Crested Butte Trail survey inaccurate

I took the current Pitkin County OST Carbondale To Crested Butte Trail survey yesterday and was very upset. The first survey was flawed because it didn’t have a No Trail option and it allowed people outside of Pitkin County to participate. People outside of Pitkin County influenced how my hard earned tax dollars are to be spent. The current survey did not correct these flaws. I voiced my concerns on numerous occasions, but Pitkin County didn’t listen. The survey should have been limited to Pitkin County residents only, and participants’ addresses should have also been required, since they are already requiring participants names. Names and addresses should be verified by the Assessor’s office.

Also, there was an interesting article in the Aspen Daily News titled “Many animals are shifting from day to night to avoid people” (Friday, June 15). “Scientists have long known that human activity disrupts nature…The latest research found even activities like hiking and camping can scare animals and drive them to become more active at night.” Quoting Kaitlyn Gaynor, an ecologist at the University of CA, Berkeley, who led the study, “We may think that we leave no trace when we’re just hiking in the woods, but our presence can have lasting consequences.”

Come on Pitkin County! Listen to the scientists and your own Crystal River Valley residents. Let this extravagant boondoggle die, never to be resurrected again.

Melissa Waters

Crystal River Valley