Is Colorado promoting hunting or habitat destruction?

Column by Hal Walter

Wildlife – May 1998 – Colorado Central Magazine

IT’S APRIL, the cruelest month, as I write this, and I feel like a grumpy old bear waking up from a cold winter’s nap. And nothing makes me grouchier than examining the Colorado Division of Wildlife’s annual regulation rags, especially the one pertaining to big-game hunting.

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Starting your own folklore project

Sidebar by Marcia Darnell

Folklore – May 1998 – Colorado Central Magazine

Do It Yourself

To start your own folklore or oral history project, call the Colorado Endowment for the Humanities or the Colorado Historical Society for information. Some grants are available for art projects, but money is drying up for oral histories.

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Kathi Figgen, folklore collector

Article by Marcia Darnell

Folklore – May 1998 – Colorado Central Magazine

The Fine Art of Collecting Folklore

by Marcia Darnell

KATHI FIGGEN is a folklorist. What, exactly is a folklorist? “That’s an ongoing joke with folklorists,” she says, “how to explain ourselves.”

She pauses for a moment, glancing around her narrow office, which is crammed with books, papers, weavings, carvings, quilts and Elvis memorabilia. Her eyes rest on a French poster depicting Saint Elvis, then she continues.

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Moose have a lonely lifestyle

Sidebar by Lynda La Rocca

Wildlife – May 1998 – Colorado Central Magazine

A Lonely Lifestyle

The moose, the largest member of the deer family, can be found from Siberia, Scandinavia, and the Baltics, to Canada and the northern United States.

An adult bull may stand six to seven feet high at the shoulders, reach a length of 10 feet, and weigh up to 1,800 pounds.

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Moose: Coming soon to a valley near you

Article by Lynda La Rocca

Wildlife – May 1998 – Colorado Central Magazine

THROUGHOUT MY 16 YEARS in Colorado, I’ve been on a quest. I am determined to log at least one sighting of every major form of native wildlife. Zoo views don’t count. I want my wildlife wild, and in its natural state.

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February edition was easy to devour

Letter by Ray Dangel

Colorado Central – May 1998 – Colorado Central Magazine

Easy to devour, with no indigestion

Ed and Martha:

Just wanted to say the February issue was great. I devoured every word and had no indigestion.

Special backpats to: Marcia’s SLV briefs (that poor coyote), Nancy Ward’s excellent and informative piece on the butterflies (I hope she talks other editors into reprints), Ed’s tale of the elements of publishing, and finally, Hal Walter’s tongue-clucking about flatlanders who move into Custer County unaware of what Nature plans for them.

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El Nino must have killed the winter mosquito hunt

Letter by Clay Warren

Wildlife – May 1998 – Colorado Central Magazine

El Niño must have killed Winter Mosquito Hunt in the marshes near Saguache

Editors:

Man! I’m out of it for a little while and everybody goes and gets delusions. First off, Ken Olsen crosses that range we’re all gonna have to cross someday, and don’t even ask if it’s okay with everybody. But then that did sort of fit with his observations about his neighbors.

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The Namesake of Mt. Elbert

Sidebar by Ed Quillen

Geography – May 1998 – Colorado Central Magazine

SAMUEL HITT ELBERT, whose name adorns Colorado’s highest peak, was born in Ohio on April 3, 1833. He grew up in Iowa, and was graduated with honors from Ohio Wesleyan University in 1854. He then studied law, and was admitted to that state’s bar in 1856.

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A mountain by any other name would soar as high

Article by Ed Quillen

Geography – May 1998 – Colorado Central Magazine

THE SAWATCH RANGE AND Lake County could be getting another 14er — Mt. William and Mary. It’s a 14,134-foot summit about a mile south of the 14,433-foot apex of Mt. Elbert, highest point in Colorado and indeed, in all 3,000 miles of Rocky Mountains.

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Mountain Counties: the rich get richer, the poor get poorer

Article by Allen Best

Economics – May 1998 – Colorado Central Magazine

FOR THE THIRD YEAR, Russell George’s plan to alleviate some of the disparities between the rich and poor counties has failed to make it through the Colorado House of Representatives –killed by a narrow vote in committee.

George, a Republican attorney from Rifle, represents Aspen and Glenwood Springs in the Colorado House of Representatives, as well as Meeker and Craig.

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Why do we fish?

Essay by David Petersen

Wildlife – May 1998 – Colorado Central Magazine

SINCE THE PHENOMENAL popular success of Robert Redford’s film treatment of the Norman Maclean classic, A River Runs Through It, fly-fishing mania has swept North America, converting the “quiet sport” into a flashy growth industry.

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Unlicensed radio in Salida

Brief by Central Staff

Media – May 1998 – Colorado Central Magazine

Up in the Air

Salida’s FM dial has gained another signal: Free Range Radio at 101.1 megahertz. It’s a local volunteer effort, and when we checked, it was on the air from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m., Thursday through Sunday.

Our informant advised us that the signal was fairly clear throughout town, except near the high school, and our own tests bear this out. We heard a variety of music, ranging from bluegrass to sixties classics.

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Briefs from the San Luis Valley

Brief by Marcia Darnell

San Luis Valley – May 1998 – Colorado Central Magazine

More Legal Woes

Former District Attorney Doug Primavera, who now owns a tobacco shop, has been charged with possession of drug paraphernalia. It’s the second charge for the attorney, whose shop was hit with a search warrant in March.

The previous charge was dismissed after the case was moved to Huerfano County.

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Bears seem to like pepper spray

Brief by Betsy Marston

Wildlife – May 1998 – Colorado Central Magazine

Grin and Bear It

There’s hot news from Anchorage, Alaska, and many hikers are going to recoil in horror when they hear it. The red pepper spray that’s supposed to ward off black bears may do just the opposite — attract them.

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Wilderness is no handicap

Essay by Paul Larmer

Outdoors – May 1998 – Colorado Central Magazine

I FINALLY LEARNED how to ski this winter. It took the prodding of a friend and the skills of an instructor who specializes in helping people with disabilities, but now, at 37, I have experienced the joy of swishing down a dazzling white slope in the Rocky Mountains.

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