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Show M The Park Record A-14 Sat/Sun/Mon/Tues, May 27-30, 2017 ountain town news A Roundup of News from Other Western Ski Resort Communities By ALLEN BEST Record contributing writer Two grand ambitions, but only one still possible SOUTH FORK, Colo. — Dreams of a new real estate development high in the mountains live on, except for where they don’t. Colorado has examples of both. The dream that lives on is at Wolf Creek Pass, in southern Colorado. There, Texas billionaire B.J. “Red” McCombs set out more than 30 years ago to build a giant real-estate project next to the ski lifts at Wolf Creek. Last week, McCombs’s dream was set back yet again. A land exchange with the U.S. Forest Service was needed to make the project work. In 2015, the agency approved it. But environmental groups argued that the federal agency had unlawfully limited the scope of the environmental analysis. U.S. District Court Judge Richard P. Matsch has now agreed with those concerns, the Durango Herald reports. That doesn’t mean the project is dead. The proposal can go back for review. But, at least for now, there are no condos for sale at Wolf Creek. It’s still relative wilderness. But the dream died a long time ago elsewhere in Colorado. Infatuated by the success of Vail, St. Louis businessman Fred Kummer in 1973 set out to build a ski area called Adam’s Rib 18 miles south of Eagle. The Forest Service rarely saw a potential ski area it didn’t like then. Over the years, the Forest Service began paying attention to environmental laws like the Clean Air Act. Finally, in 1997, local district ranger Anne Huebner laid it down straight. The plain fact was that the site was a terrible one for a ski area. Kummer threw in the towel. What he wanted to be his base area, a wetlands filled area called Vassar Meadows, instead became part of the Colorado state park system. But one component of the project still lives on in the form of the when onLy the Best wiLL Do “Dr. Dingman is the Best.” - teD Ligety two-time oLympic goLD meDaList Call For an appointment today! B. John Dingman DMD 4343 N. Hwy 224 Suite 201 Park City www.canyondentistry.com • 435.658.4746 1,540-acre Hardscrabble Ranch. The Vail Daily reports that Eagle County commissioners recently approved spending $9 million to buy the ranch. Other funds have fattened the kitty to $10.3 million. To get the purchase over the finish line — and preserve the land as open space — will require another $3.1 million, which open space advocates hope will come in June from Great Outdoors Colorado. A tall learning curve for greenhouse in Jackson JACKSON, Wyo. — A year ago a 13,500-square-foot greenhouse built on the south-facing side of the municipal parking garage began operations in Jackson. Called Vertical Harvest, it is designed to produce leafy greens through the winter while providing employment for locals with physical and mental disabilities. The opening drew national attention, including a story in the New York Times. The national interest caused others to begin calling to figure out how to do something similar. The calls continue. But operators of Vertical are still trying to figure it out themselves, reports the Jackson Hole News&Guide. “There’s not a week that goes by where another community doesn’t contact us and say they want to replicate this,” said Nona Yehia, co-founder of Vertical Harvest. “We had a vision of how this would all work out, but that’s definitely still an evolution. I don’t think you can underestimate the fact that there is no playbook for this.” The greenhouse is state of the art. Each room acts as its own microecosystem, regulated to maintain the ideal heat, moisture, ultraviolet light and carbon dioxide levels for 35 crops so that they grow in the fastest, most nutritious and environmentally sustainable way possible, all year long, at 6,200 feet above sea level. Figuring out how to integrate all the cutting-edge technology, however, has been a daunting task. But delivering meaningful work to the employees has been an unqualified success. The goal of Vertical Harvest is to deliver 100,000 pounds of fresh produce a year. So far, the production is a little more than half that. Maybe pollinator garden can help butterflies, bees TELLURIDE, Colo. — A pollinator garden rich with flowers has been planted along the San Miguel River downstream from Telluride with the intent of nurturing both butterflies and bees. The Telluride Daily Planet explains that the pollinator garden was proposed by a former local official, Art Goodtimes, because the population of both insects has been declining. Volunteers from Fort Lewis College in Durango planted 12 to 15 different pollinators, including native pollinators such as showy milkweed (to help preserve Monarch butterfly populations); native blue columbines; and potentilla. The cost of presidential families visiting Aspen ASPEN, Colo. — When family members of U.S. presidents take skiing vacations, it costs taxpayers a chunk of change. The Aspen Times cites research by a group called Judicial Watch that found the costs of a trip by Michelle and the two Obama daughters in 2016 was $122,000. The airplane trip from Washington, D.C., cost more than $57,000. Hotel expenses by the Secret Service agents that accompany all presidential family members accounted for most of the rest of the cost. Barack Obama stayed at home in Washington, D.C., that holiday weekend. Donald Trump has also been a frequent visitor to Aspen through the years, but not since he was elected. However, his daughter, Ivanka, and son-in-law Jared Kushner and their two-children visited this winter. Costs of that have not been released. Two Trump weekend visits to his resort in Florida cost $1.2 million, Judicial Watch said. “If Congress is looking to save tax dollars, they might consider trimming the platinum travel budgets of this and future presidents.” + 1210 EMPIRE AVE 1209 NORFOLK AVE Old Town Home And Adjacent Vacant Lot In Ski District. Designed By Award-Winning Architect This is a true urban-contemporary home designed to be in the mountains. There’s three private bedroom suites with en suite bathrooms, a cook’s kitchen, Hank Louis, the visionary and award-winning architect at Design Build Bluff three fireplaces, radiant and forced air heating, a heated driveway and views to and Gigaplex, designed this smart Old Town home that’s contemporary while the hills. 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