Roaring Fork Valley

Due to climate change being a global issue, organizations like the Aspen Global Change Institute (AGCI) need to have feelers all over the country. In 2013, AGCI opened an office in Washington D.C. where Program Director, James Arnott is now based. Arnott discusses AGCI's role in the nation's capital and John Katzenberger, AGCI's co-founder and director, explains the positive steps being made in the Roaring Fork Valley. 

Learn more about AGCI by visiting their website. 

The Aspen Global Change Institute (AGCI) embraces The Aspen Idea, the Paepcke's vision of bringing the world's great thinkers in the arts and sciences to Aspen, a neutral location, where they can escape their daily routines while communing with nature. In this setting, new conversations and ideas emerge, providing important new tools for the advancement of science. 

John Katzenberger, co-founder and director of AGCI, explains why this idea works and how it is implemented in the workshops AGCI hosts throughout the year with the world's top scientists. James Arnott, AGCI Program Director, and Elise Osenga, Research Associate for AGCI, also contribute. 

To learn more about the Aspen Global Change Institute, visit their website. 

Voters in Colorado passed new taxes on retail marijuana that will help pay for fixes to school buildings in disrepair. Proposition AA establishes excise and sales taxes on recreational pot that’s allowed to be sold to adults 21 and older. Besides raising money for schools, the taxes will also fund regulation of the new retail industry.

The Forest Service is chipping away at plans to improve habitat on 10’s of thousands of acres in the Roaring Fork Valley. The large-scale project includes thinning overgrown vegetation in areas like the Frying Pan and Crystal River Valleys. Aspen Public Radio's Marci Krivonen reports.

Residents of the Roaring Fork Valley work a wide range of jobs, from ski lift operators and bus drivers to carpenters and seasonal police officers who patrol for signs of bears. Today we start a series we’re calling Working The Valley.

Kurt Fehrenbach is a long-time Valley resident who splits his time teaching skiing in the winter and helping mountain bikers in the summer. His job as a Bike Pro in Snowmass Village is relatively new but, he says, he’s been biking nearly all his life. Aspen Public Radio’s Marci Krivonen reports.