The Roundup | Consent, stopgap stewardship and water law’s cold truth

This week in the Roundup, Aspen Journalism takes you inside a high school classroom where a local nonprofit is working to get “upstream” of domestic and sexual abuse in order to stop it before it starts, while Roaring Fork Valley agencies contemplate just how much they can — and to what extent they should — step in to pick up the slack for the federal government as the White River National Forest faces significant staffing and budget cuts entering the summer recreation season.

Also this week, concerns raised by neighbors of Canyon Creek, near New Castle, about a proposed agri-tourism development which would take most of its water supply from the creek highlight the limited options available to protect a creek’s environmental values against 117-year-old water rights.

We also received word that the reporting conducted by Eleanor Bennett for the Aspen Journalism/Aspen Public Radio multimedia social justice desk about concerns raised by J-1 visa holders against a prominent local resort and conference center where they were employed last summer received a Regional Edward R. Morrow award for excellence in investigative journalism. The Regional Murrow awards, from the Radio Television Digital News Association, honors outstanding achievements in electronic journalism.

Read on below for the best in local, indepth, independent, reader-supported journalism from the team at Aspen Journalism. Thanks for your support.

– Curtis Wackerle
Editor and Executive Director
Aspen Journalism

Comprehensive sex-ed is part of a cultural shift not immune to pushback, but Response programs are well received by students

Local nonprofit Response is partnering with schools to educate students about consent and healthy relationships, aiming to prevent sexual violence. Established in 2004, Response expanded its educational initiatives under Executive Director Shannon Meyer in 2017. The nonprofit now collaborates with schools in Aspen, Basalt, and Carbondale, integrating topics like sexting, online bullying, and “sextortion” into curriculum it brings to high school health classes and addressing contemporary issues faced by teens in the digital age. This approach reflects a broader cultural shift toward comprehensive sex education, though it has faced some resistance. But students who spoke with reporter Eleanor Bennett said they are grateful for the gradual education that begins in elementary school with lessons about bodily autonomy and respecting boundaries, progresses into topics like online bullying in middle school before high school curriculum covers consent and cultural factors that precipitate sexual assault — and how to counteract those.

Local organizations uniting to pick up the slack on public lands – for now

As the U.S. Forest Service faces significant staffing and budget cuts, with an estimated 30% reduction in staff across the White River National Forest going into summer compared to the same time last year, local governments and organizations are stepping in to pick up some of the slack in the short term, but warn they cannot and should not be expected to do so over the long term. Five local nonprofits — Aspen Center for Environmental Studies, Independence Pass Foundation, Roaring Fork Conservancy, Roaring Fork Outdoor Volunteers and Wilderness Workshop — earlier this year formed the Public Lands and Water Forum. The group is coming together to protect the ecosystems on the short-term by filling in the holes, both literally and figuratively, left by the withdrawal of federal funds and personnel. But it’s the bigger picture that really concerns these groups. “There’s only so much that great local volunteerism and extra resources can and should do,” Will Roush, executive director of Wilderness Workshop said. “The thing that worries me the most is the general devaluing of public lands and their management and stewardship.” 

Is it right to run the creek down?

The source of water — and whether there’s enough to go around — is at the heart of concerns about a proposed agritourism development for some local residents and Garfield County officials. Nutrient Farm, located on the south side of the Colorado River between Glenwood Springs and New Castle on 1,140 acres, has plans for a restaurant, housing, lodging facilities, a music/entertainment area, campground, and a health and wellness retreat. Central to the proposal is the use of Canyon Creek, a tributary of the Colorado River, as the primary water source for expanded domestic use and agricultural operations such as orchards, nurseries, and pastures. Nutrient Farms holds two senior water rights on Canyon Creek: a larger right, from 1908, and a smaller right, from 1952, though the ditch conveying that water right has not been used by the Nutrient Fam property in more than 20 years. While a statement from the Nutrient Farm property owner promises to use the creek resource responsibly, AJ Water Desk Editor Heather Sackett notes that there is nothing in Colorado water law preventing the farm from using its water right to the largest extent possible in a manner that would harm the creek’s existing ecological integrity. While the Nutrient Farm application progresses through the land use process facing calls for more information from Garfield County planners, environmental advocates like Trout Unlimited and Aspen Valley Land Trust are seeking more study on the project’s impacts and for the farm to instead use water from the Colorado River.

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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