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Posted inThe Roundup newsletter

The Roundup | March 19, 2021 Edition

Curtis Wackerle by Curtis Wackerle March 19, 2021May 27, 2021
Casey Clifford of Boulder enjoys a ski on fresh snow at North Star Nature Preserve this week. While the preserve is generally quiet in the winter months, the warm season has seen higher use and spiking enforcement. Credit: Dan Bayer/Aspen Journalism

Well-informed citizens are good for the environment.
This investigative journalism makes a real difference for the community by informing and engaging citizens on complicated issues. If we don't write these stories, no one will.
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The Roundup newsletter: A weekly roundup of Aspen Journalism’s original stories with a letter from the editor, Curtis Wackerle.
Casey Clifford of Boulder enjoys a ski on fresh snow at North Star Nature Preserve this week. While the preserve is generally quiet in the winter months, the warm season has seen higher use and spiking enforcement. Dan Bayer/Aspen Journalism Credit: Dan Bayer/Aspen Journalism

Sounding an alarm, supporting stewardship

Multiple communications from Pitkin County’s Open Space and Trails staff recently have been sounding an alarm: More and more members of the public are out recreating, increasing pressure on natural resources and stressing land managers’ ability to mitigate impacts.

Data from trail counters and activity logged by open space rangers bears that out, as detailed in Aspen Journalism’s story published this week by Laurine Lassalle. 2020 was a record year in terms of the number of people heading out on trails managed by Pitkin County, resulting in heightened enforcement contacts.  

Steeped in volumes of data, Lassalle’s story includes custom interactive graphics showing which open space properties saw the most use and when. Check it out and see how your favorite trail fared in 2020 compared to years past. One notable trend is that high-season use numbers persisted through the autumn months this year.

All eyes now turn to the coming warm months. The big question is whether activity levels will remain elevated as the COVID-19 pandemic, which helped drive the spike in outdoor recreation, winds down. Will the backcountry still be as busy as shopping malls, bars and baseball stadiums reopen? Land managers appear to be betting that it will, and are hiring an additional seasonal county open space ranger and have secured a $90,825 grant that will support increased trails stewardship in summers to come.

— Curtis Wackerle, editor

Pitkin County trail use spiked 44%, reaching record levels in 2020

By Laurine Lassalle | March 17, 2021

“This use, combined with new patterns of social distancing, has translated into visible impacts and degradation on the land,” according to OST director Tennenbaum. Read more.

Tracking the Curve

By Laurine Lassalle | March 18, 2021

Pitkin County’s seven-day incidence rate remains one of the highest in the state as officials deal with what the county manager described as “rollercoaster” in terms of vaccine availability. Read more.

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Curtis Wackerle

Curtis Wackerle

Curtis Wackerle is the editor and executive director of Aspen Journalism and the editor and reporter on the Connie Harvey Environment Desk. Curtis has also served as editor, managing editor, and reporter... More by Curtis Wackerle

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