Stories From The Flume This Week
Mayhew: ordinance invalid

FAIRPLAY, Colo. — On Feb. 23, Judge Stanley Mayhew filed an opinion dismissing criminal charges against rancher Vern Wagner and ruling Park County’s Unlawful Grazing Ordinance invalid.

BOCC denies Sunset SIA amendment

FAIRPLAY, Colo. — On Feb. 19, the Board of County Commissioners denied Larry Kanne’s application to amend the Subdivision Improvement Agreement for the Villages at Sunset planned unit development.

Parks, rec group discusses goals

BAILEY, Colo. — Platte Canyon Parks and Recreation met on Feb. 20 to discuss the organization’s short- and long-term goals.

Pick up this week's copy of The Flume for details or log on to their web site at TheFlume.com

02.28.04 @ 11:43 AM MST [link]

Unexplained elk deaths in Wyo. leave wildlife officials puzzled
Elk are dying by the hundreds on the high, dry plains south of Rawlins, Wyo., puzzling veterinarians who suspect some kind of poison is to blame.

In the last three weeks, about 275 elk, mostly breeding-age cows in prime condition, have been found either dead or paralyzed in a 3-square-mile area just north of the Colorado border. Full Story
02.27.04 @ 08:30 AM MST [link]

Jeffco Ranks Second In Work Commute Times
Adams County comes in first in the latest survey, even though Jeffco workers commute from a farther distance. That's because Adams County commuters get jammed up on I-25.

Jefferson County, whose residents previously had the highest average commuting time, was in second place in the latest survey at 25.8 minutes - a gradual decline from 2000, when it stood at 26.1 minutes. Full story
02.26.04 @ 05:52 AM MST [link]

Counties Lobbying Against Forest Service Fee Program
FRISCO, Colo. -- A number of Colorado counties are lobbying against a government program that charges fees for use of National Forest and other public land.

Jackson and Pitkin counties recently joined nine other counties -- La Plata, Montezuma, San Juan, San Miguel, Gunnison, Saguache, Rio Grande, Hinsdale and Mineral -- in opposing the 1996 program that runs through 2005. Full Story
02.25.04 @ 09:05 AM MST [link]

Public Input Sought On Proposed Burn In Buffalo Creek Burn Area
The U.S. Forest Service is seeking public comment on a proposal to conduct a prescribed maintenance burn on approximately 1,286 acres within a portion of the 1996 Buffalo Creek burn area. The burn is designed to reduce the density of large diameter fuels resulting from fallen snags and flash fuels created by an abundance of grasses. Prescribed burning will create a more effective and defensible fuel break in the event of another large wildfire such as the Hayman fire of 2002. It would also improve wildlife habitat conditions by maintaining the vigor of fire-adapted grasses and shrubs.

posted on Tue, 02.24.04 @ 10:51 AM MST [more..]

High-speed Internet may be in your power
Rural Colorado and small towns in the mountain West may become prime proving ground for emerging technology that would deliver high-speed Internet over electric power lines. Full Story
02.24.04 @ 09:21 AM MST [link]

San Juan Shangri-La
SAN JUAN COUNTY - Here in Shangri-La, the dead outnumber the living.

Here in Shangri-La, avalanches routinely assault the roads and pave them with an impasto of snow and ice and winter rules for almost six months.

Here in Shangri-La, they say the air is cleaner - and the water colder, purer and more delicious - than anywhere else, yet the growing season lasts 14 days, and not one acre of land is given over to agriculture.

Here in Shangri-La, there are no jails or fast-food franchises, but neither is there a hospital, a pharmacy, a doctor or a dentist. Full Story
02.22.04 @ 07:41 AM MST [link]

Doctor warns of risks of mountain heart attacks
Avalanches, collisions and exposure to the elements are a few of the well-known dangers associated with winter sports.

But every year, a less publicized killer takes the lives of between two and four skiers on Aspen's mountains: heart attacks.

This winter is no exception. So far this ski season, there have already been two deaths (in Snowmass); a third person had a heart attack, was revived, but later died in the hospital, according to a cardiologist at Aspen Valley Hospital. Full Story
02.22.04 @ 07:38 AM MST [link]