It was early that cold morning in late September, 1982, when we approached the Skyline Mine Portal at 11,776 feet of elevation on Treasure Mountain. I had to rub my eyes at what unfolded in front of us. In a Neanderthal scene, a young man came out of the dark mine tunnel with a smoking, […]
John Armstrong
Posted inColumns, Opinion, Uncategorized
Opinion: CVEPA on Redstone to McClure Trail
Game wardens and a few locals gathered at the old railroad siding at Placita. Word was out that the Division of Wildlife was going to release elk into the upper Crystal Valley. John Darien remembered that day in the early ‘40s as he recounted the scene to me in the barnyard at Prospect Mountain Ranch […]
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CVEPA Views: To trap an elk in 1972…
The 500-pound cow elk was wild-eyed as she kept trying to escape the trap. She continued to jump up on the eight-foot-tall walls of her plywood pen until she finally broke down a section. The “wapiti” (the Shawnee and Cree word for elk) struggled to get her front legs over the wall. When she succeeded, […]
Posted inColumns, Opinion, Uncategorized
CVEPA Views: Weighing methane capture
The view from the Dutch Creek Mine Number One, above Redstone, was breathtaking but the air was breathless. The stillness made the constant coursing of the methane gas from the old mine portal even more pronounced. Chris Caskey is a climatologist from Paonia and owner of the Delta Brick and Climate Company. This October, Caskey […]
Posted inColumns, Opinion, Uncategorized
CVEPA Views: What’s all the fuss about Marble?
Every time you pick up the paper it seems there is an article about Marble. It might be about the Marble Quarry, off highway vehicle (OHV) impacts, Wild and Scenic Designation or simply overcrowding. Why all the interest in this little hamlet way up the Crystal River? For those of us who have called Marble […]