Forest Service

Legendary

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By Ben Lara

Editor’s note: This tribute to Brett Beasley was read during a Celebration of Life event held on February 10, 2017.
My name is Ben Lara and for the past seven years I had the amazing experience in working with Brett as his immediate supervisor.  Brett started his Forest Service career in 1995 in the Upper Arkansas Valley.  For the next 22 years he would go on to become one of the most recognizable and accomplished natural resource managers in the Upper Arkansas Valley.  His enthusiasm and dedication to the Forest Service was infectious.  You could not spend any amount of time with him and not become his best friend.  He had an amazing capacity to love and care for people.  Beasley, Beas or Brett with two TT’s had many nicknames. One of my favorite came out while working on a volunteer project on the top of Monarch Pass.  We ran into some hikers along the section of trail we were working on. I didn’t recognize them but they asked if the “Legend” Brett Beasley and asked if he was working that day. From then on I would address all my emails and text as “What’s up Legend?,” “Hey Legend.”

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A Public Lands Champion, Brett Beasley: 1970-2017

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By Mike Rosso

On February 4, 2017, U.S. Forest Service employee and Salida resident Brett Beasley, along with a teenaged boy, set out from 11,380-foot-high Uncle Bud’s Hut near Leadville for some backcountry skiing.

The weather then turned bad. A fast-moving blizzard blew in and the pair likely became disoriented, resulting in a frigid night huddled in a snow cave. Rescuers were sent out the next morning after being alerted by the friends and families who were also staying at the hut. Both Brett and the teen were experienced skiers but there was nonetheless much concern about their whereabouts and health. Around 2:30 that afternoon, the pair were finally located in the Porcupine Gulch area, nearly three miles from the hut.

The boy was apparently unharmed and was taken by snowmobile to his family. Meanwhile Brett was treated at the scene for severe hypothermia. The weather conditions did not allow for a medical helicopter which may have aided in his rescue and he died on the scene on Feb. 5, his 47th birthday.

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Gunnison National Forest: The first 100 years

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Column by George Sibley

Forest Service – April 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine

IN AMERICA we often find ourselves surrounded by Big Ideas that may or may not be helpful in the daily running of our local lives. Democracy, Freedom, Markets, Social Safety Nets, Big Ideas are getting worked out in the cultural environment around us, the way big things like glaciers or global climate get worked out in the natural environment around us.

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Consolidated, but where?

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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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