot projects aimed at removing the blight and reducing wildfire hazards.
In Glenwood Springs just after noon, the governor signed HB 1252, requiring oil and gas companies to use best practices – including underground directional drilling – to minimize the impact on the landscape.
Introduced by Rep. Ellen Roberts, R-Durango, the measure is aimed at protecting landowners who don’t own rights to gas and oil beneath their property.
“This is not about stopping oil and gas development, because it’s important to our economy,” she said, accompanied by co-sponsor Sen. Jim Isgar, D-Hesperus. “These are our neighbors and friends, and we don’t want to hurt them. But we also have farmers and ranchers who need to be protected.”
And in Grand Junction, Ritter signed a measure that reorganizes the state Oil and Gas Commission, expanding the panel from seven members to nine and reducing the number of industry representatives to change the focus toward public health, environment and wildlife concerns.
Ritter, often viewed on the Western Slope as a city-slicker governor, said the measures he signed reflect the sentiments of the entire state.
He also signed a tougher tire-chain law that increases penalties on truckers who ignore the winter-driving requirement and creates 12 new chain-up areas along Interstate 70, and a bill that creates a $7 million clean-energy fund to finance renewable-energy projects.
Ritter, who signed 12 bills Tuesday, noted he has about 120 bills awaiting his consideration by the end of the week.
“At the end of my talking points,” he joked, “it says: ‘Sit, sign and skedaddle.”‘
