SALIDA, Colo. — The landscape artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude made quite a pair. Appearing on the stage of the high school in Telluride a few years ago to talk about their latest project in Colorado, they bantered back and forth a bit like Sonny and Cher.
Although Christo has the broader name recognition, together they had made quite a splash for about 35 years: consider the fabric fence that ran for 24 miles across the hills north of San Francisco, the wrapping of 11 islands near Miami in pink plastic; and, in 1972, a giant orange curtain that was temporarily draped across the mouth of a canyon near Rifle, Colo.
In 1997, they began planning a return to Colorado for a project called "Over the River." The plans, now approved by state and federal officials, call for suspension of reflective, translucent fabric panels high above the Arkansas River. This is to be done in segments covering almost 9.6 kilometres in a 67 kilometre segment of the river between Salida and Cañon City. The exhibit, if you will, is planned for two weeks during the summer of 2014.
The river canyon is rugged, with a backdrop of 4,200 metre peaks and a bookend of the magnificent Royal Gorge Canyon. Downstream further yet, beyond where the river flushes out onto the Great Plains, lies one of the federal government's most vigilantly guarded prisons, called SuperMax, where serial bomber Theodore Kaczynski, Oklahoma City bombing conspirator Terry Nichols, and other terrorists of various persuasions are incarcerated.
Few people are on the fence about the project. Anglers seem to hate the idea. "You can put clothes on a dog, but what's the point," said Denver Post hook-and-bullet columnist Scott Willoughby. The newspaper tells of a recent hearing in Cañon City. "God's natural beauty cannot be enhanced," said one resident.
And the sheriff in Fremont County, where SuperMax is located, warns of risk from having so many people congregated in the canyon. He warns of a "very real threat" of terrorists, many with "brothers in arms incarcerated a few miles away," launching an attack in the canyon, according to a report in the Post.
Opposition is coalesced in a group called Rags over the Arkansas River, or ROAR. Ed Quillen, writing in High Country News, says that ROAR's stridency has made him a supporter of the project.
Lois Manno, writing in Salida's Mountain Mail, currently lives in Santa Fe, N.M., but intends to move to Salida — in part because of the project by the 77-year-old Christo. Jeanne-Claude died in 2009 of a brain aneurysm.
"We are living proof that Christo's project will draw new energy to the region — people from outside of Colorado will view Salida and Cañon City favorably because there are enough open-minded citizens to support this world-class art event."
Sexy Aspen not so sexy in back alleys
ASPEN, Colo. — Sexiest city in the United States? A poll of 752 people conducted by Orbitz, the Internet travel company, put Aspen at the No. 4 slot, behind Las Vegas, Miami and New York City.
With sex on its mind, The Aspen Times interviewed Zemfira Alieva, who owns a store that clearly caters to people with sex on their minds. Her store sells nighties, panties, and other novelty items, such as blindfolds and other accessories.
She described Aspen as more romantic than sexy.
The newspaper noted that there are aspects to Aspen that are neither sexy nor romantic: youths in their late teens and early 20s vomiting in the pedestrian malls during the X Games, smells in the downtown alleys after a busy night in the bars and restaurants; and the city's often contentious discussions of land use.
Bus agency weighs natural gas policy
ASPEN, Colo. — Credit this to leaders in Aspen and the Roaring Fork Valley. They do think about some of the dominoes of their actions.
A case in point is the transition to natural gas. The valley-wide bus agency, Roaring Fork Transit Authority, is converting 22 buses from diesel to run on natural gas. The move would save the agency hundreds of thousands of dollars.
To help retrofit them, the agency is accepting $365,000 from EnCana Oil and Gas, one of the largest natural gas producers in North America and a major operator in Colorado's gas fields.
EnCana has raised eyebrows in the last few years on a couple of occasions. It admitted to a mistake and was fined $371,000 eight years ago for fouling a creek near where the RFTA buses operate. More recently, in December, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency found that a shallower aquifer had been polluted because of drilling that involved fracking near the hamlet of Pavilion, Wyo.
There's also much local heartburn about potential drilling in the Thompson Creek area, to the west of Carbondale and Aspen. It's not, say most locals, an acceptable place to drill, despite permission from federal agencies, who administer the land.
Faced with these complexities, the directors of the transit authority are mulling a policy statement that says it will attempt to do business with only those that adhere to industry best practices when exploring for, extracting and delivering energy resources, and that it does not support exploration or drilling for natural resources in environmentally sensitive areas.
The Aspen Times says the board is split on whether it has any business trying to tell companies where and how they can drill.
"How do we define environmentally sensitive areas?" asked one board member. "It's not our place to be making some of these judgments."
Another, however, said adopting a policy would "make the industry think — a tiny bit. It's a start."
While admitting to "some slight hypocrisy," another member reported this bottom line: "We're in pursuit of the most efficient fuel possible, but we want to be protective of our environmentally sensitive areas."
Whole Foods in Frisco?
FRISCO, Colo. — Summit County continues to fill with bigger-box stores from corporate America. It has Target, Lowe's and Wal-Mart, and is now looking at a Whole Foods.
Developer David O'Neil, who has developed affordable-housing projects in Breckenridge, Frisco and Denver, says that the natural food chain is interested in building a store on the town's 9.4-acre lot along I-70. He describes Whole Foods as the crown jewel of national retailers.
The store would be at least 2,322 square metres, reports the Summit Daily News.
Whole Foods is also preparing to move into a store at Basalt, 18 miles downvalley from Aspen.
Technology no help to avie victim
TELLURIDE, Colo. — Again comes evidence that you can have all the technology in the world, and it won't necessarily save your hide.
The Telluride Watch reports that a local man was skiing on Monday in the sidecountry adjacent to the local ski mountain when he was caught in an avalanche. The avalanche beacon worked just fine, and he was buried under just 1.5 metres of snow. Nonetheless, his ABS Air Bag System had been shredded. He also had an Avalung.
The newspaper noted that he was without breath or pulse when dug from under 1.5 metres of snow, and there was evidence of head trauma. The 38-year-old victim leaves a widow and their young son.
Four people died in avalanches in the same general area in 1987, then two more in 1989. The Forest Service closed access from the ski area into the sidecountry, but the closure was frequently disobeyed. In 2009, the Forest Service reopened it.
Salt Lake also now studying Olympics
PARK CITY, Utah — Denver and Reno were already thinking about going after the 2022 Winter Olympics, and now Salt Lake City is joining in. State and city officials announced last week they were convening a committee to take a hard look at seeking the 2022 or 2026 Olympics. It seems like the last one in 2002 was so fun they want to do it again. Besides, they now have the facilities built, so half the work is over.
Rift likely to rumble across Colorado
BOULDER, Colo. — Everybody knows that California will eventually have another big rumble. But how about Colorado?
New research by scientists has established that the Rio Grande Rift is very, very slowly tearing apart Colorado, as well as New Mexico.
"We don't expect to see a lot of earthquakes, or big ones, but we will have some earthquakes," said Anne Sheehan, the associate director of the Cooperative Institute for Research in the Environmental Sciences.
The rift is marked by a series of hot springs as it extends northward through Colorado's San Luis Valley and past Poncha Springs and north to Leadville.
Using Global Positioning System instruments at 25 sites in Colorado and New Mexico, the scientists tracked the miniscule movements from 2006 to 2011. They found the Earth's crust is straining to tear apart at 1.2 nanostrain each year.
That's less than was thought — but still enough to produce some earthquakes from time to time.
Corporate offices to remain
STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo. — In 1974, a small construction company called The Industrial Company was founded in Steamboat Springs. It did small projects in Steamboat and nearby areas, but grew steadily over the years.
In time, it began doing business around the world — but kept its corporate headquarters in Steamboat. Despite having been sold to construction giant Peter Kiewit in 2008, it looks like TIC, as the company is now called, will stay put — more or less.
The Steamboat Pilot reports that the workforce for the corporation shrunk to 145, from a boom-years' high of 230. But it remains the training headquarters for both craftsmen and managers. This year, the company expects to rotate more than 1,300 students through Steamboat.
