The Roundup | Land, water and fish management

A note from Elizabeth Stewart-Severy, reporter for two-part series on North Star Nature Preserve

North Star nature preserve

The North Star Nature Preserve of my youth is long gone. Back then, we called it Stillwater, and I, like so many others at the time, first floated that stretch of flat river with the very specific goal of learning to roll my kayak so I could float other, not-flat stretches of rivers, and in time for my senior year experiential education course at Aspen High School. There were no SUPs, no party barges or social media posts, and the area was managed according to a plan written by a group of concerned citizens. There weren’t even any moose! I’m a bit shame-faced to admit that I didn’t really process back then that I was floating (and swimming) through a nature preserve. 

A decade and a half later, as a teacher at AHS, I started hearing hallway gossip revolving around tubing Stillwater and even some grumbling about how it was getting ruined by tourists. I got an email in 2015 from a friend of a friend seeking donations to his Kickstarter campaign promoting an inflatable tube (or was it a raft?) with a built-in cooler. The smiling, beer-in-hand 20-somethings in the advertising photos featuring North Star Nature Preserve did not mention the nature preserve part. 

In 2014, Pitkin County got the message that things were out of line at North Star; Aspen Valley Land Trust, which holds the conservation easement on the property, notified Open Space and Trails, which manages it, that the terms of the easement were not being met. It wasn’t exactly directly related to the free-for-all, party atmosphere that had developed at the preserve, but that didn’t help. 

North Star’s history, of course, goes back way farther than early 2000s kayak lessons and mid-2010s party barges in the preserve. From the beginning of its establishment as a nature preserve, there has been tension between its values as a key conservation area for local wildlife and as a recreation area. In Aspen Journalism’s two-part series about the preserve, I wanted to understand both the history of the area and what comes next as Pitkin County continues to look for Goldilocks’ just-right management. 

I probably should have expected that a story about a treasured spot in Aspen would have a mining angle. There’s plenty of precedent in Aspen of people exploring mining claims — but not in the modern era (though other forms of gold digging are certainly ongoing). In reporting a story about a forthcoming update to the plans that govern recreation, habitat and use of North Star, I learned that a local family with deep roots in environmentalism is exploring their rights to a claim for a placer gold mine on U.S. Forest Service land near Wildwood. Aspen’s history has plenty of examples of mining rights being used as leverage in the face of land-use questions; this, too, is a story about history, ecology, recreation and people working to protect what they love. 

We hope you’ll check out the two-part series to gain new perspectives on North Star as the calendar, if not yet the weather, ticks toward summer, when days on the river are part of the Aspen ideal. 

In other news

In other news from Aspen Journalism, Heather Sackett’s latest reporting from the Water Desk digs into research revealing the impacts that warming temperatures and melting permafrost could have on high-elevation streams. Remnants from Colorado’s mining past aren’t the only culprits for contaminating streams with heavy metals; both mining activities and a warming climate can cause the chemical processes that cause metals to leach into waterways. As one University of Colorado professor told Heather, “The public should be aware the world is changing and there are surprises.”

That’s all for this edition of The Roundup. As always, thank you for reading, and supporting, Aspen Journalism’s nonprofit newsroom.

– Curtis Wackerle
Editor and Executive Director
Aspen Journalism

Paperwork filed for gold-mine exploration near North Star Nature Preserve as county eyes land exchange

Feds’ ownership of Wildwood put-in is part of a complicated land-use picture

By Elizabeth Stewart-Severy | April 28, 2024

“Our intention with filing the NOI on the mining claim is to establish additional documentation of our rights to the mining claim so that we can have a seat at the table when a land exchange is discussed,” members of the Boyles family said in a statement.

History of North Star, new data to inform future management of nature preserve

Open Space and Trails plans summer of study to address crowding at the nature preserve

By Elizabeth Stewart-Severy | April 28, 2024

Overall trends also show a clear increase in the number of river users, and neighbors and frequent local users say there is not enough reverence for the sacred place. It’s clear that many in the community want to see fewer paddleboarders on the preserve.

Climate change causing increase in metals concentrations in streams, study finds

Melting permafrost makes ‘phenomenal conduit’ for unlocking new contaminants

By Heather Sackett | May 21, 2024

“These trends are concerning because, even at low concentrations, dissolved metals can negatively affect downstream ecosystem health and the quality of water resources,” reads the paper, which was published in Water Resources Research in late April.

CPW proposes increase to Fryingpan River fish harvest

Brown trout make up 97% of fish population

By Heather Sackett | May 9, 2024

But the effectiveness of that approach may be limited because according to the CPW survey, only 15% of anglers take their fish home while 85% practice catch and release.

Data dashboard: Local streamflows on the rise

Air temperatures and Lake Powell’s levels are up as well.

By Laurine Lassalle | May 20, 2024

• The Fork ran at 453 cfs or 92% of average below Maroon Creek on March 19, up from 192 cfs and 66% of average last week.
• Lake Powell was 34.24% full on May 19, up from 33.99% on May 12.
• High air temperatures at ASE went as high as 67°F on May 13 and 16.

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