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Moose shouldn’t suffer at motorists’ expense

Hey, Bullwinkle. Yeah, you — Beverle Ostrofsky.

I forgive you for being completely wrong, for you are only a moose, trying to find food and a mate (“Even a moose can solve Aspen’s traffic problem,” letters, June 29, The Aspen Times).

How pleasant it was that you located the beautiful Marolt Open Space and found some open pasture for grazing. It is very kind of you to envision this as a route for us humans to alleviate our traffic issues into and out of Aspen. Fortunately for you, many of us are trying to ensure this wonderful space is always open for moose, deer and the rest of your animal friends. We, the humans, have already gobbled up so much of your land.



Although it would be lovely for us to travel in our cars at a moose’s pace instead of snail speed, we don’t want to sacrifice more habitat just so we can rush more contractors in to maintain homes that are barely resided in. You see, animals live here full time, while people who live here two weeks a year are serviced by an onslaught of workers.

An increase in the flow’s capacity will only result in more people arriving into a very small space. The contractors and service people earn a premium for working in Aspen. Traffic is a small price they pay in return for this premium. Our current situation is a natural solution, simply by limiting how many people may come into town.




If the traffic still tickles your moose hairs the wrong way, perhaps you should focus your attention on how Aspen defines residency, allotted construction capacity, and so forth. An average of 20 people needed to service one visitor (or second-home owner) instead of 40 may reduce the traffic by 50 percent. Please enjoy your summer and all the wonderful open spaces.

Andrew Wickes

Aspen