Navigating the state legislature could turn out to be unchartered territory for one returning veteran–newly unaffiliated Rep. Kathleen Curry, of Gunnison–but she is optimistic about her decision to bolt from the ranks of majority House Democrats and says she is doing what’s best for her constituents and for her own conscience.

“I don’t want to be a part of any party, I don’t think that’s the right way for me to do my job,” the Western Slope rancher said after making news earlier this week with her decision to re-register as an unaffiliated voter. “The whole point of this was to allow myself to function as a legislator and not as a member of a party.”

Curry–who also will relinquish her post as House speaker pro tem–added, “I think there are a lot of folks out there who have moved beyond partisan thinking and are more concerned about the overall welfare of the state.”

However, in an arena such as the state legislature, where partisan politics often dictates outcomes, some legislators have already begun to speculate on the future of the House Agriculture,  Livestock, and Natural Resources Committee, which until earlier this week was chaired by Curry. She now will lose that influential post on the committee, which was in the middle of contentious, partisan debate last session over new oil and gas exploration rules crafted by the administration of Democratic Gov. Bill Ritter.

The appointment of the chair and the committee members are at the discretion of Democratic leadership in the House, but protocol dictates that the highest-ranking member be appointed chair.

House Speaker Terrance Carroll, D-Denver, has yet to announce who he will appoint as chair of the committee and where he will place Curry, who according to current House rules, is entitled to sit on at least one committee of reference.

“If someone else is appointed that has a different philosophy on agriculture and natural resources issues, then it could be different,” Curry concedes. She maintains she was not a real partisan chair during her tenure and that she “didn’t twist arms very well.”

Stan Dempsey, President of the Colorado Petroleum Association, is taking a wait-and-see approach for the upcoming session and is so far not too worried about the future make-up of the committee and the possible implications for policy on energy exploration.

“I don’t think there’ll be a significant change in the way the committee operates,” said Dempsey, who had only praises for Curry’s tenure as Chair.

“She was always willing to sit down and listen and work through things even though we didn’t always agree,”  Dempsey said.

For her part, Curry says she wants to “take the high road” as the General Assembly’s only unaffiliated member.

“I want to … remain respectful of different points of views, and do a better job of touching base with the folks in my district to get a better feel for how to represent them,” she said.