Brief by Martha Quillen
Regional News – June 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine
Thorny Problems
A recent newspaper insert put out by the Upper Arkansas Regional Weed Management Cooperative gives a clue as to why noxious weeds persist in our region. Apparently Chaffee and Lake Counties have “Weed Supervisors” and Pueblo County has a “Weed Coordinator” to implement local “weed management” programs.
Perhaps with the Iraq War waning, we could get ourselves a “Weed Warrior,” instead.
Getting into hot water isn’t always so easy:
Salida Is Just Too Cool
When Salida’s Hot Springs Pool reopened with a brand new roof and pipeline, the gorgeous new facility wasn’t quite as hot as expected. Because the new pipeline that transports hot springs water from Poncha Springs to Salida apparently had engineering and materials problems, the water was actually close to chilly. But with work, temperatures have been rising.
In April, the temperature in the lap pool reached a designated 85 degrees, and the warm pool was 97 to 99 degrees. One of the fixes involved installing a furnace to heat the air in the building, and thereby keep the pools warmer.
Some of the rise in temperature is no doubt seasonal, however, so Salida is still looking into the problem, and also hopes to increase temperatures in the hot baths; they were a respectable 102 to 103 degrees in April, but some customers like ’em hotter.
Buena Vista Wants A Hot Resort, Too
The Glenn Merrifield and Daryl Graham families want to build a hot springs resort in Buena Vista with an Olympic-sized lap pool, plus an indoor/outdoor pool and individual natural heated pools, a 55-room lodge, a restaurant, convention center, water slide, day spa, and mountain chalets.
Numerous people packed a March meeting to support the proposed Charlotte Hot Springs, named for grandmother Charlotte Vickerson Merrifield, but there were still right-of-way problems to iron out. Access to the proposed resort runs across property owned by the Milam family, so an agreement would have to be reached before final plans can progress.
Catch ‘Em If You Can, But Release ‘Em Right
The Colorado Division of Wildlife has advice on good “catch and release” techniques. First, anglers should not play fish to exhaustion. Then, they should wet their hands before handling a trout, and should leave the fish in the water while they remove the hook.
The hook should be removed gently, without squeezing the fish or putting fingers in its gills, and if the fish is deeply hooked, anglers should cut the line instead of pulling the hook out.
Fish should be released in the coolest, most oxygenated water available, and the DOW actually suggests taking a thermometer along because trout caught in water that’s 65 degrees or warmer are very susceptible to fungus infections and other harmful diseases. At high temperatures impeccable catch-and-release practises are absolutely essential to survival.
If anglers need to remove a fish from water, perhaps to take a photo, they should support the fish’s weight evenly with both hands, and they should also time the out of water experience. When removing the fish take a breath and hold it, when you need a breath, so does the fish.
Trout are particularly susceptible to stress, and often die unnecessarily due to rough handling, but good catch-and-release practises can give them a chance to bite again another day.
Messing with The Mineral Belt
Leadville’s Mineral Belt Trail offers an educational outdoor experience due to the numerous signs which explain the historic and natural significance of sites along its route. But vandals removed and destroyed several of the signs in early May.
Eleven signs were vandalized, but six had been found as of May 7. Five of those were severely damaged or missing their aluminum letters, however. A stop sign, and two stop ahead signs were also missing from the trail.
Leadville Discusses City/County Combo
Stephanie Olsen thinks Leadville and Lake County should be combined. According to proponents of combining the two government entities, running them together should be cheaper; more efficient; and could in the long-run mean tax cuts, a better deal for public employees, and one-stop shopping for citizens.
But there are possible drawbacks, too. One-time consolidation costs would be high; taxation would have to be changed; rural citizens may not get equal representation; and some federal funding might be jeopardized.
Olsen and her husband, County Commissioner Ken Olsen, believe that the long-term benefits of making the change would be worthwhile. But Leadville Mayor Chet Gaede and County Commissioner Bill Hollenback are opposed to such expansive change.
The proposal could only go forward if the community agrees to form a home-rule commission, and for that, a vote is necessary.
Wet Weather Welcome
Most of Central Colorado welcomed wet weather in March and April, but there were consequences. Custer County was hit really hard by the big March snowstorm, and spent $89,000 due to the storm, according to the Wet Mountain Tribune. This storm came after a $185,000 budget cut in Custer County’s Road and Bridge Department, and crews had to cope with two fewer employees.
But things were looking better for Custer County than for the San Luis Valley. The valley wasn’t hit hard by March and April storms, and thus was still way behind in snowpack this May. According to a Denver Post article, May 2: “Snowpack in the upper Rio Grande basin is only 71 percent of average, with a snow-water content of 13 inches….”
Snowpack usually peaks by April, so nobody was optimistic about the valley’s chances of enjoying a drought-free summer. “Three years of drought have diminished the San Luis Valley’s vast underground aquifer, which nourishes thousands of acres of natural wetlands and a half-million acres of farm and ranch land.”
At this point, there’s a valley-wide effort to reduce groundwater usage by 20%, but that won’t change the fate of thousands of acres of wetlands in the valley. They will be dry for the second summer in a row according to a spokesman for the Alamosa-Monte Vista National Wildlife Refuges.
March & April Showers
Should Bring Tourists
This should be a good summer for rafting on the upper Arkansas — America’s most popular white-water river. Snowpacks are nearly normal, reservoir storage is up, and a cool spring has kept the snow from melting too soon.
Last year was pretty much a disaster for the industry. Big forest fires discouraged mountain tourism in general, and low river flows discouraged those tourists who did come from taking float trips.
Since 1988, the industry had grown by about 10% a year, reaching 523,587 floaters in 2001. That meant $49 million in direct revenue, which economists translate into an additional $125.8 million of economic activity in river towns.
Then came 2002. Visitation dropped by 39% to 319,562 floaters, and overall spending fell to $78.5 million.
The industry should rebound this year. Greg Felt of Canyon Marine in Salida told The Denver Post that “The calls are coming in, and we can feel the good old springtime momentum starting to build. Finally.”
Joe Greiner at Wilderness Aware rafting in Buena Vista added that “We are getting a lot of calls from people saying ‘We didn’t come last year because of fires and drought, and now we are making up for lost time.'”
