The Roundup | Changing outlooks on local aircraft, youth service, public lands and water

Happy off season and thanks for reading the Roundup — the best way to stay up to date on all of Aspen Journalism’s reporting. Below, you’ll find a rundown of our recent coverage on a wide array of topics of local interest, including changes to how we’ll be flying this summer, Pitkin County boosting a campaign to keep more water in the Colorado River, how a local youth-services nonprofit is working to reflect the lived experiences of a new wave of immigrant clients, and a word of caution from our local member of Congress about cuts to U.S. Forest Service staff.

A center for youth-development, Stepping Stones is the home away from home local families need

Stepping Stones is a youth-development program that benefits about 400 young people ages 10 to 24 years old from Aspen to Parachute through free, bilingual programs such as tutoring, mentorship, outdoor activities, mental health counseling and crisis support. For many of the local youth served, it’s a lifeline, helping them find community and what feels like a home away from home, and the need is growing. In 2024, the nonprofit served about 150 new youth, and of the nearly 400 students that participated in Stepping Stones programs, 78% identified as Latinx, 17% as white, 4% as multiracial, and 1% as Black. Eleanor Bennett, writing for the multimedia social justice desk in collaboration with Aspen Public Radio, looks beyond statistics, bringing readers inside the nonprofit’s Carbondale facility to hear from youth, parents and staff. 

Never say never. Modified ‘Aspen ready’ E175 fleet to fly this summer

After extensive testing and upgrades to operate at ASE and overcome the airport’s challenging conditions, the modified Embraer 175 aircraft will be a frequent flier once the Aspen airport reopens this summer. While the E175 debuted in Aspen last winter, the prospects of it operating here year round were previously dimmed by the plane’s heavier weight, because when summer temperatures reach their peaks, it makes the thin mountain air even thinner, hampering aircraft performance. But aircraft manufacturers have been working on this problem for years, redesigning the E175’s engines to generate more power and overcome ASE’s unique “density altitude” conditions and mountainous terrain. “This new engine model was specifically developed to meet a customer’s needs in Aspen, which is a relatively high-altitude and low-temperature airport,” Rogerio Kiyoshi Makita, a propulsion system engineer at the Brazilian aircraft manufacturer, said in a promotional video. SkyWest and United now have nine “Aspen ready” E175s, with a fleet of 25 expected by the end of 2026. Although the E175 may improve the airport’s reliability, it won’t help meet community goals that call for a 30% reduction in both emissions and noise because the E175 burns about the same amount of fuel and is noisier than the aging CRJ700, which was the only commercial aircraft previously serving Aspen. But, the E175’s 95-foot wingspan fits the current runway.

Call to reinstate ‘red-card’ staff

Concern over the bloodletting of U.S. Forest Service staff took on a bi-partisan tone recently when U.S. Rep. Jeff Hurd, a Grand Junction Republican who represents Colorado’s Third Congressional District (which includes Aspen and the Roaring Fork Valley), joined all of Colorado’s Democratic representatives in Congress in sending a letter to U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, asking her to reinstate ‘red-card’ carrying staff who are qualified to respond to wildfires. In an interview with Aspen Journalism, Hurd said he has been fielding concerns about public lands management from local officials across his district. The U.S. Department of Agriculture says wildland firefighting positions were exempt from recent hiring freezes and layoffs. Nonetheless, U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., and the other signatories estimate that since January, the Forest Service has lost 3,000 staffers who hold the agency’s Incident Qualification Card, commonly called a red card, which means they have training that helps them respond in the event of a wildfire.

Pitkin County pitches in on Shoshone rights

With a $1 million pledge, Pitkin County joined 29 other Western Slope counties, cities and towns, irrigation districts and water providers in financially backing a nearly $100 million plan to buy a critical Colorado River water right associated with the Shoshone hydropower plant in Glenwood Canyon. The water rights are some of the biggest and oldest non-consumptive water rights on the mainstem of the Colorado River, and ensure water keeps flowing west to the benefit of downstream cities, farms, recreation and the environment. Despite the support and $1 million pledge, Pitkin County still may oppose the change case in water court if the right impacted the flows in the Upper Roaring Fork. 

Thank you, as always, for reading and supporting the valley’s only nonprofit, investigative news origination.

– Curtis Wackerle
Editor and Executive Director
Aspen Journalism

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