By STEVE LIPSHER | Denver Post
Outspoken and passionate about protecting public lands, longtime environmental activist Pete Kolbenschlab often seems to relish his role as David versus the Goliaths of industry.
In public meetings, in newspaper forums, in advocacy campaigns and in written comments and objections to intrusive oil- and gas-exploration proposals, Kolbenschlag has a long track record of battling well-financed energy companies, particularly in his beloved North Fork Valley near Paonia.
Sometimes he wins and sometimes he merely delays the inevitable, but typically he at least forces companies to meet minimum legal requirements for new drilling leases on public lands and to make good on required environmental protections that they might otherwise ignore.