In October of 1994, Healthy Mountain Communities incorporated as a not for profit corporation. So this holiday season, we give thanks to the many citizen leaders who joined together in the spirit of regional cooperation to create HMC.

Over this last year, the sense of urgency that created HMC has taken another step in its development through the ongoing dialogue of Mayors in the Roaring Fork and Colorado River Valleys. Although still evolving, area Mayors have committed themselves to an ongoing meetings through 2007.

Some of their collaborative work can be seen at HMC's new 'wiki' site (a wiki is website that allows visitors to change and add content and encourages collaborative authorship). HMC hopes to use this site to facilitate collaborative thinking on a number of projects.

Roaring Fork Transportation Authority diesel buses now run on 10-percent biodiesel, which comes from soybeans. RFTA upped the purity of its biodiesel in October, one year after introducing 5-percent biodiesel fuel.

The new fuels are more expensive, but RFTA officials say they are happy to support fuels that come from farms as opposed to drilling rigs. At an average 16 cents per gallon more than regular fuel, biodiesel also burns cleaner than standard diesel.

By using more renewables, RFTA is responding to community demand and is making good on a goal to use 10-percent renewable energy.

The Basalt Town Council’s decision (5-1) to instruct its staff to prepare denial documents on the Roaring Fork Club golf club’s expansion proposal is the most significant decision for the board since the election of three new board members in April.

Board members Amy Capon, Gary Tennenbaum, and Chris Seldin were elected, in large part, due to concerns over the proposed expansion and its relationship the the Town’s Master Plan. All three ran voicing their support of the current Master Plan.

The Roaring Fork Club has since pulled their application leaving the possibility that a revised proposal could be back in the review process soon. Any proposal formally denied by the town has to wait 12 months before re-submitting a new development plan.

Colorado Conservation Trust, has brokered a deal between three "conservation buyers" to purchase the Historic Perry Mt. Sopris Hereford Ranch.

The operation was part of a larger ranch that was in Ruth Brown Perry's family since 1924. Her father D.R.C. Brown was an early merchant in Aspen who amassed a fortune in silver mines.

Rancher Sue Rodgers bought 850 acres of the Perry ranch, which she will fold into her adjacent Crystal River Ranch.

Tom Bailey bought the 302 acres most visible from Highway 133. His purchase includes the ranch houses as well as a regal old barn, several sheds and irrigated pastures.

The remaining 28 acres of the Perry ranch was sold to Marjorie Perry, a member of the family, and her husband Bill Fales. They own the adjacent Cold Mountain Ranch.

Bob Perry, a ranching icon in the valley, died Aug. 20, only two days after his family signed a contract to sell the ranch to Rodgers and Bailey.

The ranch is located about one mile south of Carbondale. Most of it is in Garfield County with some in Pitkin County. The ranch abuts River Valley Ranch, a golf course and residential community developed in the 1990s by Gerald Hines.

The purchase significantly limits the growth of Carbondale beyond its current southern boundary.

The oil trapped in the oil shale of Western Colorado maybe vast, but it is unclear whether it makes economic sense to get it.

Canadian Peter Tertzakian thinks supplying the world’s 1,000 barrel a second oil addiction will be far from easy. But that doesn’t mean businesses aren’t hedging their bets.

Earlier this week, the Bush administration authorized oil-shale leases for five sites on public land in western Colorado. They are the first leases since the shale bust of the 1980s wrenched the region’s economy.

Despite a debate over wording of a resolution, the Garfield County commissioners agreed to establish a "rainy day" fund with oil and gas tax revenues.

As those revenues continue to mount due to increasing natural gas production in the county, the commissioners agreed there was no time like the present to plan for when the industry goes away.

The county estimates oil and gas activity will bring in about $2.7 million this year in the form of property, federal mineral leasing and severance taxes.

The Oil and Gas Mitigation Fund, will likely see an initial deposit of $2 million from expected 2007 revenues.

While the State Air Pollution Control Division is considering tougher standards to rein in pollution from the oil and gas industry, Western Slope citizens are concerned that the Division's approach creates an unnecessary double standard.

The Division is considering one target for the oil and gas industry near Denver (to avoid violating federal air quality standards) while another less strict rule would regulate emissions from the industry statewide.

The gas industry has largely accepted the proposed statewide rules, but environmentalists are urging the tougher Denver-area restrictions be imposed across the state, a move industry representatives say would be expensive and is unnecessary.

Garfield County resident told state health department officials at a local hearing this month that County's booming natural gas industry is creating smog and causing health problems because of air pollution. The county has over 3,500 gas wells, with more than 1,600 new permits expected to be issued this year.

Five counties, including Pitkin, and six towns, including Glenwood Springs, Rifle and Silt, have urged Front Range protections be extended to the Western Slope.

The Aspen Skiing Co. sealed a deal with Artie and Maureen Rothman Nov. 16 to purchase the Thunder River Lodge, a 21-room motel located on the west side of State Highway 133 near the entrance to Carbondale.

With the move, Carbondale loses one of its few lodges, and the most affordable one at that. But the SkiCo gains something that arguably benefits the whole valley - employee housing.

Jim Laing, vice president of human resources for SkiCo said the SkiCo is always looking to create more affordable housing for employees, especially for the positions that are harder to fill. He called the Thunder River Lodge a turn-key opportunity with employees moving in this week.

The lodge will house about 40 seasonal employees this winter, but may turn into more longer-term housing depending on the need. The SkiCo currently has about 300 subsidized "beds" to offer employees. Laing said the company hopes to double that in the next few years.

Sometimes, the most basic things are hard to come by in resort communities. Over the last year, Aspen has had to negotiate a deal to keep its only movie theater and now Snowmass Village is wondering if they will have to drive out of town for a tank of gas.

The Snowmass Town Council is considering a public-private partnership to keep a gas station in town, and it appointed a negotiating team to hammer out the details.

The team, which will report back to the council by Dec. 11, includes Snowmass Economic Director Jason Haber, current gas station owner Jeff Jandigan, developer Pat Smith and two community members.

At issue is whether Snowmass Village needs a service station, and if so, where it should be located and how it should be paid for.

State transportation officials are indicating that an independent re-evaluation of the 1998 Entrance to Aspen Environmental Impact Statement is showing the findings of the EIS are still sound.

The 1998 EIS record of decision called for two lanes of general traffic and two lanes of light rail crossing the Marolt Open Space and connecting to Main Street over Castle Creek. This new alignment would replace the existing S-curves.

The purpose of the re-evaluation was to determine whether the original project decisions are still legitimate before taking the next step, which involves a new round of discussions (including open meetings, forums for debate, a website and other means of engaging citizens in dialogue on the issue).

The re-evaluation team found that not only were the 1998 conditions of the study the same today, but current traffic "far exceeds roadway capacity," especially at rush hour. A traffic analysis showed that the bottleneck entry is already at saturation, and increased volumes would mean longer and longer delays along Highway 82.

GrassRoots TV has recently come out with a documentary about the Entrance to Aspen. Contact GrassRoots TV at 925-8000 or visit www.grassrootstv.org to learn more.

The Stillwater Ranch planned unit development is trying to come to an agreement with the Town of Silt over the issue of creating a special district for the development.

At issue is the benefit of the district to the town, what the mill levy cap would be and whether there should be a district at all.

The Stillwater Ranch development was approved by Silt voters in 1997 to include 1,198 single-family dwelling units and 162 townhomes and condominiums on a 1,472-acre site south of the Colorado River. The development is also slated to include two golf courses, hiking and equestrian trails, a community center, swimming pool and some commercial development. The special district was approved in 1999.

Since its approval, the Stillwater development has had a number of setbacks over the years, including missed deadlines and defaults as well as financing troubles and problems in negotiations with the owners of the property, Valley Farms Inc.

The Smart Growth Network (SGN) and the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) has recently published This Is Smart Growth to showcase how development can help create more economic opportunities, build great places where people want to live and visit, preserve the qualities people love about their communities, and protect environmental resources.

The publication features 40 places around the country, from cities to suburbs to small towns to rural communities, where good development has improved residents' quality of life. Photos illustrate how these communities have invested taxpayer money wisely, offered people more choices in housing and transportation, protected natural and working lands, promoted healthy environments, created a lasting legacy for the community, and achieved other accomplishments.

This publication is now available FREE from the Smart Growth Network.