Steamboat Pilot & Today

Steamboat Springs — Routt County's representative in Washington, D.C., visits Steamboat Springs for two events today.

U.S. Rep. John Salazar, a Democrat from the San Luis Valley, is scheduled to meet with the public and the Vision 2030 committee at 5 p.m. in Centennial Hall before making his way to the Yacht Club for an evening fundraiser. Salazar represents Colorado's Third Congressional District, which includes Routt County and 28 other counties across western and southern Colorado. His visit to Steamboat is part of a swing across the Western Slope during Congress' August recess.

"He's glad to be in Colorado," spokesman Eric Wortman said of Salazar, who for the past several weeks has been working on the 2007 Farm Bill and a wide-ranging energy bill that is awaiting action from a Senate committee.

Before the energy bill left the House of Representatives, Salazar worked with U.S. Rep. Mark Udall, a Democrat from the Front Range, to insert language that would ban oil and gas drilling atop the Roan Plateau near Rifle and Parachute in Garfield County.

"Gov. (Bill) Ritter, dozens of local elected officials and the thousands of constituents who have contacted my office should be proud today," Salazar said last week. "They spoke out, and their voices were heard with the passage of the Energy Bill and the protections for the Roan Plateau."

Hayden resident Tammie Delaney hopes Salazar hears plenty of voices today in Steamboat. Delaney is the project manager for Vision 2030, a community-based public policy effort to define the Yampa Valley's important core values, and develop strategies to implement those values in long-term planning and growth.

"We're all experiencing rapid change," Delaney said. "How do we anticipate what's coming and get ahead of the curve?"

Vision 2030 will build on efforts begun with a Vision 2020 report created in 1994.

Salazar will speak with the public and the Vision 2030 committee about the future of the Yampa Valley.

Also Saturday, state Rep. Morgan Carroll, D-Aurora, will host a fundraising event at L'Apogee in downtown Steamboat. Carroll spoke at the Jefferson Jackson Dinner hosted by the Routt County Democratic Party in March of 2006.

"She is such a dynamic person," said Lynn Abbott, an active member of the local Democratic Party. "Even though (Carroll) is in a different district, she has quite a following in Steamboat."

Abbott said she is excited to see two prominent politicians on the same night.

"It keeps us hopping," she said. "It shows that Steamboat is a popular place to come to, especially this time of year. The more the merrier."