Correction: Last week’s article,“‘This administration is burning the rule book,’” stated that there are seven parcels on the Roan Plateau subject to a prospective natural gas lease sale slated for December. There are five parcels within the Roan Plateau Management Area (RPMA) and two with stipulations outside the RPMA. Thank you, Near NewMany thanks to […]
Roaring Fork Audubon
Posted inEnvironment
Harvest Roaring Fork proposes to develop new subdivisions over winter elk habitat
Editor’s Note: The Cattle Creek Confluence Coalition — www.cattlecreekcc.com — is holding a public meeting on this topic on Thursday, Nov. 6, at 6:30pm in the Glenwood Springs Library community room. Picture, if you can, environmentalists collaborating with developers on one of the last stretches of undeveloped valley floor, on pasture land between Carbondale and […]
Posted inEnvironment
Local bird species at a tipping point
Local birders are issuing a warning call in solidarity with national groups like the National Audubon Society. In March, Cornell University issued its annual “State of the Birds” report. The study adds yearly field data to decades of trend tracking within ecosystems across the United States. Some local species on the radar are recognizable even […]
Posted inColumns, Opinion
Pitkin County’s bike path through the Crystal River Corridor to Crested Butte: An ecological perspective
By Roaring Fork Audubon and Colorado Sierra Club The Redstone to McClure Pass section of the Carbondale to Crested Butte trail development project will pass through some of the most ecologically important and beautiful breeding bird habitats remaining in the Crystal River Valley. While this is exciting for bikers, it is an ecological tragedy for […]
Posted inEnvironment
Sweetwater Lake proposed management plan invites feedback
Winding up Sweetwater Road, north of Interstate 70 near Dotsero, nearly every home displays a yellow sign with “STATE PARK” circled in red and struck through above the words: “TRULY SAVE SWEETWATER LAKE.” Neighbors are making public their concerns as the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) solicits feedback on its proposed management and development project at […]
Posted inEnvironment
Audubon brings on free birding and music this summer
A whole season of guided birdwatching takes flight this spring, brought to you by Roaring Fork Audubon (RFA). On May 20, RFA kicked off a dense schedule of free birding field trips through July, with more to be announced as the summer progresses. RFA, a local chapter of the National Audubon Society, is a volunteer-operated […]
Posted inNews
Naturalist Nights lecture series launches for the New Year
On Jan. 10, Wilderness Workshop, the Aspen Center for Environmental Studies (ACES) and Roaring Fork Audubon will be kicking off this year’s Naturalist Nights, a free presentation series designed to bring experts and their research to the Valley community. This winter, the collaboration of organizations will bring speakers in from across the state and further […]
Posted inNews, Uncategorized
For the love of fens…
Photos by Chris Cohen Rocky Mountain Science Center Sliding her shovel deep into the spongy earth, ecologist Delia Malone explained that a fen is a special kind of wetland, formed over thousands of years. Prone to freezing and lacking aeration, the decomposition of organic matter in a fen is limited, generating around four centimeters of […]
Posted inNews, Uncategorized
Crystal River Restoration Project hits another snag
For years, the Crystal River Restoration Project (CRRP) has been a topic of conversation. In 2016, a section of the river south of Crystal Bridge Drive in Carbondale was identified by the Roaring Fork Conservancy as “unsustainably impaired” due to its wide and shallow channel, which can trap fish in warm waters during low-flow. In […]
