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

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

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 state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...

, and the southeastern portion of

Wyoming Wyoming () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the south ...

. 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 semi-ar ...

. 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 straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico in ...

receive of snow per year and have an

Alpine climate Alpine climate is the typical weather (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 ...

. The

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

Colorado State University Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a public land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University System. Colorado State University is classified among "R1: ...

, and the

University of Northern Colorado The University of Northern Colorado (UNC) is a public university in Greeley, Colorado. The university was founded in 1889 as the State Normal School of Colorado and has a long history in teacher education. The institution has officially changed ...

are all located in Northern Colorado.

Counties

* Adams County * Arapahoe County * Boulder County * Broomfield City-County * Cheyenne County *

Elbert County Elbert County is the name of two counties in the United States: * Elbert County, Colorado * Elbert County, Georgia {{Geodis, uscounty ...

* Jackson County * Kit Carson County *

Larimer County Larimer County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 359,066. The county seat and most populous city is Fort Collins. The county was named for William Larimer, Jr., the founder of Denver. ...

* Lincoln County *

Logan County Logan County is the name of ten current counties and one former county in the United States: * Logan County, Arkansas * Logan County, Colorado * Logan County, Idaho (1889–1895) * Logan County, Illinois * Logan County, Kansas * Logan County, ...

* Morgan County * Phillips County * Sedgwick County * Washington County *

Weld County Weld County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 328,981. The county seat is Greeley. Weld County comprises the Greeley, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is included in the Denver ...

* 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 c ...

* Broomfield *

Fort Collins A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

* Greeley *

Longmont The City of Longmont is a home rule municipality located in Boulder and Weld counties, Colorado, United States. Longmont is located northeast of the county seat of Boulder and north-northwest of the Colorado State Capitol in Denver. Longmont' ...

* Loveland

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 sover ...

which would consist of several counties in the northeast portion of

and possible counties from

and

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

. A

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

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 The Constitution of the State of Colorado is the foundation of the laws and government of the U.S. state of Colorado. The current, and only, Colorado State Constitution was drafted on March 14, 1876; approved by Colorado voters on July 1, 1876 ...

defines the state’s boundaries, thus requiring a vote on a constitutional amendment.

Background

A County Commissioner of

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 that was created by the 1876 state constitution. Its statutes are codified in the ''Colorado Revised Statutes'' (C.R.S.). The ses ...

passed tighter gun control laws, higher

renewable energy Renewable energy is energy that is collected from renewable resources that are naturally replenished on a human timescale. It includes sources such as sunlight, wind, the movement of water, and geothermal heat. Although most renewable energy ...

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 withdrawal of a group from a larger entity, especially a political entity, but also from any organization, union or military alliance. Some of the most famous and significant secessions have been: the former Soviet republics le ...

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

2013 election results, North Colorado secession movement

Along with

, several other counties were invited to or interested in being involved with this proposal: Morgan, Logan, Sedgwick, Phillips,

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

, Yuma, and

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

. 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 Akron is the Statutory Town that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Washington County, Colorado, United States. The town population was 1,757 at the 2020 United States Census. History Akron was platted in 1882. The commu ...

to begin setting the boundaries of the potential state. The news media reported that some people in

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincol ...

and

Cheyenne The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. Their Cheyenne language belongs to the Algonquian language family. Today, the Cheyenne people are split into two federally recognized nations: the Southern Cheyenne, who are enroll ...

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

to have one state senator per county; however, the U. S. Supreme Court invalidated such representation by county in ''

Reynolds v. Sims ''Reynolds v. Sims'', 377 U.S. 533 (1964), was a landmark United States Supreme Court case in which the Court ruled that the electoral districts of state legislative chambers must be roughly equal in population. Along with '' Baker v. Carr'' (19 ...

'' (1964) as a violation of the

one man, one vote "One man, one vote", or "one person, one vote", expresses the principle that individuals should have equal representation in voting. This slogan is used by advocates of political equality to refer to such electoral reforms as universal suffrage, ...

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 **

** Loganⁱ **

Moffat Moffat ( gd, Mofad) is a burgh and parish in Dumfriesshire, now 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. ...

** Phillipsⁱ ** Sedgwickⁱ **

ⁱ ** Weldⁱ ** Yumaⁱ *

counties - under consideration **

Wallace Wallace may refer to: People * Clan Wallace in Scotland * Wallace (given name) * Wallace (surname) * Wallace (footballer, born 1986), full name Wallace Fernando Pereira, Brazilian football left-back * Wallace (footballer, born 1987), full name ...

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