The Pineapple Express making repeat appearances in the San Juans, dumping as much as 100 inches in places and erasing concerns about a drought winter

Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar erasing a Bush Administration misstep and restoring protections to lands with the potential to become wilderness
The inaugural First Night putting a “Local First” spin on New Year’s Eve and offering another holiday boost to downtown Durango
The Forest Service giving a holiday gift to the Glacier Club and quietly overruling three appeals and granting final approval to the contentious Chris Park land swap
The admission by Energy Fuels, the company proposing the nearby Piñon Ridge uranium mill, that its product would be used to fuel a nuclear power plant in China
The U.S. Senate shooting down the DREAM Act and blocking a pathway to citizenship for the children of immigrants