Northern Colorado is the name for a region in the state of

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

and a proposed state in the northeastern portion of Colorado.

Region

Northern Colorado is a region in the northern portion of

. It borders northwestern Colorado, northeastern Colorado, the northern portion of Central Colorado, western and southwestern portions of

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

, and the southeastern portion of

Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...

. Northern Colorado receives over 300 days of sunshine per year and has a

semi-arid climate A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of se ...

. However, the parts located in upper elevations of the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in great-circle distance, straight-line distance from the northernmost part of Western Can ...

receive of snow per year and have an

Alpine climate Alpine climate is the typical climate for elevations above the tree line, where trees fail to grow due to cold. This climate is also referred to as a mountain climate or highland climate. Definition There are multiple definitions of alpine cli ...

. The

University of Colorado Boulder The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a public research university in Boulder, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a state, it is the flagship university of the University o ...

Colorado State University Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado, United States. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University Syst ...

, and the University of Northern Colorado are all located in Northern Colorado.

Counties

* Adams County * Arapahoe County * Boulder County * Broomfield City-County * Cheyenne County * Elbert County * Jackson County * Kit Carson County *

Larimer County Larimer County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 359,066. The county seat and most populous city is Fort Collins, Colorado, Fort Colli ...

* Lincoln County * Logan County * Morgan County * Phillips County * Sedgwick County * Washington County * Weld County * Yuma County

Larger cities

Boulder In geology, a boulder (or rarely bowlder) is a rock fragment with size greater than in diameter. Smaller pieces are called cobbles and pebbles. While a boulder may be small enough to move or roll manually, others are extremely massive. In ...

* Broomfield * Fort Collins * Greeley * Longmont * Loveland

Education

Notably, Northern Colorado is home to several of the state's largest universities:

Community/technical colleges

* Aims Community College ( Greeley, Loveland, Windsor, Fort Lupton) * Front Range Community College ( Fort Collins, Longmont) * Morgan Community College ( Fort Morgan) * Northeastern Junior College ( Sterling)

Four-year colleges/universities

( Fort Collins) *

Naropa University Naropa University is a private university in Boulder, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1974 by Tibetan Buddhist teacher Chögyam Trungpa, it is named after the 11th-century Indian Buddhist sage Naropa, an abbot of Nalanda. The university ...

(

) * University of Colorado-Boulder (

) * University of Northern Colorado ( Greeley)

Potential state

North Colorado or Northern Colorado is a proposed new

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

which would consist of several counties in the northeast portion of

and possible counties from

and

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

. A

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: the University of Colorado Boulder, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, the University of Colorado Denver, and the U ...

law professor has indicated that an additional step would be required beyond the approval of the state legislature and the U.S. Congress, as the Colorado Constitution defines the state's boundaries, thus requiring a vote on a constitutional amendment.

Background

A county commissioner of Weld County stated his belief that the county sends more oil and gas revenue to the state than it receives back for schools, roads, and other services. In 2013, the Democratic-controlled

Colorado General Assembly The Colorado General Assembly is the state legislature of the State of Colorado. It is a bicameral legislature consisting of the Senate and House of Representatives that was created by the 1876 state constitution. Its statutes are codified in ...

passed tighter gun control laws, higher

renewable energy Renewable energy (also called green energy) is energy made from renewable resource, renewable natural resources that are replenished on a human lifetime, human timescale. The most widely used renewable energy types are solar energy, wind pow ...

reliance laws, and livestock treatment laws. A higher environmental standard oil and gas production law was narrowly defeated. During the debates over these laws, talk of

secession Secession is the formal withdrawal of a group from a Polity, political entity. The process begins once a group proclaims an act of secession (such as a declaration of independence). A secession attempt might be violent or peaceful, but the goal i ...

began in the Eastern Plains area. At a meeting of the state's county commissioners in early June, a State House leader indicated that they would attempt to pass the oil environmental standards law again. This brought the secession discussion to a higher level with Weld County Commissioners Mike Freeman, Sean Conway, and Douglas Rademacher leading the proposal with a hearing scheduled regarding counties placing secession questions on the November 2013 ballot.

History

Along with Weld County, several other counties were invited to or interested in being involved with this proposal: Morgan, Logan, Sedgwick, Phillips, Washington, Yuma, and

Kit Carson Christopher Houston Carson (December 24, 1809 – May 23, 1868) was an American frontiersman, fur trapper, wilderness guide, Indian agent and United States Army, U.S. Army officer. He became an American frontier legend in his own lifetime ...

. Also interested in joining the new state are parts of

. Colorado's Eastern Plain counties all may possibly be involved in the split, but

Commissioners indicated that their county would not likely approve of a split. On July 8, 2013, a meeting of representatives from 10 counties was held in Akron, Colorado to begin setting the boundaries of the potential state. The news media reported that some people in Lincoln and

Cheyenne The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. The Cheyenne comprise two Native American tribes, the Só'taeo'o or Só'taétaneo'o (more commonly spelled as Suhtai or Sutaio) and the (also spelled Tsitsistas, The term for th ...

counties wish to join in forming the state. Additionally, the organizers reported that three other Colorado and two

counties also wish to join in forming the state. The county commissioners involved discussed an alternative plan if breaking away is not feasible. This alternative would be to change the Colorado Constitution to have one

state senator A state senator is a member of a State legislature (United States), state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. History There are typically fewer state senators than there ...

per county; however, the U. S. Supreme Court invalidated such representation by county in '' Reynolds v. Sims'' (1964) as a violation of the

one man, one vote "One man, one vote" or "one vote, one value" is a slogan used to advocate for the principle of equal representation in voting. This slogan is used by advocates of democracy and political equality, especially with regard to electoral reforms like ...

principle. Cheyenne County—outside the original proposed area— became the first county to refer the measure to the people on July 23, 2013. A total of eleven counties placed the measure on the November 5, 2013, ballot. Voters in Cheyenne, Kit Carson, Phillips, Washington, and Yuma counties approved the measure.

Counties

*Ballot initiative counties **

** Elbert **

ⁱ ** Lincoln ** Loganⁱ **

Moffat Moffat is a burgh and parish in Dumfriesshire. Part of the Dumfries and Galloway local authority area in Scotland, it lies on the River Annan, with a population of around 2,500. It was a centre of the wool trade and a spa town. Moffat is arou ...

** Phillipsⁱ ** Sedgwickⁱ ** Washingtonⁱ ** Weldⁱ ** Yumaⁱ *

counties - under consideration **

** Wallace Status of My County

51st State Initiative
. Accessed on September 23, 2013. *Other counties ** Morganⁱ :i. initial invited county

References

External links

51st State Initiative
- secession campaign group {{Authority control Politics of Colorado Proposed states and territories of the United States Regions of Colorado Separatism in the United States 2013 in Colorado 2013 in American politics