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Alli Melton takes over Red Lady arena

High Country Conservation Advocates (HCCA) executive director Greg Dyson has resigned from the environmental organization. He will work until the end of the month. Read More »

U.S. Energy talks slow…
Without saying much, town attorney John Belkin reported to the Crested Butte Town Council on Monday, June 2, “Discussions with U.S. Energy are at a standstill.” This came after a 90-minute executive session with the council over the matter that included representatives of the High Country Conservation Advocates and Red Lady Coalition for part of the time. Read More »

It is a somewhat chilly Monday after a Sunday that sat on the cusp of winter and spring. And I’m in acronym hell. All the stories I had to work on this week were alphabet soups. There was the GCSAPP (Gunnison County Substance Abuse Prevention Program), the MCPAC (Mt. Crested Butte Performing Arts Center), the CDPHE (Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment) and VCUP (Voluntary Clean-up Plan). SUP (Stand Up Paddleboard), USE (U.S. Energy) and DDA (Downtown Development Association). How about HCCA (whatever that means now), the RLC (Red Lady Coalition), CBMR (Crested Butte Mountain Resort), RMBL (Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory), USFS (U.S. Forest Service), CBMBA (Crested Butte Mountain Bike Association) and the LIC (Lake Irwin Coalition). A few days of stories that look like WTF? Take a look—

SUP—So people are out SUPping the Slate. And some are doing it when the rivers are at their peak (now). Unless you are experienced, chill out and wait. The water is running fast and there are fences and hazardous debris. Rookie kayakers and rafters should probably hang tight for a few more weeks as well. You don’t want to get washed under and trapped beneath a log or a fence. The CFS (ColoradoFreeskier) is warning people to not wear their leashes right now. Be aware!

VCUP—This takes in the HCCA, the RLC and the CDPHE. USE wants to a do a VCUP. The RLC and HCCA want to make sure whatever is done is done right and won’t FU the town’s watershed and its drinking water. I’m glad they are watching and watching close. I hope the CDPHE realizes how much clean water means to us up here and how much the Wyoming-based USE seems to value $ over clean H2O in Crested Butte.

CBMBA—Great energetic group doing good things. If you aren’t a member, think about becoming one if you ride mountain bikes.

CBMR—The resort has moved up some of its top people. Ethan Mueller has gone from being a vice president and general manager to a president. He’ll now be President of CBMR and Senior VP of Triple Peaks. Michael Kraatz climbs the ladder to VP & General Manager for CBMR and Nick Herrin steps into the Assistant GM role. Erica Mueller will be joining the Executive Team with the new title of Director of Innovation and Relations Congrats to them…

MCPAC—A new performing arts center in Mt. Crested Butte is something interesting. The DDA up there has provided a tax advantage toward its eventual construction and they are moving all their chips into this project. Why not? Art can be a driver for that economy so they might as well use that money for something long-term.

RMBL—There is a common assumption that we are too high up for ticks but people are spotting them. So we went and asked the RMBL guys about them. Longtime summer resident and esteemed scientist Dr. David Inouye replied, “I haven’t been out long enough, or at low enough elevation, to have a feeling for whether ticks are more abundant this year than usual. I can tell you that last year I found one on me up in Gothic, that I think I picked up in the Gothic area, which is the first one I’ve seen here in 44 years.” We know that bumblebees and mosquitoes are moving up in altitude (including a mosquito that arrived here a few years ago that’s a carrier for West Nile virus). The fact that the mule deer population is rebounding from the losses during the hard winter several years ago could be a reason for more ticks.

LIC – The LIC has spent some time putting an “alternative” Irwin Eleven Scarp Ridge LLC development plan on paper. The LIC has an unapologetically abrasive and NGU (Never Give Up) attitude. They are looking at every ‘I’ to make sure it is dotted and every ‘T’ to make sure it is crossed. The SWO (Squeaky Wheel Optimization) might get them some of their desires. BTW, fair or not, sometimes attitude counts more than crossed “Ts”.

GCSAPP—The idea of imposing a “sin tax” on weed is on everyone’s mind. GCSAPP surveys are showing some lax attitudes toward drugs and alcohol in Crested Butte and they want to get some marijuana excise tax money to fund prevention programs that educate kids and parents. Just remember that too much tax on anything pushes it all underground and instead of the proverbial win-win it’s just a loser.

Some of those acronyms are okay. All are better than WSCU (whatever that means). The good news for me is I’m off to a beach for a few days. I plan to sit in the SAND, eliminate acronyms from my mind and drink a BEER.

Executive sessions
The council held a couple of long executive sessions on Wednesday, May 7 to discuss two items. The first dealt with a potential special event permit and the possibility of negotiating with a national company about shooting a major commercial in Crested Butte in the fall. The second session related to the ongoing U.S. Energy discussions over the proposed Voluntary Clean Up Process for the old Keystone mine and a longer-term discussion over a permanent solution to proposed molybdenum mining on Mt. Emmons. Read More »

VCUP, multi-party talks on the radar

Gunnison County continued to wade into the Mount Emmons, US Energy, Crested Butte, High Country Conservation Advocates, Red Lady Coalition soup this week.
In two decisions this Tuesday, the Board of County Commissioners opted to be open to involving itself through the Gunnison County attorney’s office in both the effort by US Energy to participate in a Voluntary Clean Up program at the old Keystone Mine water treatment facility, and in the multi-party talks currently underway by USE and several area stakeholders to determine the future of molybdenum mining on Mount Emmons. Read More »

Life is full of risks.
Get in a car and you take a risk. The risk is higher on the autobahn than on First Street but there is risk. Go skiing and you take a risk. The risk is higher skiing on Baldy during a windy, blizzardy day, as opposed to skiing a spring afternoon on Painter Boy. Walk in front of the post office and you take a risk. It’s higher on an icy January day when HCCA is selling Red Lady Ball tickets, as opposed to a clear June morning. But life is full of risks.
Let’s look at a couple of examples that came up this week.

High Risk
So Monday night when the Crested Butte Town Council was discussing whether to hop in bed with U.S. Energy by signing a “confidentiality agreement,” there were a number of stated and obvious risks. U.S. Energy hasn’t always been the most forthright company to deal with. The company has never been one to communicate well with this community.
For decades, the goals of the town and the goals of the mining company have been at opposite ends of the spectrum. Now, admittedly, it appears that perhaps there is an opportunity to bridge that gap as U.S. Energy starts to realize the proposed molybdenum mine on Red Lady is a liability costing the company millions, as opposed to an asset that will bring in billions somewhere down the road. That just won’t happen, given the high cost of infrastructure and regulatory mandates.
The town has made its effort to reach out to the company, and talks in Wyoming last month certainly appear to have been positive and chummy. But let’s not forget that the mayor thought he was making strong headway with a personal relationship with company execs last year when he was kicked in the chops with the surprising VCUP announcement.
Still, when Councilman Shaun Matusewicz brought up a dozen concerns with the town signing the agreement with the company, he was shut down by his fellow board members. The primary reasoning from the rest of the council appeared to be that, given the town’s past heavy involvement in anything Red Lady, they needed to be a part of any process. That’s ego. They all see a glimmer of opportunity to strike some sort of deal with the company. That’s heavy seduction. They stated that such agreements are a common contract in business deals. But the town isn’t a business—it’s a potential regulator of any activity at any mine site in its watershed.
The council members couldn’t just leave it up to their community partners HCCA and the Red Lady Coalition to possibly negotiate some sort of deal that could then be brought to the town and vetted. But remove some ego from the process and maybe that would be the ideal situation.
Seriously, how many times can your girlfriend do things you don’t like and then keep doing things behind your back before you stop trying to make the relationship all warm and cozy? And USE ain’t yo girlfriend. Will anyone be shocked if USE tries to pull a fast one or sets the town up for a future lawsuit or at least attempts to hamstring its authority? I won’t be. If you have the community watchdogs of HCCA and the RLC in there doing the details, you should be able to trust that they aren’t going to give away the farm. Not signing and not jumping into negotiations actually might provide the town with more power than sitting at the table.
Having one of the partners sit on the outside of the ring isn’t a bad move. It might provide some grounding to the overall process. Being a public body with some regulatory authority down the road is trickier than being a private business or private advocacy group.
We should want a bulldog near the front lines that draws a hard line with the mine company. That’s harder to do when the goal of everyone is looking for compromise.
If all three of our community players are sitting at the table, I’m afraid they’ll all be seduced at trying to make a deal no matter the cost and lose some perspective. That’s human nature. A productive partnership takes different roles. Let HCCA walk in and be the “good cop” in this one. The town doesn’t have to be the “bad cop” but it should not give up its role as a regulatory body, whether on purpose or by accident. This is no doubt a tricky situation, but while being kept in the loop is a good thing, being thrown for a loop down the road could be a tragic thing.
Look, nothing could be completed without town review and approval. Having HCCA and the RLC in the engine room while the town works on making sure the ship is heading in the right direction is a productive partnership. These talks could result in a good positive outcome and the opportunity should be pursued. There are signs that the USE folks are beginning to understand their situation a bit more clearly.
But having all three get into bed with the company that wants to pull a lot of money out of the mountain with no real concern for the community is like pressing the gas on the autobahn during a holiday weekend. It could get us to where we want to go, but it could also end in a burning heap. There are ways to reduce that risk, and one is by having the town step back from that confidentiality agreement.

Low Risk
The final trivia question at the East River lift Sunday was “How many hours did the lift run this season?” Lord knows, we haven’t always been good at math here at the paper, but let’s try. If it ran from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. from November 27 through April 6—that totals 131 days at 6.5 hours a day, or 851.5 total hours. Add in a few minutes before and after opening and closing and you have one big machine spinning a lot of laps in the winter.
Now throw in a total of 15 lifts (ranging from a couple of magic carpets to four high-speed quads) and that’s a lot of mechanization on that hill to get us up to the fun zone.
So here’s a big appreciation to that group that keeps the chairs turning all winter long. These things are a tad more complex than my bike and it takes a lot of work and specific knowledge to keep them safe and running. Safe is key. So here’s a shout out to Keith and Thumper and the six man winter crew that toils to make sure those lifts are turning for us in the winter. Riding a chair with those guys behind the scenes is like walking in front of the post office on a clear June morning. Thanks.

We’ll remind them we are still interested in participating in the process…

The state agency overseeing the amended application by U.S. Energy for a Voluntary Clean-up Plan (VCUP) at the old Keystone Mine site on Mt. Emmons is nearing the deadline of its 45-day review of the proposal. The local organizations closely following the VCUP process plan will not submit any further comments on the proposal at this time but will remind the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) before Friday’s deadline that they are still interested in being part of the process as any VCUP moves forward. Read More »

The High Country Citizen’s Alliance (HCCA) Red Lady Salvation Ball is stronger and better than ever, albeit a far different bash from when it began 37 years ago. The evolution, however, is in sync with the new generation of gentle warriors who have to deal with a different set of laws in a far more frenetic world. Read More »

I remember having the chance to do an interview several years ago with former President Jimmy Carter, who used to regularly visit Crested Butte for one of his charity events. At the time, there was some tension between two groups in town. Given that he had negotiated a peace treaty at Camp David between the Israelis and Egyptians (no easy feat), I asked him what he felt was the key to successful negotiations and collaboration.
A few of the main points he emphasized were that successful negotiations have to be personal and not exclude emotions. All parties have to be involved. Not being afraid to use creative approaches to get out of stalemates is important. And he emphasized that negotiations should start with a focus on what the two opposing parties agree on.

Talks have reopened between U.S. Energy, the company holding the molybdenum mining rights beneath Red Lady, and those in the valley who have concerns about that idea. USE is also legally responsible for operating the wastewater treatment plant and cleaning up the old Keystone Mine site. USE has proposed using a VCUP (Voluntary Clean Up Plan) to treat the water coming from the Keystone mine. The local groups are wary but open to the suggestion if it is done in an extremely responsible manner.
Last week, executives and lawyers of U.S. Energy sat down in their Wyoming boardroom with representatives of the town of Crested Butte, the Red Lady Coalition and High Country Citizens’ Alliance. This was the first real “sit-down” between the parties since at least last fall, when the company sprung the VCUP surprise on the community. That move didn’t go over well and ended whatever chats were going on between the company and the town.
Everyone involved in last week’s talks said the session in Riverton went well. The fact that traditional USE nemesis HCCA was invited to the talks was a big step in the right direction and speaks to one of Carter’s points. Involving everyone while forming personal relationships does matter.
No one said a final solution to the issue was close or even discussed last week but the fact that all the parties on both sides of the issue were talking about the common ground was a positive start.
Watching the company website and stock information, it appears USE is transitioning to less a hard rock mining company and more of an oil and gas company. That might be something that benefits both sides. It may help lead to a creative conclusion. Oil and gas seem to be doing a lot better financially than moly, which is plentiful, and not a rare earth mineral or even a rare mineral. There is a plenty of moly everywhere. There is honestly no immediate threat of a new start-up molybdenum mine anywhere in this country, let alone the middle of the Rocky Mountains three miles west of Crested Butte.
But if everyone involved in these new talks can creatively rid themselves of what they see as some sort of liability—for USE spending millions every year on a wastewater treatment plant at a nonworking mine, and for the local community, a constant looming black cloud of a threat to our water, economy and lifestyle—we could be on the way to fruitful talks. There is still the deep and dirty nitty gritty to get to but President Carter made it clear that such talks have to start with some sort of commonality. It appears that was done. And that can set up the bruisingly honest talks that will have to be held at some point between all the parties.
If the two sides can help each other achieve separate but mutually beneficial goals, this trip to Wyoming would be worth its weight in gold—which is worth a lot more than molybdenum right now.