Frisco now requiring LEED of all buildings
FRISCO, Colo.—Frisco town authorities have adopted a new building code, one that demands greater conservation of energy and other environmentally friendly building designs and materials.
The new building code demands the basic level of LEED certification of all new buildings, reports the Summit Daily News. LEED has four levels of certification: basic, silver, gold and platinum. The basic level demands a 14 percent improvement in energy efficiency.
"It's been a long process to get buy-in from all the stakeholders, including builders," said Carly Wier, director of High Country Conservation.
An article in Ski Area Management says that LEED certification building cost up to 10 percent more in the past. However, some building professionals now insist that the LEED building process costs no more. What all agree is that buildings built to the higher standards can result in substantially lower operating costs.
In Summit County, architect Tim Sabo credits Frisco with leadership. "It'll help to break out of the box of the conventions of building today."
Frisco has been working with other towns and the county government in Summit County on the revised building regulations. Other jurisdictions will be asked to adopt similar or identical codes.
Global warming theory not disproved by chilly weather
ASPEN, Colo.—It's an inconvenient truth of another nature. This winter has been cold across much of ski country in Colorado, with among the lowest temperatures in 15 winters.
Proof that global warming theory is bunk?
No. Climatologists have long warned against ascribing any single weather event -- be it a warm and dry winter or a hot, hot summer -- to global warming.
The reverse is also true. Epic winters will always remain possible; they're just likely to be shorter and more rare.
"Climate is what you expect; weather is what you get," says John Katzenberger, director of the Aspen Global Change Institute, in stressing that climate change is all about long-term averages, not the short term.
The Aspen Times points to the real-estate market to make the same point. Sales during December plummeted 22 percent. "But using the performance in that one month to predict how the market will perform for ht next 5 to 20 years would be ridiculous," notes the paper's Scott Condon.
Writing in a Colorado Central, a magazine based in Salida, Colo., outdoorsman Hal Walter arrives at the same conclusion. "I find a certain irony that in the age of global warming I am freezing my ass off," he says. Still, he says, the broader evidence of change over time and the globe is compelling. "It's absurd to think that man's activities -- particularly the overuse of fossil fuels -- have not had at least some effect in all this."
For the record, it's been plenty cold this winter in Fraser, the self-proclaimed "icebox of the nation. There have been plenty of 30 below nights. However, in the mid-1980s the thermometer occasionally got to 40 below.
In Eagle, old-timers report similar trends. It's a good winter, with some 10 below night. But a few decades ago there were spells of 30 below.
Skier avoids becoming third in the rule of 3's
VAIL, Colo.—They say that bad luck comes in threes. Two snow riders have already died this winter in avalanches in the East Vail Chutes, which is located adjacent to, but not within, the Vail ski area.
A skier caught in a recent slide somehow avoided completing the triad. The Vail Daily says the skier was carried over some cliffs before he was able to escape cascading snow. Conditions have been risky all winter. The newspaper notes report of another avalanche, prior to the fatal incidents, in which a skier was carried 800 to 900 feet, losing a ski, clothing, poles, and part of his shovel.
There are cows, but better are human-type cash cows
STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo.—It's called agritourism, this idea that farmers and ranchers can make some money off visitors, and if the idea has been around for decades, it's getting new attention in the Yampa River Valley.
The Steamboat Pilot & Today reports that dozens of farm and ranch owners gathered recently to hear about how travel and agriculture could be intertwined. From elsewhere in Colorado, Duke Phillips explained why he chose to take on visitors. The cattle on his ranch in the San Luis Valley could not alone pay his $100,000-plus lease, he said.
Farmers were also told to think about cows differently, "People come first -- they're your cash cow," said Wayne Iacovetto. "Whatever they want, you deal with."
In the case of a retreat of Nike employees, that included shooting plastic deer with paint guns while riding snowmobiles, he said.
Settlement possible in Wolf Creek base case
WOLF CREEK PASS, Colo.—Could there be a settlement in the years-long lawsuits between the operator of the Wolf Creek Ski Area and a developer -- formerly a partner with the ski area -- who wants to build 2,100 housing units at the base. The land, formerly national forest land secured in a land-swap during the 1980s, currently has no housing, nor is there any other housing development at the ski area.
The trial is scheduled for July, but The Durango Herald reports that both parties said a settlement appears possible. "Both of you said it was possible; that caught me by surprise," said Durango Magistrate Judge David L. West.
The counter lawsuits come down to a conflicted vision for the base area. The ski area at an earlier time eagerly anticipated major housing development at the base, but in the late 1990s had a change of heart. It remains among the most old-fashioned of ski areas, as reflected by the fact that it calls itself just that: a ski area, not a resort.
Yet a third party, Colorado Wild and the San Luis Valley Ecosystem Council, still have a lawsuit pending in their attempts to block the project.
Avalanche fence proves its worth at Crested Butte
MT. CRESTED BUTTE, Colo.—For years the slope-side town of Mt. Crested Butte had an avalanche problem. In 1989, snow buried a boy outside condominiums located at the base of the hillside. Several other times snow slides have damaged condominiums, sometimes rupturing windows.
Finally, in 2006, a tall fence of galvanized steel, about 10 feet tall, was installed on the hillside. This winter, the $1 million fence has come into use, successfully blocking snow from cascading down the hill.
"Now we can have a sense that it's a success, and it can save lives," said William Buck, a town council member.
Having the fence tested has created a greater sense of comfort, says one resident, Donna Oros. Before, she said, "we had a level of uncertainty doing things like walking up the driveway or sitting in the hot tub. I think that is resolved," she told the Crested Butte News.
H2B visa cap has employers worried
JACKSON HOLE, Wyo.—Winter is a slower time in the economy of Jackson Hole than is summer. That's why it's all the more concerning to employers there that they can't find enough hired hands to clean the sheets, wash the dishes and do all the other tasks in a service-oriented tourism economy.
Sharpening the tension, reports that Jackson Hole News&Guide, is the fact that the federal cap on H2B temporary worker visas was reached on Jan. 3, well in advance of Jackson's high season. That leaves some employers considering recruitment from Puerto Rico and other U.S. territories, where visas are unnecessary. Others may use J1 student visas, although they tend to draw more transient and less loyal workers.
The wages are relatively high, about $14 for many jobs as housekeepers, which is too low to interest U.S. citizens, but high enough to draw dozens of Mexicans. A business owner, who spoke to the newspaper only on the condition of anonymity, said he takes whatever document prospective workers give him.
"Now I just have everyone complete I-9s, show me their driver's licenses and Social Security cards," he said. "We all know they're not legal, but we look the other way."
The business owner estimated that his Mexican workers make $4,000 to $7,000 a month.
Would higher wages draw U.S. citizens? Mark Walker, a restaurateur, thinks not, but he also says he can only pay so much. "You can't pay $30 (per hour) for unskilled labor."
