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Show M ilobolus erforming Arts Foundation presents OUNTAIN TOWN NEWS A Roundup of News from Other Western Ski Resort Communities By Allen Best Record contributing writer Aspen activists argue for a new environmentalism Saturday March 12 En.* Sat/Sun/Mon/Tues, March 12-15, 2011 The Park Record rC-10 7:30 p.m. •[As a follow-up to their jawdropping Cultural Olympiad erformance in 2002, we'll TJUg., til is wjorj d re n ovyn ed ance troupe back to the ccles Center for a long verdue performance. Founded n 1971 and recognized for ts imaginative and athletic xploration of creative elaboration, Pilobolus has volved into a pioneering merican cultural institution f the 21st century. ASPEN, CBlo. - How much of an emergency is the climate? That's the question at hundreds of sites across the West now as renewable energy projects bump up against environmental considerations. Consider Aspen, which began operating a hydro plant in 1893, becoming one of the first cities to have electrified streetlights. Then, in 1958, it abandoned the small hydroelectric plant on Castle Creek, as power produced by coalfired plants and the big dams of the West was slightly cheaper. Several years ago, city officials began pushing to reinstall a plant. The 1.2-megawatt plant-would deliver about 8 percent of the power supplied by the city's utility department. Stated another way, it would deliver about one-sixth of all the power used by the Aspen Skiing Co. to run its four ski areas, including lodges and restaurants. But it hasn't been easy. Most thorny have been objections from people with homes along Castle Creek, whose waters would be diverted to generate the electricity, before being released downstream. Some local environmentalists warn of damage to fish. Writing in The Aspen Times, energy and climate activists Randy Udall and Auden Schendler argue that the threat has been overblown. "We are not talking about Glen Canyon Dam here or mountain top mining," they say. "This run-of-the-river project has been studied nigh unto exhaustion, and the robust conclusion is that it's environmentally sound." The two activists concede that the Castle Creek homeowners are making a sacrifice, but say it is "for the greater good, for lower emissions." "Scientists tell us we need to cut emissions 60 to 80 percent by mid-century. We don't need to trim them a little, we need to slash them a lot," they say in an op-ed published in The Aspen Times. "To achieve that goal, Americans are going to have to embrace a new kind of environmentalism the way the German and Danes and Spaniards have, where responsible energy production in our backyards and on our rooftops and local streams is not something to oppose, but something to celebrate, where Aspen gets kudos not just for our bottomless powder but for our clean power." Deer, people pay heavy prices for collisions KREMMLING, Colo. - The death toll of wildlife-vehicle collisions was in the news in mountain towns both in Colorado and Wyoming last week. In Colorado, the Sky-Hi News announced that billionaire hedge fund manager Paul T. Jones, who founded T\idor Investment in 1985, has donated $805,000 with the goal of reducing the potential for collisions along Highway 9, a few miles south of Kremmling. Mule deer forage daily among the sagebrush hillsides above the highway during winter, venturing down to water at night. In 1985, a couple from a nearby ranch was returning home in their small car when the driver of an oncoming pickup truck swerved to avoid a deer and ran into them headon, killing both. Solar panels helping treat Telluride waste Some say the narrow road needs shoulders, and others TELLURIDE, Colo. - Some say drivers need to slow down. 500 solar panels have been The posted speed is 65. But installed on top of the waste- another idea is to build underwater treatment plant that passes, to allow deer and elk serves Telluride and Mountain safe passage. Village. In Wyoming, long-time Public works officials say hunting and fishing columnist the panels will produce 200 Paul Bruun reports the winter megawatts annually, or about toll. "Snowbanks littered with 10 percent of the electric dead mule deer continue to needs of the plant, which is blacken my winter mood," he one of the single largest users writes in the Jackson Hole of electricity in the region. The News&Guide. project cost $600,000. He argues that Jackson In 2008, mayors of Hole, while always extolling its Telluride and adjacent • love for wildlife, doesn't pracMountain Village announced tice what it preaches. He takes their joint intent of obtaining aim, among others, at "work100 percent of the communi- ers in a hurry, mobile phoneties' electricity from renew- chatting and - texting Gen able sources by 2020: They X'ers, scheduled haulers, have a long way to go, but this tourists and Suburban-wieldyear Telluride plans to start ing ice hockey and soccer playstudying the potential for tap- er transporters." ping local creeks to produce When rallying against more electricity in micro-hydro developments on hillsides, plants. every Jackson driver adopts a pro wildlife image, he points out. So why, when they're behind the wheel, does such an impatient hurry-up mode prevail? Fonr hotels approved, but no money to bnfld KETCHUM, Idaho - For years, Ketchum kept losing hotel beds. So, about a decade ago, it decided to get back into the tourism business. It revamped regulations, authorizing more innovative financing techniques. After a prolonged debate, it approved four different hotel projects during the last three years. Together, the four hotels would represent $2 billion in investment. At least some of the properties would deliver to Ketchum and its ski area, Sun Valley, the kind of elegant four-star lodging found in other ski-resort towns. But timing is everything. None of the four projects is going forward. Banks aren't lending money for hotels right now, and private investors are tepid, too. "We spent all those years trying to get approved, and when we finally did, there was no market," said Jack Bariteau, developer of project called Hotel Ketchum. "We'll get it built," he said, But, he added, "The question is when." The largest project is a 138acre base village proposed by the Sun Valley Co., the owner and operator of the ski area of the same name. Wally Huffman, who oversees planning and development, said he'd like to start putting in streets, water sewer and utilities this year, but even that is uncertain. The development, as well as the ski area, is owned by the Holding family of Utah and Idaho. fit* Do you keep up with technology? Shouldn't your Dentist? Align Spa Specials: 50 Minute Massage $65 50 Minute Facial $65 Dr. Brandon McKee has continually upgraded to top of the line technology to provide the most comfortable, conservative dental treatment. Call for a free consultation or visit our website @ parkcitydental.net NEWLY ADDED SAUNA Tickets start at $18 1792 Bonanza Dr. No ticketing/service fees. Just off the -'Rail Trail" Sponsored by: iiiSlifer Smith & Frampton Real Estate £ Diane Rinehart & Scott Vultaggio " Dr. Brandon McKee Park City Dental Associates 1830 Prospector Ave, P.C. 435.649.6066 435-647-9300 www.alignspa.com Mary jane's - Lori Harris Spectrum DNA I GEORGE S.& DOLORES DORE ECCLES . 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