Alternative source on the map—paving Kebler, not so much

By Mark Reaman

The town of Crested Butte obtains its drinking water from water sources flowing down the Kebler Pass Road drainage. There are two surface water intakes in the 24 square mile Coal Creek Watershed and is fed by Lake Irwin, Splains Gulch, Elk Creek and Wildcat Creek. The town council discussed how to protect those sources from potential contamination at its August 6 council meeting and identified the threat of wildfire as the most important thing to address.

In that vein, town has hired Wright Water Engineering to assist in the development of the Slate River Feasibility Analysis for the potential development of an alternative water supply source in the Slate River drainage. The goal of the project is to provide the town with a redundant source water supply. But the focus of the August meeting was on a Source Water Protection Plan developed by a stakeholder steering committee that identified a protection area, listed possible contamination sources and outlined best management practices to reduce risks to the water source. Still, the idea of an alternative source of drinking water was rated as the best practice to pursue even though it would probably be one of the most expensive.

“The plan was developed in the spring and through the winter of 2024 with the primary purpose to ensure clean and high-quality drinking water sources for current and future generations,” explained Crested Butte Public Works director Shea Earley at the council work session. The group determined potential wildfire is the most important issue to deal with followed by mining, metals loading, roads and transportation impacts, flooding, onsite wastewater treatment systems and recreation.

The committee determined wildfire was a very likely probability to impact the water source area in the future and depending on the severity, it could be catastrophic. That’s why developing a drinking water supply in the Slate was considered the best practice. Other ideas included improving the collection infrastructure, mitigating hill slopes that could impact the water supply and dealing with debris flow mitigation.

“Developing the alternative water source seems very important given the wildfire threat,” said mayor Ian Billick. “We’ve seen the impact in other communities. What about the water treatment plant? Is it worth creating defensible space around it?”

“We could. That facility is actually not in a high-risk area,” said Earley. “It is considered in a moderate risk area since it is primarily in an aspen grove. Additionally, this type of improvement would be identified and developed as a Best Management Practice (BMP) in the Wildfire Ready Action Plan, which is scheduled for the first half of 2025. As far as developing an alternative source, that is very important to us. Glenwood relied on its two water sources when it had to, so I agree with that pursuit 100%.” 

The second most identified threat was mining and heavy mineral impacting the water source. Earley said town works cooperatively with the Mt. Emmons Mining Company on mitigation. 

The  issue of zinc coming into the town water supply has had an impact on the town’s wastewater treatment facility. Earley said the state has required expensive treatment measures to treat the water given zinc levels that occasionally are recorded. He said ideally the town and Forest Service could mitigate one of the major sources of the zinc, a gossan on Red Lady. A gossan is defined as “an iron-containing secondary deposit, largely consisting of oxides and typically yellowish or reddish, occurring above a deposit of a metallic ore.” But the Forest Service has continued to delay the project citing a lack of resources necessary to perform the NEPA review process. The Town has offered to assist with this process in an effort to move project design forward; however, the Forest Service has declined that assistance. Earley said this particular gossan saw wildfire activity in the 1970s. As a result, natural regrowth on the site has been minimal, resulting in increased sediment transportation containing natural occurring metals.

With respect to the road and transportation threat, as Kebler Pass Road has gotten busier, the county has used more mag chloride and done more road grading to keep the dust down. That could have a continued impact on surface water sources. Some on council wondered if paving more of Kebler would help but Earley said that would likely lead to increased numbers and more speed that could result in more accidents that intensified spills and other issues within the watershed.  

“There are definitely people interested in having it paved,” said Billick. “They may not realize the potential issues and impacts to the town’s water system.” Council agreed to include a phrase in the source water protection plan that to protect water quality, Kebler should not be paved.

“Overall, this is a proactive plan, and we want to actually impact the measures in the plan,” said Earley. The steering committee will review the plan every three to six years.

It’s officially over! The fight to save Red Lady is over…

By Mark Reaman

The paperwork officially putting a close to the Red Lady mining fight on Mt. Emmons was filed the morning of Thursday, August 29, ending a battle that has lasted almost five decades. The documents finalized a so-called Mineral Extinguishment agreement, conservation easements on Mt. Emmons, and a major land exchange agreement between the Mount Emmons Mining Company (MEMC), a subsidiary of global mining giant Freeport McMoRan, and the US Forest Service were all signed, sealed and delivered Thursday.

A deposit of high-quality molybdenum was discovered in Mt. Emmons, the iconic mountain that overlooks the town of Crested Butte, in 1977 and several mining companies had attempted to extract the ore for decades. But the local community actively fought the effort on a number of fronts, and today was the day they could claim victory.

Groups, organizations and government entities including the High Country Conservation Advocates, the town of Crested Butte, the Crested Butte Land Trust, the Red Lady Coalition, Gunnison County, the state of Colorado, US senator Michael Bennet and others, all played a role in the outcome. And so did the mining company that made the collaborative decision to work with the local community to basically walk away from its mining rights and focus on reclamation and maintaining water quality on the site that sits in the town’s watershed. The MEMC water treatment plant is on Red Lady and treats water from the old Keystone mine.

“This victory is an incredible testament to the staying power of the greater Gunnison Valley community. To say that not many mine fights end in a collaborative solution eliminating the potential to mine is an understatement,” said Julie Nania, Red Lady Program Director for HCCA.

“Almost 50 years of community engagement has paid off,” said Crested Butte mayor Ian Billick. “Generations of Red Ladies, HCCA, the CBLT, Gunnison County, the town of CB and community members all contributed to the effort. We collectively made this happen!”

Winter ski access up the traditional skin track, and ski descents in Red Lady Bowl and Glades will be legal for the first time in history.

A Crested Butte Townie Takeover was held Thursday afternoon to mark the event. The community will hold a Celebrate Red Lady party on October 4 in Crested Butte with a live band street dance on Elk Avenue.

The Crested Butte News will have more details and reaction in the next issue of the paper.

Came into the office Monday and saw Donnie Cook had sent his normal mid-August email. Sunday is the last day to hit the entirety of the Snodgrass Trail as the Allen ranching family will begin using a big portion of the land on the Washington Gulch side for cattle instead of hikers and bikers. As I tell people, the only thing wrong with a Snodgrass bike ride is that the trail doesn’t go on forever and it closes before the fall colors. I love it in there.

For some, the August private property closure for that portion of the trail is a controversial move as part of the trail leading to the acreage is on Forest Service land and the Allens hope people won’t mingle with the cattle which can cause various issues in a ranching operation. Fair. As noted in our summer series on ranching and recreation, the two businesses are not a natural fit, but both are valuable to the character of this place and actively try to work in harmony…so I see no reason to push the issue of Snodgrass access when the Allens are prepping for their fall cattle grazing. Give them some space. 

Speaking of ranching and recreation…I got word that in our ranching and recreation series, we didn’t quite make the right implication when it came to recreators not having to pay to use public lands. As was pointed out to me in an email, “In fact, all hunters and anglers pay for the use. Somehow with the increase in public use (which has primarily been the increase in biking that was also heavily marketed) the fact that hunters and anglers have quietly and respectfully used the public land and in most cases without conflict with ranchers, even leasing many ranches for access and use, has been missed.”  

Fair. We certainly focused on the biking and hiking sectors, so it’s a good point. I’ve said it before and will say it again — having working ranches in the North Valley is a major thing that separates us from other Colorado mountain resort communities. Bikers, hikers, anglers, hunters all seem to appreciate that—some just pay more than others.

Another thing that keeps us unique is that the town is willing to officially celebrate our iconic Mother Rock. The latest celebration will start with an official proclamation designating the last Saturday of September as Pointed Laccolith Day. Spearheaded by David Rothman who was a big part of things like the CB Music Festival and the CB Academy, the proclamation decares the special day as “a celebration of the Valley’s Geological Heritage and of Accuracy in Nomenclature.”

His proclamation delves into the whys of how the town’s namesake peak is not a “crested butte” but a laccolith. One part of the official proclamation states: “WHEREAS, the name ‘Crested Butte’ is therefore not only inaccurate as a description, but an oxymoron, as buttes by definition do not have crests, and was probably dreamed up by people who had not studied rocks, or perhaps had studied rocks but maybe, who knows, downed a couple two-three beers and thought it would be funny; …”

Fair enough. The Crested Butte council will address the proclamation at the September 16 meeting and Rothman is hoping for a community party celebrating Pointed Laccolith Day on September 28.

Got an email note from one of the original warriors who was here at the start of the Red Lady mining fight. He didn’t like being characterized as a hippie. In my July 12 editorial I summarized that the “laid back hippies” living in Crested Butte in the 1970s butted heads with the old-timer mining families over the AMAX plan to take the molybdenum out of Mt. Emmons. I referenced the “hippies” more than once and said they eventually won the battle, and CB officially made the turn from old mining community to tourism economy. 

The offended writer made clear that, “the people that fought AMAX to protect the Red Lady were business owners, homeowners, professionals with advanced degrees, and elected town officials. By 1977 when the mine threat appeared, the real hippies were either gone, or they had a job, home and kids.” 

Fair. I responded that my perception was that those warriors were super smart, focused, counter-mainstream-America types who probably partook of some drugs, sex and rock-and-roll while having a fun time screwing a multi-national mining corporation. We agreed that our definition of hippie might not be the same. Fair again, and I will again thank those super smart and focused warriors for their ingenious and tireless efforts to save a special spot at the end of the road.

Anyway, keep those emails coming and get out on Snodgrass before the sun sets on the coming weekend!

—Mark Reaman

We are soooooo close. Sometimes a fight is fast and ends with a quick knockout punch. Not so the community fight over mining on Red Lady. The half century fight to protect the mountain overlooking Crested Butte from major mining operations being pushed by outside forces has been going on for decades. It feels like this heavyweight fight is approaching the end of the 15^th round and through a combination of persistence, smarts, resilience and some exhaustion, the fight is close to ending with a technical knockout that appears to be definitive.

The stars are lined up on this one. The federal government, through Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, signed an administrative mineral withdrawal that will take away mining options on most of Mt. Emmons for the next 20 years. The idea is to use that time to push Congress for a permanent mineral withdrawal. This past week the GMUG Forest Service supervisor in Delta signed a “decision memo” agreeing to a complex land exchange involving more than 1,000 acres in the region that also prevents the mining company that holds land and mining rights on Red Lady from developing either in ways other than reclaiming the impacts of past mining. It appears the papers are set to be officially signed in September. It was described to me using a football analogy—we are at the point where it’s like the end of the football game where the winning team takes a knee on the last few plays to run out the clock and make it official. 

As a community that has embraced the Red Lady fight as a part of its modern legend, the recent developments are welcome and part of Crested Butte’s evolution. Of course, until the papers are signed this fall, no one involved in the decades-long fight will probably sleep easily every night, but it sure looks as if the end is near. Fighting a direction based on extracting minerals from nature now seems an easy part of the place, even though most of us living here use those minerals in our everyday lives. 

The current Crested Butte and the North Valley overall came about in large part thanks to a foundation in mining …silver at first followed by coal. Molybdenum, the mineral lying beneath Red Lady, is used to harden steel so it is found in cars, bikes and wind turbines. Evidence of the valley’s mining heritage exists all over the area and it is a heritage those living here appreciate but have no desire to return to. But in the not-so-distant past, mining on Mt. Emmons was a very real possibility. The high-grade molybdenum ore deposit was discovered in Red Lady some 50 years ago and that attracted several people and companies interested in extracting the metal. That extraction would have immeasurably changed the look and feel of the place. The fight ensued.

In the 1970s, old-timers living here that came from a mining lineage naturally saw economic opportunity in a new mine. Their neighbors, laid back hippies who liked the quiet valley, saw destruction of a sacred place. The hippies eventually won that internal battle and now the external battle is officially winding down in victory. 

Part of the hippie argument was that the community had made a deliberate choice to be a tourist community rather than a mining town and the two could not coexist easily if at all. Fair. Lord knows we’re in the middle of the results of that choice now. And because fighting has been so much a part of our modern story, the raw conversations of how much a busy tourist season extracts from the community is a regular topic that bubbles up during these on-season periods. 

While I once wondered if the community was making the right decision pushing for tourism over blue-collar mining, it seems as we wrap this up that we have. While July can certainly be overwhelming, I prefer that to a 24-hour operating mine that would chip away at Red Lady. Yeah, tourism comes with its own extractive price as more and more people pound the backcountry and crowd a once sleepy town. But I for one like the energy of people who want to experience the outdoors, enjoy the local art and appreciate the opportunities available in a high mountain valley. 

There was no shortage of locals or tourists enjoying hometown band Easy Jim at Monday’s Alpenglow. What seemed like 10,000+ people lined Elk Avenue on the Fourth of July. There is plenty of music and outdoor amenity opportunities right now. There is excitement as a couple of new restaurants, Kyleena and Jeff’s Two Twelve and Mark Walter’s BruHaus, are set to open in the middle of this month — Two Twelve on Monday the 15^th and the BruHaus on Monday the 22^nd. The frenzy of the Fourth seems to have passed and a consistent flow of tourists will be here until schools start up in Texas and Oklahoma. Ahhhhh…shoulder seasons are coming!

Now, not everyone who comes here embraces the values of the place and that is part of the extractive nature of tourism as dealing with that eats away at our collective soul. And honestly, most of the time those people who don’t like what this place is or who want to change it to whatever they left, don’t return. 

I also think that given the sometimes bare-knuckled tenor of the Red Lady fight, the community has tried to be deliberate in its choice of direction. We don’t consciously over-market the valley and we try to respect the people who take the chance to move here and share the specialness of this unique place. Our choices have not always been simply about growth and looking for more, more, more but even with deliberate direction challenges arise constantly. Housing workers, being able to afford to go to those new restaurants, having to deal with actual traffic clusters in July all are negative consequences of our choices but show me a place that doesn’t have any issues. There are consequences of any decision. 

As we wait for the Red Lady land exchange papers to be signed in a few months, we can take heart in most of the choices that have been made to lead us to this point. The bottom line is that we are entering the ring for the 15^th round and we can almost hear the final bell. Let’s keep our eye on the prize for the end of the fight and celebrate what certainly looks like a victory…while accepting where we have chosen to go as a community.

—Mark Reaman

Playoffs start next week

By Than Acuff 

I know I say this a lot, but I haven’t said it yet this season so here it goes.

It was the greatest game of all time, this year.

Butte & Co. faced the Inglorious Batters last Wednesday night, July 3, at Tommy V Field and while both teams are near the bottom of the stats list in runs scored, the match up was far from low scoring, and it took extra innings before a winner emerged. 

The local softball leagues were a bit shaken up following some heated exchanges in the Tuesday/Thursday league the past two weeks, but Wednesday league play continues to be a source of entertainment, athleticism and random acts of gametime heroics with the latest game a stunning example.

It all started off innocently enough with beautiful skies and happy faces at a field with Crested Butte Mountain, Paradise Divide and Mt. Emmons as the backdrop.

“How beautiful, we’re so lucky to play here,” commented one player.

Add in the fact that several players on both teams were raised right here in Crested Butte and the previous game that evening was a celebration of Willy and Teresa’s kids’ birthday and it was quite the evening for the homegrowns.

Note to self, make a softball team next year of all kids born and raised in Crested Butte and call it the Homegrowns.

Butte & Co. has been punching well below their weight with just two wins going into the game but looked to fix that with a five-run first inning. Successive base hits from Gus Hensley, Ryan Carroll and Andrew Arnold loaded the bases for Isabel Lucas and Lucas drove two runners home with a single to right center. Hillary Fujii and Danny Stoneberg followed with two more RBI base hits and a bloop single from Alden Watkins capped the early surge.

The Inglorious Batters were a different story at the start with not much happening at the plate. They did score their first run in the bottom of the second inning when Grant Robbins singled and scored on a double up the middle from Tadd Mertens. They had some defense going though thanks to the effort of Josh Varnadore at shortstop turning two of three outs in the top of the third inning to hold Butte & Co. in place.

They found their bats in the bottom of the third as Connor Beard, Bobby Crimi and Sara Robbins all singled to load the bases and Jack Foersterling scored two with a double but that would be it as their scoring ways, or lack thereof, continued to plague them. 

Fortunately for Inglorious Batters, the Butte & Co. bats fell silent aside from a single by Stoneberg and then some wheels as he charged home from first on a base hit by Watkins.

The game then switched into overdrive starting in the bottom of the fourth inning as a two RBI double from Grant, a powerbunt single by Mallory Briggs and an RBI base hit from Mertens pulled the Inglorious Batters to within one of Butte & Co.

Butte & Co. responded to stretch their lead in the top of the fifth inning. Safari Dan Oswald kicked it off with a solo inside the park home run. Hannah Strickland and Grant Spear each singled and scored off a double by Carroll and a sac fly by Prawit Durgan. A single from Lucas set up Fuji for an RBI single to right field and when Brice Koval doubled to left to score another run, Butte & Co. were out front 10-5.

At this point the Inglorious Batters switched to the glorious hitters to pull off a massive two-out rally. After the first two batters were turned away, the Inglorious Batters rattled off seven base hits and a couple of walks to light up the crowd. Crimi and Sara started it off with singles and scoring on base hits by Foersterling and Bron Walton. Troy Russ stepped up to knock his second base hit of the game for another RBI, a hit by Stephanie Reeves and a walk by Varnadore pushed two more in tying the game 10-10. 

And they still had more in the tank as Grant scored two more runners with an infield single that caused massive confusion among the Butte & Co. infielders. Biggs then smashed an RBI single to centerfield and a hit from Mertens scored one more run to put the Inglorious Batters out front 14-10.

Remarkably, Butte & Co. pulled off similar two-out rally heroics to retake the lead in the top of the sixth inning. After the first two batters failed to reach first base, the next six reached first and more. Oswald and Strickland each doubled to get things going, a grounder from Carroll caused more confusion resulting in an RBI triple and when both Durgan and Lucas connected for RBI doubles, Butte & Co. was back in the lead 15-14.

A base hit by Anika Engholm tied the game back up and the Inglorious Batters were poised to pull back on top with two runners on and one out, but Butte & Co. turned a 6-3-2 double play to end the inning leaving the teams tied 15-15 heading into the seventh inning.

Both defenses did their jobs but no one more than Lucas in the bottom of the seventh inning. With runners in scoring position to win the game and two outs, Varnadore sent a line drive to leftfield, but Lucas got a jump on it immediately to make the running grab sending the game into extra innings.

Intensity ramps up in extra innings as each team starts off with a runner on second base and every batter comes to the plate with a full count. You get one pitch.

While the first two Butte & Co. hitters popped out and lined out, Spear picked them up with a big hit to the gap in left center. The runner on second scored easily but when Spear looked to stretch for home, Varnadore threw him out with a missile of a throw from left field to hold Butte & Co. to their one-run lead.

It was now time for the Inglorious Batters to feast or famine at the plate. A strikeout was a dubious start for their line up, but Grant did push the runner on second to third base with a sacrifice fly and upon umpire review, runner interference was appropriately called and the runner on third given a free trip home to tie the game.

So here we all were, Wednesday evening on a beautiful night game tied 16-16 with two outs and every batter with a full count. Briggs won the mental game and watched her one pitch drop for a ball and walked to first. Mertens knocked his one pitch for a double to put runners on second and third and Shannon Hessler stepped up. Hessler was one for three that evening but finished the night two for four as she stroked the game-winning RBI single for the 17-16 Inglorious Batters’ glorious victory.

Deb Haaland talks about benefit for future generations

By Mark Reaman

Standing just outside the Rainbow Park pavilion beneath the iconic peak of Crested Butte Mountain early Sunday afternoon, a group of local, state and national politicians spoke to a crowd of about 75 people to celebrate the recent administrative Thompson Divide mineral withdrawal that includes parts of Mt. Emmons. Headlined by U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland and U.S. Senator Michael Bennet, the group extolled the virtues of the decision signed by Haaland on April 3 of this year and gave accolades to the relentlessness and collaboration it took to put a strong temporary halt to mining on Red Lady.

Describing the evolution of the area from the time before people, to the Native Americans who summered in the valley (“the original second homeowners”), to the mining period and the current recreation era, Crested Butte mayor Ian Billick said that “this decision is part of a journey, and this journey doesn’t really ever end. We are stewards of the landscape and today we celebrate a moment in time over an issue important to the community.”

Gunnison County commissioner Jonathan Houck agreed. “It is great to be on the landscape today, celebrating where we are in this step and celebrating the people involved,” he said. “This has been a model of stewardship and hanging in for the long haul. Of course, there are more challenges coming with things like climate change. We’ve set an example of what stewardship looks like and how it can be accomplished with collaboration. Everyone is welcome to sit down and speak at the stewardship table.”

Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forest supervisor Chad Stewart touted the mineral withdrawal decision. “The cool part of it is that is shows working with a collaborative group is always desirable. There were a wide range of users involved and this resulted in what the public wants,” he said.

Dan Gibbs, executive director of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources, said he was honored the state agency was able to contribute to the effort. “There are many good things with this action. It is for example essential to take steps like this to limit the wildlife fragmentation,” he said. “This is a culmination of decades of conversations to protect this landscape for future generations.”

Bennet acknowledged the decades-long community effort. “I am grateful to this community for the extraordinary leadership shown over 50 years,” he said. “It is a reminder that democracy can really work. People with disagreements can work together and work for future generations. This is an example of doing something important for the next generation. I am grateful to this administration to protect public lands across Colorado.”

Haaland became a bit choked up and emotional over the moment. Noting that she rarely is able to speak in front of such a spectacular backdrop, she said she was moved by the fact that there were children actively playing in the Rainbow Park playground during the speeches. “It is for them that we all do this. It is indeed a celebration to protect public lands,” she said. “Growing up I was outside a lot, and I value the beauty of nature and want that for every child. Today we celebrate the protection of Thompson Divide and Red Lady.”

She told the crowd that a small group had taken a morning hike near Mt. Emmons up Oh Be Joyful. “It was an amazing opportunity to see it and to see the hikers, the kayaks and rafters on the river, the fishermen, all people enjoying public lands. This preserves an opportunity to create treasured memories for future generations.”

Cheers.

Thrills and chills

By Than Acuff 

Oh Be Joyful creek comes pouring down off the backside of Mt. Emmons and into the Slate River and is on the “to do” list of steep creek kayakers this time of year as the melting snow provides optimal flows for the class V creek descent.

The creek offers waterfall drops, slide rapids and tight corners requiring a combination of pinpoint precision, quick decision-making and quality paddle strokes from kayakers looking to run the creek.

“It takes a good kayak and a smile,” adds Freedom Center ombudsman Milo Wynne.

While vehicles from around the state and beyond have been seen rolling into Crested Butte the past two weeks for the start of creek season, the paddling comes to a head on Saturday, June 8 at the annual Oh Be Joyful Steep Creek Race.

Tim Kegerman, Jack Barker and Dan Hicks are credited with the first descent of Oh Be Joyful back in 1992 and as interest grew, talk of hosting a race circulated amongst the growing throngs of steep creek kayakers and the first race was held in 1995. The race has seen many iterations over the years and disappeared for a short stretch but has been reborn over the past seven years thanks to the effort, interest and energy of Paul Raymond.

Each year the event gains more organization and Raymond has partnered with the Chamber of Commerce and HCCA in the past. This year, he stepped it up another notch creating a nonprofit called Class V River Racing. The nonprofit is the organizing entity hosting the race this Saturday.

“I’ve always been toying around with creating an organization to host the race,” says Raymond. “There are similar races all over Colorado, some of which have disappeared, and I think that’s really sad. We want to help with existing races, advise or even start new races to promote paddle racing of all different levels.”

The racing Saturday starts at noon with the first of two runs for all competitors. The second round is tentatively slated to start around 2 or 2:30 p.m. with the title going to the person with the fastest run of the day.

Last year there were 40 racers with the winning time around five minutes. This year may be a bit faster given the flows and the weather forecast leading up to the race.

“Flows are great,” says Raymond. “When we paddled it Sunday, it was the high side of medium. With the weather this week it should go up. Not crazy high but similar to what we had in 2019 and that year was awesome.”

As of press time, 33 had signed up for the race with a total of 50 allowed according to the permit with the Forest Service. Most of those signed up are coming from outside the valley.

“I only have about five or six locals signed up so far,” says Raymond. “I’ve got people from all over the place. From the Front Range and some coming out from the East Coast.”

Given the backcountry location of the event, Raymond asks that race fans and the steep creek curious bike, walk or carpool to the Oh Be Joyful campground out the Slate River valley and tread lightly as they head up to the venue, climbers right of the creek.

“Stay on the road and people will see a trail that breaks off to the viewing area,” says Raymond. “We want people to stay on the trail. We will have it marked and volunteers helping to direct people. There are some steeps sections along the creek, we want people to be careful.”

Speaking of volunteers, Raymond needs them. Not just helping to direct foot traffic and fans but help with registration, timing and parking as well. Volunteers can find the sign-up sheet on the Oh Be Joyful Facebook page or just show up at the Oh Be Joyful campground at 9 a.m. the day of the race.

If you’re thinking of racing, registration can also be found on the race Facebook page, but the race is not for the faint of heart or someone looking to test the waters of steep creek kayaking.

“It’s experts only,” says Raymond. “I usually know most of the people signed up but if I don’t, I’ll ask them about their experience. If someone’s not qualified, we’re not going to let them race.”

As always, no race would be complete without the Freedom Center, so expect to see the Stars and Stripes hanging creekside. Wynne admits it’s been a while since he ran the creek but was there in the formative days of the race. As for who will win, he believes the outcome is determined by a couple of things.

“It comes down to experience and who has the biggest smile,” says Wynne.   

Street party in the future?

In her April 15 report to council, town manager Dara MacDonald said High Country Conservation Advocates (HCCA) has initiated discussions about holding a street party when the Mt. Emmons/U.S. Forest Service land exchange is completed. That is expected to happen in late summer or early fall and would be a final step in protecting Mt. Emmons/Red Lady from major industrial mining.

Upping the ante for illegal demolitions in town

Council agreed to let the staff confer with the Board of Zoning and Architectural Review (BOZAR) over appropriate penalties for people who violate the town’s demolition ordinance. Staff was made aware of an offender two months ago and in the process discovered some flaws in the current ordinance. Community Development director Troy Russ said that even with a $2,650 per day penalty, it can be more economical to suffer the fine given the financial return of a real estate investment. Council approved the idea of exploring options for more severe penalties for egregious violations.

From old trees to new art?

While no one likes cutting down trees in town, the council said it was sometimes necessary, as with the elimination of three cottonwoods in Crested Butte in mid-April. Councilmember Anna Fenerty suggested the trunks be used as some sort of potential art project. Councilmember Gabi Prochaska said some trunks from cottonwoods taken down in Denver were turned into benches and seats. Staff will look into possibilities of how to use the remaining tree stumps.

Stuff

—Russ said stakeholders in North Valley parking issues met on April 9. He said there would be regular follow up meetings this summer, starting in May. “We are at a preliminary point where we are gathering a list of resources to address the issue,” he told the council.

—Fenerty is asking the town to investigate expanding its new rebate program for electric outdoor equipment (such as electric lawn and garden equipment) to include not just residents, but also commercial operations.

Mt. Emmons Land Exchange will bring the protections for Red Lady this community has been seeking for almost 50 years 

By Jon Hare, HCCA

Earlier in April, Gunnison Country celebrated when the US Department of Interior signed the historic Mt. Emmons–Thompson Divide Mineral Withdrawal to remove the opportunity for new mining or oil and gas operations on over 220,000 acres of federal land in Western Colorado managed by the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). 

This is definitely a great reason for all of us who love public lands to celebrate, yet at High Country Conservation Advocates (HCCA) we are focused on the next project in the Gunnison basin that is several years in formulation and moving toward completion in 2024. Right now, at our doorstep, the Mt. Emmons Land Exchange is the best chance this community has ever had to save the mountain known as Red Lady and the best opportunity to protect Gunnison Country from the impacts of a large-scale industrial mining operation.

Mt. Emmons, affectionately known as Red Lady, is the mountain just three miles west of Crested Butte, which contains a large deposit of molybdenum ore. Molybdenum is a steel hardening agent which is an essential ingredient to make metals thinner and lighter. HCCA formed in 1977 to protect Red Lady and our community from the impacts of large-scale industrial mining. 

So, what does this Mineral Withdrawal (MW) mean for public lands in Gunnison Country? Of the over 220,000 acres of federal lands included in the withdrawn area, approximately 100,000 of those acres are in Gunnison County. The MW area enters Gunnison County on the north at McClure Pass and drops south along the western boundary of the Ragged Mountains Wilderness Area to the Beckwith mountains. From the Beckwiths, the MW area runs east across Kebler Pass encompassing Irwin, Scarp Ridge, Oh Be Joyful and south via Splain’s Gulch into Carbon Creek and the northeast corner of the Ohio Creek valley. 

The withdrawal edges up to Red Lady but doesn’t actually encompass the bulk of Mt. Emmons as the lands covering the ore body are private lands owned by the Mt. Emmons Mining Company (MEMC). 

On the map the withdrawal area stands out as a corridor of wildlife habitat that connects the Gunnison zone to Paonia and north to Aspen and Glenwood Springs. As wildlife habitat continues to be fragmented in almost every direction, it’s a sliver of hope that a herd of elk, bear or lynx will keep moving through the three different zones.

According to the official Public Land Order for the Mineral Withdrawal, its purpose is to ensure the retention of the contiguous landscape, resulting in more efficient and effective administration of National Forest System and BLM-administered lands, and to protect the agricultural, ranching, wildlife, air quality, recreation, ecological and scenic values of the Thompson Divide Area from further mineral development that could adversely impact these values and the local economies that depend on these values. 

The Mt. Emmons–Thompson Divide Mineral Withdrawal area is an important layer of protection for public lands in Gunnison County for the next 20 years and formalizes the lean toward agriculture, ranching, wildlife, air quality, recreation, ecological and scenic values for public lands decisions in Western Colorado. 

The Mt. Emmons Land Exchange between MEMC and the USFS is the next real opportunity for this community to save Red Lady and avoid the impacts of a large-scale industrial molybdenum mine in the upper Gunnison River Valley. 

Those industrial mining impacts go far beyond Red Lady and Mt. Emmons to include reservoirs, ditches, settling ponds, powerlines, conveyor belts, significant truck hauling, tailings piles, emissions and an influx of people to our valley which would instantly change the nature of this place and have negative impacts on the reason why most of us are here—the natural environment and vast acres of unspoiled public lands. Most importantly, a molybdenum mine on Mt. Emmons would crush the water source for the Town of Crested Butte, limiting water supplies in an area where water supply is already a big concern. 

After collaborating with the Town of Crested Butte, Gunnison County and HCCA, the land exchange was proposed by MEMC to the USFS in 2021 with the goal of trading mine-impacted National Forest land on Mt. Emmons in exchange for four rural ranch properties in Gunnison and Saguache Counties. 

Ownership of the land with the mining infrastructure and impacts on Mt. Emmons will give MEMC the ability to operate, repair and replace the water treatment plant, as well as reclaim areas without having to work through the USFS. Their activities will still be permitted by the State of Colorado for water quality controls with additional oversight by the Town of Crested Butte and Gunnison County. In exchange, the American people obtain properties that are surrounded by national forest and have genuine appeal (wetlands, trails, wildlife habitat, etc.) to be included and managed as national forest moving forward.  

Second, the pending Land Exchange includes Conservation Easements through the Crested Butte Land Trust (CBLT) which will prohibit any industrial or residential development on the private land on Mt. Emmons, while simultaneously providing legal public recreational access to traditional ski and hiking routes that cross the mine-owned private lands. This is perhaps the most significant layer of protection for Red Lady and finally provides a path for legal recreational access to the summit of the mountain. 

The third part of the Mt. Emmons Land Exchange is that MEMC will sign a mineral extinguishment with CBLT for the permanent relinquishment and extinguishment of mineral rights on their private land on Mt. Emmons, as well as, separately, relinquish over 1200 unpatented mining claims on federal lands in Gunnison County. 

It can’t be stressed enough, especially considering the time and funds invested into the project by MEMC, the USFS and BLM, U.S. Senator Michael Bennet, Gunnison County, the Town of Crested Butte, CBLT, HCCA and on down the line—there are many people who have worked to queue up this project, and ensure it has fully considered the practical details of its implications on the ground and deliver to this community an end result that provides confidence in a mine-free future while deeply tapping into the collaborative spirit of our community and the value of our public lands. 

The forest supervisor for the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre, and Gunnison National Forest (GMUG NF) has the authority and should sign the decision memo to authorize the Mt. Emmons Land Exchange as soon as possible. Once the GMUG forest supervisor signs the Land Exchange Decision, a cascade of work is in place to adjust the boundaries and execute the conservation easements and mineral extinguishments with CBLT. 

Once the ink is dried, this community will finally see the end to the threat of a large-scale industrial mine on Red Lady. 

In Gunnison County, HCCA is advocating for other important layers of protections for public lands and Red Lady, like the Colorado Outdoor Recreation and Economy Act, but we must emphasize that right now the owner of the mine, MEMC, is committed to and significantly invested in the Mt. Emmons Land Exchange, which represents the best package of protections ever put together to Save Red Lady! 

Jon Hare is the advocacy director for High Country Conservation Advocates and a resident of Gunnison. 

Thompson Divide mineral withdrawal finalized for 200K+ acres

By Katherine Nettles

The Biden-Harris administration officially signed protections for the Thompson Divide area on Wednesday, April 3, ensuring a 20-year safeguard from new oil and gas leasing and new mining for almost 222,000 acres across the Western Slope. This includes Mt. Emmons directly to the west of the town of Crested Butte, known locally as Red Lady. 

After more than a year of public and federal engagement since the Biden administration’s proposed withdrawal in October 2022, Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland signed Public Land Order 7939 on Wednesday, withdrawing approximately 221,898 acres of US Forest Service (USFS) and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land from disposition under the public land laws and operation of federal mining, mineral and geothermal leasing laws for a 20-year period. 

The public land order withdraws 197,745 acres of the White River and Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison national forests, as well as 15,465 acres of BLM-managed public lands and 8,689 acres of reserved federal mineral interest under non-federal land. 

 “This is a huge day for Crested Butte and surrounding areas!” wrote Crested Butte mayor Ian Billick in an email to the Crested Butte News on Wednesday morning. “With the announcement of the administrative withdrawal of mining on the Red Lady/Mt. Emmons by the Biden Administration, we have taken another major step towards permanent protection. The foundation for this achievement was set long ago; it’s humbling to be part of 50 years of committed work by our community to make this happen.” 

Billick acknowledged the dedication of local conservation organization High Country Conservation Advocates (HCCA), whose mission has long been to protect Red Lady permanently. “Catalyzed by High Country Conservation Advocates, protecting the Red Lady has been a community effort spanning 50 years, involving generations of community members, activists and politicians. This is a major success that we collectively made happen! It’s time to celebrate!”

Billick also recognized the work of U.S. senator Michael Bennet in getting the action all the way to the White House. “Senator Bennet and his team have been relentless in pursuing Crested Butte’s top long-term goal, protection of the Red Lady. This 20-year mineral withdrawal is a major achievement on the path to permanent protection,” Billick wrote.

Gunnison County commissioner chair Jonathan Houck expressed his excitement as well. “I am so happy and proud for all the communities connected to the Thompson Divide and Mt. Emmons. So many folks have carried the torch and never gave up on protecting Mt. Emmons. The Red Lady has been protected because of the relentless advocacy and grit of generations of folks in Crested Butte and across Gunnison County,” he said. “I committed my efforts to the fight 12 years ago when elected county commissioner and Senator Bennet’s leadership gave us a chance to include this withdrawal with actions on the Thompson Divide as part of the CORE (Colorado Outdoor Recreation and Economy) Act, much of which is in Gunnison County. Today we celebrate the breathing room the 20 years gives us and tomorrow we continue the work to make the actions permanent.”  

Bennet first introduced the Thompson Divide Withdrawal and Protection Act in 2013, and the bill was eventually incorporated into the CORE Act. Mt. Emmons was later included as Bennet heard from the local community and Mt. Emmons Mining Company (MEMC), working to “resolve one of the longest standing mining disputes in the nation,” according to a joint press release from Bennet and U.S. senator John Hickenlooper. 

“Coloradans fought for decades to protect the Thompson Divide and Mt. Emmons,” said Bennet. “This announcement is a testament to the persistence of Colorado’s farmers, ranchers, hunters, anglers, recreationists, wildlife enthusiasts and conservation groups, who were unrelenting in their work to protect the landscape we all love. Now, we need to pass the CORE Act to make this withdrawal permanent and protect this land for the next generation and generations to come.”

Hickenlooper added,  “Coloradans know what’s best to protect our cherished landscapes, and this announcement ensures that protection.”

Longtime HCCA board member and current president Sue Navy was excited on Wednesday as well. “This was worth waiting for, and working for, for so long,” she said. “We’re so close to accomplishing what we set out to do nearly 50 years ago! Woo Hoo!”

Steps toward permanence

A land exchange is also in the works between the USFS and MEMC with a stated objective from MEMC to effectively end the possibility of mining on Red Lady in perpetuity, while allowing the mining corporation more efficient management for on-site water treatment operations for historic acid mine drainage. That land exchange process is under federal review and expected to become final sometime this year. Only Congress can legislate a permanent withdrawal, such as in the CORE Act.

Meanwhile, the Thompson Divide withdrawal is authorized by the Federal Land Policy and Management Act, which authorizes Secretary of the Interior to withdraw lands aggregating 5,000 acres or more for a maximum of 20 years, subject to renewal.

Much of the Thompson Divide area has not been available to oil and gas leasing for several years, and there is no current or planned oil exploration or production in the area. The action will not affect water rights, activities on private lands or valid existing rights, including the underground Wolf Creek Gas Storage Area field that provides energy to the Roaring Fork Valley. Existing and unaffected leases in the Thompson Divide area constitute less than 1% of the 3,000-plus active federal leases in the state of Colorado, according to political/environmental nonprofit organization Mountain Pact.