Colorado Central Articles From — November 2007

Column by Hal Walter

Wildlife – November 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine

THIS MORNING, while I was disposing of the first cup of coffee off the back deck, I heard the pitiful trumpeting alarm of a deer in distress. I walked around the side of the house in my boxer shorts to see what the commotion was about. Usually this sort of noise is the result of a doe and fawn having been separated by my fence, which previous owners unfortunately built with woven wire. Read the rest of this article

Column by John Mattingly

Agriculture – November 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine

I admit it, hands in the air: I’ve not only grown genetically modified (GM) crops, I’ve produced GM seedstock. To the surprise of some, I haven’t yet grown horns.

Many people argue that modifying and recombining the genetic material of various plants is hazardous to humanity because we don’t yet know enough about possible consequences. Put another way: because genetic alterations are at such a fundamental level of living processes, the precautionary principle is in order. Read the rest of this article

Column by George Sibley

Government – November 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine

I’M WRITING FROM JUST OFF U.S. 50, the east-west highway for Central Colorado, but I’m well beyond Central Colorado — out in La Junta, sitting in the shade of some big old trees in their city park, while my partner does a grants workshop at Otero Junior College for Southeast Colorado. Read the rest of this article

Article by Marcia Darnell

Local Artist – November 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine

CHARLES EWING has the life. Now 60, he’s been a working (and selling) artist most of his adult life. He lives on a beautiful patch of earth, surrounded by the rolling hills and gentle mesas of Conejos County, in a large, comfortable home he’s renovated himself. He’s an inventor, sculptor, painter, and all-around creator. Read the rest of this article

Column by John Orr

Water – November 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine

Groundwater

Groundwater is on everyone’s radar recently. Over in Colorado Springs the Arkansas Basin Roundtable sponsored a two day conference on recharge, which included sessions on water law, successful recharge efforts, groundwater science and engineering as well as on impediments to recharge efforts. Attendees even got a chance to hear state legislators and their views on recharge. Read the rest of this article

[amazon-product]193317613X[/amazon-product]Review by Lynda La Rocca

Christmas Lore – November 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine

More Christmas Angels
by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer
Published in 2007 by Red Rock Press
ISBN 193317613X Read the rest of this article

[amazon-product]0865410860[/amazon-product]Review by Ed Quillen

Local Lore – November 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine

Prunes and Rupe
by Linda Griffin
Illustrated by Judith Hunt
Published in 2007 by Filter Press
ISBN 0865410860 Read the rest of this article

[amazon-product]0976921847[/amazon-product]Review by Ed Quillen

Outdoors – November 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine

Colorado Wild – An Intimate Portrait of the Centennial State
by Grant Collier
Published in 2007 by Collier Publishing
ISBN 0976921847 Read the rest of this article

[amazon-product]0979625505[/amazon-product]Review by Eduardo Rey Brummel

Ski Life – November 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine

Instant Karma: The Heart and Soul of a Ski Bum
by Wayne K. Sheldrake
Published in 2007 by Ghost Road Press
ISBN: 0979625505 Read the rest of this article

Essay by Ed Quillen

Water Politics – November 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine

WHEN IT COMES TO water conservancy districts, elections are something of a rarity, since their directors are almost always appointed by district judges. But this fall in our part of the world, there are two elections related to water conservancy districts. Both concern inclusion. Lake County voters will decide whether to join the Lower Arkansas River Water Conservancy District; voters in eastern Frémont, and a portion of El Paso county, will decide whether to join the Upper Arkansas Water Conservancy District. Read the rest of this article

Letter from Slim Wolfe

Agriculture – November 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine

Colorado Central:

“Don’t try this at home, sonny?” John Mattingly’s recent essay discouraging non-farmers from food production sounds a bit like he’s not quite far enough afield to be rid of a bit of professional hubris. I have gardened in a backyard in urban Boise, before that in a San Francisco vacant lot with free loads of milorganite trucked in by the city, and there are even those intrepid few who raise food in the south Bronx and the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Granted, these efforts have hardly broken the back of agribusiness, and granted, some of these locations are less than organic or sanitary, but thus far no one has perished from the fruits of their labors who wouldn’t have perished sooner or later, and meanwhile the active participants benefit from a sense of personal empowerment otherwise hard to come by in fortress America. Read the rest of this article

Letter from Ray Schoch

Modern Life – November 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine

Martha:

You’ve included a couple of questions in “Survival of the Fittest” (a depressingly apropos title for this month’s “Letter from the Editors”) that I want to briefly address.

First, on page 28, you asked, “But do conservatives really want to eliminate public service agencies like the FDA, CDC, and FEMA?” Read the rest of this article

Letter from Roger Kirkpatrick

Colorado Central – November 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine

Wolves and wayward words

Howdy Editors,

I have a small bone to pick with Bryce Andrews concerning his wolves and cattle essay on page 2 of the October issue. He sets the stage for the story as “a ranch” but the main topic occurred on public land not a ranch. This is land that is temporarily rented by the rancher from all of us. Read the rest of this article

Letter from Ken Jessen

Piñon Canyon – November 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine

Editors:

In Doug Holdread’s letter in the October issue of Colorado Central Magazine titled, “Modern-day range war,” he points out the danger of letting the U. S. Army take over much of south-central Colorado for the expansion of its already large land area in the Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site. Read the rest of this article

Letter from Mark Cole

Biology – November 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine

Surprising statement

Ed and Martha,

I just finished reading the October issue of your great magazine. There is something unsettling about reading the October issue in September. At my age, time speeds by too quickly and this does not help. Read the rest of this article

Article by Jennifer Dempsey

Local Groups – November 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine

TO KATHIE YOUNGHANS, Friendship Bridge is more than a small business loan program for Guatemalan women.

“It’s our own little private revolution,” said the owner of Amicas Restaurant and founder of Salida’s chapter of the international microcredit program. “It’s women helping women.” Read the rest of this article

Cartoon by Jack Chivvis

Modern Life – November 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine Read the rest of this article

Brief by Allen Best

Housing – November 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine

The word “lodge” gets used with some frequency in ski communities, as in “ski lodge.” In such use, it has assumed a generic meaning as a building near ski slopes for use by the general public.

Thus, for lack of a better word, any mountain-side beanery that slings cheeseburgers and fries becomes a “lodge,” a word that in its original connotation implied a place for sleeping. Read the rest of this article

Brief by Martha Quillen

Regional News – November 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine

What’s It All About?

The Gunnison Country Times ran a front page story exploring why so many commercial properties are for sale there.

The newspaper reported that eight lodging businesses were for sale in Gunnison, as were a notable number of downtown shops and restaurants including “The Bean, Blue Addiction, The Gunnison Brewery, and The Corner Cupboard.” Read the rest of this article

Brief by Central Staff

Transportation – November 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine

A former resident of Gunnison and Salida has gone back to work after years of idleness in Durango, where the former resident starred in a movie.

It’s the Denver & Rio Grande Western narrow-gauge steam locomotive No. 315, which has been rebuilt by the Durango Railroad Historical Society. In September, it steamed from Durango to Silverton and back. Read the rest of this article

Brief by Allen Best

Housing – November 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine

Some places have enacted upper limits on size of homes, sometimes to great protest. In Gunnison County, the proposal is going in the opposite direction — to allow smaller houses. Read the rest of this article

Brief by Allen Best

Energy – November 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine

Although their windows may be dark much of the year, the vacation homes in Aspen are actually using more energy than those occupied full time, a new study concludes.

The study was commissioned by The Sopris Foundation, a non-profit organization based in Aspen. The work builds on a previous study of greenhouse gas emissions done on behalf of Aspen’s Canary Initiative. Read the rest of this article

Brief by Allen Best

Mountain Life – November 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine

An art show was held over a late-summer weekend in Red Cliff, a one-time mining town located two ridges and sometimes a world apart from Vail.

The town’s artists opened their homes for inspection of photographs from Asia, paintings o Read the rest of this article

Brief by Marcia Darnell

San Luis Valley – November 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine

New Jack City?

A facilities review committee in Alamosa reported the worst: the city buildings suck. Even the newest are not ADA compliant, and some are not up to code as to wiring and insulation. The group recommends all the city’s facilities be revamped or rebuilt. Next step: getting the money to do it. Read the rest of this article

Comic Strip written and drawn by Monika Griesenbeck

Mountain Life – November 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine Read the rest of this article

Brief by Central Staff

Geography – November 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine

A formerly nameless mountain in Saguache County is now Mt. KIA/MIA to honor American military personnel who were either “Killed In Action” (KIA) or “Missing In Action” (MIA). The peak is 11,293 feet high, and it rises along the divide between Silver and Starvation creeks in the Marshall Pass area. Read the rest of this article

Brief by Allen Best

Environment – November 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine

Four new diesel hybrid-electric buses are being added to the fleet that takes visitors from Aspen to the popular and congested viewing area for the Maroon Bells Peaks. The buses, notes The Aspen Times, were purchased with the aid of a $1.68 million federal grant. Read the rest of this article

Essay by Julianne Couch

Rural Life – November 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine

“My baby’s got the most deplorable taste
but her biggest mistake
is hanging over the fireplace
She’s got ducks, ducks on the wall!”

That song by the Kinks rankles: What’s the matter with ducks on the wall? During my 15 years as a Wyomingite, I’ve learned that ducks make especially nice ornaments, winging toward windows or flapping past fireplaces. Read the rest of this article

COLORADO LAWMAKER WANTS TO REIN IN WATER RIGHTS

Colorado state Sen. Jim Isgar, D-Hesperus, said new water rights seekers are putting the Colorado River Water Compact in danger, and said he is working on a bill to keep water users from overtapping into the Colorado River and other waterways in the state. Grand Junction Sentinel; Oct. 22 Read the rest of this article