BLM PLANS PRESCRIBED BURN ON BASALT MOUNTAIN
Basalt—Over a thousand acres of land on Basalt Mountain is set to be burned as part of a hazardous fuels reduction project and the Bureau of Land Management wants some public feedback. The prescribed burn will take place along the base of Basalt Mountain north of El Jebel near Spring Park Reservoir. 936 acres will be burned and 118 acres will be targeted for maintenance of previous mechanical work along the boundary between private and public lands. Officials with the BLM say the prescribed burn will reduce the risk of a catastrophic wildfire moving from public to private property. An open house and public question and answer session will be held Monday, January 12th at 5pm at the Eagle County Community Center in El Jebel. The deadline for public comment is February 11th.
COLORADO BRACES FOR BITTER COLD TEMPERATURES
Undated—50 below zero. In some parts of Colorado, that’s what it will feel like as the wind chill combines with the arctic air that’s hanging over the region. On the front range, the wind chill factor could send the mercury plummeting to 35 below zero into New Year’s Eve. In southern Wyoming, the National Weather Service says a few locations in the Laramie Valley could feel as cold as 50 below. The central Rockies will be the warmest part of the state with overnight wind chill readings of 10 to 14 below zero. A slight warming trend is expected by New Year’s Day with highs in the 20’s and 30’s.
IN OTHER NEWS…
BRECKENRIDGE (AP) – A Breckenridge woman who was found lying in a street after she was struck by a hit-and-run driver is recovering at Summit Medical Center in Frisco. 23-year-old Laura Hamilton was walking to her apartment Friday night when she was hit. A snowplow driver found her lying face-down, partly in the northbound lane of Airport Road in Breckenridge. Hamilton suffered a concussion, whiplash, broken bones in her back and leg and a deep gash on her left thigh. No arrests have been made. Police examined video from buses and businesses and concluded Hamilton was hit by a dark gray or slate-color vehicle. Friends are raising money for Hamilton’s expenses and for airfare so her mother can travel to Colorado from her South Carolina home.
DENVER (AP) – Environmental groups want more time to file a protest on a public land swap involving a proposed development near the Wolf Creek Ski Area. In a Dec. 23 letter, Rocky Mountain Wild and other groups asked for a 45-day extension, saying the U.S. Forest Service missed a deadline to give them information they requested. They also say the holidays cut into the original 45-day protest period. The Forest Service disputes that it missed any information deadlines. It says the law doesn’t allow an extension of the protest period. The Forest Service recommended an exchange last month that would give a developer federal land for an access road to a proposed ski village with about 1,700 residential units. In return, the developer would give the government land elsewhere.
