Aspen briefs

Aspen

Mingle with nonprofits tonight

The Aspen Young Professionals’ Nonprofit Fair & Wine Tasting will take place at 5:30 tonight at the Hotel Jerome.

Cost is $15 for nonmembers.

Representatives from more than 30 nonprofit organizations will be on hand, including the Aspen Art Museum, the Aspen Center for Environmental Studies, Aspen CORE, Aspen Film, Aspen Historical Society, Aspen Institute, Anderson Ranch, Aspen Valley Foundation, Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club, the Aspen Writers’ Foundation, the Buddy Program, Challenge Aspen, Chris Klug Foundation, Jazz Aspen/Snowmass, Pathfinders, Red Brick Center for the Arts, Response, the Roaring Fork Business Resource Center, the Roaring Fork Conservancy, Roaring Fork Leadership, Roaring Fork Outdoor Volunteers, SOL Theater Company, Springboard, the Susan G. Komen Foundation, the White Patch, Theatre Aspen, Toastmasters, To Return Together in Hope, Walk for MS, WE-cycle and Youth Zone.

For more information or to RSVP, visit http://www.aspenypa.com/events?eventId=653901.

Recreation

Boat inspections under way at Ruedi

The Invasive Species Inspection Program at Ruedi Reservoir will get up and running for the fourth year starting this weekend at Ruedi Reservoir. The program, which is sponsored by the Ruedi Water and Power Authority and funded by federal, state and local contributions, will be in place Wednesdays through Sundays at the reservoir and will be inspecting and, if necessary, cleaning all boats entering Ruedi during daylight hours.

The program is aimed at keeping Ruedi free of invasive species, specifically zebra and quagga mussels, fast-growing freshwater shellfish that have devastated lake ecosystems elsewhere in the U.S.

Boaters are encouraged to follow “clean, drain and dry” protocols to make sure that they do not inadvertently transport larval or adult mussels from an infested lake to an uninfested one. This requires boaters to clean all wet surfaces, drain all water-holding areas such as bilges, coolers and even dampened cloth surfaces, and make sure all interior and exterior surfaces and spaces are fully dried between outings. Larval mussels can survive in any kind of damp environment, so the absence of adult mussels is not itself a foolproof indicator of a clean boat.

The Ruedi inspection program is free and will be operating at the main Ruedi boat ramp beginning Friday during daylight hours. For more information, contact the Ruedi Water and Power Authority at 970-963-4959 or see the Colorado Department of Parks and Wildlife website at http://parks.state.co.us/Boating/NewBoatInspection/Pages/BoatInspection.aspx.