DENVER—Colorado wildlife officials are struggling to make new pickup trucks powered by compressed natural gas work in the backcountry.
Officials cite a lack of refueling stations and problems hauling big loads during recent tests.
According to the Denver Post ( ), the agency is trying to comply with a pledge by Gov. John Hickenlooper to add more natural gas-powered vehicles to the state fleet.
The wildlife agency plans to add at least 30 F-250 pickups that run on both natural gas and gasoline for use by wildlife officers in their fleet.
Colorado wildlife officials said they are determined to make the trucks powered by compressed natural gas work, despite operational and logistical hurdles.
“I realize we are now putting some pieces together, so there is going to be some trial and error,” Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission chairman John Singletary said.
“I’m sure there was a quandary when people were first confronted by the Model-T Ford. It might be a little uncomfortable for a while. But we are committed to making this work.”
Some officials in the agency praise the deployment, saying natural gas is a relatively cheap and safe fuel that leaves a tinier carbon footprint than gasoline. But they also concede the flex-fuel vehicles are pricier than gas-only trucks, by almost $8,000, and natural gas filling stations are scarce in the backcountry.
Colorado has 16 compressed natural gas fueling stations, but only two are outside the Front Range, located in Rifle and Grand Junction. Colorado Parks and Wildlife officers oversee 42 state parks and more than 300 state wildlife areas, as well as manage wildlife statewide.
In one recent test, Colorado’s Office of Information Technology used a CNG-fueled vehicle to haul a Sno-Cat and trailer to the 11,000-foot summit of Berthoud Pass. The vehicle pulled all 10,000 pounds adequately, but there was a 15- to 20-percent loss of power, said Sabrina D’Agosta, director of policy and communications for the state’s department of personnel and administration, which manages the fleet.
The vehicles will probably be given to wildlife officers who work closest to fueling stations, officials said.
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Information from: The Denver Post,
