Ongoing Projects:

Federal Project(s) Operating in the State:

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) sponsors the Keep It Clean – Neighborhood Environmental Trios (“KIC-NET”) program in Denver, through which students collect and analyze local water samples.  See Stormwater, Earth Force Denver, Earth Force, https://earthforce.org/stormwater/ (last visited Feb. 7, 2019).  Students then present their work to city engineers responsible for managing stormwater runoff.  See id.

EPA is also funding an effort by National Jewish Health, RTI International, the City of Denver, Groundwork Denver, and Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment to learn how communities can use personal air quality monitors to understand air pollution and take action to protect their health. See Monitoring the Air in Our Community: Engaging Citizens in Research, U.S. Envtl. Protection Agency, https://cfpub.epa.gov/ncer_abstracts/index.cfm/fuseaction/display.abstractDetail/abstract/10738/report/0 (last visited Feb. 7, 2019). As part of this project, “citizen scientists will engage with data collection and analytics through written reports and smart phone applications, and will receive exposure coaching, in an effort to cultivate data understanding, encourage actions for exposure reduction, and guide informational preferences for the future.” Monitoring the Air in Our Community: Engaging Citizens in Research, CitizenScience.gov, https://www.citizenscience.gov/catalog/470/# (last visited Feb. 7, 2019).

State Project(s):

Colorado River Watch is a statewide citizen science program overseen by Colorado Parks and Wildlife (“CPW”) and the non-profit organization Earth Force. River Watch, Colorado Parks & Wildlife, https://cpw.state.co.us/aboutus/Pages/RiverWatch.aspx (last visited Feb. 7, 2019). Volunteers are given training and guidance to ensure high quality data in monitoring the state’s water. See id.https://coloradoriverwatch.org/ 

CPW also enlists volunteers for its raptor monitoring program, which allows the state to maintain up-to-date records on raptor populations and protect necessary habitats. Raptor Monitoring, Colorado Parks & Wildlife, https://cpw.state.co.us/aboutus/Pages/RS-RaptorMonitoring.aspx (last visited Feb. 7, 2019).

Collection of Information:

Scientific Collection Permit:

A scientific collection permit is required for “importing, marking or banding or temporary or permanent possession of wildlife and collection of wildlife specimens for the purpose of scientific collections or bona fide scientific research.” 2 Colo. Code Regs. § 406-13:1315(A); see also Scientific Collection Application - Mammals and Birds, Colo. Parks & Wildlife, https://cpw.state.co.us/aboutus/Pages/SWL-CollectionMammalBird.aspx (last visited Feb. 7, 2019).

Trespass Laws:

Criminal Liability for Trespass Despite Lack of Notice:

Yes.  A person is liable for trespass if she simply “unlawfully enters or remains upon the premises of another.”  Colo. Rev. Stat. § 18-4-504(1).  “Premises” includes real property as well as “the stream banks and beds of any nonnavigable fresh water streams flowing through such real property.”  See id. § 18-4-504.5.

Third degree criminal trespass is a class 1 petty offense. See id. § 18-4-504(2).

Other Provisions:

Trespass against property classified as “agricultural land” by a county assessor carries a heightened penalty as a class 3 felony. Colo. Rev. Stat. § 18-4-504(2)(a).

Drone Laws:

State Parks:

It is prohibited to “operate radio-controlled and/or fuel-propelled models, except in designated areas.” 2 Colo. Code Regs. § 405-1:100(C)(24).

Stalking Laws:

Criminal Law:

“A person commits stalking if directly, or indirectly, through another person, the person knowingly… [r]epeatedly follows, approaches, contacts, places under surveillance, or makes any form of communication with another person, a member of that person's immediate family, or someone with whom that person has or has had a continuing relationship in a manner that would cause a reasonable person to suffer serious emotional distress and does cause that person, a member of that person's immediate family, or someone with whom that person has or has had a continuing relationship to suffer serious emotional distress.  For purposes of this paragraph (c), a victim need not show that he or she received professional treatment or counseling to show that he or she suffered serious emotional distress.”  Colo. Rev. Stat. § 18-3-602(1)(c).  

Use of Information:

Although our research is incomplete, this provision could be construed to allow the use of information collected by citizens.

Explicitly Allows:

“[P]hotographs, video tapes, or films of property . . . obtained unlawfully are competent evidence[.]”  Colo. Rev. Stat. § 18-4-514.

Evidentiary Standards:

Pleading a Claim:

Requires certification by attorney that the claim “is well grounded in fact and warranted by existing law.”  C.R.C.P. 11.

Authentication or Chain of Custody:

“The requirement of authentication or identification as a condition precedent to admissibility is satisfied by evidence sufficient to support a finding that the matter in question is what its proponent claims.”  C.R.E. 901(a).

Expert Testimony:

Shreck-Daubert standard, but court may apply CRE 702 broadly to determine reliability of evidence.  See People v. Shreck, 22 P.3d 68, 70 (Colo. 2001).