Gunnison Arts Center:
• Main Gallery: “Life in the West” by Cheri Isgreen.
• Cafe Gallery: “Balance” Tiny Treasures Gunnison Arts Center Fundraising.
CB Center for the Arts:
• Kinder Padon Gallery: “Forces of Nature” by Lynn Rushton Leed (thru Sept. 2).

THURSDAY 18
• 7:30 a.m. Open AA meeting: Crack of Dawn Group topic discussion, Union Congregational Church, 349-5711.
• 7:30-8:30 a.m. Crested Butte Rotary Club weekly presentation featuring Paul Edwards from the Gunnison-Crested Butte Regional Airport at the CB Center for the Arts.
• 11 a.m. Piano In The Garden: Brian Hsu with the CB Music Festival at the Mt. CB Wedding Garden.
• 4-5:30 p.m. St. Mary’s Garage open for shoppers and donations.
• 4-6 p.m. CB South Farmer’s Market at Red Mountain Park (thru 9/29).
• 5-6 p.m. Oh Be Joyful/Gunnison Food Pantry Food Bank at 625 Maroon Ave. 970-349-6237. (1st and 3rd Thursdays)
• 6:30 p.m. Open AA meeting: 11 Step Meditation at Union Congregational Church, 349-5711.
• 4-6 p.m. Grits, Guts & Gals: The Goonies at I Bar Ranch in Gunnison benefiting gO Initiative and TETWP, ibarranch.com.

FRIDAY 19
• 10-11:30 a.m. Historic Elk Avenue Walking Tours with the Crested Butte Museum, meet in front of museum at 4th and Elk, 970-349-1880.
• noon Closed AA meeting: Readings from Living Sober at Union Congregational Church, 349-5711.
• 4-7 p.m. Winter Outdoor Gear event with raffle and snacks at Chopwood Mercantile, 120 Elk Avenue.
• 5-6:30 p.m. Free Belly Dance Workshop with the Crested Butte School of Dance at the SOD Pump Room, 306 Maroon. Donations encouraged, all proceeds to to Crested Butte State of Mind.
• 6 p.m. Live music featuring Rachel Van Slyke at Garlic Mikes in Gunnison.
• 6 p.m. Music and a Movie with Brian Hsu and Emily Ondracek-Peterson with the Crested Butte Music Festival at WCU in Gunnison.

SATURDAY 20
• 7:30 a.m. Open AA meeting: Big Book Study at Union Congregational Church, 349-5711.
• 1 p.m. Jungle Book: Missoula Theatre Performance at the Gunnison Arts Center.
• 3 p.m. Live music featuring Rachel Van Slyke at the Eldo.
• 5-8 p.m. Crested Butte Farmer’s Market’s Farm to Table Dinner featuring Chef Kate Loudoulis and live music by Rachel VanSlyke at the Historic Train Depot, 716 Elk Ave.
• 5-8 p.m. Crested Butte ArtWalk at participating locations in downtown Crested Butte.
• 6:30 p.m. Open AA meeting: Literature at Union Congregational Church, 349-5711.

SUNDAY 21
• 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Crested Butte Farmer’s Market on Elk Avenue.
• 9:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Artists of CB Art Market at the parking lot at the top of Elk Avenue.
• 10 a.m. Live music featuring Rachel Van Slyke at the CB Farmer’s Market.
• 4-7 p.m. Gunnison County Democratic Party Annual Unity Dinner at I Bar Ranch in Gunnison, gunnisondemocrats.org/events.
• 5 p.m. All Saints in the Mountains Episcopal Church service at UCC, 403 Maroon Ave.
• 5-6:30 p.m. Free Belly Dance Workshop with the Crested Butte School of Dance at the SOD Pump Room, 306 Maroon. Donations encouraged, all proceeds to to Crested Butte State of Mind.
• 5-8 p.m. Silent Tracks Annual Meeting and Potluck at The Depot in CB.
• 6 p.m. Sundays @ 6 at Legion Park in Gunnison featuring Farmer in the Sky.
• 6 p.m. Open AA meeting: Topic Discussion at Union Congregational Church, 349-5711.

MONDAY 22
Fall semester starts for GWSD and WCU students
• 1 p.m. Sally Miner Lecture Series: The Only 3 Russian Composers You Need to Know with the Crested Butte Music Festival at the CB Library.
• 7:30 p.m. Open AA meeting: Favorite Big Book Reading at Union Congregational Church, 349-5711.

TUESDAY 23
• 7:30 a.m. Open AA meeting: Mediation AA & Al-Anon at Union Congregational Church, 349-5711.
• noon Closed AA meeting: Readings from Came to Believe at Union Congregational Church, 349-5711.
• 1 p.m. “SEQUESTERED: An Artistic Testimony” presented by Nicholas Rayder at Townie Books.
• 2 p.m. Sally Miner Lecture Series: A Brief History of Jazz with the Crested Butte Music Festival at Buckel Family Wine in Gunnison.
• 4-5:30 p.m. St. Mary’s Garage open for shoppers and donations.
• 4-7 p.m. Live music featuring Rachel Van Slyke at Izakaya Cabin.
• 5-6 p.m. Meet the Gunnison Valley Regional Housing Authorities Executive Director interview finalists at the Gunnison County Court House.
• 5:30-7 p.m. CB/Mt. CB Chamber Business After Hours at the GVH Mountain Clinic, 12 Snowmass Road, Axtel 100, Mt. Crested Butte.
• 7 p.m. Great Wildlife Movements of the Gunnison Country with Kevin Blecha, Colorado Parks and Wildlife biologist at WCU University Center Theater.
• 8 p.m. Subject to Change Improv Comedy Night with the Crested Butte Mountain Theatre at the Mallardi Cabaret Theatre (18+ show), cbmountaintheatre.org.

WEDNESDAY 24
• 8:30 a.m. Hike with HCCA. Sign up at hccacb.org.
• 8:30 a.m. Free T’ai Chi sessions at Three Ladies Park, all levels welcome.
• 10-11:30 a.m. Elk Avenue Walking Tours with the Crested Butte Museum, meet in front of museum at Fourth and Elk, 970-349-1880.
• noon Closed AA meeting: 12 Step & 12 Tradition Study at Union Congregational Church, 349-5711.
• noon Yoga in the garden in Mt. Crested Butte Wedding Garden pavillion (Wednesdays thru 9/28).
• 4-6 p.m. Mt. Emmons Land Exchange Community Open House at the CB Center for the Arts.
• 5:30 p.m. Vacation Rental Regulations Update community meeting at the Crested Butte Town Hall or on ZOOM, www.crestedbutte-co.gov>News and Announcements page.
• 5:30-7 p.m. Mid-Week on Main Street live music at IOOF Park in Gunnison.
• 8 p.m. Adult pickup basketball at the CBCS high school gym. Enter through the doors by Tommy V Field.

It’s still summer and some of these hot afternoons make it feel like summer in the Midwest. But there is suddenly a new feeling. Maybe it’s the angle of the sun or the fact it gets dark here before 9 o’clock all of a sudden. While not the end, it feels like the beginning of the end…like more than a few things at the moment.

The once super colorful flowers are dropping their petals and the seeds are preparing to spread. The Slate River, once a highway for SUPs is now more a bubbling brook showing the rocky bottom. Caterpillars are scooching along the local paths and the ground cover is turning a shade of red in many spots. Add to that, the fact that most of the major summer fundraisers have concluded — and it sounds like successfully with literally millions of dollars flowing into the local non-profits — and it’s another sign of the shorter days and cooler mornings.

Softball is in playoff mode. The local college kids are giving up their summer work shifts to head back to campuses across the country. The high school soccer team is running drills on the school fields in the morning and, believe it or not, school classes will start up in less than two weeks. That also means the second homeowner kids are probably leaving the valley to head back home because their classes will be starting up soon as well. What the…?!

Like many who choose to live here, I still like winter and look forward to seeing snow…but it is still too early to embrace that change. I’m an advocate of the ‘be where you are’ mentality and the end of the summer at 9,000 feet is a great place to be. My advice is to take that breath and not let it slip away. 

Speaking of the beginning of the end, the roadmap has been written and agreed to for the elimination of mining on Red Lady. That’s huge. The Mt. Emmons Mining Company is on the same legal page(s) as the town, the county, HCCA, the Coal Creek Coalition and the CB Land Trust. The fight to stop a mine on Red Lady that overlooks CB is not over after a 45-year struggle that in many ways has defined a large part of the character of this community, but it feels like the final chapter has started.

It now depends on a land exchange happening between the Forest Service and the mining company and once that’s completed a tight Conservation Easement and so-called Extinguishment Agreement will be recorded to oversee the property at the base of Red Lady. Basically, the agreements will prohibit future extractive mining and development while still allowing people to hike to the summit and find fresh powder in the winters. It is a big deal. Same advice though — be where you are and don’t stop paying attention. An open house to explain the details of the latest action will be held the evening of August 24 at the CB Center for the Arts.

In what might be better termed the beginning of the beginning, it appears the developers of the North Village (now called the Village at Mt. Crested Butte-yawn) and town of Mt. Crested Butte officials are on the same chapter if not the same page. The developers have reduced the requested density on the 150-acre property located in the north end of the town limits to under 350 total units. At one point that property was planned to be a major ski village with ski lifts, hotels and restaurants and literally thousands of units. The town planners appear to have reversed the course of the previous town manager and seem willing to work out details with the developers that could benefit the town and somehow address major issues like affordable housing and potential field space. Again, nothing is settled on this up-and-down proposal, but the feeling now is that it is the beginning of a new beginning.

The Crested Butte town staff is promising the beginning of the end of the Community Compass process. After months and months and months of outreach and interpretation, the staff is almost ready to release the final document that is meant to guide decisions in town for the next many years. While not finalized, it seems the Compass will advocate that the town be bold, be authentic and be true to its historical progressive values. What that ends up meaning in terms of strategy and focus has yet to be seen. But one guiding mantra from the staff that’s made its way into the proposed document at times is that the final iteration of the Compass planning document will not end up just sitting on a shelf like so many previous studies and plans. They want this and future town council decision makers to use the Compass to guide the future of the town. 

Speaking of future decisions, the staff guarantees that once the Compass is finalized here soon, they will tackle how to best deal with accessory buildings on residential lots. The council added six months to a year-long moratorium of approving or even considering plumbed and heated accessory buildings so they can research how best to possibly utilize such structures for housing. It will all be woven into a broader housing strategy that addresses short-term rentals (STRs) among other things. There is a new information gathering process starting on revising the ordinance governing STRs on August 24 at the CB town hall. Everyone is encouraged to participate. Is it the beginning of the end for in-town STRs? It is too early to say but it wouldn’t be a total surprise if there was a recommendation to phase them out somehow. That’s just speculation so not really the beginning of an end…yet. We’ll see.

There are lots of other things that suddenly seem to have reached a new point signaling what might be the beginning of the end — Donald Trump and the FBI, Tucker Carlson and Alex Jones, Pete Davidson and Kim Kardashian! But that’s just so much distraction for whatever else is stirring on the national Internet. 

For now, grab the end of the hot days of a Crested Butte summer. Be where you are. Hit the local peaks, go to an outdoor concert or the Farmer’s Market, pedal the high country classics. Sure, it can all last well into the fall, but be where you are, and we are at the beginning of the end of the glorious summer at 9,000 feet.

—Mark Reaman

The beginning of the real end…

[  By Mark Reaman  ]

It is not yet the end of a 45-year struggle, but it feels like the beginning of the end as the roadmap on how to specifically prohibit future extractive mining activity and development on Mt. Emmons is now being laid out in legal documents. It would also allow continued limited recreation use on the mountain. The Crested Butte town council, the Gunnison County commissioners along with the High Country Conservation Advocates (HCCA) and the Coal Creek Coalition all gave their nod of approval for the agreements that will be between the Mount Emmons Mining Company (MEMC) and the Crested Butte Land Trust (CBLT). 

The two documents are a Conservation Easement (CE) and an Extinguishment Agreement over mineral and development rights. The property impacted includes private land owned by MEMC as well as U.S. Forest Service land that MEMC is seeking to acquire for the Forest Service in a proposed land exchange. 

Basically, the MEMC would acquire approximately 450 acres of land on Mt. Emmons from the U.S. Forest Service that contains the water treatment plant. The idea is that MEMC would make improvements to the aging plant more efficiently without having to go through the federal process associated with the federal government. In exchange, the Forest Service would get the 160-acre Three Peaks Ranch up Ohio Creek by Carbon Mountain. The two properties would have to be equivalent in value, but the goal is to facilitate the exchange quickly and with minimal federal environmental review. But there would still be opportunity where public comment would be solicited.

“When this path first came up, the privatization element was a concern for a lot of people, including the town,” Crested Butte town attorney Barbara Green told the town council at the August 2 meeting. “These are the documents that alleviate those concerns. We believe between the Conservation Easement and Extinguishment Agreement, it accomplishes those goals and objectives.”

“We feel like this puts us on the cusp of a landmark decision with the Mt. Emmons mining,” said CBLT executive director Jake Jones. “The land exchange will happen parallel with the Conservation Easement and Extinguishment Agreement. A lot of experienced people looked at every aspect of both agreements. I’m not sure this type of agreement has happened anywhere else, so once again this community is a trendsetter. The CBLT is honored to be the grantee of the CE when this closes.”

Jones explained that the agreements kick in and are formally in play when the land exchange is completed. “The Conservation Easement documents will be recorded contingent upon the completion of the land exchange,” he explained. “The document drafts are substantially complete and we are doing some on-the-ground diligence work, such as the Baseline Documentation Report, this summer. Once the diligence work is done the documents will be in escrow until the closing of the land exchange.”  

Gunnison County commissioner Roland Mason said the board of commissioners were all on board after meeting with county attorney Matthew Hoyt in an executive session on August 2 to review the documents. 

“We feel that it meets the county’s bullet points for the 2016 and 2021 MOU with MEMC, the town of Crested Butte and the county. And we look forward to future steps in working through the land exchange as we move forward,” said Mason. “We’re ready to take on the next steps to get this mining [potential] forever removed.”

“This is a very important moment in a 45-year process,” stated HCCA executive director Brett Henderson. “HCCA is excited to see the next steps unfold. This is exciting news.”

“We too are very excited,” added Coal Creek Coalition executive director Ashley Bembenek.  “We are very excited about the end result of what the CE and Extinguishment Agreement accomplishes.”

Citizen and HCCA board member Sue Navy has been involved in the Red Lady struggle for its entirety. “I know it’s not over yet, but it has been a long 45 years to get to this momentous point,” she said. “I hope the rest goes smoothly to accomplish the land exchange and this all finally gets put to bed and we can have a party on the summit of Red Lady.”

“It is super exciting,” added environmental attorney and former HCCA Public Lands director Alli Melton. “The only additional encouragement would be to secure a federal administrative mineral withdrawal for the federal lands surrounding the Mt. Emmons property and exchanged lands. As much as we hope the CORE Act will be passed and signed into law, getting legislation passed in Congress is challenging these days. An administrative withdrawal would importantly provide us additional time, even 20 years to get legislation passed that would help further secure mine-free Red Lady future.” 

“It is a privilege to be involved in the process just a little bit,” said Crested Butte mayor Ian Billick. “We still need to keep our head down and keep working. This is part of the journey.”

The Mount Emmons Mining Company has scheduled a community open house to discuss the land exchange and latest steps in the process with any interested members of the public for Wednesday, August 24 from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Crested Butte Center for the Arts.

Easement between mining company and land trust prohibits future mining

[  By Mark Reaman  ]

Representatives of the Mount Emmons Mining Company (MEMC) want to assure the public that a proposed land exchange meant to be part of a complicated equation that would ultimately prohibit mineral extraction on Red Lady is on track. A story in the June 24 issue of the Crested Butte News reported some behind the scenes bumps in the negotiations based on town attorney comments, but MEMC spokesman Jim Telle said all is well.

“We anticipate the land exchange process will continue throughout 2022 with extensive opportunity for public input through MEMC meetings, open house events and a U.S. Forest Service public comment period. MEMC is currently anticipating the exchange to be complete mid-2023,” he said. 

Basically, the MEMC would acquire approximately 450 acres of land on Red Lady from the U.S. Forest Service that contains the aging water treatment plant. The idea is that MEMC would make improvements to the plant more efficiently without having to go through the federal hoops associated with the USFS. In exchange, the Forest Service would get the 160-acre Three Peaks Ranch up Ohio Creek by Carbon Mountain. The two properties would have to be equivalent in value, but the goal is to facilitate the exchange quickly and with minimal federal environmental review. 

Crested Butte town attorney Barbara Green had raised some initial concern in June that the conservation easement language in the written documents associated with the land exchange did not match the verbal understandings between all the impacted parties. “In May 2022, MEMC sent revised drafts of the conservation easement and mineral extinguishment agreement to CBLT,” a memo to the town council stated. “The actual language of the drafts, once reviewed by town and county attorneys, did not appear to match the articulated goals of the parties…I think it is moving in the right direction,” Green assured the council. “We just want to make sure the words in the draft meet the words of what we all intended.”

Telle said this week that the conservation easement would be handled between the company and the Crested Butte Land Trust. He reiterated that upon completion of the land exchange, MEMC would implement a conservation easement and mineral extinguishment agreement that will “permanently and forever: Prohibit commercial extractive mining on all MEMC lands post exchange; prohibit commercial and residential development on all MEMC lands post exchange; and allow for non-motorized public access to higher elevation portions of MEMC land while restricting access for public safety to currently industrialized portions of the MEMC property.”

He said that the town and Gunnison County were asked for and supplied “significant content” for the land exchange deal and MEMC and the Forest Service incorporated suggested wording from the government entities when drafting the conservation easement and mineral extinguishment language. 

“The conservation easement and mineral extinguishment agreements are legally binding and enforceable between MEMC and Crested Butte Land Trust,” Telle said. “The town and county, while not a party to the agreements between MEMC and the Crested Butte Land Trust, do have the ability to enforce the non-mining and development restriction provisions in the conservation easement, such as year-round non-motorized recreational access and the prohibition of future residential or commercial development. This enforcement authority is expressly granted to the town and county in the conservation easement.”

Town attorney Green said that the proposed easement works for the town. “The conservation easement satisfies the Town’s goals of preventing mining on or under the Red Lady, and providing public recreation access,” she said. It is expected that the council will review the documents and consider official support in August.

Crested Butte Land Trust executive director Jake Jones agrees the parties are on the same page with the future intentions. “The Land Trust, in partnership with the town and county, have been negotiating the terms of a conservation easement with MEMC on Mt. Emmons since late last year,” he said. “The goals at the outset were to protect against all future mining on Mt. Emmons, provide legal public access to Red Lady Bowl, and ensure there will be no development of the property aside from activities required to clean the water that flows into Coal Creek in perpetuity. We are now all in agreement on the terms of the conservation easement, which will be applied to all lands owned by MEMC, contingent upon the completion of the land exchange. The public will have opportunities to learn more about the protection of Mt. Emmons in the coming weeks and months.” 

Telle said that going forward from the exchange, “MEMC, as it has in the past, will continue to conduct its operations in compliance with all governing laws, regulations and ordinances. This includes operation of the water treatment plant in accordance with permits issues by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.”

He emphasized that the Forest Service will be gaining valuable property in the exchange and that the public will benefit overall when the deal is completed. “The easement and agreement will further reinforce the importance of the land exchange to the public’s interest by forever eliminating commercial mining from Mt. Emmons,” he stated. MEMC is planning to hold public open houses later in the summer to detail the agreement to the public.

In a somewhat related update, Telle said reclamation efforts of the mine area are continuing. “This summer we are planning to complete the recontouring and stormwater channel improvements on the tailings dam surface that we were unable to complete last year due to supply chain and labor availability issues that affected construction across much of the country,” he said. “This work will promote drainage on the tailings dams, reduce the volume of water needing treatment and improve the quality of snow melt and spring runoff entering Coal Creek.”

Clean Livin’

[  by Dawne Belloise  ]

Sarah Hume likes to keep it simple. Simply, she enjoys life. A Colorado-born girl who arrived in Gunnison at the ripe age of three months, she rightly considers herself a native of the valley, she says and smiles, “Plus it gives me credibility. I went to Lake, O’Leary, and Blackstock School in Gunnison. I was one of those who got to attend all three schools. My maternal grandmother was a teacher at Blackstock.” 

As a child, Sarah did all the usual things that kids in the Gunnison Valley did. “We’d go sledding and I loved to ice skate,” and she’d play in snow and frigid cold. During the summers she recalls, “Growing up in Antelope Hills there wasn’t any light pollution, so I saw a lot of gorgeous meteor showers. We’d camp out in the front yard and watch the stars fall. I also took dance lessons from kindergarten through sixth grade.”  

Through her high school years, Sarah confesses she didn’t go to class much. “I was one of those people who could be lost in a crowd easily. I could go to class for attendance and then leave.” However, she reiterates, “My aspirations were really just to have a good time. I spent a lot of time at Hartman Rocks having bonfires and drinking. We didn’t drink and drive, we always camped out.” She did excel in learning German though and was able to save enough to go to Germany for two weeks in her junior year, in the spring of 1996. 

Sarah graduated in 1997 and, like many setting out on their life’s path, had no idea what she wanted to do. “I’ve always wanted to just survive and experience life.” When her best friend moved to Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, Sarah decided to try life outside of her hometown and live with her friend’s family. “It was my first attempt to leave the Gunnison Valley. And I missed home,” she smiles. She lasted two months before returning to Gunnison and began working as a housekeeper for Bill Babbitt and Jeff Shipley at their High Country Resorts. 

In 2000, Sarah moved to Crested Butte where she enjoyed employee housing in Mountain Sunrise for two years. “I was given the title of Village Center Queen by Virginia Roarke because I could clean three to four condos a day and do the additional condo services like towels and trash for the Snowcrest, Axtel and Emmons buildings. That was the late ‘90s. I was averaging $22 an hour,“ she tells, which was quite a decent pay for the times, so she stayed on for six years. 

Once again Sarah decided to try life outside the valley and moved to Denver in 2002. “But Denver ate me and spit me out,” she laughs about her short one-month stint. She returned home to start her own cleaning business. Based on her reputation and word of mouth referrals, her business flourished and her accounts were mostly large mountain homes. She also wound up working as cleaning management for a few small companies. 

In 2007, Sarah took a launderist position, working for two years at the Gunnison Nursing Home. “Pretty interesting job, just to get to know the residents and listen to their stories. I got to meet new people and sometimes I got to meet the same people every day as their new friend,” because of their dementia, she says. 

For some reason she still can’t figure out, Sarah decided to attend Western State College (now Western Colorado University) for English, “I have no idea why,” she shrugs. “At the time, I was working at Joe Dixon’s video rental store. We were one of the last video stores,” she tells. “You wouldn’t believe how many out-of-town visitors came in looking for porn because those were the only video stores left. They’d come in looking around at all these Disney videos and then they’d walk out. Every once in a while, one would come up and ask for the adult section and I’d point them to the R section.” She was there four years, through 2011. 

She was quite done with both school and customer service, so she went back to what she enjoyed most for work, housekeeping, this time at the Grand Lodge. “It was the worst paying, hardest job I’ve ever had,” but she had taken the job because working for herself was like working seven days a week and essentially having 20 individual bosses, but at the Grand Lodge, it was too little pay for too much work, she thought. The upside was that she ended up with her own cart and floor because they recognized her work ethic. “I’m a damn good cleaner. I was taken care of in a way my managers could. The solitude of working by myself made the day ok.” Despite the tediousness of the job, Sarah stuck with it for six years. 

While riding the bus from Gunnison to her job in CB, she was approached by Dale Hoots, a maintenance worker at the Elevation Hotel and later for the Town of CB, who said to Sarah, “I’ve been riding this bus for a week looking for you.” Dale wanted to tell her about the janitorial position opening with the town of Crested Butte. She applied, got the job and is still happily employed there. “I love it,” she says. “I do not have to make beds and I have very few stairs to climb. There are 24 public restrooms in this town, counting men’s and women’s and I clean 22 of them (the Chamber contracts theirs out) and I take care of Town Hall and the Marshal’s Office. Recently, the town has hired someone to clean on weekends, so I don’t have to work weekends anymore. It’s the first time in my life I don’t have to work weekends,” she exclaims gleefully. “It’s incredible! I go fishing. If there’s water, I’ll put a fishing pole in it. I love both fly and cast fishing. I like to fly on the river and cast on reservoirs.” 

Right before everything shut down for COVID in 2020, Sarah became a KBUT DJ known as The Hypochondriac and appropriately named her show, “I Got This,” which airs Saturday from 8 to 10 p.m. “I play everything and anything, there is no limit, but I always play at least one Dolly Parton song every show. I only went to one of her shows and it’s the most amazing thing. It’s a lot like this valley, just a huge diversity of people getting along – Republican, Dems, bikers, hippies, everyone. It’s the most incredible thing I’ve ever seen and of course, she’s fantastic. She had a different outfit for every song.”

Sarah says she has learned her lesson about leaving the valley. “I tried to live other places, but I boomerang back within two months. I’ve never lived anywhere else for longer than two months. Even though this town has changed dramatically, this is my home, it’s all I’ve known. It’s a comfort to me. Sure, I’ll visit someplace for a while but to go visit somewhere else and then come home to see the mountains is one of the best feelings I get.” 

Conservation easement language not yet public

[  By Mark Reaman  ]

What might be termed some behind the scenes bumps are apparently being navigated in the effort to prohibit all future mining on Mt. Emmons, aka Red Lady. Both the town of Crested Butte and Gunnison County held closed door executive sessions this week to talk about the latest negotiations over a proposed land exchange that is part of the emerging plan to eventually eliminate mining on Red Lady and keep the local water quality intact. 

One bump is apparently the language in the draft conservation easements being proposed to safeguard the traded land to make sure no future mining is allowed on Mt. Emmons. Those easements would be held by the Crested Butte Land Trust (CBLT).

Basically, the Mount Emmons Mining Company (MEMC) would acquire approximately 450 acres of land on Red Lady from the U.S. Forest Service that contains the aging water treatment plant. The idea is that MEMC would make improvements to the plant more efficiently without having to go through the federal hoops associated with the USFS. In exchange, the Forest Service would get the 160-acre Three Peaks Ranch up Ohio Creek by Carbon Mountain. The two properties would have to be equivalent in value but the goal is to facilitate the exchange quickly and with minimal federal environmental review. 

In a memo to the Crested Butte town council, attorney Barbara Green reviewed the history of the Red Lady situation and said all parties, including the mining company, have clearly stated the common goal is to prohibit mining on Mt. Emmons in perpetuity by any person. “In May 2022, MEMC sent revised drafts of the conservation easement and mineral extinguishment agreement to CBLT,” her memo stated. “The actual language of the drafts, once reviewed by town and county attorneys, did not appear to match the articulated goals of the parties.” When a joint meeting was scheduled to clear up the discrepancy, the town and county provided advance comments to all the parties and then MEMC cancelled the meeting.

“The suite of issues relevant to the mine site and the town’s goals of protecting and enhancing water quality and preventing mining in perpetuity are complicated and interrelated,” Green wrote. 

She told the council that since the meeting cancellation, MEMC had a phone conversation with Crested Butte mayor Ian Billick and county commissioner Roland Mason. This past weekend, the MEMC submitted a new draft of the proposed conservation easement to the land trust that included some of the input by the town and county. 

“I think it is moving in the right direction,” Green assured the council. “We just want to make sure the words in the draft meet the words of what we all intended.”

High Country Conservation Advocates (HCCA) executive director Brett Henderson asked the council by Zoom when the public and HCCA would be able to see the language in the proposed conservation easement. “HCCA has been clear it will support the land exchange with easements in place that prohibit mining,” he said. “We’d like the easements to be made public so we can be sure the land exchange is accomplishing that goal.”

Green explained that because MEMC and the CBLT are not public entities like a government body, they are not legally bound to make the document public. “Until the easements are settled between the land trust and mining company, there is no obligation to release the language,” she said. “But the intent is that the town and the county have to agree that the language in the easement says what they say it says. At that point it would be released to the public, and primarily HCCA that has been a major part of the process.”

“It is a complex deal and everyone wants to be on the same page and that takes some time,” said Billick.

“Agree. The understanding is that once the CBLT, the town and the county are in agreement, then HCCA and the public can take a look at it,” said Green. 

“I was told that at the next open house held by MEMC the terms of the easement would be open and discussed with the public,” added Crested Butte town manager Dara MacDonald. “I’m not sure when that would be.”

The council then closed public discussion and went into a closed-door executive session to discuss the matter and potential negotiations in more detail.

Includes Mt. Emmons Mine mineral withdrawal language

[  By Katherine Nettles  ]

After more than a decade of effort, a major public lands protection bill that would cover significant portions of Gunnison County and withdraw the mineral extraction rights of Mt. Emmons Mining Company on Red Lady reached the U.S. Senate for consideration this week. On Tuesday, May 3 the U.S. Senate considered its first-ever committee vote on the Colorado Outdoor Recreation and Economy (CORE) Act. This is the first Senate vote on the bill, but the House of Representatives has passed the bill four separate times. 

The CORE Act would protect more than 400,000 acres of public land in Colorado and establish new wilderness, recreation, and conservation areas and safeguard existing outdoor recreation opportunities, which its proponents say would also boost the state’s economy for generations. This week one final provision was added to include thousands of acres near Crested Butte in Thompson Divide protections, because of recent talks between Freeport McMoRan (of which Mt. Emmons Mining Company is a subsidiary) and various community members and local officials. The CORE Act would also establish Camp Hale in Pitkin County as a National Historic Landscape. 

The U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee held its first-ever mark-up of the bill on Tuesday, and in advance of the markup, U.S. senators Michael Bennett, (D), John Hickenlooper (D) and Colorado U.S. Representative Joe Neguse (D) held a virtual press conference on Monday, May 2 to express their support for it. Bennet, who drafted the bill and has championed it for years, spoke first.

“This afternoon I am pleased to share an important change to the title of that particular bill,” said Bennet. “For decades there has been controversy surrounding a proposed mine outside of Crested Butte. And I am pleased to share that the community has reached an agreement with Freeport McMoRan. And under the agreement, which we have enshrined in the bill, about 19,000 acres will be added to the Thompson Divide to prevent any future mine in the area. In return the community will coordinate with Freeport McMoRan to expedite a mutually beneficial land exchange,” continued Bennet. “This is exactly the kind of local, carefully constructed agreement that you’ll find throughout the CORE Act…every line in this bill reflects local values and local interests.” 

The senators were joined by Gunnison County commissioner chairperson Jonathan Houck, San Miguel County commissioner Hilary Cooper, Pitkin County commissioner Greg Poschman and rancher Bill Fales from the Thompson Divide. Bennett and Hickenlooper personally thanked each of them for helping carry the legislative effort forward. 

Local impacts

Houck spoke to the importance of the CORE Act for both ends of the valley as well as all who live in or visit the state and appreciate its public lands. 

“We never tire in Gunnison County of talking about the CORE Act,” said Houck, “It’s something folks in Gunnison County are deeply connected to because we are deeply connected to these public lands and the landscape that really makes up what we like to call our backyard.”

 He reviewed that Northern Gunnison County connects to the Thompson Divide and the southern part of the county connects to the Curecanti National Recreation Area. 

“And in acreage over half of the CORE Act is in Gunnison County,” noted Houck. “We’re really proud of the efforts that started literally at coffee shops and kitchen tables,” between ranchers, recreationalists and conservationists. He called these public lands major economic drivers in the entire geographic area that the CORE Act represents. 

The CORE Act would formalize a 43,000 acre boundary around the Curecanti National Recreation Areas, making it an official unit of the National Park Service. “Although it was congressionally designated the boundary was never clearly established,” said Houck. Blue Mesa Reservoir is part of the area. 

The Thompson Divide, where several counties come together, would involve the newly added mineral withdrawal language for the Mt. Emmons Mining Company.

“The CORE Act aims to protect the upper watershed of the Gunnison River, a large tributary to the Colorado [River] but also to the benefit of ranching, recreation and the livelihood of the folks of the town of Crested Butte and the Upper Gunnison Valley,” he concluded.

The party-line committee vote allows the Senate to proceed with consideration of the bill for a final vote, which would then send it to President Biden to become law. 

“This is the furthest that our bill has made it in the Senate so far, and even though we still have a lot of work ahead of us to get it over the finish line tomorrow is going to be an important step,” said Bennet.

Colorado Governor Jared Polis, Gunnison, San Miguel, Eagle, San Juan, Summit, Pitkin, and Ouray counties and the cities of Crested Butte, Ouray, Carbondale, Glenwood Springs, Telluride, Basalt, Breckenridge, Ophir, Ridgway, Mountain Village, Vail, Snowmass, Town of Frisco, and the Town of Dillon have expressed their support for the bill as well. 

Senator John Hickenlooper, a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, advocated on behalf of the bill at Tuesday’s committee markup.

At the markup, Hickenlooper objected to Senator Mike Lee’s amendment to remove the Thompson Divide provision from the bill. The Lee amendment failed.

“As a rancher who relies on the Thompson Divide for our summer grazing, I am hoping for the passage of the CORE Act. It will bring needed protection to this area which is so important to myself and fellow ranchers and also for the entire community, who utilizes these amazing lands for hunting and year-round recreation,” said Bill Fales of Cold Mountain Ranch. “The pandemic makes protection even more vital as our USFS lands are seeing unprecedented levels of use by the public.”

“The CORE Act was written for Coloradans, by Coloradans who’ve worked really hard to make sure it reflects local interests and local values,” said Bennet. “After over a decade of work, we’re now one step closer to passing this legislation to protect more than 400,000 acres of public land and support our state’s economy. Coloradans have waited a long time for this moment, and I look forward to getting the CORE Act over the finish line.”

The bill’s progression can be followed at www.energy.senate.gov/hearings/2022/5/business-meeting-to-consider-pending-legislation-and-a-pending-doe-nomination.

Gunnison Arts Center:
• Main Gallery: Gunnison High School Senior Excellence Exhibit (through April 29)
• Nancy Treadway Gallery: Spring Bling Jewelry Fair (through April 29)
CB Center for the Arts:
• Closed April 18-24.

THURSDAY 21
• noon-12:30 p.m. Barre Sculpt Lunch Sessions at the Gunnison Arts Center (thru May 26).
• 4-5:30 p.m. St. Mary’s Garage open for shoppers and donations.
• 5-6 p.m. Oh Be Joyful/Gunnison Food Pantry Food Bank at 625 Maroon Ave. 970-349-6237. (1st and 3rd Thursdays of the month)
• 6-9 p.m. Wheel Throwing (Session 2) at the Gunnison Arts Center (Thursdays thru May 19), gunnisonartscenter.org.
• 6-9 p.m. Candles and Cocktails at the Gunnison Arts Center, gunnisonartscenter.org.
• 6:30 p.m. Open AA meeting: 11 Step Meditation at Union Congregational Church, 349-5711.
• 7:30 p.m. Western Theatre Company presents The Wolves, by Sarah DeLappe in the Taylor Hall Studio Theatre at Western Colorado University.

FRIDAY 22
• noon Closed AA meeting: Readings from Living Sober at Union Congregational Church, 349-5711.
• 7:30 p.m. Western Theatre Company presents The Wolves, by Sarah DeLappe in the Taylor Hall Studio Theatre at Western Colorado University.

SATURDAY 23
• 7:30 a.m. Open AA meeting: Big Book Study at Union Congregational Church, 349-5711.

• noon-3 p.m. Crested Butte Devo’s Coaching Recruitment event at Tributary Coffee Roasters, 120 N. Main Street in Gunnison, adam@crestedbuttedevo.com.
• 2 p.m. Western Theatre Company presents The Wolves, by Sarah DeLappe in the Taylor Hall Studio Theatre at Western Colorado University.
• 6:30 p.m. Open AA meeting: Literature at Union Congregational Church, 349-5711.

SUNDAY 24
• 2 p.m. Poetry for Families poetry reading at the CB Library, 349-6535.
• 6 p.m. Open AA meeting: Topic Discussion at Union Congregational Church, 349-5711.

MONDAY 25
• 3:45-5:15 p.m. Art session at the CB Library – make a heart for the community collaboration prayer wheel (Mondays thru May 16).
• 6-8 p.m. Block Printing with Chelsea at the Gunnison Arts Center (thru May 9), gunnisonartscenter.org.
• 7:30 p.m. Open AA meeting: Favorite Big Book Reading at Union Congregational Church, 349-5711.

TUESDAY 26
• 7:30 a.m. Open AA meeting: Mediation AA & Al-Anon at Union Congregational Church, 349-5711.
• noon Closed AA meeting: Readings from Came to Believe at Union Congregational Church, 349-5711.
• noon-12:30 p.m. Barre Sculpt Lunch Sessions at the Gunnison Arts Center (thru May 26).
• 4-5:30 p.m. St. Mary’s Garage open for shoppers and donations.
• 4:15-5:45 p.m. Mud Puppies (ages 7-10) at the Gunnison Arts Center (thru May 24), gunnisonartscenter.org.
• 4:30-6 p.m. Discover Acrylics (ages 8-11) at the Gunnison Arts Center (thru May 24), gunnisonartscenter.org.

WEDNESDAY 27
• noon Closed AA meeting: 12 Step & 12 Tradition Study at Union Congregational Church, 349-5711.
• 1-3 p.m. and 4-6 p.m. Mt. Emmons Land Exchange Information Sessions at The Depot, 716 Elk Avenue, Crested Butte, mtemmonslandexchange.com.
• 5 p.m. Living with Wildfires Movie and Panel Discussion at the CB Center for the Arts.
• 7:30 p.m. Adult pickup basketball at the CBCS high school gym. Enter through the doors by Tommy V. Field.

Small contribution could result in significant impacts

[  By Mark Reaman  ]

The town of Crested Butte is hoping a relatively modest contribution will have a big impact on water quality in Coal Creek. The town council agreed on March 21 to commit to donate $65,000 over five years to support a Coal Creek Watershed Coalition (CCWC) proposal to restore a gossan located in the town’s watershed on Mt. Emmons three miles west of town. Crested Butte public works director Shea Earley described a gossan as a naturally occurring mineralized geologic formation. 

According to Ashley Bembenek of the CCWC, that organization along with several other organizations have identified the gossan as a major source of metals in the Coal Creek Watershed. She said the CCWC began exploring options to restore the gossan as early as 2011. Although very important to the health of Coal Creek, the project was tabled for a number of reasons.

“In November 2021, the State’s Natural Resource Damages (NRD) program announced that there was a settlement that would provide more than $230,000.00 for restoration and water quality improvement projects in Gunnison County,” Bembenek explained. “The settlement is part of a larger penalty paid by Standard Metals, that once operated the Standard Mine. In the last several months, CCWC hosted a number of stakeholder meetings to identify a local project. After much discussion and data analysis, it’s clear that the gossan restoration project is the best candidate for the settlement funds. We are thrilled that the Town of Crested Butte, Gunnison County, and the Colorado Division of Reclamation Mining and Safety have signed on to support the project along with the landowners, MEMC and the USFS.”

According to Earley, the project would “establish vegetation and improve drainage pathways to reduce erosion and metals mobilization from the portion of the gossan that was burned in the late 1970s due to a fire started by welding activities at the Keystone Mine site. By increasing vegetation density and improving water drainage patterns, the project partners hope to reduce metals loading in Coal Creek upstream of the town’s drinking water supply intake.”

Earley projected that even if the project results in a 20% reduction in mineral loading, it will have “substantial water quality and environmental benefits.”

The project is estimated to cost $1.5 million. The gossan is located on both land controlled by the U.S. Forest Service and the Mt. Emmons Mining Company (MEMC). Earley indicated MEMC has tentatively agreed to fund the project to the tune of $720,000. The Upper Gunnison River Basin Natural Resources Damages Fund is contributing $240,000. Town will donate $20,000 for the first and second year of construction which is scheduled to start in 2024 and last two to three years. After that the town will contribute $5,000 annually for five years for project monitoring. The town is also on board to help develop and administer a watershed permit for the project.

In his memo to council, Earley stated that the gossan is one of the largest contributors to metals loading in Coal Creek so the project is expected to significantly decrease metals loading into Coal Creek. The project thus could reduce the treatment load at the town’s water treatment plant. He said that the resulting decreased metal concentrations, particularly zinc, may reduce the need for capital improvements and additional energy and material consumption at the water and wastewater treatment facilities.

Mayor Ian Billick thanked the staff for finding the time and resources to participate in such projects given all the other issues in front of them.

Bembenek said the CCWC is putting the finishing touches on the NRD application this week. “We hope to hear back from the NRD program in September,” she said. “In the meantime, we’ll be writing additional grants to fund this project. If our wonderful community is so inclined, CCWC is also fundraising for the project- please visit www.coalcreek.org to learn more!”

Gunnison Arts Center:
• Main Gallery: “Dragonhearts” – Gunnison Middle School
• Nancy Treadway Gallery: “Namibia: Life in the Desert” by Marv Weidner.
CB Center for the Arts:
• Kinder Padon Gallery:
Adventure-landscape photography by Connor Scalbom (through February 25).
• New box office and gallery hours: Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
Western Colorado University:
• Alumni Ski Weekend (February 24-27), register at: linktr.ee/westerncoloradoalumni.

THURSDAY 24
• 7:30-8:30 a.m. CB Rotary Club’s weekly presentaton with Jason Amrich (Gunnison Valley Hospital CEO) at the CB Center for the Arts.
• noon-12:30 p.m. Barre Sculpt Lunch Sessions at the Gunnison Arts Center (thru May 26).
• 4-5:30 p.m. St. Mary’s Garage open for shoppers and donations.
• 5-6 p.m. Oh Be Joyful/Gunnison Food Pantry Food Bank at 625 Maroon Ave. 970-349-6237. (1st and 3rd Thursdays of the month)
• 6:30 p.m. Open AA meeting: 11 Step Meditation at Union Congregational Church, 349-5711.
• 7:30 p.m. SonofaGunn presents: “3001: A Space Oddity” at the Gunnison Arts Center (also live on Zoom).

FRIDAY 25
• 10-11 a.m. Interpretive In-House Museum Tours at the Crested Butte Mountain Heritage Museum, crestedbuttemuseum.com (Fridays thru April 1).
• 10:30 a.m. Creede Repertory’s Ms. Joy; Theatre for Preschoolers at the CB Center for the Arts.
• noon Closed AA meeting: Readings from Living Sober at Union Congregational Church, 349-5711.
• 6 p.m. An Evening with Jeremy Evans, Adventure Author at the Crested Butte Library.
• 7:30 p.m. SonofaGunn presents: “3001: A Space Oddity” at the Gunnison Arts Center.

SATURDAY 26
• 7:30 a.m. Open AA meeting: Big Book Study at Union Congregational Church, 349-5711.
• 5 p.m. All Saints in the Mountains Episcopal Church service at UCC, 403 Maroon Avenue, Crested Butte.
• 6:30 p.m. Open AA meeting: Literature at Union Congregational Church, 349-5711.
• 7 p.m. The Wood Brothers with Katie Pruitt at the Center for the Arts, crestedbuttearts.org.
• 7:30 p.m. SonofaGunn presents: “3001: A Space Oddity” at the Gunnison Arts Center.

SUNDAY 27
• 6 p.m. Open AA meeting: Topic Discussion at Union Congregational Church, 349-5711.

MONDAY 28
• 7:30 p.m. Open AA meeting: Favorite Big Book Reading at Union Congregational Church, 349-5711.

TUESDAY 1
• 7:30 a.m. Open AA meeting: Mediation AA & Al-Anon at Union Congregational Church, 349-5711.
• noon Closed AA meeting: Readings from Came to Believe at Union Congregational Church, 349-5711.
• noon-12:30 p.m. Barre Sculpt Lunch Sessions at the Gunnison Arts Center (thru May 26).
• 4-5:30 p.m. St. Mary’s Garage open for shoppers and donations.
• 4:15-6:15 p.m. Mud Masters (Ages 11-14) at the Gunnison Arts Center.
• 4:30-5:15 p.m. Mardi Gras Parade down Elk Avenue, cbchamber.com/mardi-gras.
• 6:30-8:30 p.m. Functional Pottery at the Gunnison Arts Center.

WEDNESDAY 2
• noon Closed AA meeting: 12 Step & 12 Tradition Study at Union Congregational Church, 349-5711.
• noon Free T’ai Chi Beginner Practitioners Lower Level Town Hall.
• 1 p.m. Free T’ai Chi Advanced Practitioners Lower Level Town Hall.
• 4:30-7 p.m. Watercolor + Wine with Karen Hill at the Center for the Arts, crestedbuttearts.org.
• 4-6 p.m. Mt. Emmons Land Exchange Public Open House at CB Town Hall.
• 7:30 p.m. Adult pickup basketball at the CBCS high school gym. Enter through the doors by Tommy V. Field.