environment

For Aspen athletes who competed in the Winter Olympics, their season isn’t over yet. Cross country ski sprinter Simi Hamilton says he has several races left.

Weeds are growing more abundantly on the White River National Forest as the agency grapples with budget cuts and fewer staff.

A Colorado Forest Service report shows the state’s forests continue to be hammered by insects and disease, especially at high altitudes.

Most skiers probably don’t realize Aspen Mountain is full of holes...from a history of mining. We’ll take you on a wintry history tour.

Finally, a group of “legally blind” skiers takes to the slopes at Snowmass. For these teenagers, the activity is empowering.

The Aspen Global Change Institute (AGCI) is a small non-profit organization based out of Basalt. Despite their size, AGCI packs a punch in the science community and has a goal to protect the natural well-being of the Roaring Fork Valley and the of the Earth as a whole.  

John Katzenberger, co-founder and Director of AGCI, and James Arnott, Program Director of AGCI, share the organization's history and mission to "further the scientific understanding of Earth's systems and global environmental change through interdisciplinary scientific workshops, educational programs, and publications and videos about global change science".

Visit www.agci.org to learn more about the Aspen Global Change Institute. 

Today we hear from Aspen Mayor Steve Skadron about his vision for the resort town in the coming year. Then we dig through the Aspen Public Radio archives and listen to some of this year’s most interesting and thought-provoking local stories. One Glenwood Springs woman was caught in a dangerous financial trap. And, her problem is somewhat common in Colorado’s immigrant community. As habitat for the Greater Sage Grouse disappears across the West, federal officials are deciding how strong protections should be on some Colorado land. Local stakeholders are watching closely. And a snowboarding veteran is battling a major injury with the Olympic Games a little more than a month away.

The City of Aspen started the Canary Initiative in 2005 with an eye to trimming the city’s greenhouse gas emissions by 30% by 2020. The city announced Wednesday it met the goal seven-years early.

“Well, we found out this year, to our great celebration, was that we actually achieved our goal this year. So, the City of Aspen reduced our greenhouse gas emissions by 30.7%.  So, that’s a huge accomplishment.”

A key rationale for conservation is protecting wildlife from the impacts of people. Some of those impacts are obvious, like cutting down trees or building a parking lot over a wetland. Some though are harder to understand or see, literally. A recent study from Boise State University caught my attention. In it researchers created a phantom ‘road’ along a mountainside in Idaho by attaching speakers to trees and playing the sounds of a hi-way into an otherwise pristine forest.