Scott Franz
Scott Franz is a government watchdog reporter and photographer from Steamboat Springs. He spent the last seven years covering politics and government for the Steamboat Pilot & Today, a daily newspaper in northwest Colorado. His reporting in Steamboat stopped a police station from being built in a city park, saved a historic barn from being destroyed and helped a small town pastor quickly find a kidney donor. His favorite workday in Steamboat was Tuesday, when he could spend many of his mornings skiing untracked powder and his evenings covering city council meetings. Scott received his journalism degree from the University of Colorado at Boulder. He is an outdoorsman who spends at least 20 nights a year in a tent. He spoke his first word, 'outside', as a toddler in Edmonds, Washington. Scott visits the Great Sand Dunes, his favorite Colorado backpacking destination, twice a year. Scott's reporting is part of Capitol Coverage, a collaborative public policy reporting project, providing news and analysis to communities across Colorado for more than a decade. Fifteen public radio stations participate in Capitol Coverage from throughout Colorado.
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The announcement from Parks and Wildlife on Wednesday came three months after the Trump administration blocked Colorado's original plan to capture a second batch of wolves in British Columbia and fly them to the state. -
Facing the prospect of a pause in additional wolves, wolf advocates say Colorado should add new protections for its existing population of less than 50 wolves. -
The proposals range from taking "no action" to a scenario that might result in water cuts to the lower basin states of California, Nevada and Arizona. One alternative developed in partnership with conservation groups would incentivize states and water users to proactively conserve the river. -
At the dawn of Colorado’s wolf reintroduction project, tourism leaders in mountain towns are offering mixed views on the animals. Some are fearful or indifferent, while others are cautiously optimistic they could become an attraction. -
Like hundreds of other ranchers in Colorado, the Stanko family is anxious about wolf packs being airlifted back to this state, where they were eradicated by the 1940s. -
Democrats who control the state legislature are increasingly using a survey they fill out in secret to help determine whether bills live or die. The results are kept from the public, raising questions about transparency and potential violations of the state’s sunshine law. -
Sen. Kevin Priola blasted his Republican colleagues for what he called their indifference toward the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, and refusing to take action on climate change. -
Colorado’s trails, campgrounds and parks are getting more crowded. But surveys show the droves of visitors are overwhelmingly white and wealthy. A new initiative launching this summer hopes to change that. -
Service organizations in Colorado and beyond say they are ready to help residents who are grieving after a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. -
Meteorologist Coleen Haskell says the grim fire forecast for this summer has been years in the making.
