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The environment desk at Aspen Public Radio covers issues in the Roaring Fork Valley and throughout the state of Colorado including water use and quality, impact of recreation, population growth and oil and gas development. APR’s Environment Reporter is Elizabeth Stewart-Severy.

PitCo Open Space plans for a big 2018

Elizabeth Stewart-Severy
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Aspen Public Radio

Pitkin County Open Space and Trails officials are facing one of their biggest years yet. Elizabeth Stewart-Severy details on the 2018 budget.

The Open Space program has what director Gary Tennenbaum called “a very healthy” fund, with an estimated $12.5 million coming in for 2018.

At a meeting earlier this month, board member Tim McFlynn reiterated the department’s focus on protecting wildlife. That was made formal in a biodiversity policy last year.

 

“That policy really applies, as I understand it, to everything we do: trails, acquisitions, management plans,” McFlynn said.

Open Space and Trails officials plan to consider policies around e-bikes, agricultural leases, historical structures and water rights in 2018. They are also in the early stages of planning a trail in the Crystal River Valley.

The Board of County Commissioners is scheduled to consider the department’s budget Tuesday.

 

Aspen native Elizabeth Stewart-Severy is excited to be making a return to both the Red Brick, where she attended kindergarten, and the field of journalism. She has spent her entire life playing in the mountains and rivers around Aspen, and is thrilled to be reporting about all things environmental in this special place. She attended the University of Colorado with a Boettcher Scholarship, and graduated as the top student from the School of Journalism in 2006. Her lifelong love of hockey lead to a stint working for the Colorado Avalanche, and she still plays in local leagues and coaches the Aspen Junior Hockey U-19 girls.
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