CAIC Facing potentially crippling budget cuts

from TGR

I saw that a thread was created in 'The Slide Zone' concerning this yesterday, but I'm pretty sure this is important enough to many of us for it to be posted in the main forum. Some rescue professional friends of mine forwarded an email to me a few days ago about this, and I don't think they'll mind that I share the important stuff here with a few embellishments of my own:



The Colorado Avalanche Information Center is facing a potentially crippling budget cut, and users and supporters of the CAIC need organizations, agencies, and maggots to write letters.

Since 1983 the Colorado Avalanche Information has been the state's provider of avalanche forecasting and education, and most of us believe we are all a little bit safer while traveling the backcountry and driving our mountain highways. The CAIC's efforts are laudable. Since 1990 our state's population has increased ~52% from 3.3 million to 5million residents, but the average number of people killed in avalanches has remained steady at 6 deaths per winter. The CAIC makes our decisions in the backcountry easier and safer.

Since 2000, the CAIC has received funding from the Colorado Severance Tax Fund, and is one of several State agencies and programs that receive funding from this source. Severance Tax is an alternative to the General Fund, which funds the majority of state agencies. Severance Tax makes up about 25% of CAIC’s total budget with the rest coming from contracts (almost all with CDOT) and donations.

Colorado's finances are not in great shape, and so the Joint Budget Committee’s staff has put the CAIC on a hit list (along with a number of other programs) for possibly losing its Severance Tax funding. The effects of these cuts would put the future of the CAIC in jeopardy. The upshot of even a downsized CAIC, if that ended up being the case, will be fewer staff, less education, and fewer forecasts. The proposed 25% cut in funding would potentially eliminate the CAIC's backcountry forecasting program. The majority of the CAIC budget is to provide contracted services to CDOT and that money looks secure, for now.

I hope that our TGR community will contact the JBC and the Governor to get the CAIC off the “the list.” A one or two paragraph letter explaining what’s important to you about the CAIC and how it helps you, your friends, your team, your county, etc. is all that's needed. Collectively, our letters will have an impact. Please copy the same letter to each of the members of the Joint Budget Committee and to the Governor, whose addresses are listed below. Letters need to be received before the end of this month.

The Friends of CAIC have a posted a similar message on their website as well. I hope that posting it here will help make a difference.

ADDRESSES:

John W Hickenlooper, Governor
136 State Capitol
Denver, CO 80203-1792

Senator Mary Hodge
Joint Budget Committee
200 East 14th Avenue, 3rd Floor
LEGISLATIVE SERVICES BUILDING
Denver, CO 80203

Senator Pat Steadman
Joint Budget Committee
200 East 14th Avenue, 3rd Floor
LEGISLATIVE SERVICES BUILDING
Denver, CO 80203

Senator Kent Lambert
Joint Budget Committee
200 East 14th Avenue, 3rd Floor
LEGISLATIVE SERVICES BUILDING
Denver, CO 80203

Representative Cheri Gerou
Joint Budget Committee
200 East 14th Avenue, 3rd Floor
LEGISLATIVE SERVICES BUILDING
Denver, CO 80203

Representative Jon Becker
Joint Budget Committee
200 East 14th Avenue, 3rd Floor
LEGISLATIVE SERVICES BUILDING
Denver, CO 80203

Representative Mark Ferrandino
Joint Budget Committee
200 East 14th Avenue, 3rd Floor
LEGISLATIVE SERVICES BUILDING
Denver, CO 80203