The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
It is a somewhat chilly Monday after a Sunday that sat on the cusp of winter and spring. And I’m in acronym hell. All the stories I had to work on this week were alphabet soups. There was the GCSAPP (Gunnison County Substance Abuse Prevention Program), the MCPAC (Mt. Crested Butte Performing Arts Center), the CDPHE (Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment) and VCUP (Voluntary Clean-up Plan). SUP (Stand Up Paddleboard), USE (U.S. Energy) and DDA (Downtown Development Association). How about HCCA (whatever that means now), the RLC (Red Lady Coalition), CBMR (Crested Butte Mountain Resort), RMBL (Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory), USFS (U.S. Forest Service), CBMBA (Crested Butte Mountain Bike Association) and the LIC (Lake Irwin Coalition). A few days of stories that look like WTF? Take a look—
SUP—So people are out SUPping the Slate. And some are doing it when the rivers are at their peak (now). Unless you are experienced, chill out and wait. The water is running fast and there are fences and hazardous debris. Rookie kayakers and rafters should probably hang tight for a few more weeks as well. You don’t want to get washed under and trapped beneath a log or a fence. The CFS (ColoradoFreeskier) is warning people to not wear their leashes right now. Be aware!
VCUP—This takes in the HCCA, the RLC and the CDPHE. USE wants to a do a VCUP. The RLC and HCCA want to make sure whatever is done is done right and won’t FU the town’s watershed and its drinking water. I’m glad they are watching and watching close. I hope the CDPHE realizes how much clean water means to us up here and how much the Wyoming-based USE seems to value $ over clean H2O in Crested Butte.
CBMBA—Great energetic group doing good things. If you aren’t a member, think about becoming one if you ride mountain bikes.
CBMR—The resort has moved up some of its top people. Ethan Mueller has gone from being a vice president and general manager to a president. He’ll now be President of CBMR and Senior VP of Triple Peaks. Michael Kraatz climbs the ladder to VP & General Manager for CBMR and Nick Herrin steps into the Assistant GM role. Erica Mueller will be joining the Executive Team with the new title of Director of Innovation and Relations Congrats to them…
MCPAC—A new performing arts center in Mt. Crested Butte is something interesting. The DDA up there has provided a tax advantage toward its eventual construction and they are moving all their chips into this project. Why not? Art can be a driver for that economy so they might as well use that money for something long-term.
RMBL—There is a common assumption that we are too high up for ticks but people are spotting them. So we went and asked the RMBL guys about them. Longtime summer resident and esteemed scientist Dr. David Inouye replied, “I haven’t been out long enough, or at low enough elevation, to have a feeling for whether ticks are more abundant this year than usual. I can tell you that last year I found one on me up in Gothic, that I think I picked up in the Gothic area, which is the first one I’ve seen here in 44 years.” We know that bumblebees and mosquitoes are moving up in altitude (including a mosquito that arrived here a few years ago that’s a carrier for West Nile virus). The fact that the mule deer population is rebounding from the losses during the hard winter several years ago could be a reason for more ticks.
LIC – The LIC has spent some time putting an “alternative” Irwin Eleven Scarp Ridge LLC development plan on paper. The LIC has an unapologetically abrasive and NGU (Never Give Up) attitude. They are looking at every ‘I’ to make sure it is dotted and every ‘T’ to make sure it is crossed. The SWO (Squeaky Wheel Optimization) might get them some of their desires. BTW, fair or not, sometimes attitude counts more than crossed “Ts”.
GCSAPP—The idea of imposing a “sin tax” on weed is on everyone’s mind. GCSAPP surveys are showing some lax attitudes toward drugs and alcohol in Crested Butte and they want to get some marijuana excise tax money to fund prevention programs that educate kids and parents. Just remember that too much tax on anything pushes it all underground and instead of the proverbial win-win it’s just a loser.
Some of those acronyms are okay. All are better than WSCU (whatever that means). The good news for me is I’m off to a beach for a few days. I plan to sit in the SAND, eliminate acronyms from my mind and drink a BEER.
