More on the cover story: Weld County rode Colorado's oil boom, but what about the bust?

Don Warden, finance director for Weld County, chuckles at the old oilman’s prayer, a phrase so dusty that it’s a cliche — but an instructive one.

“Please God, give me one more boom, I promise not to screw this one up.”

The oil and gas industry has seen it’s share of booms and busts, and Warden, who has worked in Weld County for 37 years, figures he’s on his third — maybe his fourth — cycle.

So when the county became ground zero for Colorado’s latest oil boom during the last…