March 9, 2026: Neonics protect crops but at what cost to pollinators?; Meet Denver Paralympic curler Dan Rose

Summary

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Colorado Matters – March 9, 2026: "Neonics Protect Crops, but at What Cost to Pollinators?" & Meet Denver Paralympic Curler Dan Rose

Overview

This episode of Colorado Matters, hosted by Ryan Warner and Chandra Thomas Whitfield, dives into two main stories:

1. The complex debate over neonicotinoid ("neonics") insecticides in Colorado—examining the balance between protecting crops and the risks to pollinators and human health, including the recent failed legislation to restrict their use.
2. A profile of Denver Paralympian Dan Rose, who is representing Team USA in wheelchair curling in Italy. The episode explores his journey from a combat injury to becoming an elite adaptive athlete.

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Part 1: Neonicotinoids—Pros, Cons, and Legislative Battles

The Role of Neonics in Agriculture

• Neonics as a Farming Tool:
  • Farmers turn to neonicotinoids for targeted pest protection. Seeds are often coated before planting; this has revolutionized pest control compared to past, more harmful broad-spectrum sprays.
  • Mark Arnish (Keensburg grain farmer): "When I was a kid, I can remember my dad talking about using a lot of pesticides in gallons per acre. Today, we talk about using insecticides in fractional amounts of ounces per acre." [03:06]
  • Modern seed treating is highly precise, often handled with computerized equipment: “The system is very precise. We use a computer to basically measure the rate of grain coming in, and then we match it with a computer system that dispenses the chemistry…” – Mark Arnish [03:45]

The Downside: Environmental and Human Health Concerns

• Impact on Pollinators and Ecosystems:
  • Neonics, while less harmful to mammals, are highly toxic to pollinators like bees and butterflies.
  • “But less lethal is not the same as safe. And a growing body of research about their unintended consequences is sparking concern among scientists, environmental groups, the medical community and lawmakers.” – Ray Solomon [05:37]
  • Neonics are water soluble, raising concerns about contamination of groundwater and spread into wider environments.
    • Sean Connolly (University of Wisconsin, Madison): “That water solubility is what also is one of the bad things, because it makes it readily available to move through the water profile... So I think, like everything, there's pros and cons to it.” [09:14]
  • A Colorado state-commissioned report cited neonics among chief contributors to pollinator decline, alongside climate change, drought, and habitat loss. [10:21]
  • Instances of runoff also harm fish and have been linked to birth defects in mammals.
• Potential Human Effects:
  • Concerns are rising over neurological and reproductive problems as neonics enter the human food chain. [11:03]

The Policy Front—Efforts at Restriction

• Legislative Attempts and Sticking Points:
  • Colorado lawmakers introduced Senate Bill 65 to restrict neonic use, requiring farmers to get third-party approval before purchasing treated seeds—a "prescription" model [15:37].
  • This model has limited precedent in the US (NY and VT laws not yet in effect) but has been successful in Quebec, where neonic use declined without major economic impact [16:03].
  • Benta Birkeland: “So there are studies that show there's little to no economic benefit to farmers who use neonics because any modest value they gain from whatever yield boost... is offset by cost of the chemicals.” [16:25]
• Pushback from Farmers and Industry:
  • Farmers question the applicability of studies from other regions and defend their stewardship.
  • Mark Arnish: "We use neonics within our operation when they're warranted, and that's certainly not every year." [17:55]
  • Some believe the bill was sprung on them with insufficient outreach:
    • Brandon Melnikoff (Colorado Farm Bureau): “We were not invited to the table when this bill was in the drafting stages. ... If you're not at the table, you're on the menu. So we feel like this is an attack on our most effective and efficient and affordable practices.” [19:25]
  • The bill died in committee, with Democrats as well as Republicans voting against. Some argued the bill was “too much too soon” and criticized lack of engagement from state agencies and the Governor’s office. [21:31, 22:16]
    • Senator Dylan Roberts: "This is a big step. And I don't feel like the conversation and the engagement of both sides has happened yet enough." [21:31]

Voices from Beekeepers and Advocates

• On the Front Lines:
  • Randall Heidi, Denver-area commercial beekeeper: “If bees get into pesticides, basically they bring it back to the colony... it can destroy the whole colony.” [13:50]
  • He and other beekeepers are among the bill’s strongest supporters, having witnessed pollinator losses in their communities.
  • Family nurse Ayanna Malik testifies: "…notify the family that there is the possibility that preventable exposure to neurotoxic chemicals may have been contributing to their child's challenges. If we have the opportunity to reduce that risk… shouldn't we take it?" [25:18]
  • Rancher Zara Shapanya: "As a Coloradan, we're a fence out state, but I can't fence out these chemicals. ... I hope we can have a different option for them to feel safe making a transition to something different." [24:41]

What’s Next? Unresolved Tensions and Future Outlook

• Education and Communication Are Key:
  • Lawmakers, bill backers, and agricultural groups recognize there must be broader outreach, better dialogue, and more consensus if similar restrictions are to pass.
  • Bill sponsor Sen. Katie Wallace promises to rework the proposal and build support for future sessions: “This issue is not going away because it is so pressing. So I look forward to continue to work, work on it.” [26:38]
• Underlying Challenges Remain:
  • Climate change and increasing drought mean fewer options for managing pests, spurring ongoing tensions between environmental priorities and agricultural realities.
  • "Whatever the lawmakers decide to do, the bugs are there, the bugs are in the ground..." – Ray Solomon [27:11]

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Part 2: Meet Denver Paralympic Curler Dan Rose

Introduction to Wheelchair Curling

• The Basics and the Peculiarities:
  • Curling requires strategic precision. Wheelchair curling, however, eliminates sweeping—meaning players must rely solely on the accuracy of their throws.
    • Dan Rose: “We don’t have any sweeping. In the sweeping, they can make the stone go a little bit further. ... But for the wheelchair game, after we deliver the rock, we just got to sit there and watch it go down...” [00:43, 38:35]

Dan Rose’s Journey: From Military Injury to Paralympics

• Combat and Recovery:

  • Rose served in Afghanistan as a combat engineer; he was paralyzed by a roadside bomb.
    • “I was in the front passenger seat. ... I basically knew right away that I was paralyzed. ... It was, we're very fortunate. We're definitely lucky to be here.” [44:23]
  • Facing a new reality post-injury, rehab included exposure to adaptive sports—a turning point:
    • “Luckily, before I had left, one of my rec therapists... told me, like, hey, you're going skiing out in Colorado... That ended up being the best thing ever. ... I realized, like, I can do that. ... What else can I do?” [46:08]

• Discovering Wheelchair Curling:

  • A friend's invitation led him to a veteran wheelchair curling camp in Denver, where his natural talent and determination propelled him onto the national team.
    • “So I came out, did that camp, performed really well, was invited back... I was on the developmental program for about a year, and then I made the national team in 2020, and I've been on the national team ever since.” [46:50]

Challenges and Teamwork

• Precision and Adaptability:

  • No sweeping means precise delivery is crucial. Equipment modifications for wheelchair users include a delivery stick with adjustable spin.
    • “There's a little screw on the end that we can adjust ... we're trying to get between five and six rotations for the rock traveling down the sheet.” [37:59]

• Training with Able-Bodied and Para-Athletes:

  • Rose often trains alongside able-bodied curlers. Assistant coach Claire Moores explains this flexibility is key for adaptive athletes: “Any ice time really is a benefit. ... Being able to adjust ... is going to help you to adjust to different other situations faster.” [39:28]

• Mentorship and Camaraderie:

  • Rose credits fellow Paralympian Pam Wilson as both mentor and training partner. They help each other hone their tactics and share a commitment to adaptive sport progress. [40:12]

The Inclusive Spirit of Curling

• Invitation to Newcomers:
  • Rose sees curling as a welcoming, strategy-based game for all, regardless of ability:
    • “Wheelchair curling. I mean, just give it a try. ... It's more like a strategy based game, kind of like chess. ... It's the sport for everybody.” [47:48]

Memorable Moments

• Playful Coaching and Progress:
  • Rose teaches CPR’s Tony Gorman the basics of wheelchair curling on the ice, celebrating successes and laughing through the inevitable rookie mistakes.
    • “Push too hard. Well, you got to push a little bit harder or whatever, but, I mean, you're right online for what you're aiming for.” [42:23]
    • “Look at button shot.” [43:35]
    • “And that's why Rose and Wilson are Paralympians in the sport, and I’m just a casual person. But, hey, I might give curling more of a shot after this experience.” [43:39]

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Key Timestamps

• Neonics segment begins: 00:04

  • Mark Arnish on farming history: 03:06
  • Expert/Scientific concerns: 05:37–11:54
  • Beekeeper Randall Heidi on hive risks: 13:11 (pollinator perspective)
  • Quebec example: 16:03
  • Farmers' pushback: 17:55–19:25
  • Legislative details and testimony: 20:17–26:58
  • Future of neonics policy: 26:38–27:11

• Wheelchair Curling & Dan Rose segment begins: 34:56

  • Rose’s pathway to Paralympics: 36:47
  • Details of wheelchair curling: 37:35–41:52
  • Tony Gorman learns curling with Rose: 41:52–43:39
  • Dan Rose’s military injury and recovery: 44:23–46:06
  • Discovering and joining curling: 46:50
  • Rose’s pitch to aspiring adaptive athletes: 47:48

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Notable Quotes

• On Neonics:

  • "Neonics were rolled out initially as safer than many other pesticides because they're less lethal to mammals. But less lethal is not the same as safe." – Ray Solomon [05:37]
  • "If bees get into pesticides, basically they bring it back to the colony... it can destroy the whole colony." – Randall Heidi [13:50]
  • “We were not invited to the table ... We feel like this is an attack on our most effective and efficient and affordable practices.” – Brandon Melnikoff [19:25]
  • “We're a fence out state, but I can't fence out these chemicals.” – Zara Shapanya [24:41]
  • “This issue is not going away because it is so pressing.” – Sen. Katie Wallace [26:38]

• On Wheelchair Curling & Resilience:

  • “Because we don't have any sweeping... after we deliver the rock, we just got to sit there and watch it go down...” – Dan Rose [38:35]
  • “It was devastating to hear. But I think at the same time, ... it allowed me just to accept it and ... figure out, like, all right, this is what it’s going to be, so I better get good at it.” – Dan Rose, on paralysis [44:56]
  • “It's the sport for everybody.” – Dan Rose [47:48]

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Tone and Language

The episode maintains a tone of respectful debate and honest reflection, blending hard policy talk with grounded personal stories—whether it’s about the dilemmas facing Colorado agriculture or the determination of a Paralympic athlete.

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For listeners interested in environmental policy, agriculture, or adaptive athletics, this episode delivers a nuanced discussion and motivating human story rooted in Colorado communities.

Transcript

[Ryan Warner]

For many farmers, insecticides known as neonics are a game changer. They're also blamed for killing pollinators and threatening human health.

[Ray Solomon]

Neonics were rolled out initially as safer than many other pesticides because they're less lethal to mammals. But less lethal is not the same as safe.

[Ryan Warner]

Then college credit for work experience.

[Kathryn Starkey]

So we have a lot of folks who have worked in the construction industry for a long time, so they they've already mastered the learning outcomes of concrete one, but want to move up the ladder of the company they work for and earn a degree in construction management.

[Ryan Warner]

And curling is all about precision wheelchair

[Dan Rose]

curling even more so because we don't have any sweeping. In the sweeping, they can make the stone go a little bit further. They can kind of affect the path that the stone's going to take.

[Ryan Warner]

This is Colorado Matters from CPR News and krcc. I'm Ryan Warner. For a lot of farmers in Colorado, insecticides known as neonicotinoids have protected crops, but neonics are blamed for killing pollinators. And there's growing concern about their impact on people. State lawmakers have been debating whether to limit the chemicals use. It's the focus of Purplish, the podcast about politics and policy from CPR News and the Colorado Capital News Alliance. Here are public affairs reporters Ray Solomon and Benta Birkeland.

[Benta Birkeland]

Winter's a quiet time of year on the farm. You might fix equipment, set aside time to plan the next year, or take a cue from Mark Arnish.

[Mark Arnish]

What do you do in the wintertime here? Well, part of it is you unwind.

[Benta Birkeland]

And Arnish has earned it. During the busy season, he's tending to about 3,000 acres of grain, wheat, barley, corn on his farm In Keensburg, about 40 minutes northeast of Denver.

[Mark Arnish]

There's times we on this farm, we've harvested a crop for 84 consecutive days. Well, after a while, that kind of grates on you. And so we use January and February to unwind, to plan this farm.

[Benta Birkeland]

It's also the time of year he gets to spend more downtime with his family.

[Ray Solomon]

That's my little granddaughter in there, Charlotte. His granddaughter is visiting the farm with her mom and they're hanging out in the kitchen. Arnish comes from a long line of farmers, and he's already got the future mapped out for little Charlotte. She'd be the fifth generation of the family to farm this land.

[Mark Arnish]

Well, she's two, but I think she's going to come by it genetically. You can just feel that she's very much in tune with the land with Our lifestyle and with the way we make our life.

[Ray Solomon]

Over the generations, the family has changed how they work this land, from adopting new equipment to changing how they protect their crops from pests.

[Benta Birkeland]

The pesticides of his father's and grandfather's generations were more dangerous and less efficient. They had to be sprayed broadly over entire fields.

[Mark Arnish]

When I was a kid, I can remember my dad talking about using a lot of pesticides in gallons per acre. Today, we talk about using insecticides in fractional amounts of ounces per acre.

[Ray Solomon]

Now on the farm, they apply pesticides in a totally different way, by coating seeds before they go into the ground. Most farmers buy their seeds already treated, but Arnish grows grain for seed. He's a seed seller, so he does it himself.

[Mark Arnish]

Well, come on in.

[Ray Solomon]

The equipment he uses to coat his seeds is unhooked for the season, but he explains how the process works.

[Mark Arnish]

The system is very precise. We use a computer to basically measure the rate of grain coming in, and then we match it with a computer system that dispenses the chemistry. And specifically, based upon that weight coming

[Ray Solomon]

through, the machine looks a bit like a Dr. Seuss contraption. A red bucket sits on top of a metal canister that tapers to a cone. It's a spinning atomizer. And that's where the seeds meet the pesticides. A type of chemical called neonicotinoids or neonics.

[Mark Arnish]

As the seed flows through that atomizer, turns that into basically like a vapor or a mistake, and it coats the seed as it falls into this drum.

[Benta Birkeland]

For a lot of farmers in Colorado and across the country, neonic coated seeds are a game changer. Arnish describes them as the greatest breakthrough of his farming career.

[Ray Solomon]

But this breakthrough for one type of farmer is a nightmare for others. Neonics are being blamed for huge die offs among domestic bees and butterflies. And some scientists are warning they could be a threat to human health as well.

[Benta Birkeland]

There's a growing movement to restrict or ban neonics that some in Colorado see as the best way to protect public health and the environment. But farmers like Arnish warn it could make life much harder on their land. In this episode, we're going to spend time talking about the restrictions some Colorado lawmakers want to put on neonics Before. Before we get into that, though, I think it will be good to better understand why these chemicals are controversial.

[Ray Solomon]

So neonics were rolled out initially as safer than many other pesticides because they're less lethal to mammals. But less lethal is not the same as safe. And a growing body of research about their unintended consequences is sparking concern among scientists, environmental groups, the medical community and lawmakers.

[Benta Birkeland]

Colorado isn't the first state to try to address this. New York and Vermont have both passed laws that go into effect in three years to restrict when and how farmers can use neonic treated seeds. And other states are also weighing similar legislation.

[Ray Solomon]

And Colorado already does have some restrictions in place on neonics. Only licensed dealers can sell them. That means the average person can't just go to the garden store and buy them. But that was never the biggest problem with neonics anyway, right?

[Benta Birkeland]

I mean, for people concerned about the environment wide damage they believe these pesticides are causing, they want to tackle it where it's being used widely, and that's the agriculture industry.

[Ray Solomon]

That brings us to this legislation. A group of Democratic lawmakers who wanted to make it harder for farmers to use neonicotinoids.

[Benta Birkeland]

And the ag industry is a significant industry in Colorado. Close to $50 billion in economic activity. That's according to a state analys the top commodities for Colorado. We've got cattle, dairy, followed by grains like corn, hay, wheat. So any major change to that industry you can imagine comes with a lot of people paying attention or a lot of eyes on that and potential opposition. That's what happened with this bill. It didn't even make it past its first committee hearing.

[Ray Solomon]

But it did bring up an important conversation about agriculture, the environment and our food supply.

[Benta Birkeland]

Neonics have become nearly ubiquitous in agriculture. But let's drill down on why lawmakers in this state and other parts of the US are starting to really zero in on neonics and why now.

[Ray Solomon]

Yes, neonics came on the market over the last couple of decades. It's often used as a coating directly on the seeds. And as the plant grows, it takes up the chemical from the seed, so it's in the entire plant from root to pollen. And when a pest takes a nibble on any part of that plant, it gets poisoned. Farmers like to use it to target insects like wireworm, which can destroy corn seedlings by nibbling on the roots before they even pop up as seedlings.

[Benta Birkeland]

Ray, you've seen these coated seeds. Do they look much different than non coated seeds?

[Ray Solomon]

Well, you can see that there's a coating, so there's a little bit smoother than a normal seed. And there's like a color. I saw some purple alfalfa coated seeds and I've also seen pictures of like aquamarine seeds and all these different crazy colors you'd never seen in nature.

[Benta Birkeland]

We heard Arnish talking about how much of a breakthrough he views this just working in the egg industry, coating the seeds with the pesticides versus spraying fields, he feels like it's a lot more efficient and more targeted. What are you hearing in terms of the biggest concerns about this?

[Ray Solomon]

Well, neonics are very water soluble. That's part of what makes them so effective, how the plants can take them up into every part of the greenery. But there's a downside to that. Here's Sean Connolly, a professor of agronomy at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

[Mark Arnish]

That water solubility is what also is one of the bad things, because it makes it readily available to move through the water profile, that is through either leaching to groundwater to moving into stream banks and whatnot. So I think, like everything, there's pros and cons to it.

[Ray Solomon]

So basically the fear is you put these treated seeds in the ground, but when it rains or when farmers water their crops, some of that coating washes off and starts moving through the ecosystem. And that's bad because when it comes to the potency of neonics, they're extremely effective at killing insects, which is why a farmer might like to use them, but they're nonspecific. That's Alison Johnson, an attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council. So all of our pollinators, our butterflies, our bees, beetles and other beneficial predators are all impacted by these very toxic insecticides.

[Benta Birkeland]

Ray, you've been looking at some of the research on pollinators like bees, butterflies and some other bird species that are in decline in Colorado. And how does that relate to neonics?

[Ray Solomon]

There is a lot of research showing that neonics are harmful to these pollinators. There was a recent state commissioned report that described the status of Colorado's native pollinating insects as tenuous. And it specifically pointed to neonics as one of the main reasons. Among others, you know, the study also cites climate change, drought, habitat loss, but neonics is on that list. And there's also some science linking neonics to birth defects in large mammals like deer. And when they run off the farm and get into aquatic ecosystems, the chemicals have been shown to kill fish.

[Benta Birkeland]

What about impacts on people?

[Ray Solomon]

There's a lot of concern that when they get into people and they eventually do make their way up the food chain, they could cause neurological and reproductive problems.

[Benta Birkeland]

Ray, how settled would you say the science is on some of these harms? Is it fairly disputed or more of a consensus, knowing that there's other factors as well, like drought and climate change?

[Ray Solomon]

That is a really tough question, because there are always people who will question how settled science Ever is. But I think the most established research links to neonics to negative impacts on pollinators. Certainly not everyone agrees with the scope of that link or causation, but it's not really disputed by most scientists at this point.

[Benta Birkeland]

And other countries are also regulating this.

[Ray Solomon]

That is right. In the EU they've banned outdoor use of several types of neonics and there are also some pretty tight regulations in the Canadian province of Quebec.

[Benta Birkeland]

Okay, now that we know a little bit more about neonics and the science that's worrying some Colorado lawmakers, next we'll take a look at what they tried

[Claire Moores]

to do about it.

[Ryan Warner]

That's after the break. I'm Ryan Warner. This is Purplish and Colorado Matters. From CPR News, it's Colorado Matters. From CPR News, I'm Ryan Warner. Neonics help farmers use fewer insecticides to ward off pests. But those chemicals don't discriminate and are blamed for the die off of pollinators. There's concern too about the potential impact on people. This is the focus of Purplish this Time, the policy and politics podcast from CPR News and the Colorado Capital News Alliance.

[Benta Birkeland]

I think I hear some bees there. Is that some bees in the background?

[Ray Solomon]

Yes, and we've been talking about bees this whole episode. I thought it was time we hear straight from the source.

[Randall Heidi]

There's the queen right there.

[Ray Solomon]

Randall Heidi is a commercial beekeeper with dozens of hives around the Denver metro area, including Greenwood Village where I tagged along on his rounds.

[Randall Heidi]

You barely see them, but there's some little tiny 1 day old eggs you

[Ray Solomon]

could see, little bee larvae too, tiny white grubs, bee babies, each one curled up inside a honeycomb cell. But Heidi says those eggs, those larvae and all his hives face an ongoing threat because of those neonic treated seeds.

[Benta Birkeland]

Because as we've mentioned, studies show these chemicals are highly toxic to bees and other pollinators.

[Randall Heidi]

If bees get into pesticides, basically they bring it back to the colony. It gets into the wax, you know, absorbs into the wood and so it really, you know, it can destroy the whole colony.

[Ray Solomon]

This is Heidi's full time gig tending bees, selling honey. So his livelihood completely depends on his bees well being. And that's why he's so concerned about the neonic treated seeds. The chemical is in the pollen of any plants that grow from them and

[Randall Heidi]

then the pollen is their protein source. That's what they're eating, they're feeding to the babies.

[Benta Birkeland]

So when you were out visiting with the, did he say if his hives had Been dying because of neonics.

[Ray Solomon]

So far, Heidi has been very lucky. None of his hives are near neonic treated fields, and none of his bees have gotten into it that he knows of. But the beekeeping community is pretty tight knit. They swap stories. So he knows what can happen if

[Randall Heidi]

the bees get into pesticides like you. You'll come back, you know, your colony will be just fine one week and then you'll come back the next time to check on them, and you'll have 50,000 dead bees sitting on the front porch. And so it's a pretty obvious sign that they got into pesticides.

[Ray Solomon]

And Heidi says it's not just about the money a beekeeper loses when a colony collapses. He nurtures the same hives for years and develops a whole relationship with his bees. So losing hives would be emotionally devastating too.

[Randall Heidi]

I understand that farmers don't want their crops devastated, but the problem I see is it's, you know, these chemicals are taking out all the bugs.

[Benta Birkeland]

That's why beekeepers like Heidi were some of the biggest supporters of the neonic legislation that was introduced at the state House earlier this session. Senate Bill 65. But this bill wasn't a straight up ban.

[Ray Solomon]

No, it was a restriction. It was structured so a third party expert would have to sign off before farmers could buy neonic treated seeds. Sort of like getting a prescription from a doctor.

[Benta Birkeland]

And it's a similar approach to what New York and Vermont took. They passed those laws, but they haven't gone into effect yet. So that means in the US we don't have data on how effective this prescription model approach is for neonics.

[Ray Solomon]

That's true, but we do have some data from Canada. I mentioned Quebec had passed restrictions before. They also adopted this prove your need model in 2019. And after that was enacted, neonicotinoid use really dropped off the map there with no significant economic impact for the farmers.

[Benta Birkeland]

Really? That's surprising.

[Ray Solomon]

It is. I think it has to do with the impact of neonicotinoids and their cost. So there are studies that show there's little to no economic benefit to farmers who use neonics because any modest value they gain from whatever yield boost they get from using neonicotinoids is offset by the cost of the chemicals. So it's sort of a break even at best.

[Benta Birkeland]

So then I'm wondering with the farmer you talk to, Arnish, he treats seeds himself with neonics. Why would he do that if there's not really an economic benefit, then?

[Ray Solomon]

Well, he's pretty skeptical of those studies. Other farmers also pointed out that that research was done in other places like Quebec. But farming is really, really local. So what's true for those climates might not be true in Colorado. And he says it's not true on his farm.

[Benta Birkeland]

A lot of farmers say these neonics are really important, efficient. They need to be using them. Is that why they've become so widespread?

[Ray Solomon]

There's really two perspectives on that. The backers of the bill say that seed companies are using these neonic treatments on the seeds by default, and that's the only thing they're offering. And farmers don't have a choice. They have to buy what's available, and untreated seeds aren't available. But farmers I've spoken to, including Mark Arnish, tell me that's just not true, that they don't have an issue buying untreated seeds if they don't need the treatments.

[Mark Arnish]

We use neonics within our operation when they're warranted, and that's certainly not every year. We make adjustments year over year based upon insect pressures, based upon economic thresholds, based upon.

[Ray Solomon]

But experts estimate that the neonic treated seeds are used on anywhere between 80% and 98% of crops like corn. So either way, it's being used on a lot of acreage. For Sean Connolly, the expert with the University of Wisconsin, Madison, we heard from earlier, that's the rub.

[Mark Arnish]

I don't like to see something just ubiquitously thrown into the environment and treated as an insurance policy.

[Ray Solomon]

He says that's simply not the proper use of a pesticide.

[Benta Birkeland]

And how do farmers take that critique?

[Ray Solomon]

Yeah, they take it pretty personally. The farmers that I've spoken to find it pretty insulting that the Billbackers claim they're being thoughtless about what they put on their land. Farmers are really careful stewards of their land in general. For instance, Mark Arnish, he's invested money in being able to treat his own seeds. He's not just buying them by default. And those chemicals are expensive for farmers. Arnish told me if he could save the money and not use them, he would opt to do that every time.

[Benta Birkeland]

And major players in the state's agriculture industry also complained about the bill. And they felt that lawmakers who wrote it didn't try to get their expertise, didn't reach out. Here's Brandon Melnikoff with the Colorado Farm Bureau.

[Dan Rose]

We were not invited to the table when this bill was in the drafting stages. We didn't see any language until it was introduced. And, you know, there's that saying that if you're not at the table, you're on the menu. So we feel like this is an attack on our most effective and efficient and affordable practices. And we're quite frustrated with the policy.

[Benta Birkeland]

Senate Bill 65 faced an uphill battle right from the start. Even though it's a Democratic bill, Colorado has a Democratic controlled legislature. That's not a guarantee for passage. And the bill was assigned to the Senate Ag Committee. That committee assignment makes sense. This committee, though, is very ag friendly. And given the committee makeup, it only takes one Democrat to side with Republicans to defeat this bill. In the end, two Democrats voted against it.

[Ray Solomon]

And we knew going into the hearing that the Republicans on the committee were going to be no votes. The bill's sponsor, Senator Katie Wallace, knew that too. But at the hearing, she made her final pitch and said the issue was personal for her, too. She talked about growing up with climate change and extreme weather. That's all that my generation and each coming after me will ever know. And what created this situation, decade after decade after decade of the hubris of human beings thinking we can act recklessly with the planet, including placing hazardous chemicals into our environment.

[Benta Birkeland]

And I think it's worth noting the Democratic no votes, they didn't disregard the pressing issue of climate change or even really bring that up. And what stood out to me as well is that the Democrats who voted against it, they didn't even seem that posed to regulating neo nics. I've covered a lot of things over the years where lawmakers vote no because they're vehemently opposed to a policy. In this case, the Democrats essentially said the bill was kind of too much too soon. Here's Dylan Roberts. He chairs the Senate Ag Committee and he represents a large swath of the Western Slope.

[Dan Rose]

We do hundreds of bills here every year. Some are pretty small. You know, admittedly they make little tweaks. This is not one of those bills. This is a big step. And I don't feel like the conversation and the engagement of both sides has happened yet enough. So to make that big of a step.

[Benta Birkeland]

Roberts specifically called out the polls administration, which is not something you always hear from a Democrat. The governor supported this neo nix bill. He even gave it a brief shout out during his State of the State address. That was back in January. But Roberts said Governor Polis and the Colorado Department of Agriculture needed to do more to make their case, to lay the groundwork for a policy change like this.

[Dan Rose]

He's had eight years for his administration to be out there trying to move this ball forward with voluntary measures or with more measured steps, rather than this giant step.

[Benta Birkeland]

To give you a little sense of the scale of this bill, nonpartisan legislative analysts calculated it would apply to about 24,000 farms in Colorado. And the analysts estimated that two thirds of those producers would try to get permission to keep using neonics.

[Ray Solomon]

And then there's the details of what a farmer would have to do to prove they need to use the neonics, how to get that prescription. That was maybe the biggest unanswered question about this policy, how the program would work on a practical level. That's something that Republic senator Rod Pelton, who's from Cheyenne Wells on the eastern plains, spoke about in the hearing. He probably has the most direct experience with neonics on the committee. He said he's planted thousands and thousands of acres of treated seeds, corn, sunflower, milo seeds.

[Tony Gorman]

I think while your bill doesn't set out to take tools out of toolbox, it makes them have to go ask permission from the almighty government to do what they think is right on their farm.

[Dan Rose]

And I don't think that's right.

[Tony Gorman]

The farmers I know and work with are responsible stewards of our land. And so with that, I can't support your policy today.

[Benta Birkeland]

Ray, let's say there had been more outreach to farmers like Roberts and some other people wanted. The Polis administration makes this case for the bill any sense, based on your reporting that it could have resulted in a different outcome.

[Ray Solomon]

The fact that there really wasn't much collaboration with commercial farmers, that was a really big sticking point for people like Mark Arnish. He told me that he felt really blindsided by this legislation and he would have liked to have a real conversation with the backers.

[Mark Arnish]

But a lot of times when things come to agriculture, we can work within the language of a bill and make it better for the farmer, make it better for agriculture, and certainly make it better for the state.

[Ray Solomon]

At the same time, backers of the legislation want farmers to shift their thinking, to sort of zoom out to the bigger picture beyond their own fields.

[Kathryn Starkey]

As a Coloradan, we're a fence out state, but I can't fence out these chemicals. And as a woman, we've heard from a lot of men. I worry about my kids. I don't want to see the birth defects and I don't want. I don't want this.

[Ray Solomon]

That's rancher Zara Shapanya testifying at the committee hearing.

[Kathryn Starkey]

I'm passionate about it and because I care about my community and I also care about the farmers who are reliant on this. And I hope we can have a different option for them to feel Safe making a transition to something different.

[Ray Solomon]

Ayanna Malik also spoke at that hearing. She's a registered nurse from Larimer County.

[Benta Birkeland]

So I ask you to imagine standing

[Claire Moores]

in my place notifying the family that there is the possibility that preventable exposure

[Kathryn Starkey]

to neurotoxic chemicals may have been contributing

[Claire Moores]

to their child's challenges. If we have the opportunity to reduce

[Kathryn Starkey]

that risk through preventable, unnecessary exposure to

[Claire Moores]

neonics, shouldn't we take it?

[Ray Solomon]

I think it's safe to say there's just a lot of education in both directions, by the way, that could make a difference here.

[Benta Birkeland]

Yeah, I mean, certainly discussions and communication is the first step. Doesn't mean they're going to reach an outcome everyone agrees with. One thing that kind of stood out to me was Democratic Senator Nick Henriksen. He's from Pueblo. He voted against the bill, but he did warn farmers that they should not just be outright opposed to any and all regulation. I feel like he told them, look, you need to come to the table. You know, I'm with you today on this bill, but that doesn't mean I'm going to be opposed to it necessarily in future sessions, especially if farmers are just, nope, don't come near us. We don't want more regulation. That senator did not think that was going to be an approach that he'd appreciate moving forward, knowing how passionate she is about this. Did Senator Wallace say what she plans to do in a future session? Does she want to bring the bill back?

[Ray Solomon]

I did get to sit down with her for a post mortem after the vote. This issue is not going away because it is so pressing. So I look forward to continue to work, work on it. I think this bill will likely be back next year. She's going to work on future iterations of the bill and build support, build a coalition around it, try to engage a little bit more with the community.

[Benta Birkeland]

Colorado lawmakers seem poised to bring up neonext restrictions in an upcoming legislative session. And certainly the underlying issues leading farmers to use these pesticides, that's not going away either.

[Ray Solomon]

No, definitely not. Whatever the lawmakers decide to do, the bugs are there, the bugs are in the ground. And something that Mark Arnish told me when I went out to visit him has been sticking with me. He told me that when he's making decisions about when to use neonicotinoids, one of the major factors is like how hot and dry it's been. The drier the year, the more likely he is to need to use neonicotinoids. And I'm looking outside and I'm thinking, well, gosh, we haven't really had a winter this year. It's been warm, it's been dry. When I was visiting the beehives, the bees were buzzing about in February. It'll be something we continue to grapple with as our climate continues to get warmer and drier.

[Ryan Warner]

Ray Solomon, Benta Birkeland and Purplish. It's a production of CPR News and the Colorado Capital News alliance, also made up of KUNC News, Rocky Mountain PBS and the Colorado Sun. And Colorado Matters continues in this next half hour with college credit from the School of Hard Knocks. I'm Ryan Warner. You're with CPR News and krcc. You're back with Colorado Matters from CPR News and krcc. I'm Ryan Warner. The School of Hard Knocks or the University of Life are ways to say I have experience but not a degree. Well, increasingly, colleges take into consideration students work histories and give them credit for it. The term of Art is PLA's prior learning assessments. Kathryn Starkey is passionate about them. She's dean of extended studies at CSU Pueblo, and she told me about the portfolios students put together to demonstrate they can skip a particular class.

[Kathryn Starkey]

Say someone has worked in an HR office for the last 20 years but want to go to school for a bachelor's degree. They probably don't need to take an Intro to HR course. So what they'll do is collect a bunch of evidence to show that they have the learning outcomes of that class. So whether that's documents they've created, policies and procedures.

[Ryan Warner]

You gave us the HR example. I realize I'm hungry for a thousand more.

[Kathryn Starkey]

Yeah. Some other are construction management. So we have a lot of folks who have worked in the construction industry for a long time, so they've already mastered the learning outcomes of concrete 1. Surveying and modeling might be another example where students have mastered those outcomes in the field as they've worked in construction for a long time but want to move up the ladder of the company they work for and earn a degree in construction management. So they demonstrate through sometimes work product. Sometimes they will come in person and do a demonstration for a faculty member. So it really is, you know, the gamut of possibilities where a student can show with photos, videos, come in person, do a demonstration, essays, copies of work product that they've done to demonstrate they've learned those learning outcomes.

[Ryan Warner]

What's the point of this?

[Kathryn Starkey]

The two most important things when an adult learner is making the decision to go back to school are money and time and participating in credit for prior learning helps save them. Both of those things. Right. It's the cost of a class and also one fewer class that you have to take to get to the path to 120, which is the full number of credits you're required to have a degree.

[Ryan Warner]

CSU Pueblo loses out on the credit hours and the revenue that the student would pay.

[Kathryn Starkey]

That is the other side of the coin. And if you ask about a debate about pla, that'll be the con of the argument. Right. But the benefit of it is it shows that we value the students. A lot of the data shows that students who participate in PLA, they have higher GPAs and they graduate on a quicker time frame. And part of that is that the institution has showed that they're invested in them. It helps with retention, too, because once students feel that the institution's also invested in them, they're willing to continue to stick it out and finish their degree program. So, yes, while we do maybe lose out on some tuition revenue, it's maybe a classroom or maybe a couple of classes per student.

[Ryan Warner]

Is it dangerous? Is it potentially graduating people who aren't actually ready or who are good at fudging it?

[Kathryn Starkey]

I don't believe so. The faculty are experts, especially in the world of AI. Right. Students are sometimes using AI to write essays or whatever the fears are. But we trust our expert faculty to know whether a student has mastered that learning outcome. And so they're the final arbiters of it. Right. They can decide if a student does receive the credit, does not receive the credit, gets another chance to obtain the credit in a different way. But if a student is denied a portfolio, then that's okay, too.

[Ryan Warner]

Is this a trend? Is this where higher education is headed? I mean, you've spoken a bit to resistance that exists.

[Kathryn Starkey]

Yeah. So it's funny. I did my dissertation on faculty perceptions and experiences with PLA back in 2021. I think the resistance is changing. I think more folks are learning the benefits of it, but you're also seeing really big schools who have, you know, large marketing dollars behind them, and the online University of Phoenix or whatever it might be, all these major schools are doing it. So it's, do you jump on the bandwagon and do it the way that you want to be doing it, or do you get your hand forced by the marketplace saying that you now need to take part in what PLA is? But I think our institution as a whole, last year we had subjects from athletic training to health science, nursing, computer information systems, civil engineering, technology, Marketing world language. So really, all of the different colleges are participating in a way that's meaningful to them and eventually being meaningful to students.

[Ryan Warner]

World language strikes me as maybe a cultural example of someone's experience yielding credits.

[Kathryn Starkey]

As long as we can find someone to evaluate the exam, they can get world language credit for a language that they speak that we don't have faculty experts for. So last year in the 2024, 2025 school year, we saw Japanese, Korean, Polish, Romanian, Swedish, and Vietnamese exams get taken.

[Ryan Warner]

Take me into like the emotional part

[Mark Arnish]

of this for you.

[Ryan Warner]

It's gotta be gratifying to sort of tell someone their life means something. I know that sounds a little harsh, but just like there's real value to what you've lived.

[Kathryn Starkey]

Yeah, absolutely. I've had some conversations with adult students who are afraid to go back to school, and if I was in their shoes, I would be too. I took the traditional path. I graduated high school, I went straight to college and straight to my master's degree and then wound up here for a job. Right. But that's not everybody's path. They sometimes start college and then stop out because they're taking care of their family or they, they have to take a different job and so they can't go to school full time. And sometimes when you're on a degree path that if you're not doing full time, it's hard to do the part time route and have someone understand what's happening within your life, your circumstances. And so for an adult who maybe has had that messy academic history to then come here, get advice that, hey, you've done this really cool thing in your life or you had this really awesome job that could translate into credit and help you get out the door faster here to help you get that job to really improve your life. I mean, that is what helps me get to work every day.

[Ryan Warner]

Catherine Starkey there, dean of extended studies at CSU Pueblo. We discussed PLAs, prior learning assessments. They allow students to translate work experience into a lighter course load, to paraphrase the drug commercials. Ask your school's dean if PLAs are right for you. When we come back, the first Paralympics for a Denver curler. This is Colorado Matters from CPR News. You're with Colorado Matters from CPR News. I'm Ryan Warner. When the Winter Games come around, so do the jokes about curling.

[Dan Rose]

Let's just briefly go over the basics of curling because sometimes it looks like, you know, some kind of weird icy yoga. Now it looks like she's inspecting her teammates brushes. Very important thing to do. Greg, I gotta ask you, what is the purpose of those brushes?

[Ray Solomon]

No idea.

[Ryan Warner]

For the athletes, this sport is serious stuff. Dan Rose of Denver is at his first Paralympic games as a member of the mixed wheelchair curling team. CPR's Tony Gorman caught up with Rose before he headed to Italy for a taste of the sport.

[Dan Rose]

Go, go, go, go. You can do it.

[Ray Solomon]

Harder, harder, harder.

[Dan Rose]

Keep going.

[Ray Solomon]

4.

[Tony Gorman]

A typical league morning at the Denver Curling Club. Every sheet or playing area is full with curlers and stones. Every sweep, throw, burn, and command are carried across the facility.

[Ray Solomon]

Sweep.

[Dan Rose]

Kevin, slow it down. Andy, slow it down.

[Tony Gorman]

In the middle of one house or the big target at the end of each sheet between the brooms and the stones that have been thrown since Dan Rose in his wheelchair.

[Dan Rose]

Yeah, we just want it like zone three. Zone two.

[Kathryn Starkey]

Yeah.

[Dan Rose]

Three is good.

[Tony Gorman]

He holds a broom in one hand just in case he needs to sweep within the house. A pole is posted in his wheelchair. When it's his turn to throw, he takes that pole out, connects the end to a stone's handle, and thrusts it down the sheet. This is just another league day for many of the curlers on the ice. For Rose, who is the only one in a wheelchair, it's more. It's training for the Winter Paralympics. Rose is representing USA on the wheelchair mixed curling team for the first time.

[Dan Rose]

It's been wild. They announced the team, like, right before Thanksgiving, which was. It was great because. And it made the team. Then had a few days afterwards where, you know, basically it was a downtime. The clubs here were closed down, so I didn't really have any time to practice, but some of our good friends were in town for Thanksgiving, so it was good to have that time to just sort of take it all in and, you know, just kind of celebrate the achievement of making the team.

[Tony Gorman]

Every four years for a couple of weeks, the sport of curling gets a lot of buzz, even if people don't understand. Might be because the average Joe's mind is trying to comprehend how gliding down a stretch of ice, pushing rocks and sweeping is an Olympic sport. Wheelchair curling is different. There's no gliding down the ice. Athletes must hold the thrower by the back wheels.

[Dan Rose]

So it's just. Just so that we don't, like, slide whenever we go to throw. A lot of times when we start to, like, you know, especially if we're throwing like a takeout, the tendency of the chair is going to twist just from the momentum of pushing the rock out. So it's just insurance. Just make sure, you know, we're steady and not moving around.

[Tony Gorman]

The throwers don't use their actual hands. They use a carbon fiber delivery stick to actually throw the stone.

[Dan Rose]

They actually will put the rotation on it for us. There's a little screw on the end that we can adjust to, adjust how much rotation it puts onto the rock. Right now we're trying to get like, you know, between five and six rotations for the rock traveling down the sheet. And we like that for everyone on the team, just so it's consistent the amount of curl that you get from it. Because if somebody throws like two rotations that rocks gonna curl a lot more than a rock with like six rotations. So it's just one of those things where we want the consistency with it.

[Tony Gorman]

But the most notable skill in wheelchair curling, Rose says, is precision.

[Dan Rose]

Because we don't have like any sweeping in the sweeping. They can make the stone go a little bit further. They can kind of affect the path that the stone's gonna take to, you know, avoid the some guards or be a little bit more precise on a hit or a takeout. But for the wheelchair game, basically, after we deliver the rock, we just got to sit there and watch it go down and, you know, whatever the physics on the rock are, is going to make it go where it's going.

[Tony Gorman]

But wait a minute. I just saw Rose curling with able bodied athletes with the broom and all. Any sweeping for him is restricted to the house and not down to seat. So does that translate to wheelchair curling?

[Claire Moores]

So a lot of curling clubs have a mix obviously of wheelchair athletes or able bodied athletes. A lot of wheelchair athletes have to be able to play with sweepers in league because that's who you have available to you.

[Tony Gorman]

Claire Moores, who lives in the Denver area, is an assistant coach for USA's Paralympic Wheelchair Curling teams.

[Claire Moores]

I think any ice time really is a benefit. So being able to adjust what you're seeing and how you're calling a game and how you're calling strategy, if you're playing with just para athletes or a mix of para and able bodied or only able bodied folks, I think being able to adjust to those different scenarios while they are different and in the Olympic setting, it's only going to be versus other para athletes. Being able to to adjust to those is going to help you to adjust to different other situations faster.

[Tony Gorman]

When Rose is not playing in leagues, he is with a familiar partner who is also a Paralympian.

[Ray Solomon]

I'm helping Dan get tuned up for the Paralympics. So he's just out here training.

[Tony Gorman]

That's Pam Wilson. She competed in the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing. The semi retired pediatrician and Rose have trained and competed together in recent years.

[Dan Rose]

So she was on the team when I first made the developmental program. 2019. Yeah. So we've been curling together, practicing basically since then. But we started playing mixed doubles together. What, like two years ago? Yeah, two years ago she had her old partner Dave. He lives in Wisconsin. They actually won silver at Worlds. She's on the banner right over there on the wall there.

[Ray Solomon]

I am.

[Tony Gorman]

Wilson points to the banner celebrating her and David Sampson's silver medal from the 2023 World Mixed Doubles Championships. She didn't qualify for this year's Winter Paralympics, but she's helping Rose get ready.

[Ray Solomon]

We'll go first, I guess. Panther two. Two, two.

[Dan Rose]

Yeah, let's do that. Most of the time, if it's just Pam and I, you know, we'll do different drills, you know, kind of work on fine tuning some of the aspects of our delivery. But, you know, you just always got to adjust and make it productive. And so I felt like today was good afterwards.

[Tony Gorman]

The two work on strategies together.

[Ray Solomon]

I'm gonna go center guard.

[Dan Rose]

Yeah, probably. I'd aim for like a 15 to 20.

[Ray Solomon]

Really?

[Dan Rose]

So, like, for Pam and I, when we would play mixed doubles, we would hold each other so that way we could talk about each shot and then we would just basically aim for a point in space instead of having the broom holding it up down there. So we thought it was more valuable for us to both be down where we're throwing the rocks from to actually talk about what the strategy call is going to be and everything. So. Looks great.

[Tony Gorman]

It seems pretty easy, right? Not exactly. We found a wheelchair that fits me. Disclaimer. I may have cheated a little bit since the wheelchair I use was still too small for my big frame, so my feet were on the ice. That's a no. No. But we made it work.

[Dan Rose]

So if you hop in and then

[Tony Gorman]

Rose helps me adjust with the delivery. Stick like this right here.

[Dan Rose]

Or you can grab on the T handle. Yeah, kind of like that. Yeah, just like that.

[Ray Solomon]

Oh, you're a lefty.

[Tony Gorman]

Yes, ma'.

[Benta Birkeland]

Am.

[Dan Rose]

Push out that Push too hard. Well, you got to push a little bit harder or whatever, but I mean, you're right online for what you're aiming for, so.

[Tony Gorman]

Okay.

[Dan Rose]

Yeah, yeah, Here, I'll get that one.

[Tony Gorman]

Okay. Maybe that first throw didn't go so well. I just know that sometimes, like when I last tried curling, some people just, like, push it just really hard.

[Ray Solomon]

Yeah, you don't want to do that.

[Dan Rose]

Yeah.

[Ray Solomon]

I mean, there's a tendency to, like, want to bowling ball it.

[Tony Gorman]

Well, even with the bowling ball, people, like, just trying to fire down and everything. End up getting a gutter ball.

[Ray Solomon]

Now, there are times you're going to want to fire it down pretty hard.

[Tony Gorman]

Second throw.

[Benta Birkeland]

That's better.

[Ray Solomon]

Way better, Tony.

[Tony Gorman]

Oh, man.

[Ray Solomon]

You even got good rotation.

[Dan Rose]

Yeah, well, it's the head that puts it on there, you know.

[Benta Birkeland]

No, that's a great rock.

[Tony Gorman]

Wow. There you go.

[Dan Rose]

You're in the house.

[Mark Arnish]

All right.

[Dan Rose]

Yeah.

[Tony Gorman]

By the last throw, I think I got a handle on it, sort of.

[Ray Solomon]

That's got a little bit more pepper on it, but it'll check up.

[Dan Rose]

Actually looking real good.

[Tony Gorman]

Oh, this beginner's look.

[Dan Rose]

Yeah. Right?

[Ray Solomon]

Look at button shot.

[Tony Gorman]

And that's why Rose and Wilson are Paralympians in the sport, and I'm just a casual person. But, hey, I might give curling more of a shot after this experience. You never know. I don't know if I can hang with you guys.

[Ryan Warner]

You know, I think she said that it's got a little more pepper on it. Spicy CPR's Tony Gorman there. Tony spoke further with Dan Rose to learn how he got started in wheelchair curling. Rose joined the Army Reserve to help pay for college, where he earned degrees in molecular biology and biochemistry. He volunteered to serve in Afghanistan as a combat engineer. He was injured when a bomb exploded under his unit's truck.

[Dan Rose]

I was in the front passenger seat. I was the vehicle commander. We had all had pretty bad concussions, and I basically knew right away that I was paralyzed, but it ended up, you know, like, I was the worst injured out of the vehicle, and. And, I mean, it should have killed all three of us. So, I mean, it was. We're very fortunate. So we're definitely lucky to be here. I got flown from Afghanistan to Germany, and they stabilized me a few days in Germany, and then I was flown back to Walter Reed, where they did my spinal surgery.

[Tony Gorman]

Was it mentally challenging, you know, for you during that recovery process and adjusting to life after recovery?

[Dan Rose]

Not so much like, mentally. I mean, it was physically tough. A lot of it was. Was just learning how to balance again, because my injury, like, is, like, at the T4 level, like the thoracic level. So basically at my chest is where my mobility and my sensation end. So I don't have really any, like, trunk or lower back to balance with. So it was learning how to, you know, basically use what I have, you know, to get around. Essentially, it was just learn how to do everything again, you know, but different. I think the mental side of it, it was a little bit easier just because after my, like, spinal surgery, you know, I talked to the surgeon, you know, and it was just like, you know, I said, like, how long until I can walk again? You know, and, you know, he basically just told me flat out. He was like, yeah, your. Your spinal cord's shot. Like, it'll. That'll never happen. Which was, like, devastating to hear. But I think at the same time, it was, like, allowed me just to. To, you know, accept it and, you know, try and figure out, like, all right, this is what it's going to be, so I better get good at it. So it allowed me to just to focus on what I needed to do to, I guess, learn how to move around in a wheelchair.

[Tony Gorman]

What were some of the first things you did?

[Dan Rose]

Luckily, before I had left, one of my rec therapists had come into my room and just basically told me, like, hey, you're going skiing out in Colorado in December. And it was the Hartford Ski Spectacular that they do every year up in Breen Ridge.

[Tony Gorman]

Okay. Yeah.

[Dan Rose]

And that ended up being, like, the best thing ever. And I just remember, like, you know, just, you know, I was afraid to, like, try and go out and go skiing because I was like, there's no way I can do it. Like, this is impossible. But getting out there, you know, like, you work with some of the ski instructors, you know, and they're like, no, you can definitely do this. Like, and then throw me into a ski. Haul me up on top of a mountain. And, you know, like, they ended up being, like, amazing, because then I realized, like, I can do that. Like, and it changed my mindset completely of, you know, like, like, all right, I can do this. Like, what else can I do?

[Tony Gorman]

How did you get involved in wheelchair curling?

[Dan Rose]

Basically, it was right after I'd moved out here to Denver. One of my friends from back in Wisconsin, she's a rec therapist, she was sending a couple guys out here for a veteran wheelchair curling camp, and they were looking for more people to, you know, to try it out or whatever. And so she texted me out of the blue, asked if I wanted to try curling. And I, you know, thought, why not? You know, I've driven past the curling club every time I go up into the mountains. So I thought, you know, let's just see what it's all about. So I came out, did that camp, performed really well, was invited back to another athlete ID camp. I think it was a month later. And then after that, I was asked to join the developmental program for the national team. And I was on the developmental program for about a year, and then I made the national team in 2020, and I've been on the national team ever since.

[Tony Gorman]

And so, like, with wheelchair curling, I'm sure they're probably someone like, you know, a young athlete who's disabled probably want to get involved with something, you know, with an adaptive sport. What's your pitch to them to come to wheelchair curling?

[Dan Rose]

Wheelchair curling. I mean, just give it a try. If you don't know what's going on with curling or whatever, it doesn't really look that exciting or whatever, but it's a lot of fun. It's more like a strategy based game, kind of like chess or something like that. So if that's something that you're into, like, I mean, it's definitely, it's definitely worth giving it a try. You know, you never know how far it can take you, you know, and it's just worth seeing what it is. If anyone does want to try curling, like, no matter what age or ability level, reach out and give it a try. I mean, it's the sport for everybody.

[Tony Gorman]

All right, thank you so much. Man.

[Ryan Warner]

CPR's Tony Gorman speaking with Colorado Paralympian Dan Rose. He's on the mixed wheelchair curling team at the Italy Games. Meet other athletes competing on Colorado Matters this week. And that's our show for today with thanks to this team.

[Kathryn Starkey]

Sandy batulga.

[Dan Rose]

Tyler bender.

[Tony Gorman]

Carl bielek. Anthony cotton.

[Ryan Warner]

Pete kramer.

[Kathryn Starkey]

Andrea dukakis.

[Ryan Warner]

Zan huckpechone.

[Randall Heidi]

Matt herz.

[Tony Gorman]

Tom hess.

[Dan Rose]

Michael hughes.

[Benta Birkeland]

Pedro lumbrano.

[Dan Rose]

Shane rumsey.

[Ray Solomon]

Haley sanchez. Chandra. Thomas whitfield.

[Ryan Warner]

And I'm ryan warner at cpr news, nkrcc.