Andrew Travers:
"The countless dormant mines in and around the Roaring Fork Valley offer a peculiar mix of danger and opportunity for forest officials.
Take the Hope Mine, for instance, where threats to public safety and water quality have led to innovation in reclamation strategy.
The silver mine in the Castle Creek Valley was founded in 1911 and never turned a profit before it was abandoned, though more than 158 tons of silver ore was extracted from it.
A century later, however, waste left behind by miners has proved to be fertile ground for reclamation officials. Since 2010, foresters have used biochar to successfully re-vegetate the riverside slope of mine waste, restoring soil ravaged by silver tailings. It was the first project of its kind in the world. Biochar is a charcoal-like substance made from heated biomass, which can be applied to increase soil fertility.
Forest Service soil scientist Brian McMullen said that the once-barren, dry soil below the mine has a significantly higher moisture content on some of the treatment areas compared to what’s on untreated parts of the slope.
The waste pile below the mine has formed a steep three-story-high embankment above Castle Creek, just upstream from the city of Aspen’s water treatment plant. Observers have long been concerned that the pile may slide into the river. If it did, it would add so much sediment to the creek that it could ruin Aspen’s public water supply from the creek for years, officials said.
“It’s been a pretty amazing success,” said Scott Snelson, district ranger for the White River National Forest, regarding the biochar treatment. “It reduces the risk of a slide so much.” ....." (Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetic pursuit and tracking of patterns within the news others make since 2010."
Showing posts with label Andrew Travers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Andrew Travers. Show all posts
April 8, 2012
SandBoxBlogs: Aspen Daily News "A fowl one night stand"
Andrew Travers:
"Thousands of sandhill cranes on an overnight stop at Fruitgrowers Reservoir this spring also served as feathered advocates for habitat conservation.
That’s the hope, anyway, of Audubon Colorado and the Sopris Foundation, the organizations that partnered to bring two bus-loads of Roaring Fork Valley residents across McClure Pass to witness the natural phenomenon.
About 25,000 of the cranes migrate through Colorado every spring, following a predictable pattern of one-night stops between their winter home in southern New Mexico and Mexico, up to their summer roost on the Yellowstone plateau in Wyoming.
Dependably, before sundown everyday for a few weeks each spring, flocks of the majestic birds — often thousands at a time — fly in over the Grand Mesa and settle in at the reservoir for the night. The wetland here, set amid the orchards and pasture of Delta County, is ideal roosting terrain for the ground-dwelling birds.
Just as predictably, the next morning they lift off and make their way north for a stop on the Yampa River.
“Seeing it for the first time is breathtaking,” Audubon Colorado director Ken Strom said on the coach bus ride down Highway 133 from Carbondale...." (Read more? Click title)
"Thousands of sandhill cranes on an overnight stop at Fruitgrowers Reservoir this spring also served as feathered advocates for habitat conservation.
That’s the hope, anyway, of Audubon Colorado and the Sopris Foundation, the organizations that partnered to bring two bus-loads of Roaring Fork Valley residents across McClure Pass to witness the natural phenomenon.
About 25,000 of the cranes migrate through Colorado every spring, following a predictable pattern of one-night stops between their winter home in southern New Mexico and Mexico, up to their summer roost on the Yellowstone plateau in Wyoming.
Dependably, before sundown everyday for a few weeks each spring, flocks of the majestic birds — often thousands at a time — fly in over the Grand Mesa and settle in at the reservoir for the night. The wetland here, set amid the orchards and pasture of Delta County, is ideal roosting terrain for the ground-dwelling birds.
Just as predictably, the next morning they lift off and make their way north for a stop on the Yampa River.
“Seeing it for the first time is breathtaking,” Audubon Colorado director Ken Strom said on the coach bus ride down Highway 133 from Carbondale...." (Read more? Click title)
November 23, 2011
SandBox Comments: Aspen Daily News "DA staff to get bonuses, not salary increase"
"District Attorney Martin Beeson has dropped a 2 percent staff salary increase from his 2012 budget, in response to a request from the Pitkin County commissioners.
He is instead budgeting for a 1.5 percent end-of-year bonus, if economic conditions allow. The county is on track to give a similar bonus to its own employees next year, lifting a salary freeze that has been in place since 2009.
Beeson’s request for a staff raise was met with varying responses in all three of the counties his office serves — Garfield, Pitkin and Rio Blanco.
Garfield County commissioners had OK’d the 2 percent salary increase. Rio Blanco had opposed a raise or any bonus, because it is poised to continue a salary freeze for its employees through 2012.
“The Rio Blanco County commissioners have declined to participate in this plan as they do not believe they can do so in good conscience while denying their own employees a compensation increase of any sort,” Beeson wrote last week in an updated budget memorandum to the Pitkin County commissioners.
The tri-county DA’s budget has to be approved by all three counties that fund its operations.
“That put the DA’s office in something of an awkward position,” Pitkin County Manager Jon Peacock told the commissioners Tuesday.
Beeson is moving forward with the bonuses, using funding from Garfield and Pitkin counties only. He has pledged to pay for Rio Blanco’s portion — $2,100 — out of his own salary...."
(Andrew Travers)
(Read more? Click title. Comment to discuss)
He is instead budgeting for a 1.5 percent end-of-year bonus, if economic conditions allow. The county is on track to give a similar bonus to its own employees next year, lifting a salary freeze that has been in place since 2009.
Beeson’s request for a staff raise was met with varying responses in all three of the counties his office serves — Garfield, Pitkin and Rio Blanco.
Garfield County commissioners had OK’d the 2 percent salary increase. Rio Blanco had opposed a raise or any bonus, because it is poised to continue a salary freeze for its employees through 2012.
“The Rio Blanco County commissioners have declined to participate in this plan as they do not believe they can do so in good conscience while denying their own employees a compensation increase of any sort,” Beeson wrote last week in an updated budget memorandum to the Pitkin County commissioners.
The tri-county DA’s budget has to be approved by all three counties that fund its operations.
“That put the DA’s office in something of an awkward position,” Pitkin County Manager Jon Peacock told the commissioners Tuesday.
Beeson is moving forward with the bonuses, using funding from Garfield and Pitkin counties only. He has pledged to pay for Rio Blanco’s portion — $2,100 — out of his own salary...."
(Andrew Travers)
(Read more? Click title. Comment to discuss)
"Truth goes through three stages. First it is ridiculed. Then it is violently opposed. Finally, it is accepted as self-evident."
October 25, 2011
SandBox Comments: Aspen Daily News "DA asks for approval of reduced budget from Pitkin County"
"The percentage of contribution to the DA from each county is determined by state law, and is based on population rather than caseload. This has been an exasperating reality for the commissioners of Pitkin County, which represents 21 percent of the population of the district but just 11 percent of the prosecuted crimes.
In last year’s budget meeting with Beeson, Commissioner Michael Owsley called the arrangement “patently unfair.”
Garfield County carries 70 percent of district population, and 74 percent of felony cases and 80 percent of misdemeanor cases. Rio Blanco carried just 8 percent of the population but 12 percent of the DA’s caseload...."
(Andrew Travers)
(Learn more? Click title and comment to start discussion)
In last year’s budget meeting with Beeson, Commissioner Michael Owsley called the arrangement “patently unfair.”
Garfield County carries 70 percent of district population, and 74 percent of felony cases and 80 percent of misdemeanor cases. Rio Blanco carried just 8 percent of the population but 12 percent of the DA’s caseload...."
(Andrew Travers)
(Learn more? Click title and comment to start discussion)
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