Aftermath of beetle kill takes shape
SUMMIT COUNTY – There’s been little talk lately about the bark beetle epidemic that is expected to kill up to 90 percent of lodgepole pine in Colorado. Maybe that’s because people are accustomed to the sight of rusty and gray forests.

But what will come next? Since the epidemic began in 1996, “next” is already arriving in many places of northern Colorado, in the area around Winter Park, Summit County and Vail.

And the answer, says Ph.D. candidate Kristen Pelz of Colorado State University, is that there is no one thing. She arrives at that vague answer after having studied the transitions after a bark beetle epidemic in the early 1980s in Colorado.

“Understanding the future forest condition has a lot of variables on whether the seed germinates and whether trees grow,” she said recently at a luncheon covered by the Summit Daily News. “There’s not a simple answer.”

In some areas, meadows have formed where lodgepole once were. Other areas have seen conifers.

The bottom line: there will be more diversity in species once this outbreak calms, trees are removed or the dead trees simply fall down.
Increased wildfire may also be in Colorado’s future. While there’s no more danger of fire now with the standing dead trees than there is with a green forest, that will change as the trees fall. If the deadfall burns, the intense heat could potentially sterilize the soil or make it hydrophobic, meaning not much will grow for a long time. But even if there is no fire, the thicket of logs could prevent much from happening.

Grizzly bears on the move in the West
JACKSON, Wyo. – Grizzly bears have significantly expanded their range from the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Some bears have been seen hundreds of miles away, south of Lander, Wyo., and at Dillon, Mont., even in the desert country of the Bighorn Basin, located southeast of Yellowstone.
Bear biologists tell the Jackson Hole News&Guide they think the Yellowstone region now has 1,000 grizzlies, compared to an estimated 224 in 1975.

The range has nearly quadrupled. They also say they suspect most of the bears in the more distant outposts are young males.
Conservationists hope for even more expansion of terrain. Mark Pearson, conservation program director for the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, said ultimately populations of grizzly bears in Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks should be connected.

Meanwhile, bear encounters have led to a ban on dogs and mountain bikers on a shoreline trail along Lake Minnewanka, located in Banff National Park.
Hikers will still be allowed, but this year they will be required to take bear spray. They had previously been required to travel in tightly spaced groups no smaller than four people.

Provoking the new restrictions were three or four surprise grizzly bear encounters with cyclists in the past few years, reports the Rocky Mountain Outlook. All involved female bears with cubs.
Why ban mountain bikers but not hikers? Steve Michel, the human-wildlife conflict specialist at Banff, explained that bicycles travel more rapidly than hikers, thus elevating the potential for a surprise encounter.

Doug Topp, a director of the Bow Valley Mountain Bike Alliance, said the scientific evidence justified the summer-only restriction and pointed out that all other trails in the valley remained open.

Aspen’s real estate on the mend
ASPEN – Aspen’s real estate market continues to recover and especially at the high end. That said, properties that are moving typically have been discounted 10 to 15 percent, some as much as 20 percent.

Andrew Ernemann of B.J. Adams & Co. tells The Aspen Times that one of every four sales of single-family homes in Aspen so far this year has been for $10 million or more. He reports a 51 percent increase in transactions during the first half of this year and a 44 percent increase in dollar volume as compared with the first half of 2010.

Bob Starodoj, of Mason Moore Real Estate, said many buyers are from Europe, including many Russians. He further identified buyers from Mexico and Brazil, as well as Australia and New Zealand – all drawn, at least in part, by the exchange rates that favor them.
Sales activity at Snowmass lags behind Aspen by 6 to 12 months, Ernemann estimated. “Prices have slipped further from 2010 levels, but are showing signs of leveling,” he said.
A further lag effect is noted in Basalt. The rate of foreclosures this year there and in Carbondale and Glenwood Springs is nearly at the same pace as last year, the Times reports. In short, prices are still dropping.

One curious phenomenon noted by the realty agents is that some of the distressed sales, such as the victims of the Bernie Madoff scam, have now sold their houses, and other sellers who could afford to be more patient have now started listing their properties.

Pagosa studying geothermal power
PAGOSA SPRINGS – A study has been authorized to better understand the extent of the geothermal resource at Pagosa Springs. The hot water is already tapped for use in the outdoor pool and spa, The Springs Resort, and to heat a portion of the downtown.

The new study, funded by $30,000 from Pagosa Springs and Archuleta County, seeks to better understand whether there’s enough hot water to heat greenhouses, grow fish and perhaps expand the existing space-heating system, reports the Pagosa Sun.

Meanwhile, another hot springs is emerging in Colorado, and unlike one planned at Ridgway several years ago, this one is at least partly natural.
There always has been a hot springs along the Crystal River between Carbondale and Redstone, called Penny Hot Springs. But several years ago, Chuck Ogilby and his family decided to find out if they could exploit the subterranean pool of hot water at a new location, a resort they own called the Avalanche Ranch.

A 200-foot-well struck a vein of water, which is now running 100 degrees. It is diverted into a tiered set of three pools, each at a different temperature. Some electric heating is also used to boost the pool water to a maximum of 103 degrees, explains the Glenwood Springs Post Independent.

Ski towns plugging into electric cars
SUMMIT COUNTY – Will electric cars make any headway in ski towns? Aspen for several years has had charging stations at its town parking garage. Vail and Whistler have a few charging stations, too.

But even if towns and shopping complexes install charging stations, will people use them? That’s been a broad question across North America. Auto dealers tell the Summit Daily News that while plenty of people want improved fuel efficiency, there’s been no demand for electric cars. Just the same, a local dealer plans to start stocking Ford’s all-electric car, the Focus.

Electric cars cost significantly more and have limited range, typically 40 miles. It takes about 8 hours to fully recharge a depleted battery using the 120-volt plugs used in homes for stoves and refrigerators. Aided by a federal program, San Diego, Portland and other cities have been busily installing new 240-volt and 440-volt stations, and Vancouver, B.C., now requires that new developments be outfitted with the infrastructure for charging stations.

Salida debates ‘small town’ status
SALIDA – With a whole string of 14,000-foot peaks in the background and Monarch ski area 20 miles away, Salida certainly qualifies as a mountain town. It is, asserted Mayor Chuck Rose at a recent meeting, “the last great mountain town.”
But what constitutes a small town?

That question was recently posed to council members, and the Mountain Mail reports varied responses.
“A small town comes out of people caring for other people,” said Councilman Tom Yerkey.

No one is anonymous in a small town, said Councilman Jay Moore.

Most everything is within in walking or hiking distance, said another councilman.
Salida has 5,000 people, a figure that has not substantially changed in the last century, although the blue-collared enterprises that sustained the community for most of that time have now largely disappeared, replaced by art galleries and other elements of the recreation and leisure economy.

Vail area schools to teach Chinese
AVON – In August, 100 students at Battle Mountain High School are scheduled to begin lessons in Mandarin, the official language of the People’s Republic of China.

A branch of the Chinese government called the Confucius Institute sponsors Mandarin instruction in American schools and colleges. The cost of the teacher at Battle Mountain will run $60,000, when both salary and benefits are tabulated. The Chinese government picks up the largest share, reports the Vail Daily.

Another local school, Eagle Valley High School, expects 60 students to study Chinese when instruction begins next year.

Steamboat embraces locavore movement
STEAMBOAT SPRINGS – The locavore movement continues to perk along, its adherents eschewing food that is shipped from afar.
Two groups, Planet Yampa and Community Agriculture Alliance, have won a $50,000 federal grant to study whether it would be feasible to build 12 greenhouses in the Steamboat Springs-Craig area. The vision is to use hydroponics, or water-growing techniques, powered by clean energy sources, to produce fruits and vegetables.

All of this is at elevations of 6,000 to 7,000 feet in an area with summers hot enough for rattlesnakes but too short to grow corn or watermelons.
Nancy Kramer, from the Agriculture Alliance, told Steamboat Today that the idea taps into the growing desire of people to know where their food comes from.

– Allen Best