Ellen S. Roberts has lived on the western slope of Colorado for over 40 years, beginning as a park service ranger in Rocky Mountain National Park. Before retiring, Ellen focused on forest health and water policy consulting in Southwest Colorado, including for the Southwest Wildfire Impact Fund, a forest restoration project managed by Mountain Studies Institute. She also worked on forest and watershed projects with the Colorado State Forest Service, the San Juan National Forest, and The Nature Conservancy-Colorado chapter.
Ellen served in the Colorado House and Senate from 2007-2016, representing eight counties in the southwestern corner of the state and was elected Senate President pro tempore. Ellen sponsored many bills focused on improved forest health, water conservation and watershed protection, especially in Colorado’s mountain headwaters, and served as chairwoman of the water resources and the forest health interim committees among other committee assignments.
A graduate of the University of Colorado’s School of Law, Ellen received her undergraduate degree from Cornell University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences in a self-designed major of environmental policy. She practiced law in Durango for 20 years and, among many other volunteer activities over the years, served as a trustee on the board of Fort Lewis College and on the board of History Colorado, the state’s historical society.
