The Roundup | Resource scarcity and Schweitzer’s abundance 

A new chapter for Schweitzer’s Aspen legacy

Last winter, Aspen Journalism Data Editor Laurine Lassalle was in her home country of France and connected with staff at Maison Albert Schweitzer, a museum that preserves a home built by Dr. Albert Schweitzer in the Alsace region where he was born in 1875. She was interested in the growing movement to recenter Schweitzer’s legacy locally, given the role he played in establishing post-war Aspen as a cultural center and birthing the “Aspen idea” melding mind, body and spirit, and learned of a book written by two French Schweitzer experts, Francis Guthleben and Jenny Litzelmann. The book, collecting testimonials from 112 people around the world who are today influenced by Schweitzer, featured two locals — former Aspen mayor Bill Stirling and local journalist Paul Andersen — who have helped lead an effort to elevate Schweitzer’s ideas in contemporary Aspen. 

Her resulting news article about the book helped spark a grassroots international effort to publish an English translation. The book is now available under the English title Investing Our Humanity: Contemporary Voices on Albert Schweitzer and Reverence for Life, published by Aspen Journalism with the support of numerous partners, including the authors, the European institutions they work with, President Emeritus of The Albert Schweitzer Fellowship and Harvard professor Dr. Lachlan Forrow and the Aspen Historical Society. The project would not have been possible without numerous generous donors and the leaders of the movement to establish a local Albert Schweitzer Day, including Greg Poschman, J.R. Atkins and Amy Honey. Special thanks to Curt Carpenter for the layout and design of the English version. The book was officially launched on Aspen’s second annual Albert Schweitzer Day on July 1 and is now for sale at the Aspen Historical Society gift shop, and in-store and online at Explore Booksellers in Aspen. It follows a book we published last year, also available at Explore, binding Paul Andersen’s Aspen Journalism series about Schweitzer’s 1949 visit to Aspen and how it still resonates today. We are proud to be a part of this effort that explores Schweitzer’s enduring philosophy through the voices of those inspired by his work. 

Save the date! September 11 with Reveal Host Al Letson

Staying on the theme of more ways to engage with Aspen Journalism, we are pleased to present a public event at 5:30 p.m on Sept. 11 at the Hotel Jerome Grand Ballroom in collaboration with the nonprofit Center For Investigative Reporting, where we will welcome Al Letson, the Peabody Award-winning host of Reveal, the nationally acclaimed investigative radio show and podcast, for a conversation about the vital role of nonprofit, investigative journalism and in-depth story telling. I’m so excited to speak with Al, who each week artfully delivers some of the most challenging and thought-provoking stories in the podcast landscape, and I hope to see you there. Co-sponsored by Aspen Public Radio (which broadcasts Reveal on Sundays at 1 p.m.), PRX and the Hotel Jerome, the event is free to attend but we kindly ask that you RSVP. For more information and to sign up, click here. 

Scarcity forces communities to choose 

In terms of current news, this roundup of original stories has a common thread: Who gets to shape the future of the places we call home?

On the Roan Plateau, a proposal to reopen thousands of acres to oil and gas leasing has reignited a debate that has spanned decades, raising questions about how public lands should balance energy development with wildlife, recreation and local voices. Along the Colorado River, Heather Sackett continues to document the growing gap between the water we have and the water we use. As streamflows across the Roaring Fork watershed fall well below average, Pitkin County officials are weighing whether an expensive but rare water purchase opportunity is worth the investment, while state and regional leaders grapple with difficult decisions about the river’s future — including whether permanent reductions in agricultural water use have become unavoidable.

These stories illustrate how increasingly scarce natural resources are forcing communities to reconsider long-held assumptions and make choices that will reverberate well beyond the Roaring Fork Valley.

The same questions of stewardship and local control emerge in other corners of our coverage. Eleanor Bennett has followed the residents of Cavern Springs Mobile Home Park who are working to secure permanent ownership of the land beneath their homes, offering a community-driven alternative to outside investment. In Garfield County, the new library director, Abraham Korah, steps into a leadership role to protect what he sees as “the freedom to read” amid ongoing debates over intellectual freedom and the public’s role in shaping civic institutions.

Whether the subject is water, housing, public lands or public libraries, these stories remind us that the decisions made today — often at local meetings or through public processes that receive little attention — will influence Colorado communities for generations. Aspen Journalism exists to provide the independent reporting that helps residents understand those decisions and participate in them.

Thank you for reading and for supporting journalism that keeps these important conversations in the public eye.

— Curtis Wackerle
Editor & Executive Director
Aspen Journalism

A proposal to lease more than 4,600 acres atop Colorado’s Roan Plateau for oil and gas development has revived a long-running conflict over balancing energy production with wildlife, recreation and conservation on public lands. The leases, included in the Bureau of Land Management’s proposed December sale under new federal requirements for quarterly lease sales, would reopen an area where all but two leases were canceled in a 2014 settlement. Hunters, anglers and conservation groups warn the proposal threatens prized wildlife habitat while raising concerns that changes to federal policy are limiting public participation in land management decisions. Read the story…

Pitkin County commissioners gave preliminary approval to spend $442,500 from the Healthy Rivers Fund, which is supported by a 0.1% countywide sales tax, to purchase 4.68 Twin Lakes water shares. Supporters say the purchase is a rare opportunity to return water to the Western Slope’s depleted headwaters, and that the rare opportunity matches the significant price. 

Members of the county’s Healthy Rivers board warn the price tag for “potentially .. 1 additional cubic feet per second for two days” isn’t worth straining the Healthy Rivers budget, potentially limiting future investments in water quality, habitat restoration and other watershed projects.

The issue is scheduled for a public hearing and second reading July 22.
Read the story…

As corporate investors continue buying and selling mobile home parks across the Roaring Fork Valley, residents of Cavern Springs Mobile Home Park have gone under contract to purchase the land beneath their homes, advancing a growing regional movement toward resident ownership to preserve affordable housing. The resident-led cooperative secured a $23 million purchase agreement after competing with a private investor and has raised nearly half the purchase price. The coalition must still complete inspections, finalize financing and secure additional funding before the planned October closing.
Read the story…

Western Slope lawmakers pressed Colorado River negotiators over missed deadlines, stalled interstate talks and the growing risk of litigation as Colorado River flows decline.

State officials defended their approach, while signaling that voluntary conservation and a proposed Lake Powell water pool may be part of the path forward. The debate underscores mounting pressure on Colorado communities facing drought, water shortages and uncertainty over future river management.
Read the story…

Garfield County Libraries’ new executive director, Abraham Korah, takes the helm as the district continues to navigate a contentious debate over book access and censorship.A former Glenwood Springs branch director, Korah said he will defend what he sees as “the freedom to read” while fostering respectful dialogue across differing viewpoints. He succeeds Jamie LaRue amid ongoing disputes over library materials and governance, while also prioritizing libraries as community gathering spaces, building on growing library use and preparing the district for a potential future mill levy renewal.
Read the story…

Colorado River experts say the basin’s long-term water imbalance can no longer be solved with temporary conservation programs and urban conservation along because climate change and declining river flows have permanently reduced available water.

Since agriculture remains the river’s largest water user —responsible for about 74% of water used by people in the basin — experts argue lasting reductions in agricultural consumption will be necessary to bring demand into line with supply.

Proposed solutions emphasize planned, durable conservation measures and managed reductions rather than emergency responses or relying on wet years to restore the system.
Read the story…

Streamflows across the Roaring Fork watershed remain well below average, with local rivers running at just 11% to 23% of normal as of July 6, reflecting persistent low-water conditions. At Stillwater, just upstream of Aspen, the Roaring Fork measured 25.6 cubic feet per second – 11% of average –  compared with 108 cfs on the same date last year. The Crystal River flowed at 17% of average, while the Colorado River measured 29% of average at Glenwood Springs, down from 2,750 cfs last July to 1,960 cfs this year.
Read the report …

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