Colorado
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State flag
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COLORADO,
one of the Mountain states of the U.S., bounded on the N by
Wyoming and Nebraska, on the E by Nebraska and Kansas, on the S
by Oklahoma and New Mexico, and on the W by Utah. The Rocky Mts.
extend across the center of the state from N to S.
Colorado entered the Union on Aug. 1, 1876, as the 38th state.
Long known for its mineral resources and livestock ranching, Colorado
at the beginning of the 21st century had a diversified economy with a
substantial high-technology sector and a growing tourist industry based on its
scenic and recreational attractions. The name of the state is taken from the
Colorado R., which was named by Spanish explorers and means “reddish colored.”
Colorado is called the Centennial State.
| COLORADO STATE FACTS |
| DATE OF STATEHOOD: |
August 1, 1876; 38th state |
| CAPITAL: |
Denver |
| MOTTO: |
Nil sine Numine (Nothing without Providence) |
| NICKNAME: |
Centennial State |
| STATE SONG: |
“Where the Columbines Grow” (words and music by A. J. Fynn) |
| STATE TREE: |
Blue spruce |
| STATE FLOWER: |
Rocky Mountain columbine |
| STATE BIRD: |
Lark bunting |
| POPULATION (2000 census): |
4,301,261; 24th among the states |
| AREA: |
269,601 sq km (104,094 sq mi); 8th largest state; includes 974 sq km (376 sq mi) of inland water |
| HIGHEST POINT: |
Mt. Elbert, 4399 m (14,433 ft) |
| LOWEST POINT: |
1010 m (3315 ft) along the Arikaree River |
| ELECTORAL VOTES: |
9 |
| U.S. CONGRESS: |
2 senators; 7 representatives |
| GOVERNOR: |
Bill Ritter (Dem.); took office January 2007 |
Colorado, with an area of 269,601 sq km (104,094 sq
mi), is the eighth largest state in the U.S.; 36.4% of the land area is
owned by the federal government. The state is rectangular in shape and
measures about 445 km (about 275 mi) from N to S and about 620 km
(about 385 mi) from E to W. Elevations range from a low of 1010 m (3315
ft) along the Arikaree R., near the Nebraska border, to 4399 m (14,433
ft) at the summit of Mt. Elbert in central Colorado, SE of Aspen. The
approximate mean elevation of 2073 m (6800 ft) is greater than that of
any other state in the U.S.
The E third of Colorado is part of the Great Plains and
is underlaid by sedimentary rocks, such as shales, sandstones, and
limestones. It slopes gradually E from an elevation of nearly 2105 m
(nearly 6900 ft) to about 1070 m (about 3500 ft) at the Kansas-Nebraska
boundary; because of its relatively high elevation it is sometimes
called the High Plains. Dominant soils here are fertile mollisols,
which are agriculturally productive when irrigated.
T\The Rocky Mts. occupy the central two-fifths of the
state. The Colorado Rockies constitute one of the highest regions of
the North American continent, with more than 50 peaks reaching
elevations of 4267 m (14,000 ft) or more. The principal ranges are the
Front Range in the E, the Sawatch Range in the center, the Park Range
in the N, the Sangre de Cristo Mts. in the S, and the San Juan Mts. in
the SW.
The Colorado Plateau, located along the state’s W
boundary, occupies about one-fifth of the total area. It is a deeply
incised plateau region, much of which lies above 2000 m (about 6560
ft). Here are found mesas and deep canyons and valleys. A portion of
the Wyoming Basin lies in the NW part of the state. It is a hilly
highland region.
Colorado’s major rivers have their sources in the
Rocky Mts., where they are fed by heavy snow and rain. The Continental
Divide separates the Colorado R. (the state’s longest),
of the Pacific watershed, from the North Platte, South Platte, Arkansas,
and Rio Grande rivers, of the Atlantic watershed. Falls, gorges,
and canyons mark the precipitous descent of many of the mountain
streams; most notable are the Royal Gorge of the Arkansas R. and
the Black Canyon of the Gunnison R. Grand Lake in the Rockies is
the state’s largest natural lake. Water-conservation projects
have created even larger artificial lakes, such as John Martin Reservoir
on the Arkansas R. and Blue Mesa Reservoir on the Gunnison R.
The highest state in the nation, Colorado has a highland continental climate,
which varies according to the elevation of a given area and its
location with respect to mountain ranges. Winters are cold and generally
dry, and summers, except in the higher elevations, are hot. The
annual average temperature ranges from about 10.6° C (about
51° F) on the plains to less than 2.2° C (less
than 36° F) in the mountains. The recorded temperature
in the state has ranged from –51.7° C (–61° F)
in 1985 to 47.8° C (118° F) in 1888. Annual average
precipitation varies from as much as 1524 mm (60 in) on the W slopes
of the main ranges to 406 mm (16 in) or less on the Great Plains
and the Colorado Plateau. Although precipitation is concentrated
in the spring and summer months, the plains area is subject to heavy
winter snowfalls. Occasionally the High Plains experiences the chinook,
a warm wind that rushes off the E slope of the Front Range at velocities
that may exceed 161 km/hr (100 mph) and that cause local
temperatures to rise as much as 28° C (50° F)
in a few hours.
| COLORADO AVERAGE CLIMATE |
| |
Denver |
Alamosa |
| Average January temperature range |
–8.9° to 6.7° C |
16° to 44° F |
–18.3° to 1.7° C |
–1° to 35° F |
| Average July temperature range |
15° to 30.6° C |
59° to 87° F |
8.9° to 27.8° C |
48° to 82° F |
| Average annual temperature |
10° C |
50° F |
5.6° C |
42° F |
| Average annual precipitation |
406 mm |
16 in |
178 mm |
7 in |
| Average annual snowfall |
1524 mm |
60 in |
914 mm |
36 in |
| Mean number of days per year with appreciable precipitation |
87 |
69 |
| Average daily relative humidity |
40% |
42% |
| Mean number of clear days per year |
115 |
148 |
The plains of the E part of Colorado have a natural
cover of short grasses, such as grama and buffalo grass. In the
mountainous regions, at elevations above about 1830 m (about 6000 ft),
are coniferous forests. Principal species include ponderosa pine,
Douglas fir, and Engelmann spruce; also found here are birch, alder,
and quaking aspen. The mesas of the W slope have woodlands of piñon and
juniper. At elevations above the timberline (about 3505 m/11,500 ft) is
found an alpine, or tundra, vegetation of grasses and sedges. Common
wild flowers include Indian paintbrush, larkspur, columbine, mariposa
lily, and pasqueflower.
Wildlife is varied because of the diversity of
habitats. Found on the plains and in adjacent foothills are pronghorn
antelope, coyote, prairie dog, fox, jackrabbit, badger, and prairie
rattlesnake. Bird life includes pheasant, hawk, and migrating
waterfowl. In the mountains and plateaus of the W are wapiti, black
bear, mountain lion, beaver, coyote, bighorn sheep, and mountain goat,
as well as the eagle and sage grouse. Trout, salmon, and whitefish are
in lakes and streams here.
Colorado is well endowed with mineral reserves. Among the most
important are natural gas, petroleum, coal, and construction materials.
Also present are silver, gold, vanadium, lead, copper, zinc, clay,
and molybdenum. The mineral fuels (including uranium) and
nonmetallic minerals are found in the Great Plains and the Colorado
Plateau. Metallic minerals occur principally in the central Rocky
Mts. The state also possesses vast reserves of oil-bearing shale
in the NW.
According to the 2000 census, Colorado had 4,301,261
inhabitants, an increase of 30.6% over 1990. The average population
density was 16 per sq km (41.5 per sq mi) of land area. Whites made up
82.8% of the population and blacks 3.8%; additional population groups
included 44,241 American Indians and Alaska Natives, 95,213 Asians, and
4,621 Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders. (These figures do not
include the 2.8% of the population who reported more than one race.) A
total of 735,601 persons, or 17.1% of the total population, were of
Latino ancestry; the Hispanic population was concentrated in the S part
of the state. The state’s largest city is Denver, the capital; about
half of all Colorado residents live in the Denver metropolitan area,
which includes Aurora, Lakewood, Arvada, and Westminster. Other major
urban centers are Colorado Springs, Fort Collins, Pueblo, and Boulder.
A2000 survey of adherents to religious groups found that
Roman Catholics comprised about 17.5% of the state population; other principal
religious groups included Mormons (2.1%), Jews (1.7%), and adherents of the
Southern Baptist Convention (2%), United Methodist Church (1.8%), and
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (1.6%).
According to the 2000 census, about 85% of the people of Colorado
lived in areas then defined as urban, with the rest living in rural areas.
| POPULATION OF COLORADO SINCE 1860 |
| Year of Census |
Population |
Classified As Urban |
| 1860 |
34,000 |
15% |
| 1880 |
194,000 |
31% |
| 1890 |
413,000 |
45% |
| 1910 |
799,000 |
50% |
| 1920 |
940,000 |
48% |
| 1940 |
1,123,000 |
53% |
| 1960 |
1,754,000 |
74% |
| 1980 |
2,890,000 |
81% |
| 1990 |
3,294,394 |
82% |
| 2000 |
4,301,261 |
85% |
| POPULATION OF TEN LARGEST CITIES IN COLORADO |
| |
2000 Census |
1990 Census |
| Denver |
554,636 |
467,610 |
| Colorado Springs |
360,890 |
281,140 |
| Aurora |
276,393 |
222,103 |
| Lakewood |
144,126 |
126,481 |
| Fort Collins |
118,652 |
87,758 |
| Arvada |
102,153 |
89,235 |
| Pueblo |
102,121 |
98,640 |
| Westminster |
100,940 |
74,625 |
| Boulder |
94,673 |
83,312 |
| Thornton |
82,384 |
55,031 |
Colorado has a tradition of high academic standards and public
support of the arts, as evidenced by the number and quality of the
state’s educational and cultural institutions in the state.
The first school in Colorado was established in 1859.
Public support of primary schools began in 1862 and was extended to
secondary schools in the 1870s. As of 2002, the state public education
system had 534,000 elementary school students (prekindergarten through
grade 8) and 217,000 students in secondary school (grades 9 through 12).
Ithat same year, the total enrollment in institutions of higher
education was 282,000, of which 234,000 were in public institutions and 49,000
were in private colleges and universities. Among notable degree-granting institutions
were: Colorado College (1874) and the U.S. Air Force Academy (1954), in the vicinity
of Colorado Springs; Colorado School of Mines (1874), in Golden; Colorado State
University (1870), in Fort Collins; the University of Colorado at Boulder (1876);
the University of Northern Colorado (1889), in Greeley; and the University of Denver
(1864), Regis University (1877), and the University of Colorado at Denver (1912),
in Denver.
Among Colorado’s prominent museums are the Denver
Art Museum (1893), the Denver Museum of Natural History (1900),
and the Colorado History Museum (1977), all of which are in Denver. In Colorado Springs
are the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center (1936) and the Western
Museum of Mining and Industry (1970). Also of note are the University
of Colorado Museum (1902), in Boulder, and the Ute Indian Museum
(1956), in Montrose. Denver is also the home of Opera Colorado and
the Colorado Symphony Orchestra. The Colorado Springs Symphony Orchestra
is based in Colorado Springs, and the Central City Opera House Association
is located in Central City. Aspen is noted for the Aspen Institute and the
Aspen Music Festival and School.
Many of Colorado’s historical sites commemorate the
early explorers and settlers of the territory. Among these are Pike’s
Stockade, originally built in 1807 and reconstructed according to
Zebulon Pike’s specifications, in Sanford; Bent’s
Old Fort National Historic Site, originally constructed in 1833,
in La Junta; Fort Vasquez, a replica of the fort built in the 1830s,
in Platteville; Healy House, built in 1878, in Leadville; and the Trinidad
History Museum, including the Baca House (1870), in Trinidad. Also outstanding are
the ancient Indian cliff dwellings and pueblos of Mesa Verde National
Park and Hovenweep and Yucca House national monuments. Of particular
note is the Opera House (1878) in the former mining boomtown of
Central City.
Colorado’s mountains, large park areas, and numerous
lakes and streams offer ideal conditions for outdoor recreation
activities. Also popular are health spas at natural mineral springs.
Colorado is the nation’s leading ski-resort region, with
more than two dozen major ski areas, including those in Aspen, Steamboat
Springs, Telluride, and Vail.
Colorado’s professional sports teams include the
Colorado Rockies (major league baseball), the Denver Nuggets (basketball),
the Denver Broncos (football), and the Colorado Avalanche (ice hockey),
all of which are based in Denver.
The state’s first radio station, KFKA in Greeley,
began operations in 1921. KFEL-TV in Denver, Colorado’s first
commercial television station, began broadcasting in 1952. More recently,
the state has emerged as a leader in the development of telecommunications
technology, including satellite television services.
The Rocky Mountain News, the state’s first newspaper,
was initially published in 1859 in Denver. Influential daily newspapers
include the Denver Post and the Rocky Mountain News,
in Denver, and the Gazette, in Colorado Springs. In the early 2000s
there were 30 daily newspapers, with a total paid circulation of about
1 million. As of 2003, 70% of Colorado’s households had computers
and 63% had Internet access.
Colorado is governed under its original constitution, adopted
in 1876, as amended. An amendment to the constitution may be proposed
by the legislature, by initiative, or by a constitutional convention.
To become effective, an amendment must be approved by a majority
of the persons voting on the issue in an election.
The chief executive of Colorado is the governor, who is popularly
elected to a 4-year term and who (as a result of referendums in
1990 and 1996) may serve no more than two consecutive terms. The
same regulations apply to the lieutenant governor, who succeeds
the governor should the latter resign, die, or be removed from office.
Other elected officials of the executive department include the
secretary of state, attorney general, and treasurer. The governor
appoints the revenue director, and the legislature appoints the
auditor.
The bicameral Colorado General Assembly is composed of a senate
and a house of representatives. The 35 members of the senate are
elected to 4-year terms, and the 65 members of the house are elected
to 2-year terms. Senators may serve no more than two full terms in succession,
and representatives are limited to four successive terms.
Colorado’s highest tribunal, the supreme court, is made
up of a chief justice and 6 associate justices who serve 10-year terms.
The intermediate court of appeals has 16 judges who serve 8-year terms,
and the state’s major trial courts, which are the district courts, have
a total of 132 judges who serve 6-year terms. Judges of all three
courts are appointed initially by the governor and run for election on
their record for retention of office. A similar procedure applies to
county court judges, who serve 4-year terms; judges of Denver County,
however, receive their initial appointments from the mayor of Denver.
Retirement from full-time service is mandatory at age 72.
Colorado has 64 counties, including Denver, which
combines the functions of city and county government; most counties are
governed by a board of three commissioners. Cities in Colorado generally
employ either the mayor-council or council-manager form of government.
Colorado elects two senators and seven representatives to
the U.S. Congress. The state has nine electoral votes in presidential
elections.
In state elections, approximately equal numbers of
Democratic and Republican party candidates for governor have been
chosen. In presidential elections, however, Republican candidates have
carried the state more times than Democratic nominees. Republicans
outnumber Democrats in party registration, but a large bloc of
unaffiliated voters holds the balance in many electoral contests.
Ben Nighthorse Campbell (1933- ), a Native American, represented Colorado
in the U.S. Senate from 1993 to 2005; a former Democrat, he switched
to the Republican party in 1995. Results of the November 2006 election left
Democrats in control of the governorship and both houses of the state
legislature for the first time in more than four decades.
Colorado’s initial growth was spurred by mining booms
beginning in the 1850s. Irrigated agriculture developed, and by the
late 19th century livestock raising had become important on the plains
of the E part of the state. Early industrial growth was based on the
processing of minerals and agricultural products. Since World War II
the industrial and service sectors have expanded greatly. The state’s
economy is now diversified and is notable for its concentration of
scientific research and high-technology industries. Denver is an
important financial center.
| COLORADO STATE ECONOMY |
| STATE BUDGET(in thousands) |
| General revenue |
$23,081,95 |
| General expenditure |
$18,060,533 |
| Accumulated debt |
$9,874,764 |
 |
| STATE TAXES PER CAPITA |
$1,532 |
|
| PERSONAL INCOME, PER CAPITA |
$37,946 |
|
| POPULATION BELOW POVERTY LEVEL |
9.8% |
|
| EMPLOYMENT DISTRIBUTION |
| Management, business, finance |
392,000 |
| Professional and related |
478,000 |
| Services |
363,000 |
| Sales and related |
283,000 |
| Office and administrative support |
308,000 |
| Farming, fishing, forestry |
na |
| Construction and extraction |
161,000 |
| Installation, maintenance, repair |
79,000 |
| Production |
116,000 |
| Transportation and moving |
134,000 |
|
| GROSS STATE PRODUCT |
$216.1 billion |
|
| NET FARM INCOME |
$1,216,043 |
| Principal products |
cattle and calves, dairy products, greenhouse/nursery products |
Farming accounts for about 1% of the annual gross state
product in Colorado. In 2004 the state had some 31,000 farms and ranches that
averaged about 400 ha (about 1000 acres) in size. Among the most important of the
state’s diverse agricultural commodities are cattle and calves, dairy products,
greenhouse/nursery products, corn, and hogs. Wheat, hay, sheep and
lambs, potatoes, chicken eggs, and various vegetables and fruits are
also raised. Livestock products accounted for 58% of state
agricultural income in 2005. The majority of cropland is located in E Colorado
and in selected river valleys in the mountainous W. Irrigation is
important in Colorado’s agriculture.
The annual income from forestry in Colorado is small. Commercial
forests are relatively limited in extent; most are under federal
control and are concentrated in the W part of the state. Almost
all output is softwoods, principally firs and pines.
The mining industry accounts for about 2% of the
annual gross state product in Colorado. In 2005, leading minerals included
coal, gold, gypsum, limestone, silver, molybdenum, soda ash, and sodium
bicarbonate, as well as construction materials (sand, gravel, and crushed
stone). The state also produces natural gas, petroleum, helium, lead, zinc,
and clays. Colorado is home to the nation’s largest titanium resource
and to the nation’s second largest producer of molybdenum.
Firms engaged in manufacturing in Colorado a accounted for
about $13.9 billion, or 6% of the annual gross state product (2005) and
employed some 151,200 workers in 2006, down from 191,300 in 2000. Manufacturing
is dominated by the processing of local raw materials and by technology-dependent
light industries. Leading manufactures, ranked by value of shipments, include
computing and electronic equipment, (aerospace technologies), meat products,
fabricated metal products, nonmetallic minerals, chemicals, printing, and
transportation equipment. The state is a large producer of beverages
(especially beer). The Denver metropolitan area is the state’s leading
manufacturing center, specializing in food processing and in the manufacture
of scientific equipment and electronic and transportation components. Industrial
activity has developed in a number of other communities located in the
Front Range area. In the university city of Boulder, printing and
publishing, research and development activities, and the manufacture of
computing, telecommunications, and scientific equipment predominate.
Light manufacturing is important in Pueblo. Colorado Springs has a wide
variety of high-technology industries.
Travelers spent some $9 billion in the state in 2003,
when the tourism and travel industry provided jobs for about 200,000
Coloradans. Some 345,000 overseas visitors traveled to Colorado in 2004.
Colorado offers a wide variety of summer and winter recreational
attractions. Located in Colorado are Mesa Verde and Rocky Mountain
national parks; the National Park Service administers several other
areas as well. During the winter, mountain communities such as Vail,
Aspen, and Steamboat Springs are popular ski resorts. In addition, the
state maintains 40 parks and recreation areas.
Colorado has a central location in the Rocky Mts. and
has become a regional transportation junction, with Denver as the most
important hub. As early as the late 1860s, Colorado had become a focal
point in the developing national railroad network. Today the state is
served by 4385 km (2725 mi) of operated railroad track. Despite much
mountainous terrain, a modern network of about 137,455 km (about 85,410
mi) of federal, state, and local roads links the extremities of the
state with Denver and facilitates interstate travel. Approximately 5470
km (about 3400 mi) of the national highway system links the major
cities of Colorado. The state has some 230 airports and 160 heliports.
Denver International Airport, located about 37 km (about 23 mi) NE of
downtown Denver, opened in February 1995, replacing the outmoded
Stapleton airport facility. A new air terminal opened at Colorado
Springs in October 1994.
Electricity production in Colorado is mainly from
fossil fuels, especially coal; hydroelectric and nuclear sources
provide only small amounts of energy. Waterpower development is
hindered by annual and seasonal changes in the flow of major rivers.
Environmental concerns have been a key in limiting the expansion of
both large hydroelectric generating installations and nuclear
facilities, in spite of the uranium that is available locally.
Electricity production (est. 2005, by source) included 35.5 billion
kwh from coal, 16 billion kwh from petroleum, and 4.5 billion kwh
from natural gas, with 1.1 billion kwh from hydroelectric sources,
and 54 million from nuclear or other sources.
After the prehistoric Cliff Dwellers of Mesa Verde established
themselves in Colorado, the first residents of the Colorado mountains
were small bands of Ute Indians from the Utah deserts. By the early
18th century they were trading elk and deer hides for horses and
hardware with the Spanish and with Pueblo Indians of the Rio Grande
Valley. Using Spanish horses, the Ute moved east into the Colorado
plains, where they were opposed by the more recently arrived Cheyenne
and Arapaho. The Ute lived at the highest altitude of any American Indians—often
more than 3000 m (10,000 ft) above sea level.
Spaniards from New Mexico explored parts of Colorado in the
18th century. The first Americans to reach the area were soldiers
from Saint Louis led by Zebulon Pike, sent by the U.S. government
in 1806, to explore the region west of the Mississippi. Pike went
up the Arkansas River almost to its source in the Rocky Mountains.
A second party under Maj. Stephen H. Long (1784–1864) moved up
the South Platte in 1820 to the site of Denver. The party’s
botanist and historian, Edwin James (1797–1861), led the
first known ascent of Pikes Peak. Thereafter American trappers explored
most of the Colorado Rockies searching for beaver and other furbearers.
American occupation began in 1832, with the completion of the Bent’s
Fort trading post on the Arkansas. By 1840 a few New Mexicans were
farming in southern Colorado. In 1851 they founded San Luis in the
San Luis Valley, Colorado’s first permanent settlement.
The discovery of gold in the Colorado Rockies in 1858 caused thousands
of midwesterners to join the “Pikes Peak or Bust” gold
rush. Denver was built on lands Congress had reserved for the Cheyenne
and Arapaho Indians. When Colorado Territory was created in 1861,
the Indians were ordered off their lands to the Arkansas River area.
In protest the two tribes murdered isolated settlers and raided
the stage routes between Denver and the Missouri River. To punish
them the Third Colorado Cavalry, led by Col. John M. Chivington
(1821–94), attacked a village of sleeping Indians at dawn on
Nov. 29, 1864; up to several hundred men, women, and children were
killed. This so-called Sand Creek Massacre aroused nationwide concern
for the plight of western Indians. Nevertheless, in 1867, regular
army troops released from American Civil War duty forced the removal
to reservations in Oklahoma of all Indians from the Colorado plains.
The bloom of Colorado’s first mining boom faded.
Not until the 1870s did the population exceed the 60,000 required
for statehood, as people swarmed to Colorado with the coming of
railroads and the spread of large-scale irrigation along the eastern
edge of the Rockies. Meanwhile, the brand-new cattle industry thrived,
thanks to the longhorn drives from Texas to the free grass of the Colorado
plains. Fear of higher taxes and Washington politics, however, delayed
statehood until 1876—the nation’s centennial year—and
so Colorado acquired its nickname, the “Centennial State.”
During the next 20 years the state grew and prospered as a result of the
discovery in the late 1870s of fabulous riches in the silver mines
at Leadville; in the 1890s wealth poured from the gold mines at
Cripple Creek, near Colorado Springs. A decision by Congress to discontinue government purchases
of silver in 1893 angered Colorado mining interests, and three years
later Colorado Republicans deserted their party to support the Silver
Purchase Democrat William Jennings Bryan for the presidency.
When Colorado’s gold and silver boom faded in the
first years of the 20th century, Coloradans put some of their mining
profits into tourism to exploit the state’s mountain scenery
and healthy climate. The National Jewish Hospital in Denver (now the
National Jewish Medical and Research Center in Denver) and Cragmor Sanatorium
(now the site of the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs) were famed
for treatment of tuberculosis. The railroads ran thrilling trips over high
Continental Divide passes such as Hagerman, Corona, and Cumbres. Luxury hotels
were built, and a prime tourist attraction was created in 1915,
when Rocky Mountain National Park opened. Despite the growth of
tourism, however, the Colorado economy stagnated through the depression
years.
World War II brought enormous changes, as army posts and federal
office complexes came to the Front Range cities. Emblematic of the
growing military presence in Colorado was the establishment of the U.S.
Air Force Academy, which moved to its present site near Colorado
Springs in 1958. In the 1960s and '70s ski resorts such as Aspen and
Vail grew in the high country, favored by the long snow season. Through
the 1970s aerospace and electronic firms moved to the Front Range
cities as the population soared; subsequent economic growth has been
spurred by the telecommunications sector and other high-technology
industries.
The major challenge facing Colorado in the 1980s and
'90s was preserving environmental quality despite rapid economic and
population growth. The state faced a challenge of a different kind in
April 1999, when a rampage by 2 gun-wielding students at Columbine High
School in Littleton, a Denver suburb, left 12 fellow students and 1
teacher dead; the teenaged killers then turned their guns on themselves
and committed suicide. Voters responded in November 2000 by toughening
the requirements for background checks on prospective gun buyers to
include sales by unlicensed dealers at weekend gun shows.
By 2004 Colorado’s Latino population had soared to
nearly 20% of the state total. The demographic shift fueled political changes
and contributed to the election of Ken Salazar (1955– ), a Democrat of Hispanic
ancestry, to the U.S.Senate in 2004. Democrats made further gains in 2006, when
former Denver district attorney Bill Ritter (1956– ) won the governorship.
Illegal immigration has become a hotly disputed issue in Colorado, which had an
estimated 250,000 undocumented residents in the early 2000s. In July 2006 the
state legislature enacted a measure requiring applicants to many taxpayer-funded
programs to meet stringent residency requirements; programs for children under 18
and certain emergency services (including emergency-room medical care) were not affected.