Total overnight visitors accessing the Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness via the 10 most popular trailheads reached a new record in 2020, with 18,324 entering the backcountry to camp, according to data collected by the Forest Service.
Category: Environment
Aspen Journalism’s “Connie Harvey Environment Desk” is named in honor of the longtime Aspen environmentalist.
Posted inEnvironment
Parking is a choke point in Marble’s motorized-use conundrum
There is no designated parking near the Lead King Loop trailhead for the trucks and trailers needed to haul the machines. Many in Marble feel this has put the squeeze on their town, population 140, which has limited resources and infrastructure to handle the influx.
Posted inEnvironment
Environmental analysis puts Marble wetlands donation within reach
This spring, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) completed its analysis of the site and determined that contaminant levels in the material are within the range considered to be non-threatening to human health for a day-use recreation site.
Posted inEnvironment
OHV authorization will continue near Marble, but clock is ticking
While the commissioners did not enact a de facto moratorium on OHV, ATV and UTV traffic on the county road leading to the Lead King Loop, the discovery of a language error in a county resolution served to elevate the issue.
Posted inEnvironment
Gunnison County appears unlikely to ban off-highway vehicles on road to Lead King Loop this summer
Gunnison County commissioners expressed concern that an immediate, partial ban would be counterproductive but called for partner agencies to ‘lean in’ to long-term solutions.
Posted inEnvironment
New dust-on-snow monitoring technology coming to Steamboat lab, expanding a growing snowpack data network
The Storm Peak Lab station will be the latest added to a growing network of dust-on-snow monitoring towers across Colorado and Utah. Such stations offer key insights to researchers studying how dust impacts the timing and intensity of snowpack melt.
Posted inEnvironment
Enforcement, education campaign to debut on Lead King Loop this summer near Marble
An academic study found broad-based concern among residents about “degraded quality of life” related to the increasing number of visitors.
Posted inEnvironment
Soil-moisture monitoring station high in Castle Creek Valley completes local water-research network
Gathering data at all elevations throughout the Roaring Fork Valley provides scientists with a localized, clearer picture of how climate change is impacting the hydrologic cycle at the Colorado basin’s headwaters.
Posted inEnvironment
Pitkin County trail use spiked 44%, reaching record levels in 2020
“This use, combined with new patterns of social distancing, has translated into visible impacts and degradation on the land,” according to OST director Tennenbaum.
Posted inEnvironment
Cellphone towers in Glenwood Canyon a tall task
“Overburdening the canyon with unsightly towers and related wireless network infrastructure is in conflict with the environmental ideals that underpin the overall management and stewardship of the corridor,” says an FCC complaint letter.