MONARCH PASS — Sergio Bernal casually flicks his wrist and the towering spruce falls. The Oregon forester presses a button and buzzing saws de-limb the beetle-killed tree and slice it into 33-foot logs. A giant claw swings the tree to the side and the slash falls to the forest floor. The eight-wheeled Finnish machine — […]
National Forest Foundation
Posted inColoradans, COVID, Environment, News, Outdoors
Crested Butte’s new camping rules are restoring resources and producing few complaints — so far
CRESTED BUTTE — On a Saturday morning at the end of July, Aaron Drendel, a recreation staff officer with the U.S. Forest Service’s Gunnison Ranger District, walked through Musicians’ Camp, a group camping area along the Slate River. Recent rain seemed to have scared some campers away, leaving several sites empty, but Drendel was focused […]
Posted inNews, Outdoors
Crested Butte ending free-for-all camping bacchanal with designated sites, plans for reservations
Dave Ochs spent some long days last summer working on a new bike trail up the Slate River above Crested Butte. The executive director of the Crested Butte Mountain Bike Association was driving down to town one July evening when he counted a train of 20 cars a minute heading up the drainage. “All the […]