Letter to the Editor: Tracy Coppola

As an advocate for national parks here in Colorado and on behalf of our members and supporters on the Southeast plains, I’d like to express my gratitude to the Kiowa County Board of Commissioners for their thoughtful leadership in passing Resolution No. 2026-4. This resolution established, as an emergency measure, a much-needed six-month moratorium on accepting, reviewing, or processing applications for data center facilities located wholly or partially within the county. (Kiowa County Halts Data Center Applications Amid Regulatory Review (April 21, 2026)). The health of any national park is joined at the hip with the health of its surrounding community—including but not limited to its water, air, energy, sounds of nature, open views, and our cultural history—and no one benefits from projects that are poorly planned, rushed, and kept secret. There are many well-founded concerns over the potential for a data center, among them its potential proximity close to the border of Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site, a landscape sacred to many Tribes and important to Colorado’s story. We thank the commissioners and county staff for their commitment to keeping people and landscapes critical to our national park healthy and safe.

Tracy Coppola, Colorado Senior Program Manager, National Parks Conservation Association