Wild

Colorado Wild works as a part of the Southern Rockies Conservation Alliance, a coalition conservation organizations dedicated to protecting Colorado’s public lands, air, water, and wildlife habitat.”

Preservation of Mountain Wildlife
Ski Resorts Ranked from sucks to top of the class: Sun Valley, Copper Mountain, Aspen.

An excerpt from Book Three in “The Knowledge Path Series” dedicated to helping you find the place of your dreams.

Purgatory captures the excitement of what skiing or snowboarding is all about in a local resort.

Now it is the Durango Mountain Resort.

And, you can check out the mountain and town by web cams around the clock.

Durango Mountain Resort

Most would agree that Durango Mountain Resort isn’t in the same “destination league”as Aspen, Copper or Vail.

Which is probably why in the winter of 2007-2008 a note from the Vail Daily caught my eye.

“Vail isn’t the most environmentally friendly ski resort around, but it’s gradually improving, according to a report from the Ski Area Citizen’s Coalition.”

Upscale Vail

The Ski Area Citizens Coalition released its eighth annual survey of environmental performance, finding that some ski areas are taking steps to reduce their impact and supporting broader environmental improvement measures.

The following fall, in November, report cards returned to my feeds (and season thereafter until the winter of 2013 – 2014 when it went on hiatus.)

Sun Valley Resort failed.

Copper Mountain ranked slightly above Sun Valley.

But Aspen Mountain received an “A” with a score of 85.7 out of 100.

Aspen, Colorado

Most volunteers and staff of SACC are skiers themselves, and recognize skiing as a valid use of public lands. 

We also recognize that not all ski areas are the same when it comes to environmental protection.

So just who performs the rankings?

With a little digging I found out Colorado Wild operated out of Southwestern Colorado.

From a P.O. Box in Durango, Colorado.

Rocky Mountain Wild
1536 Wynkoop St, Ste 900
Denver, CO 80202
303-546-0214
info@rockymountainwild.org

Later, I’m not sure when or why the SACC moved to Lake Tahoe, California.

On our BOF bucket list, but coming up a little later.

Clearly they shared the same passions for wildness that author and fellow High Country Eagle Petersen does.

Colorado Wild works to protect, preserve, and restore the native plants and animals of the Southern Rocky Mountains with particular attention given to habitat protection of Colorado’s forested, roadless, public lands and other ecologically important areas. 

They focused on threats to Colorado’s wild lands – primarily logging and industrial ski area development.

As an active part of the coalition, you’ll remember, they successfully challenged Texas billionaire Red McCombs.

His Wolf Creek Village and Piano Creek developments near Pagosa Springs.

Comprised of more than 800 concerned skiers, hikers, photographers, and other outdoor enthusiasts, Colorado Wild continues to fill a critical niche. 

So how did Durango score?

For the 2007 – 2008 winter season Durango Mountain Resort received a passing grade (C) with a score of 63.7 out of 100 points possible.

But, more recently, they pulled up their grade to an “A” scoring 88%.

Colorado Wild works as a part of the Southern Rockies Conservation Alliance, a coalition conservation organizations dedicated to protecting Colorado’s public lands, air, water, and wildlife habitat.

During the intervening years, the Ski Area Citizens Scorecards graded all, if not most, of the ski areas across the western states.

Which may partially explain why the headquarters shifted to Lake Tahoe.

Steps:

(33) When you move, will your established neighbors share your same values? Does your new home have potential over the long-term to develop into a high appreciation real estate investment while being affordable for mid-life or empty nesters? Do the weather patterns in winter or summer make you want to live there year round, or only on a seasonal basis. Does  your new community offer a variety of outdoor recreational opportunities?

Development

“Does anyone out there remember when the city of Whitefish had culture? Reminisce beer barters in the streets? Can you recall dancing to music in the parks? Chili cook-offs? Is there any recollection of those …?”

Community Chili Cook-off
Natural beauty or high-end development: Piano Creek Ranch, Wolf Creek Village, the Yellowstone Club and Tamarack Resort.

An excerpt from Book Three in “The Knowledge Path Series” dedicated to helping you find the place of your dreams.

Like Rafael, not everybody living in a pristine resort at the innovation stage looks forward to development.

Natural Wilderness Beauty

They fear that someone, usually from outside of their community, state or country will be tempted by the raw natural beauty and try to develop it into an exclusive, high-end resort destination.

Rolling Hills and Rural Landscape

Wealthy Influentials” sense the breakout point possible in real estate from their own prior investment experiences.

Pagosa Springs, Colorado

Like the consortium behind the Piano Creek Ranch attempt near Pagosa Springs, Colorado, who hatched development plans between 1999 and 2000.

Wolf Creek Temptations

Or like Red McCombs in 2008, with his Wolf Creek Village surrounded by the Rio Grand National Forest in Colorado.

Downtown Minturn

Or, like Bobby Ginn beginning to develop a private resort near Minturn, Colorado in 2004– aptly named Battle Mountain Resort — in Eagle County, home to Vail and Beaver Creek destination resorts.

Some destination resorts, home to “Wireless Resorters,” fell victim to the “Great Recession”.

Places in the pristine mountains of Montana, Utah and Idaho like the Yellowstone Club and Tamarack Resort from which the Bank of America reclaimed their ski lifts.

Beauty of Basalt, Colorado

In Colorado, development weighed heavily on small innovation towns like Basalt.

Their town council in 2007 and 2008 crafted a land-use master plan with five scenarios unfolding over a decade.

In the summer of 2008 a long-time “High Country Eagle” citizen from Whitefish, Montana lamented:

“Does anyone out there remember when the city of Whitefish had culture? Reminisce beer barters in the streets? Can you recall dancing to music in the parks? Chili cook-offs? Is there any recollection of those …?”

Ah, the good old days.

The good old ways.

Some urban and suburban consumers may question inhumane food practices in the processing of chickens, pigs and calves purchased in our local markets for our kitchen table.

Newport Beach Neighborhood

Neighbors may protest and city councils may ban chickens as pets in California’s “Wealthy Influential” Newport Beach, but not so much in other parts of California or Montana.

In the winter of 2008 the  City Council thumbed their noses at the complaining newcomers by passing an ordinance that allowed hens as pets by a margin of 5-1.

During the summer of 2010 residents in Eastern Sierra town of Bishop, California tried to follow suit.

Bishop, California

And, the heated arguments voiced in face-to-face town meetings boiled over to the Internet.

“It is obvious that you are a young, smart-a– who probably moved from LA to Mammoth, couldn’t afford to live there and ended up here.” 

“I was born here. You’re obviously a hypocrite.”

“Go back to Metropolis, where superman protects you from all the big, scary and stinky farm animals. 

Bishop will be ok without one more flatlander type.”

Steps:

(29) Investigate each community’s local attitude towards development. Is there a fear that someone, usually from outside of their community, state or country will be tempted by the raw natural beauty and try to develop it into an exclusive, high-end resort destination?

Pristine

“Qual·i·ty of life — the degree of enjoyment and satisfaction felt in everyday life.” 

Celebrating the Moment
How to make healthy, wealthy and wise choices for living, loving, working, playing, investing and retiring in vacation communities.

An excerpt from Book Three in “The Knowledge Path Series” dedicated to helping you find the place of your dreams.

Follow your passions.

Why not?

Nobody can follow your passions for you.

Don’t stop there.

Choose to live anywhere you want.

Preserving the World

“In wildness is the preservation of the world.”  Henry David Thoreau.

The great thing about living where others spend their vacation is the year round quality-of-life.

In case you forgot just what that is …

“Qual·i·ty of life — the degree of enjoyment and satisfaction felt in everyday life.”  

The West.

Live, love, work, play, invest and retire anywhere you want.

From the Desert to the Mountains to the Sea and all the Pristine Rivers, Lakes and Islands in Between.

Western Skies and Island Currents!

Winter in the mountains and summer at the beach.

Snowboarder Performing Jump Silverton, Colorado, USA

The story of the Wild West celebrated a spirit of adventure.

Starting over with new beginnings full of promise.

Fueled by dreams of striking it rich.

We have a rich history of mining and panning for gold nuggets in the West.

Making a life based on ingenuity, resourcefulness and self-reliance.

Back then, whenever travelers met each other on the road, they swapped info about the places they came from and asked questions about places they were going.

But for us, every day we follow the rules.

Go to work.

Keep our nose to the grindstone.

Marry our sweet hearts.

Raise our children.

Save for their college education.

And, finally retire sometime off into the distant future to a glorious second half of our life.

That’s the way it’s supposed to be, but one day everything changed.

Employers shipped our jobs overseas.

We worked longer and longer in jobs we couldn’t stand.

But, at least we had a job.

But, the stress piled on.

And on.

Because of that we had to escape.

If only for a vacation.

There’s nothing quite as all-American as a road trip…

especially in the West, where a wealth of culture, natural beauty and excitement unfolds before you. 

What is it about traveling back to nature?

Where you feel most inspired?

Where the yellow aspen do that shimmering dance beside the deep green of the lodgepole pines.

But, there’s a dark side to vacations.

We notice our predicament when we return to work.

Are we who we really, really are when we keep our head down with our noses to the grindstone?

What about those expansive western skies?

The majestic mountain peaks?

The rushing babbling creeks and brooks?

The taste of salt in the air along the coast?

We keep those nagging questions at bay.

Maybe bubbling up only occasionally in dreamland.

Until finally we wake up and realize we don’t live in our bubble any longer.

We make a commitment to ourselves.

We can make healthy, wealthy and wise choices for living, loving, working, playing, investing and retiring in vacation communities.

Where we feel the most alive.

Steps:

(21) Spend the time to find the best places to live and invest. It will be worth your while. The great thing about living where others spend their vacation is the year round quality-of-life.