In Brief: Elderly skier dies at Steamboat; Sky Mountain hunting library; Park City fights for local control of housing
Skier, 81, from Iowa dies on Steamboat slopes
Iowa resident Phillip Larsen, 81, died Wednesday, Feb. 22, skiing at Steamboat Resort, authorities confirmed.
An autopsy is scheduled for Friday, Feb. 24, according to the Routt County Coroner’s Office. Officials at the resort confirmed he was skiing on upper Valley View and was wearing a helmet but could not provide any other details.
Ski patrol responded to the scene around 12:15 p.m. Law enforcement arrived at slope maintenance, an area at the top of Burgess Creek Road, at 12:39 p.m. to meet ski patrol, according to Sgt. Aaron Arsenault of the Routt County Sheriff’s Office.
Virtual presentation on hip arthritis
On Wednesday, March 1, at 6 p.m., ValleyOrtho will present “Hip Arthritis and Treatment,” a virtual discussion via Zoom with orthopedic joint revision surgeon Daniel O’Connor, MD. The presentation is part of Valley View University, a series of free educational webinars hosted by Valley View.
Hip arthritis is a painful and often debilitating disease that affects millions of adults. In this 30-minute webinar, followed by an open Q&A, he will explain causes of this degenerative joint disease as well as non-surgical and surgical treatments available to keep people living an active life.
Sky Mountain Park hunting lottery set March 20
A portion of Sky Mountain Park will again be open to limited hunting in the fall, but a lottery to choose five participating hunters will take place March 20.
The hunt — for cow elk only — will take place during the fourth season: Nov. 22-26. To qualify, hunters must have a Colorado hunting license and a tag allowing them to hunt for a cow elk in the fourth rifle season, in Colorado Game Management Unit 43.
New this year, in consultation with Colorado Parks and Wildlife, youth hunters and first-time big-game hunters will have a slight advantage in the lottery to select participants – in effect, two chances at having their names drawn instead of one. A youth who is also a first-time hunter will have three chances instead of one.
Interested participants must go to bit.ly/3xMDalC to register for the drawing. The sign-up closes on March 17.
Pitkin County Open Space and Trails is conducting its lottery in March, so that drawing winners can put in for a fourth-season tag in Unit 43 and be ready to go, officials said. Open Space and Trails will check with CPW in June to make sure chosen hunters did in fact acquire the proper tag for the hunt and confirm their status as a youth and/or first-time hunter, officials said.
This will be the 10th year a limited hunt has taken place at Sky Mountain Park. Last fall, three hunters on the property were successful in harvesting an elk.
Spotted owl proposed for threatened list in Sierra Nevada
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. — The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is proposing to list the California spotted-owl population in the Sierra Nevada as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.
The agency has determined that the California spotted owl is comprised of two geographically- and genetically-distinct population segments, the Coastal-Southern California population and the Sierra Nevada population. The agency is proposing to list the Coastal-Southern California population as endangered and the Sierra Nevada population as threatened.
As part of this proposed listing, the FWS is including a rule for the Sierra Nevada owls that exempts the prohibition of take under the Endangered Species Act for forest-fuels management activities that reduce the risk of large-scale, high-severity wildfire.
“Our goal is to help the California spotted owl recover across its range,” said Michael Fris, field supervisor of the agency’s Sacramento FWS Office. “Ongoing collaboration with a number of partners will result in positive conservation gains and put this species on the road to recovery.”
Park City electeds fight for local control of housing
There’s a housing crisis in Utah. State legislators and the governor have indicated they see increasing supply as part of the solution and implied Summit County doesn’t play well with developers.
But the County Courthouse, arguing for local control, says those on Capitol Hill don’t understand what it’s like to live in the Park City area.
“It’s hard to really believe this idea of fixing Utah’s housing crisis, this notion that they had to pass this legislation, S.B. 84, to fix a housing problem is simply pretext,” Summit County Council Chair Roger Armstrong said in an interview after Wednesday’s work session with Dakota Pacific Real Estate developers.
Craig lurches toward riverside rec project
The Yampa River Corridor Project has pushed back its timeline to break ground, but the delay is giving city officials more time to seek additional grant funding for the project, which aims to boost outdoor recreation in Craig and improve the city’s river infrastructure.
The river project, which has been in the works for several years, was anticipated to break ground in fall 2022 after the city received a $3.3 million Economic Development Administration Assistance to Coal Communities Grant for the project. However, as a part of the EDA funding, additional approvals and permits were required, which delayed the project’s start.
Melanie Kilpatrick, the city’s executive assistant who has been managing the project, said the delay has given the city more time to secure additional grant funding, as well as resources for grant administration.
Eagle County tees up workforce housing project in Eagle
The potential West Eagle workforce housing project has taken another step forward.
The Eagle County Board of Commissioners on Feb. 21 approved a $75,000 preconstruction agreement with RA Nelson to evaluate the property, and the possible project.
Eagle County Resiliency Director Tori Franks wrote in an email that the agreement calls for RA Nelson to “consult on constructability, time, and cost.” That evaluation includes a pair of “pricing exercises” to help the design team with updates.
She noted that since the roughly 9-acre parcel is surrounded by the town of Eagle, any project must be annexed and pass muster with the town’s planning commission.
The Eagle County Housing and Development Authority may be the developer of the project. After town approval, the county authority may continue in that role and would issue a request for proposals for a general contractor.
Senators jump in postal crisis
Last week Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper sent a letter to the U.S. Postal Service’s top leadership, inviting them to visit to experience the service and delivery challenges facing many communities’ post offices.
The letter is addressed not only to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy but also to Joshua Colin, the agency’s chief retail and delivery officer and executive vice president.
“Our office has worked closely with the Colorado-Wyoming USPS district office on these issues, and it is clear that the district is strapped for resources and attention from Washington. We’re hopeful Postmaster DeJoy and USPS leadership will come to Colorado to see the challenges their staff and our communities face firsthand,” Bennet said in a prepared statement.
