Aspen Journalism was honored with nine awards — including three first-place recognitions — for its work in 2021 as part of the Society of Professional Journalists Top of the Rockies contest.
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Judges of the SPJ contest for news organizations from Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming recognized exceptional journalism from all corners of our newsroom. Work from our water, environment, data and social justice desks received awards. Aspen Journalism competed in the small-newsroom category, against print, broadcast and online outlets with five or fewer employees.
See the awarded stories below. Award notifications for first-place entries included judges’ comments, which are included below with the first-place stories. A short description of the entry is included with the second- and third-place honorees. Below the listing of award-winning stories from 2021, please see the latest from our ongoing data desk tracking efforts, as well as our weekly news aggregator, The Bucket.
Thank you for reading and supporting Aspen Journalism’s award-winning reporting.
With gratitude,
Curtis Wackerle, editor and executive director
1st Place Climate Reporting:
Covering river systems and aridification in the upper Colorado River basin Credit: Heather Sackett/Aspen Journalism
“An excellent and detailed reporting effort that takes a comprehensive dive into the aridification crisis underway in the upper Colorado River basin. Complicated topics are broken down well, and larger-scale issues are explored through localized storytelling that helps to quantify the impact of these environmental happenings.”
1st Place Social Justice Reporting:
2020 census highlights the relationship between resort communities and downvalley locales
Credit: Laurine Lasalle/Aspen Journalism
“Lassalle and Aspen Journalism show how to use Census data to tell a dramatic and human story about the effects of soaring property values on middle- and low-income workers. This deeply researched and powerful story shines as an example to others who might want to explore how booming real estate markets force workers to live outside the communities where the jobs are. Top-notch work!”
1st Place Business: Enterprise Reporting:
More intense backside land use a sticking point for Pandora’s
Credit: Curtis Wackerle/Aspen Journalism
“In-depth, well-sourced piece rich in context and examining potential changes to a region’s way of life.”
2nd Place Agriculture and Environment: Feature
Kremmling bird count studies how birds use irrigated agriculture
Credit: Heather Sackett/Aspen Journalism
This story takes readers on an early-morning bird counting mission in a Rocky Mountain meadow, as a window into the ecological consequences of our water-use choices.
2nd Place Health: News
A growing toll from bike and e-bike accidents
Credit: Laurine Lasalle/Aspen Journalism
An example of the power of data journalism and good reporting, this story documented how the growing popularity of e-bikes is leading to more injuries requiring hospitalization in the Aspen area.
2nd Place Agriculture and Environment: News
In Coal Basin, a hidden source of climate pollution
Credit: Sarah Tory and Luna Anna Archey/Aspen Journalism
This story explores how a legacy of mining in one rural district presents both threats and opportunities as it relates to the climate crisis.
3rd Place Extended Coverage
Backcountry motorized recreation pains remote mountain town
Credit: Curtis Wackerle/Aspen Journalism
The town of Marble, located in a remote valley on Colorado’s Western Slope, has been at the center of a unique public lands controversy: The historic use of off-road vehicles along a nearby backcountry road system has increased in popularity over recent years to the point of degrading environmental and quality of life values for area residents and non-motorized recreationists.
3rd Place Agriculture and Environment: News
Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness overnight overuse continues to increase
Credit: Curtis Wackerle/Aspen Journalism
Backcountry camping has more than doubled in one of the country’s most spectacular wilderness areas in the last decade, causing environmental degradation and forcing public lands managers to evaluate a system to limit access.
3rd Place Social Justice Reporting
As Latino COVID vaccinations lag in the region, activists push for systemic change
Credit: Hector Salas and Laurine Lasalle/Aspen Journalism
This piece weaves together a thorough canvassing of Latino community members and local public health agencies to illuminate a vast racial gap in COVID-19 vaccine uptake in the Roaring Fork Valley region, while digging deep to explain the gap’s existence, as well as the response to the problem.
Data dashboard: Local streamflow keeps increasing with warmer temperatures
Lake Powell’s water level decline is slowing down as the reservoir’s surface elevation only lost about one inch within a week.
By Laurine Lassalle | April 12, 2022
• Lake Powell’s elevation is down to 3,522.9 ft on Apr. 10.
• Snowpack at Indy Pass is on the decline with about 80% of average on April 10. That’s down from about 85% last week.
Tracking the Curve
Documenting COVID-19 in Pitkin, Eagle and Garfield counties
By Laurine Lassalle | April 12, 2022
Eagle County’s incidence increased from about 22 on April 7 to 40 per 100,000 on April 11. The county has the lowest positivity rate in the tri-county region, with 4.1% of the tests being positive.
Reflections on the pandemic
“Largely, the [24-plus months] period was an exercise of rolling with the punches: for workers, who lost or changed jobs (or maintained them under difficult circumstances); for employers, who fought to stay afloat amid staffing shortages, operational interruptions and in many cases, a substantial increase in business; and for leaders, who were tasked with maintaining a measure of stability in the face of continually evolving information, misinformation and criticism.”
Source: aspendailynews.com | Read more
Aspen School District adopts diversity, equity and inclusion statement
“‘The Aspen School District Board of Education (BOE) recognizes that there may be conscious and unconscious biases impacting our students’ ability to achieve their full potential,’ the statement reads. ‘We are committed to eliminating barriers to creating a welcoming and inclusive culture in which every student feels valued and accepted.’”
Source: aspentimes.com | Read more
Lauren Boebert and fellow Republicans want gray wolves removed from federal endangered species list
“Boebert and the other representatives, including Colorado’s Ken Buck and Doug Lamborn, addressed the April 7 letter to Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, asking her to appeal the February ruling, calling wolf populations ‘fully recovered.’ Experts and environmentalists argue otherwise, though.”
Source: denverpost.com | Read more
Arizona weighs desalination to avoid future dry spell
“In his state of the state address earlier this year, Gov. Doug Ducey floated the idea of a desalination project to take the salt out of seawater from Mexico and pump it back into the Colorado River. It would cost billions.”
Source: wbur.org | Listen here
Powell’s looming power problem
“In the 1990s, the dam produced as much as 7,000 gigawatt hours per year, enough to power nearly 600,000 homes. Last year, it was down to just 3,000 gigawatt hours. This chronic decline in generating capacity is about to become more acute. As the reservoir approaches the 3,490-foot minimum power pool, air could get entrained in the turbine-feeding penstocks, wreaking all kinds of havoc. At that point, operators have no choice but to stop sending water through the turbines.”
Source: hcn.org | Read more
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