Efforts to create a 51st American State out of portions of northern Colorado were stoked last month, when ten counties met to consider secession.
Now, organizers say that the state Capitol is not recognizing their efforts, which, they told CBS, have been strong since officials from such counties as Lincoln and Cheyenne first put their heads together on creating "North Colorado."
On Monday, representatives from ten counties around the northeast Colorado area met in the town of Akron to start drawing the borders for the new state that they reported will embody the ideals of conservative Colorado.
A divide between the right and left has been felt in the largely Democratic state since certain laws were passed this year: sricter gun control, monitoring what some say is cruel treatment of livestoke and expanding gas regulation and oil production caused a stir among rural Colorado residents.
"I have never seen a legislative session like this," Weld County Commissioner Conway said in June, when the bills first passed into law. "They ignore us. They won't listen to us. It started with the gun control bills and came to a head this week with S.B. 252 (the renewable energy bill) being signed."
But creating a new state comes with some issues-landmass number 51 would need to create new agreements concerning water that are imperative to farming. Agriculture uses 85 percent of Colorado's water supply, according to CBS.
"I don't want to be in a 51st state," Washington County resident Steve Frey said. "I don't want any part of their fracking that they're doing in Weld County."
Others, including Conway, say that the secession could reap benefits in the form of fresh opportunities.
"I say 80 percent of the oil and gas revenue in the state of Colorado is coming out of northeastern Colorado-Weld, Yuma County and some of the other counties," Conway said during the meeting. "70 percent of the K-12 funding is coming off the state lands in Weld County alone. I'm telling you, we are economic drivers."
