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Show A-5 The Park Record Sat/Sun/Mon/Tues, June 11-14, 2005 MOUNTAIN TOWN NEWS A Roundup of News from other Western, ski FREE Chinese economy could stir old mining towns of molybdenum is located at Mt. By ALLEN BEST Emmons. within a mile of the town. Record guest writer The town resisted mining plans CRESTED BUTTE, Colo. - Its through the 1970s and 1980s, and it another example of a butterfly flap- appeared the plan was dead. But this ping its wings in Beijing affecting the new all-time record price for molybweather in the Rocky Mountains. denum has U.S. Energy Corp. This year, those Beijing butterflies - "aggressively" seeking financing often used s a metaphor to describe from industry partners to develop a causality in physics - are partly the mine to extract molybdenum as well background reasons why two old as other minerals. Colorado mining towns, Lcadville Don Warfield, spokeswoman for and Crested Butte, could become U.S. Energy, told the Crested Butte mining towns once more. News that the only sure thing is that In China, of course, the economy mining would scaled down from has gone bonkers making widgets for what was envisioned 25 years ago. the United States and other industri- He also cautioned that mining has alized countries. In response, the become much more environmentally Chinese are ramping up their own friendly. infrastructure, which in turn calls for How serious is the talk? Two more steel. This demand for steel sources consulted by the Crested bumped up prices with the conse- Butte News didn't sound alarmed. quence that last year, builders in ski Wendy McDermott. director of the towns were reporting increased High Country Citizens' Alliance, prices in home construction. said the key trigger to watch for is a This year, the story has to do with formal notice called Intent to Mine. molybdenum, an element that is Roger Flynn, an attorney for the used as an agent to harden steel. Western Mining Action Project, Moly, as it is often called, is mined in which provides free legal services to Colorado at Henderson, located towns such as Crested Butte, was between Keystone and Winter Park. similarly unruffled. "Mining compaRamped up production is being nies say these kinds of things all the scheduled there. time, and until whatever company However, the original deposit is at tries to re-apply to put a mine up Climax, located in the triangle there, this is just speculation," he between Copper Mountain, said. Breckenridge, and Leadville. In 1981 Flynn also said he did not expect and 1982, that mine was mothballed, molybdenum prices to remain this putting 3,000 workers out of work high. When they, this new talk of and Leadville into a recession that, in mining would similarly retreat, he some ways, it still has not recovered suggested. from. The town has become a bedJust the same, Flynn and the High room community for the 1-70 resorts Country7 Citizens' Alliance have while struggling to carve its own been working with local government niche as a tourist destination. Instead authorities in trying to get the of sending graduating seniors to patented mining rights for the govEurope on spring break, as in the ernment land near Crested Butte gravy days, it is struggling to cope rescinded. They lost their first key under the load of immigrating legal battle at a federal courtroom in Spanish-speaking immigrants. Denver, but have appealed that deciWhile the price of moly dipped to sion to the U.S. 10th Court of $2.36 a pound in the post 9/11 reces- Appeals. sion, it is now up to nearly S37 per pound. In response, Phelps Dodge, •Extreme meets corporate at which owns Climax, has launched a Teva Games in VaQ study to see what it would take to reopen the mine. VAIL, Colo. - Twenty years ago, Some speculation sees 400 to 500 even 10 years ago, early June was mining jobs paying out $70,000 a reliably and perhaps pleasantly dull year in salary and benefits, some- in Vail. No tourists, no crowds of real what better than the jobs found consequence. along the 1-70 corridor. Climax has But finally, the perpetual effort to enough ore to be mined for 40 years. launch the summer season on Of course, there has been such talk Memorial Day has yielded somein Leadville before, although appar- thing, if a week late. After enrolling ently no such formal studies. Teva, the manufacturer of sandalMeanwhile, at Crested Butte, type shoes, a festival has been creatthere is also more talk. A vast store ed that is built around Whitewater is supporting the project and who opposes. Conservation groups can usually be counted on to oppose development. In this case, the influential and respected Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance endorsed the project as, essentially, the lesser of evils. So did the Jackson city government, located about six miles away, despite the sentiment among some merchants that the new ski area project will pose a competition to the town's economic interest. Finally, there's the matter of how the county commissioners, who have final authority in the matter, shake out. In their first vote, the one against the project, they went 3-to-2 against. The three commissioners rejecting the project were all Republicans, and the two supporting it were Democrats. What's at the center of this tiff? Developers want to build 280 freemarket and 186 affordable or employee units as well as some commercial space and a golf course. By •Ironies abound in voting for most standards, the developers were willing to concede a lot. But in big real estate project Jackson Hole, which has been antsy JACKSON HOLE. Wyo. - about how fast it is growing and Jackson Hole has been torn asunder changing, the majority opinion held by a proposal for a major real estate that this was too much. Jim development at the base of the Darwiche, a commissioner who Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, and voted against the project, said it was the anti-forces currently are on top. But what is most surprising is who Please see Bears, A-6 paddling. In the last four years, attendance has nearly tripled and is now at about 22,000 spectators. It's yet another example of "extreme" meets corporate. Organizers lined up well more than $1 million in sponsorships from the likes of Volkswagen and Coors, partly because the target age range for the Teva games is so attractive to them. The average age of attendees at last year's event was 37, with an average household income of $89,000, an organizer told The Denver Post. Now, following the model set up by ESPN in the X Games now being held every winter at Aspen, the Teva Games are going international, starting with an event in Europe in 2007, but expanding to other continents. Some sponsors told Hie Post that they like the event better than the X Games, because it has broader appeal to a wider variety of demographic groups. Computerized Analysis of Your Home's Approximate Value Rmailed to Your Inbox mijPARKCnYmksMmkaom i»fc£ Receive an insightful market analysis with recent comparable sales in your neighborhood. Simply fill out a brief survey about your property at and you will recieve a free report quickly, by email and without having to speak to an agent. 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