Telluride rebels against co-op

TELLURIDE – The protracted and sometimes disjointed discussion about the future of energy has turned mutinous in Telluride.

There, at an annual meeting of the local electrical co-op, San Miguel Power Association, impassioned local citizens defied tradition – and perhaps the organization’s by-laws – in ordering the electrical co-op to start buying 5 percent of the utility’s electricity from local sources.

At issue is the perceived danger of global warming and what the local response should be. What is emerging at Telluride, and at other places, is the argument that local communities should have not only the opportunity, but the obligation of providing at least a portion of their needs locally and from non-carbon sources.

Telluride resident Pamela Zoline-Lifton says San Miguel Power’s existing board misunderstands its mission. “They think they need to provide cheap, cheap power,” she said, “but what they really need to provide is responsible power, and they haven’t recalculated that yet.”

Triggering the dispute was the plan announced last year by Tri-State Generation and Transmission to build two and possibly three coal-fired power plants. Aside from large dams, coal is the cheapest source of reliable electricity.

Tri-State serves about a third of electricity in Colorado, mostly in the rural areas beyond the urbanized Front Range corridor, plus large sections of New Mexico, Wyoming and Nebraska.

Two of the 44-member utilities – Colorado’s Delta-Montrose and New Mexico’s Taos-based Carson Electric – have refused. Others, most notably Gunnison County Electric, hesitated, with much discussion about whether Tri-State has done enough to encourage conservation and develop alternative energy sources. San Miguel, which includes several counties in the San Juan Mountains, also hesitated.

A week before the meeting, Telluride has been host to a day-long discussion about energy futures. Participants had been galvanized by images presented byNational Geographic editor Dennis Dimick of glaciers rapidly receding and other effects attributed to the effects of global warming.

Warming begins to hit Lake Tahoe

LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – Big changes are ahead for Lake Tahoe as aresult of global warming, and they’re already under way, says a scientist.

A study of 7,300 measurements over a 33-year period found that the lake’s water temperature increased about 0.88 degrees Fahrenheit (0.5 degrees Celsius). This is, says Robert Coats, a research ecologist with the University of California Davis, consistent with the warming reported at other big lakes around the world, including the Great Lakes, Switzerland’s Lake Zurich and Africa’s Lake Tanganyika.

This is also about double the increase in ocean temperatures.

Most of this warming at Tahoe is explained by increased night-time temperatures of 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit (2 degrees Celsius).

Coats, preparing a lecture at Incline Village, Nev., told theSierra Sun that while the effects of global warming are complex, interrelated and difficult to predict, it’s inevitable that there will be environmental transformation in the Lake Tahoe Basin. If precipitation and warming trends stay the course during the next century, oak trees – currently found 3,700 feet lower in elevation – will replace pine trees.

He said global warming will, at the very least, be difficult and at the far end catastrophic. “It’s anybody’s guess, but big changes are in store without question,” he told the newspaper.

Cyclist fends off mountain lion

WHISTLER, B.C. – Mountain biker Steve Patterson has a story to tell around the campfire. He was finishing a five-hour bike ride when a mountain lion popped out of the forest behind him. Patterson hopped off his bike, keeping the bicycle between him and the animal as the cat slowly sauntered over. The cat, Patterson toldPique newsmagazine, was “young, curious, playful and really unpredictable.”

“It was pretty scary, but you’ve got to keep your wits about you,” said Patterson, who has seen several of the cougars, as mountain lions are also known, through the years.

The cat approached to within 10 feet, and Patterson kept slowly talking and maintaining eye contact. At length, he

whirled around, got back on his bike, and booked down the trail.

Another mountain biker was chased near Whistler three years ago, said Chris Doyle, a conservation officer. “I don’t relay know why this happens. I guess when people flee, it causes cougars to instinctually pursue them.”

Doyle said anyone encountering a cougar in the wild should “never turn your back on them. Never run or flee. Make yourself as big as possible, and try to intimidate the cougar. Pick up a stick and wave it in the air and back away slowly,” he warned.

Trophy homes average in Aspen

ASPEN – Average home prices in Pitkin County, where Aspen and Snowmass are located, are about 25 years ahead of the rest of the country.

While the average size of a new house built in the United States topped 2,400 square feet in 2005, Pitkin County topped that level 25 years ago, reportsThe Aspen Times.

The average house size as of 2005 was 5,203 square feet.

Real-estate agents tell the newspaper there are several reasons. One, with lot prices now running $400,000 or more, homebuilders putting up spec homes often construct as big a house as government regulations will allow, to justify the investment. Also, increasing numbers of people are retiring to their vacation homes, and as such want more space.

Elsewhere in the Roaring Fork Valley, the same phenomenon of upsizing is also noted in the mid-valley area, where homes being built this year are nearly 800 feet larger than they were just a year ago.

If the general trend remains larger, there is also a greater awareness of sustainable issues. Michael Ernemann, an architect in Aspen for 35 years, says more clients want to take advantage of solar-orientation and some even have asked for solar photovoltaic and micro-hydroelectric energy.

Breckenridge leads in skier visits

BRECKENRIDGE – For the third time in the last quarter-century, Breckenridge has led the United States in skier visits.

Breckenridge this past season registered 1.65 million skier visits, compared to 1.60 million for Vail. After surpassing Mammoth Mountain in the 1970s, Vail has mostly held the title of most-visited resort.

Vail’s skier numbers have not increased remarkably in 15 years – despite the largest ski area expansion ever in North American history. Breckenridge, in contrast, has gained significantly, and so has Beaver Creek, which this past season reported 890,000 skier days.

The big story this season was the growth in destination skiers, which in turn allowed Vail Resorts to increase profits 15 percent for February, March and April, as compared to the same quarter last year. The company also reports an increase of lift ticket and pass sales from September through April of 9.1 percent.

Whistler plans for end of skiing

WHISTLER, B.C. – Sawmills and mines across the American West closed during the ’70s and ’80s, and lately they’ve been doing so in British Columbia.

Will ski areas follow in another generation? Following a discouraging view of a globally warmed future from the Convention on Biological Diversity, Whistler Mayor Ken Melamed said it’s time to think of that time.

“We should be planning for the end of skiing,” he said. “It may not end, but it won’t be what it is today.”

Whistler two winters ago got a peek into what climatologist are predicting, with drenching rains through January that eviscerated the snowpack. Melamed spoke of his “great embarrassment” that the planet he will leave will not be as in as good of a condition as the one he inherited from his parents.

Stiff winds hammer Summit County

FRISCO – Hundreds of trees were uprooted, a few cars were destroyed, and dozens of homes were damaged in the Frisco, Silverton and Dillon areas of Summit County when a cold front tore through on June 6.  Winds of 90 mph were also reported in the storm, which left snow at about 8,000 feet and above.

– compiled by Allen Best

 Telluride rebels against co-op

TELLURIDE – The protracted and sometimes disjointed discussion about the future of energy has turned mutinous in Telluride.

There, at an annual meeting of the local electrical co-op, San Miguel Power Association, impassioned local citizens defied tradition – and perhaps the organization’s by-laws – in ordering the electrical co-op to start buying 5 percent of the utility’s electricity from local sources.

At issue is the perceived danger of global warming and what the local response should be. What is emerging at Telluride, and at other places, is the argument that local communities should have not only the opportunity, but the obligation of providing at least a portion of their needs locally and from non-carbon sources.

Telluride resident Pamela Zoline-Lifton says San Miguel Power’s existing board misunderstands its mission. “They think they need to provide cheap, cheap power,” she said, “but what they really need to provide is responsible power, and they haven’t recalculated that yet.”

Triggering the dispute was the plan announced last year by Tri-State Generation and Transmission to build two and possibly three coal-fired power plants. Aside from large dams, coal is the cheapest source of reliable electricity.

Tri-State serves about a third of electricity in Colorado, mostly in the rural areas beyond the urbanized Front Range corridor, plus large sections of New Mexico, Wyoming and Nebraska.

Two of the 44-member utilities – Colorado’s Delta-Montrose and New Mexico’s Taos-based Carson Electric – have refused. Others, most notably Gunnison County Electric, hesitated, with much discussion about whether Tri-State has done enough to encourage conservation and develop alternative energy sources. San Miguel, which includes several counties in the San Juan Mountains, also hesitated.

A week before the meeting, Telluride has been host to a day-long discussion about energy futures. Participants had been galvanized by images presented byNational Geographic editor Dennis Dimick of glaciers rapidly receding and other effects attributed to the effects of global warming.

Warming begins to hit Lake Tahoe

LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – Big changes are ahead for Lake Tahoe as aresult of global warming, and they’re already under way, says a scientist.

A study of 7,300 measurements over a 33-year period found that the lake’s water temperature increased about 0.88 degrees Fahrenheit (0.5 degrees Celsius). This is, says Robert Coats, a research ecologist with the University of California Davis, consistent with the warming reported at other big lakes around the world, including the Great Lakes, Switzerland’s Lake Zurich and Africa’s Lake Tanganyika.

This is also about double the increase in ocean temperatures.

Most of this warming at Tahoe is explained by increased night-time temperatures of 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit (2 degrees Celsius).

Coats, preparing a lecture at Incline Village, Nev., told theSierra Sun that while the effects of global warming are complex, interrelated and difficult to predict, it’s inevitable that there will be environmental transformation in the Lake Tahoe Basin. If precipitation and warming trends stay the course during the next century, oak trees – currently found 3,700 feet lower in elevation – will replace pine trees.

He said global warming will, at the very least, be difficult and at the far end catastrophic. “It’s anybody’s guess, but big changes are in store without question,” he told the newspaper.

Cyclist fends off mountain lion

WHISTLER, B.C. – Mountain biker Steve Patterson has a story to tell around the campfire. He was finishing a five-hour bike ride when a mountain lion popped out of the forest behind him. Patterson hopped off his bike, keeping the bicycle between him and the animal as the cat slowly sauntered over. The cat, Patterson toldPique newsmagazine, was “young, curious, playful and really unpredictable.”

“It was pretty scary, but you’ve got to keep your wits about you,” said Patterson, who has seen several of the cougars, as mountain lions are also known, through the years.

The cat approached to within 10 feet, and Patterson kept slowly talking and maintaining eye contact. At length, he whirled around, got back on his bike, and booked down the trail.

Another mountain biker was chased near Whistler three years ago, said Chris Doyle, a conservation officer. “I don’t relay know why this happens. I guess when people flee, it causes cougars to instinctually pursue them.”

Doyle said anyone encountering a cougar in the wild should “never turn your back on them. Never run or flee. Make yourself as big as possible, and try to intimidate the cougar. Pick up a stick and wave it in the air and back away slowly,” he warned.

Trophy homes average in Aspen

ASPEN – Average home prices in Pitkin County, where Aspen and Snowmass are located, are about 25 years ahead of the rest of the country.

While the average size of a new house built in the United States topped 2,400 square feet in 2005, Pitkin County topped that level 25 years ago, reportsThe Aspen Times.

The average house size as of 2005 was 5,203 square feet.

Real-estate agents tell the newspaper there are several reasons. One, with lot prices now running $400,000 or more, homebuilders putting up spec homes often construct as big a house as government regulations will allow, to justify the investment. Also, increasing numbers of people are retiring to their vacation homes, and as such want more space.

Elsewhere in the Roaring Fork Valley, the same phenomenon of upsizing is also noted in the mid-valley area, where homes being built this year are nearly 800 feet larger than they were just a year ago.

If the general trend remains larger, there is also a greater awareness of sustainable issues. Michael Ernemann, an architect in Aspen for 35 years, says more clients want to take advantage of solar-orientation and some even have asked for solar photovoltaic and micro-hydroelectric energy.

Breckenridge leads in skier visits

BRECKENRIDGE – For the third time in the last quarter-century, Breckenridge has led the United States in skier visits.

Breckenridge this past season registered 1.65 million skier visits, compared to 1.60 million for Vail. After surpassing Mammoth Mountain in the 1970s, Vail has mostly held the title of most-visited resort.

Vail’s skier numbers have not increased remarkably in 15 years – despite the largest ski area expansion ever in North American history. Breckenridge, in contrast, has gained significantly, and so has Beaver Creek, which this past season reported 890,000 skier days.

The big story this season was the growth in destination skiers, which in turn allowed Vail Resorts to increase profits 15 percent for February, March and April, as compared to the same quarter last year. The company also reports an increase of lift ticket and pass sales from September through April of 9.1 percent.

Whistler plans for end of skiing

WHISTLER, B.C. – Sawmills and mines across the American West closed during the ’70s and ’80s, and lately they’ve been doing so in British Columbia.

Will ski areas follow in another generation? Following a discouraging view of a globally warmed future from the Convention on Biological Diversity, Whistler Mayor Ken Melamed said it’s time to think of that time.

“We should be planning for the end of skiing,” he said. “It may not end, but it won’t be what it is today.”

Whistler two winters ago got a peek into what climatologist are predicting, with drenching rains through January that eviscerated the snowpack. Melamed spoke of his “great embarrassment” that the planet he will leave will not be as in as good of a condition as the one he inherited from his parents.

Stiff winds hammer Summit County

FRISCO – Hundreds of trees were uprooted, a few cars were destroyed, and dozens of homes were damaged in the Frisco, Silverton and Dillon areas of Summit County when a cold front tore through on June 6.  Winds of 90 mph were also reported in the storm, which left snow at about 8,000 feet and above.

– compiled by Allen Best

New Aspen mayor refuses freebies

ASPEN – Mick Ireland, Aspen’s new mayor, says he’s not accepting shwag to the various events in Aspen such as the Jazz Aspen Snowmass. In fact, he said he will accept nothing more valuable than a bottle of water, although he will attend events to give speeches as a representative of Aspen if called upon. “It’s one thing to attend and another to avail yourself of something of value,” he said.

The Aspen Timessays outgoing mayor Helen Klanderud attended a huge number of events, often on passes organizers provided, and initially suggested she may have accepted tickets to the expensive ($1,000 per ticket)Food & Wine Magazine Classic. Not so, it turns out. She paid.

Still, Klanderud readily admitted to some freebies, and defended them as part of the mayor’s job. “Particularly for the mayor, there is an expectation to extend yourself a bit to show support. I’m not suggesting anyone try to follow my schedule, but there is a part of it that goes with the job,” she told the newspaper.

Jackson antlers sell for $51,000

JACKSON HOLE, Wyo. – Elk antlers are easy to come by in Jackson Hole, location of the National Wildlife Elk Refuge. And for 50 years, giant arches of antlers have stood at each of the four corners of the Jackson Town Square.

But the arches are to be replaced, and the first one was put up for sale this year. It won’t go far – just a mile down the street to the Best Western Inn, whose owner, Jerry Johnson, bid $51,000, outlasting an interior designer representing a client who just bought a house in Park City.

This was also the 40th year for sale of antlers collected at the refuge. Some 5,379 pounds of elk antlers were sold, with newer brown ones going for higher prices than older, bleached antlers. Also available for sale were bison and elk skull plates. Nearly $760,000 was raised, with 20 percent going to the Boy Scouts, who collect the antlers and help put on the sale.

Eagle County nudges green power

EAGLE COUNTY – By drawing up regulations governing their use, officials in Eagle County hope to encourage development of more small-scale solar panels, wind turbines and hydroelectric generators. The proposed regulations would specify that a landowner in unincorporated areas has the right to build an 80-foot-tall wind turbine by right, except near property lines, explains theVail Daily. By specifying that they are uses by right, except as specified, the county also seeks to encourage hydroelectric generators that provide up to 500 kilowatts of energy.