ASPEN, Colo. - Already, Aspen has a distinctly grayish tint to its population. In future years, as baby boomers begin to retire, 88 per cent of locals want to stay in Aspen. That works out to a potential market for 1,200 people for retirement housing.
"They don't want to move downvalley, or to Arizona, or Timbuktu," said Iris Marsh, executive director of the Aspen Valley Medical Foundation. "Some of these people have been here 30, 40 years or more and this is their home. They have invested in the community, contributed to the community. Their friends and family are here."
With that in mind, the foundation has assembled conceptual plans for a continuing-care retirement community. Included would be 60 independent-living apartments, 40 assisted-living apartments, and 20 skilled nursing rooms, as well as communal facilities such as a dining hall.
The Aspen Times reports that the foundation hopes for 10 to 20 acres of land as close to Aspen as possible for the retirement community. There is already a substantial waiting list for rooms at an existing assisted-living facility in Aspen.
Short sales helping
KETCHUM, Idaho - Here and there comes evidence that the real estate market has been recovering. In the Wood River Valley, homes have been selling at double the rate of last year, and prices in those transactions have also increased. Total sales volume for the year was reported to be $72 million, compared to $47 million for the first four months of last year. Foreclosures have also been up, but just a little. The biggest story, real estate agents say, has been in so-called short sales, when the mortgage holder agrees to take less money than what was owed on the property.
Sign of economic change
CANMORE, Alberta - Home-building has begun again in Canmore, at the entrance to Banff National Park. The Rocky Mountain Outlook tells of a 52-unit housing project called Versant, which is the first in western Canada to seek LEED certification in the multi-family category.
Mayor Ron Casey, who was on hand to snip the ribbon, said the project represents good news after the economic market plummet. "We needed a change in the economy and confidence rebuilt, and we are starting to see that." He said he was optimistic that the construction would resume, if not necessarily to the levels of 2006-2007.
Not exactly a resort town
REVELSTOKE, B.C. - A few years ago, it looked like Revelstoke might be the next big thing in the resort world. Revelstoke Mountain Resort did open, with the promise of having the most descent of any ski area in North America. Real estate product began going up at the base.
But a report from Alan Mason, the director of community economic development in the town of 8,000, suggests it's nowhere near Whistler just yet. While income in resort communities tends to come from outside, 75 per cent of income in Revelstoke comes from wages as of 2007. Public-sector and forestry jobs lead the wage-paying jobs, both more than twice as much as tourism. The Canadian Pacific Railroad is also a major employer. This income diversity has served Revelstoke well.
Real estate prices rocketed as the new resort got underway, going from an average of $130,000 to $540,000 in the span of three years. But they have since slipped to $370,000.
Mason said that the experiences of Fernie and Golden, two other resort towns in British Columbia, suggest a slow, steady gain in population can be expected. He noted that Whistler, with a base population of 9,000 people, hasn't grown hugely because of the millions of visitors.
Pay-to-climb fee considered
WESTCLIFFE, Colo. - The Forest Service has been talking about a pay-to-play program again, this time in connection with a basin used by climbers to access four of Colorado's 14,000-foot peaks. The agency has talked about $10 for dayhikers and $20 for campers in South Colony Basin, a mostly above-timberline valley in the Sangre de Cristo Range commonly used to climb several 14,000-foot peaks.
But if it works there, government officials tell the Denver Post , the same fee system may be employed at other popular backcountry areas to help pay for maintenance and such things as backcountry privies.
The state has 54 of the 14ers, all but one located on public land. The problem, say officials, is that government budgets for recreational maintenance have not kept up with growing use - nor do they expect them to.
"We don't see in the big picture, that recreation funding is going to be a top priority with all the other issues - the war on terror, health care, saving Social Security, and cutting the federal deficit," said Mike Smith, a forester with the San Isabel National Forest.
Hikers tell the newspapers that some people will accept the fees, but others fear what one described as a slippery slope of incremental costs for use of public lands. The Forest Service already levies fees for access to big peaks in Washington state, Oregon, and California.
Danger below the surface
KETCHUM, Idaho - For backcountry skiing, there can be no more delicious time of year than May. Avalanche danger has receded, the snow firmer, turning corn-like by mid-morning after the night's freeze, as perfect for turning as just-groomed corduroy but infinitely better. In the backcountry, you earn your turns. It's always better that way.
Still, dangers persist. One of those dangers was illustrated recently in the Sawtooth Mountains northwest of Ketchum when Michael Linville struck a rock under the snow. The Idaho Mountain Express explains that he was skiing on a shoulder of 10,299-foot Mount Heyburn. Hitting the rocks, his gravity threw him into other rocks, causing fatal head and chest injuries.
Don't blame wolves
JACKSON, Wyo. - Moose populations have declined dramatically during the last 20 years in Jackson Hole. Why? Researchers don't have a simple answer. While some point to the introduction of wolves in 1997 as a basic cause, scientists contacted by the Jackson Hole News & Guide point to broader changes in the ecosystem.
Joel Berger, a wildlife researcher from Montana State, said that the overall pregnancy rate in female moose has declined from 90 per cent to 75 per cent, and that the percentage of those having twins has dropped from 10 per cent to 5 per cent.
"This suggested it wasn't predation, but that it had to have some basis in nutrition," he said. He noted that malnutrition accounts for 60 per cent of known deaths in adult female moose, while predation, roads, and human hunting account for only 10 per cent.
One hypothesis is that the moose have depleted the willows. Another is that less extensive conifers in the wake of the 1988 Yellowstone fires reduced the amount of shade available to moose, which means they must spend more time looking for summer shade and less time eating.
Ah, it's a complicated world out there.
Housing funds used to buy land
WINTER PARK, Colo. - Although there's little need for new affordable housing now, Winter Park is looking ahead to the future with its decision to spend $429,000 for two acres of land that had been foreclosed upon by a bank. The property had been slated for a 24-unit development, reports the Sky Hi News.
Phish fans find free market
TELLURIDE, Colo. - Telluride's town council has rejected an anti-scalping law that the town marshal had proposed in anticipation of two Phish concerts this summer.
The Telluride Watch explains that the proposed law was designed to dissuade fans without tickets from going to Telluride in hopes of securing spots at the sold-out shows through professional ticket sellers. But one council member called the effort naïve, and another wondered why concert tickets should be treated any differently than bolts at the hardware store.
The marshal, Jim Kolar, conceded the rejection of his idea. "If they want to pay $1,500 a ticket - it's a free market," he said.
Crested Butte ski case drags on
MT. CRESTED BUTTE, Colo. - After much ado, nothing much has changed at Crested Butte, where the ski area operator has been hoping to expand onto nearby slopes of Snodgrass Mountain.
Shocking many, the regional forester for the U.S. Forest Service last autumn announced he would not accept a proposal. This delighted a significant proportion of the Crested Butte population, who would like to keep things pretty much as they are.
But the ski area operator was dismayed, believing the forester had indicated that there was a green light for environmental review - which, in most cases results in approval of ski area expansions. Many in the community similarly have believed that more intermediate terrain will be crucial if Crested Butte hopes to rebuild its slipping tourism economy.
The ski area appealed that decision to a higher-level official in California, Jim Peña, who concluded that the regional forester had not done anything wrong. The ski area indicated it will appeal the decision up another level yet, to Tom Tidwell, the Forest Service chief in Washington D.C. No matter what decision gets rendered, the case almost certainly will go to court.
Ski operator buys backcountry plot
TELLURIDE, Colo. - The Telluride Ski and Golf Co., the operator of the ski area, has purchased a mining claim in Upper Bear Creek. The Telluride Watch notes that the site might be used for a ski lift, but the ski area operator said no decision has been made about seeking the right to extend lift-operated skiing into the valley.
Dave Riley, the chief executive of the ski company, told the newspaper that the land could also be used for an exchange.
This four-acre parcel is not to be confused with more than 40 acres assembled by Tom Chapman, an attorney. Chapman has made a career in the last 15 years of assembling private land within national forests, wilderness areas and national parks. In one case in the mid-1990s, he began building a luxury log cabin in the West Elk Wilderness on land that he had purchased for $967,000 then persuaded the Forest Service to swap it for 105 acres near Telluride that he later sold for more than $4 million.
