In the magnificent natural vistas of southwestern Colorado, one can almost hear history whispering in the winds. According to tribal legend, the Southern Ute Indian tribe, whose reservation spans this beautiful place, has lived here since the beginning of time. Tribal members know everything about their land and how it has changed. Juniper, Sage, and Aspen trees once flourished, but, since the 1800s, those trees have been in decline. No one could say why. This region was suffering under a cloud of methane gas, a powerful greenhouse gas 25 times as harmful to our climate as CO₂. The gas was being released by the mining and extraction of fossil fuels. Environmental regulations are now mitigating that problem, but significant methane is still being released naturally from seams of coal that occur near the earth’s surface. Environmental regulations do not address this problem. With your support, the Southern Ute tribe is working hard to expand the installation of wells that capture methane and channel it as natural gas in homes and businesses. This prevents the equivalent of nearly 60,000 tonnes of greenhouse gases from entering the atmosphere every year. Tribal Council Chair Christine Sage, speaking for all tribal members and for all people everywhere who care about the future of our beautiful planet, sends a heartfelt “Thank you for your support.”