The Roundup | The needs of the locality

Recently at Aspen Journalism, we published a story about the last Mass at St. Benedict’s Monastery that captured the moment in all of its context and complexity. This day has been a long time coming — preordained, if you will, back in 2022, when the Trappist order responsible for the monastery voted that it would close due to an aging and declining population of monks living lives of work and prayer there. 

Yet, it feels surreal now that it really is over. The property had been on the market since the spring of 2024, with a list price of $150 million. At least two potential deals got close to the finish line but couldn’t cross. Maybe, just maybe, a community-backed plan would come together to conserve not just the land, but also the contemplative legacy of the monastery, tucked away in the Capitol Creek Valley since the mid 1950s. By December, we learned that was not to be. A private buyer emerged, interested in using the 3,700-acre property as a residence, and the sale closed. The faithful had roughly one month to say final goodbyes.

Hundreds came to that last Mass on Jan. 11. Among them was AJ writer Kaya Williams, who has been following the story since shortly after the listing was announced. In her sixth piece on St. Benedict’s, she examines what the closure means for the community that found solace there and turns over a few rocks concerning what comes next for the land. 

One thing that sticks with me — among the unanswered questions AJ will keep pursuing — has to do with a provision of Canon Law stipulating that when the Church sells the site of a monastery for a significant sum, a portion of the sale proceeds are to be given back in a manner that is responsive to “the needs of the locality where the monastery is situated.” 

While the final outcome has yet to be determined and is ultimately up to leaders of the Trappist order, we could fill the chapel again for a community meeting to hash out where that one should land. I might suggest something that will help foster elsewhere in the community the welcoming ministry of centering prayer and contemplative, interfaith outreach that made St. Benedict’s a landmark for seekers of all stripes. 

Of all the insightful input Williams gathered for her piece, I was especially taken with the comments from Adam Bucko, an Episcopal priest whose path was shaped by a retreat at the Snowmass monastery. Its closure is part of a larger trend, as general interest in being a monk declines. “But maybe,” Williams wrote, citing Bucko, “this time of flux could be reframed, especially for those who lead religious orders, ‘not as a decline,’ Bucko said, ‘but rather as a time when the Holy Spirit is trying to do something new.’”

“Perhaps this should not be a conversation about self preservation of religious orders, but rather about how the gifts of those religious orders could be translated and passed on to a new generation,” Bucko added. 

While the needs of the locality could be defined quite broadly — housing, transportation, affordability, preservation of open space, etc. — I think Bucko is on to something. 

Read on below to catch up on the rest of the haul of reporting covering the beginning of 2026 produced by your community’s only independent, nonprofit news organization dedicated to long-form text journalism. And as always, thank you for reading and supporting in-depth, independent journalism in the Roaring Fork Valley and beyond.

In gratitude,
Curtis Wackerle
Editor and Executive Director
Aspen Journalism

Beyond the last mass at St. Benedict’s

St. Benedict’s Monastery in Old Snowmass has closed after more than 70 years, marking the end of a spiritual center that shaped contemplative life in the Roaring Fork Valley. The Trappist community, founded in the 1950s, held its final Mass on Jan. 11 as longtime supporters gathered to say goodbye. A declining and aging population of monks led the order to dissolve the monastery and sell the property, leaving many to mourn the loss of a rare place of silence, prayer and welcome. The property has been sold to Alex Karp, the billionaire CEO of a data analysis software company called Palantir, who has indicated an intention to use the former monastery as a residence while working with the longtime ranch manager, the last monk remaining onsite, to help the new owner with the intricacies of a property that has been revered in part because of the monks’ gentle stewardship. An easement recorded with the sale preserves limited access to the cemetery for monks’ families and the Trappist order, but future public access along Monastery Road remains uncertain. Longtime supporters expressed concern about the loss of open access while hoping the land’s contemplative character and environmental integrity will be respected.

‘Bless this house’: Community at St. Benedict’s Monastery bids farewell 

With closure and final Mass on Jan. 11, a message of acceptance

By Kaya Williams | January 17, 2026

Continue reading…

Feds water management options on the table

Federal officials outlined future management options for the drought-stricken Colorado River through a long-awaited draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) recently, but water experts and managers warn some scenarios don’t go far enough to confront long-term scarcity and climate change. Critics say certain alternatives would fail to protect key reservoirs like Lake Powell and Lake Mead without deeper cuts and more realistic flow assumptions, underscoring the urgency for stronger, consensus-based solutions. ⁠The seven state representatives are under the gun to come up with a deal they have been working on for more than two years and have less than a month to present details of a plan by the feds’ Feb. 14 deadline.⁠

Garfield County Libraries prepares for new leadership

Garfield County Libraries Executive Director Jamie LaRue announced he plans to retire in early April after decades in library leadership, including four years heading the county’s six-branch system. Known for advocating intellectual freedom amid local and national pressures to restrict books, LaRue urged the community and board to continue defending the freedom to read as the district transitions to new leadership.

Algae in Blue Mesa Reservoir a sign of a sick system

A new study finds low water levels in Blue Mesa Reservoir are the main trigger for toxic algal blooms, as shallow, warm conditions fuel cyanobacteria growth. Low levels have been driven in part by emergency releases to help prop up Lake Powell and exacerbated by low snowpack. Scientists suggest keeping reservoir elevation above about 7,470 feet (49 feet below full pool) to curb the blooms, which have exceeded health advisory limits in recent years, but future releases and continued drought pose their challenges.

A personal ending ‘Crisis of the Commons’ series

In the final installment of Aspen Journalism’s 5-part “Crisis of the Commons” series, Paul Andersen traces a personal journey across Western public lands, weaving personal history with encounters on rivers, trails and remote landscapes, to explore why these shared spaces shape American identity. The essay reflects on a generation shaped by access to public lands, tracing how these shared spaces influence recreation, identity and connection across time, while grounding broader public-lands debates in lived experience.

“Missing middle” housing solution coming to Parachute

To address rising housing costs that are displacing local workers and families, the old Parachute Inn is being converted into 68 workforce apartments with commercial retail space. The project, led by Aspen-based Headwaters Housing Partners with state and town support, targets “missing middle” incomes. Local leaders and residents say the development could help teachers, service workers and others struggling to live where they work.

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