Who We Are

Western Colorado Alliance helps Solar United Neighbors dramatically overshoot their goal of 30 members in their new Mesa County solar co-op. Eventually, 220 Mesa County residents and businesses join the co-op, making it one of the most successful solar co-ops in the state!

Historic oil and gas regulation is passed in Colorado in the form of SB-181, the Protect Public Welfare Oil And Gas Operations Act, legislation which redirected the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) to protect public health, safety, and the environment. Western Colorado Alliance was a critical part of the coalition sending members like Leslie Robinson (seen here speaking at a Capitol rally) to Denver from the Western Slope in order to protect our local communities.

Led by students in local high schools, the Western Slope Youth Voter Initiative focuses on (pre-)registering teenagers to vote, and working on ways to make the ballot more accessible and less intimidating to first-time voters.

After conducting an extensive strategic planning assessment in 2017, our members launched some new and exciting work that we believe will refocus the organization on its original mission of creating a healthy and resilient Western Slope. It seemed a perfect time to change our name as well — from Western Colorado Congress to WESTERN COLORADO ALLIANCE FOR COMMUNITY ACTION!

As the Western Slope member of a statewide coalition, our members help pass Amendment 70 on the November ballot, increasing Colorado’s minimum wage to $12 per hour by 2020.

Drafted and successfully lobbied for the Colorado Cottage Foods Act in the state legislature, which gives farmers and home producers safe and equitable marketing opportunities.  In 2015, we passed a follow-up bill that covered products like pickles and salsa so small producers have more ways to market their fruit and vegetable crops.

The culmination of more than a decade of citizen action by our members and allies, the US Congress officially designated over 66,000 acres of Dominguez Canyon as wilderness within the 209,000 acre Dominguez Escalante National Conservation Area.

Our members drafted a watershed protection ordinance for Grand Junction, then demonstrated over-whelming community support for it by gathering 4,270 petition signatures in just three weeks. The city council adopted it unanimously.

After our members challenged flawed proposals for over 20 years to divert water from the Gunnison River for the AB Lateral Hydroelectric project in Montrose, the proponents withdrew their application and canceled their conditional water rights.

As part of a statewide coalition, we helped pass the ballot initiative which established the first-ever Renewable Energy Standard for Colorado, requiring 10% of the state’s energy come from renewable sources by 2015. The legislature has increased the amount of renewable energy required three times since 2004, including a bill in 2010 which required investor-owned utilities to generate 30% of their electricity from renewable energy by 2020.

Our staff and members researched and published the handbook, “Your Land, Your Rights,” to help landowners who are impacted by oil and gas development in Garfield, Delta and Rio Blanco Counties. In 2005, we followed up with a second version for Montrose, Ouray, Mesa and San Miguel Counties.

Our members successfully lobbied for wilderness designation of Black Ridge Canyons in Mesa County — which was made part of McInnis Canyons National Conservation Area in 2005.

Our members organized a weekend-long Energy Fair in Delta to spark greater interest in clean and renewable energy options. The event was repeated in three subsequent years, expanding to become a Sustainable Living and Energy Fair which included ideas for alternative building materials and healthy living.

Our members drafted and passed a bill in the state legislature that required the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) to include a seat for a representative of the general public, and established an emergency environmental response fund for abandoned oil and gas wells.

After hearing months of opposition organized by our staff and members to a proposed radioactive waste dump in the West End of Montrose County, the US Environmental Protection Agency selected a more suitable facility in Utah to receive Denver’s radium waste.

After six months of negotiations, our members signed the Keystone Agreement with the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forests which resolved issues of monitoring timber sale impacts and water quality, providing protection for ecologically sensitive areas, and creating a citizens advisory committee.

We successfully blocked Colorado Ute Electric Association’s proposal to the Colorado Public Utilities Commission to build a 345KV power line from Rifle, CO, to San Juan, NM. The commission rejected the proposal as “an unnecessary investment” that the utility was unable to finance.

Representatives from citizen groups across Western Colorado (our “Founding Humans”) met in Montrose to outline the purpose and goals for a new organization that could unite them under a common banner. They named the new group the “Western Slope Public Interest Congress”, which would be shortened to “Western Colorado Congress” after just a few months.