Mountain Counties march to a different drummer

Article by Sue Conroe

Growth – May 1995 – Colorado Central Magazine

In response to a growing sense of alarm at the consequences of rampant growth in Colorado, Governor Romer has initiated a series of growth summits. And as the Director of the Heart of the Rockies Chamber of Commerce, I attended one of those conferences on March 22 along with several other representatives from Chaffee County.

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When landlords are popular, something’s wrong

Essay by Ed Quillen

Affordable housing – May 1995 – Colorado Central Magazine

For a few days in late March, we must have endured the busiest telephones in town. Alas, the constant ringing was not caused by people asking for advertising or subscriptions. We were popular because we had a house to rent: two bedrooms, fenced yard, and we don’t care whether our tenants smoke tobacco, raise children, or keep pets.

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Exactly what is a 14er, anyway?

Sidebar by Ed Quillen

14ers – May 1995 – Colorado Central Magazine

What’s a Fourteener? In Colorado parlance, it’s a summit more than 14,000 feet above sea level. That sounds straightforward, but it’s a little more complicated.

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Everybody loves our 14,000-foot peaks

Sidebar by Ed Quillen

14ers – May 1995 – Colorado Central Magazine

Few things in this life give an overweight chain-smoker as much of a feeling of accomplishment as somehow scrambling to the summit of one of the 50-odd Fourteeners in Colorado. There you stand, light-headed and giddy, aching and exhausted, with a vast panorama beneath you — in fact, the whole world seems beneath you, and one seldom gets to feel so superior to other mortals.

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Consolidated, but where?

Brief by Central Staff

Forest Service – May 1995 – Colorado Central Magazine

BUENA VISTA — This could be the site for a new regional ranger station in the wake of consolidations in the U.S. Forest Service. Or it could be in Leadville, Salida, or Poncha Springs.

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An unfunded mandate?

Brief by Central Staff

Rural Life – May 1995 – Colorado Central Magazine

CARBON COUNTY, Utah — We hear a lot about unfunded mandates these days. In essence, an unfunded mandate occurs when the federal government requires the states to do something, like “motor voter registration,” and then doesn’t provide the money — financing is left to the states. This way, one set of politicians gets to take credit for a program, while another set gets to suffer the political heat for raising taxes to pay for the programs.

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Jack Frost is scheduled to leave soon

Brief by Central Staff

Climate – May 1995 – Colorado Central Magazine

It’s nearly time to quit drooling over the seed catalogs and get out there with shovel, hoe, rake, and spud bar. But when is it safe to plant?

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Pass Pavement Controversies

Brief by Central Staff

Transportation – May 1995 – Colorado Central Magazine

PARK COUNTY — Cottonwood Pass between Buena Vista and Taylor Park isn’t the only crossing whose proposed paving generates controversy.

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New area code

Brief by Central Staff

Communications – May 1995 – Colorado Central Magazine

GUNNISON — Parts of Central Colorado got a new area code as of April 2 as the phone companies adjust to increasing demand for phone lines.

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Look beyond hypsometry when you look for peaks to bag

Article by Allen Best

Mountains – May 1995 – Colorado Central Magazine

My quarrel with peak-bagging, particularly of the 14er variety, is that it is so undiscriminating, and at this point, so clichéd. I don’t like sounding haughty about this, but the fact remains that Mt. Princeton is much easier than Ice Mountain, yet Princeton gets assaulted daily and Ice doesn’t, just because Princeton is over 14,000 feet.

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