Caroline Llanes
Rural Climate ReporterCaroline Llanes is the rural climate reporter for Rocky Mountain Community Radio. She covers climate change in the rural Mountain West, energy development, outdoor recreation, public lands, and so much more. Her work has been featured on NPR and APM's Marketplace.
She was previously a general assignment reporter at Aspen Public Radio, covering everything from local governments to public lands, and before that, she worked on WBUR's Morning Edition in Boston. She got her start in public radio at Michigan Public in Ann Arbor, where she also got a B.A. in history from the University of Michigan.
When she's not working, she's probably watching football, women's basketball, or a British murder mystery. She lives in Glenwood Springs with her partner and their little dog (Poppy) and cat (Pepper), where they spend a lot of time hiking and skiing of both the downhill and cross-country varieties.
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Keystone Resort in Colorado was the first resort in the country to open in 2025, in part due to their emphasis on early-season snowmaking. As climate change amplifies drought in the Mountain West, ski areas across the region are considering how best to use increasingly scarce water resources. -
The latest in a series of climate lawsuits, ten Utah youth are suing the state over its issuance of fossil fuels permitting, which they say violates their rights to life, safety, and health. -
The nonpartisan Center for American Progress found that 31 national monuments are at risk of having protections reduced or revoked under the Trump administration. But that would jeopardize some of the water on those landscapes, which provide drinking water for millions of people. -
A 2023 Supreme Court ruling, along with new interpretations from the Trump administration, have limited protections for rivers and wetlands. Colorado is looking to fill in that gap with its own regulatory program. -
Warmer temperatures in November meant that less snowpack accumulated. But storms did increase soil moisture in the Upper Colorado River Basin, making future precipitation more likely to run off slopesides and boost rivers and streams. -
The Colorado River District has cleared an important hurdle in securing the Shoshone water right, which is an in-stream flow agreement with the state. The deal is designed in part to protect Colorado River water levels, and it was approved despite objections from utility companies on the Front Range. -
A Moab resident discovered spray-painted graffiti in Arches National Park in the middle of the 44-day government shutdown. National parks have remained open during that time with little to no staff. -
The federal government set a deadline of November 11 for states to have a framework for allocating Colorado River water post-2026. The states missed that deadline, and have failed to produce an agreement. -
The seven states that use the Colorado River have until November 11th to present a basic plan to the federal government for how to allocate water in the river. But negotiations have been contentious, and spectators aren’t sure whether there will be consensus. -
One of the last remaining undammed rivers in Colorado, the Crystal River has inspired locals to secure protections for its free-flowing state. A study into how the river shapes the trees on its bank could help their case.
