Early in my career, I clerked at the Environmental Defense Fund trying to help negotiate changes in California’s massive irrigation system, trying to stave off the extinction of the Sacramento River winter run of Chinook salmon. The irrigation system, known as the Central Valley Project, irrigates a good share of… read more →
CVEPA Views
-
Locations:
Columns,
Opinion
Published
Oct. 25, 2023
Wildlife McCarthyism, impact credits and the humility necessary to share Earth’s beauty
-
Locations:
Columns,
Opinion
Published
Sep. 27, 2023
CVEPA Views: Reverence for words
Management plans, stakeholder groups, augmentation proposals, land exchanges… it goes on and on. If one tracks issues important to our valley, the terminology can become heavy. A little levity might be in order to maintain balance.
I love etymology, the study of words (not bugs), how they got their… read more →
-
Locations:
Columns,
Opinion
Published
Aug. 16, 2023
CVEPA Views: When is a reservoir not a reservoir? Thoughts on Mobley’s Corral and the Crystal Augmentation Plan
By Dale Will
The headline on Heather Sackett’s recent coverage of the Crystal Augmentation Study caught my eye: “Janeway site promising for Crystal River backup water supply.” (See Aspen Times, July 22, 2023 or www.aspenjournalism.org) For those of you not following this study, the West Divide Water Conservancy District… read more →
-
Locations:
Columns,
Opinion
Published
Mar. 22, 2023
CVEPA Views: Respect, the price of admission
“Since when is public access part of the Crystal Valley Environmental Protection Association [CVEPA] mission?” An old friend asked me this recently. It is certainly a valid question, and one that has been discussed at length amongst our board.
Whenever we leave our homes to recreate on public lands —… read more →
-
Locations:
Columns,
Opinion
Published
Jan. 25, 2023
Land conservation as an act of philanthropy
On Dec. 20, 2022, Jeff and Janette Bier donated 8.5 acres adjacent to the Marble Wetlands to the Trust for Land Restoration (TLR). The 55-acre Marble Wetlands was donated to TLR a year earlier by an anonymous individual. These properties lie between lands already owned by the Division of Colorado… read more →
-
Locations:
Columns,
Opinion
Published
Dec. 21, 2022
Have you seen the Ghost of Marble Past?
On a gray winter day, you can hear the eerie wind whistle down the long corridors which stretch out almost as long as a football field. It is the skeleton of the 200-room Marble Ski Area base lodge. (The actual size is debatable, but it is very large!)
The sprawling… read more →
-
Locations:
Columns,
Opinion
Published
Oct. 26, 2022
Thoughts on the Hayden, the Meeker Uprising, and the Crystal Trail
When Ferdinand Hayden’s team of surveyors entered the Crystal Valley in 1873, they noted the existence of a “hardened trail” running from the summit of what is now known as Schofield Pass down to the confluence of the Roaring Fork and Colorado Rivers. At this point, the surveyors were the… read more →
-
Locations:
Columns,
Opinion
Published
Jun. 29, 2022
CVEPA Views: The Critically Thirsty West
At this time, 39 years ago, “federal officials scrambled to avoid one of the most dramatic dam failures in history.” Glen Canyon Dam was bursting at the seams with water and rock blasting out around its foundation while crews raced to install a rampart of plywood sheets across the top… read more →
-
Locations:
Columns,
Opinion
Published
Apr. 20, 2022
CVEPA Views: Learning, challenging, collaborating
On April 14, the Crystal Valley Environmental Protection Association (CVEPA) board meeting enjoyed a delightful levity which is uncommon these days. Solidarity is not synonymous with unanimity, so it is refreshing when we all agree on something. The pact to agree to disagree, respectfully, is a basic tenet of… read more →
