Stories in this list received the most page views on SummitDaily.com from June 8 – June 14. 

1. ‘Please help us:’ Ranchers, elected officials urge Colorado Parks and Wildlife to remove Copper Creek Pack of wolves from wild 

Western Slope ranchers and elected officials urged Colorado Parks and Wildlife and its commission on Thursday to take more aggressive action in mitigating the impacts of the Copper Creek wolf pack on local livestock operations. 

The Copper Creek pack was recently tied to four livestock attacks in eight days at ranches in Piktin County, leading Parks and Wildlife to kill one of the pack’s male yearlings. The attacks took place at McCabe Ranch at Old Snowmass, Crystal River Ranch and Lost Marbles Ranch.

“The one thing you guys can do for us is we need to remove this pack,” said Chris Collins, whose family owns the McCabe Ranch, at the Parks and Wildlife Commission meeting on Thursday in Glenwood Springs. “We don’t want to see the wolves go away; we want to see the bad wolves go away. So please help us.” 

— Ali Longwell

2. Summit County Sheriff’s Office finds tracking devices in woman’s car, helps with unpaid camping fees and responds to neighbor disputes

Last week, Summit County Sheriff’s Deputies found tracking devices in a woman’s car, helped with two unpaid campsite fees and responded to neighbor disputes over parking and fences.

The following incidents occurred between Monday, June 2, and Sunday, June 8, according to the weekly log of notable calls published by the Summit County Sheriff’s Office.

A man in Dillon Valley called Tuesday for help with a parking dispute he had with a neighbor. He reported someone parked in his assigned spot and that a verbal argument ensued when he confronted the driver. Both parties calmed down when a deputy helped diffuse the situation, and the deputy told them to contact their homeowners association to discuss their parking issues. Nothing criminal occurred.

Also Tuesday, a woman in Wildernest reported getting a call from a man claiming to be from a collections agency. The man knew her physical address, mailing address and social security number, but the credit card he asked about does not exist, according to the woman. She gave no further personal information or money to the caller, and deputies advised her on how to report the fraud attempt to the federal government.

A Heeney resident called Thursday asking for help with his neighbor who had put up a fence on their property that extended partially into the roadway. Deputies talked to the neighbor, who said a recent survey on their property showed it continued into the roadway, where they had placed the fence. Deputies told the caller to contact the planning and building department and determined the issue to be a civil one.

— Kyle McCabe

3. Colorado installs first set of speed cameras, though it could take time before they hit I-70 and the Western Slope

Colorado Department of Transportation officials last week began placing photo radar cameras along its first major work zone as a pilot for its Speed Safety Camera Program.

The program is aimed at helping enforce speed limits in work zones along high-risk corridors by issuing warnings and citations to drivers caught speeding without filling the roads with more troopers. Colorado Highway 119 in Boulder County, which is undergoing upgrades to improve safety for motorists, bikers and pedestrians, was selected as the program’s first pilot site. 

Though they were installed earlier this month, the speed cameras are not active yet, according to CDOT Public Information Officer Stacia Sellers. A program announcement will be sent to the public next week with information about the new speed enforcement before the cameras are enabled.

“At this time, cameras will only be active on (Highway) 119 and then we will begin to expand the program. Locations and timelines are still in the planning process,” Sellers wrote in an email.

— Andrea Teres-Martinez

4. A born-and-raised Coloradan died after falling from a chairlift. His mom wants a state law requiring restraint bar use.

A mother whose adult son died after a fall from a chairlift at Keystone Resort this past ski season is calling for a change in the culture — and the law — surrounding the use of the restraint bar in Colorado.

Donovan Romero, 32, died May 2 from injuries he sustained about five months earlier in a fall from the chairlift. Tonette Romero, his mother, said her son would still be alive today if he had lowered the restraint bar.

“It’s been a rough, rough road,” Tonette Romero said in a phone interview as she drove to pick up her son’s death certificate. She described Donovan — who leaves behind two daughters, ages 8 and 11 — as an “extremely funny” and loving father.

“He was always the one laughing and telling jokes, but he also had this really sensitive side to him,” Tonette Romero said. “He was really hard on himself and pushed himself to be better. He was very success driven. He had girls (at a young age), two daughters, and he wanted to build a good life for them.”

Donovan Romero fell 47 feet from the Ruby Express chairlift on Dec. 11, according to the Colorado Passenger Tramway Safety Board, which investigates any chairlift-related deaths or injuries in the state.

— Ryan Spencer

5. US Forest Service chief asks wildfire employees who took voluntary resignation to ‘come back’

Just months after the Trump Administration gave federal employees the option to voluntarily resign, the U.S. Forest Service is asking those who resigned to return to work for the wildfire season.

Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz said in a video posted to the Department of Agriculture website on Thursday that employees who took the Trump Administration’s deferred resignation offer should be encouraged to “come back” for the wildfire season.

Schultz’s comments come as officials around the country, including in Colorado, have raised concerns that the mass layoffs and voluntary resignations of federal employees could impact the Forest Service’s ability to respond to wildfires.

Since President Donald Trump took office in January, his administration has sought to reduce the size of the federal workforce, including through the deferred resignation program, which gave federal employees the option to resign while continuing to be paid and receive benefits through September.

Nationwide, more than 4,000 Forest Service employees accepted the federal government’s resignation offer, according to POLITICO. The Trump Administration also fired an estimated 3,400 Forest Service employees in February.

— Ryan Spencer