Who’s in charge of our land?

Column by Hal Walter

Land Use – January 1996 – Colorado Central Magazine

If there’s anything beautiful about our government, it’s how slowly it does or doesn’t work. Our founding fathers — hoping to save us from ourselves — designed it that way. It keeps our elected clowns from doing wrong things too quickly. That’s why it took years and years to establish a wilderness area in the Sangre de Cristo mountain range.

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Adopting a Highway

Article by Marcia Darnell

Highways – January 1996 – Colorado Central Magazine

You’ve seen them along your commute, your pleasure trips, and the road to Grandma’s, those blue-and-white “Adopt A Highway” signs, informing you that some kind and dedicated group is responsible for trash pick-up for the next couple of miles.

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Badger Creek: Big Country with some Big Problems

Article by Jeffrey Keidel

Land use – January 1996 – Colorado Central Magazine

The Badger Creek Watershed is BIG country. The area encompasses 135,000 acres stretching northeast of Salida.

But such statistics belie its vast and isolated beauty. The open range of the upper part of the basin, seems to go on forever. Black and Waugh Mountain serve as guideposts to keep oriented, but it’s still easy to get lost. The lower basin is rugged piñon-juniper terrain. Locals talk of ticks and rattlesnakes “down there.”

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A Modest Proposal for the Interior West

Essay by Ken Wright

Rural West – January 1996 – Colorado Central Magazine

There’s nothing like a good bad dirt road to screen out the faintly interested and to invite in the genuinely interested. And it’s perfectly fair and democratic, open to anyone willing to endure a little inconvenience and discomfort for the sake of getting away from the crowds.

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How the Grinch came to the Mountains

Letter from Karen K. Young

Mountain Life – January 1996 – Colorado Central Magazine

How the Grinch Came to the Mountains

While visiting Salida recently, my eyes were immediately drawn to the magnificent Sawatch Mountains which rise to the of the village. There I saw Mount Shavano. On it the Angel of Shavano was outlined after a recent snowfall. I had heard the legend of how she got there, and wondered about the story that went with the face that appeared under her left wing. To me, it looked like the infamous Grinch. It took a while, but I finally found someone to tell me the story behind that face.

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Be careful what you wish for — you might get it

Essay by Ed Quillen

Geography – January 1996 – Colorado Central Magazine

When we moved to Salida in 1978, the railroad depot stood at the end of F Street. More than a decade had passed since the last passenger boarded, but the depot explained why the town was here. About a block upstream was the steel truss bridge that crossed the Arkansas and carried trains through town and into the mountains.

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Short takes in Central Colorado

Brief by Central Staff

Various – January 1996 – Colorado Central Magazine

Yesterday Looks Better Than Tomorrow

As part of a special edition, the Wet Mountain Tribune in Westcliffe presented an article entitled, “Opinions vary: What is the future of ranching in the Valley?”

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Not in the Top 100

Brief by Central Staff

Rural Life – January 1996 – Colorado Central Magazine

Who ranks

Well, we’re safe from one Norm Crampton, who just issued a book called The 100 Best Small Towns in America. No town in Central Colorado made it.

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