STEAMBOAT CLEANERS NOW ECO-FRIENDLY | B USINESS 1B
$1.00
SUPPLIED FOR SCHOOL
SAILORS POTENT
Find tthe right tools at the right price
Football tteam features ffierce offensive attack
STYLE 1E
SPORTS 1D
SUNDAY, AUGUST 24, 2008
VOLUME 122, NUMBER 6 • STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, COLORADO • www.steamboatpilot.com
Rebirth A new forest is emerging
A
carpet of young lodgepole pine trees unfolds below a rough side road outside Mount Zirkel Wilderness Area. Steve Orange walks among the overwhelmingly green adolescents at his waist. “Lodgepole like this, they like the light,” says Orange, a forester with the Routt National Forest. “They’re sun-loving. You open it up like this, and they’re going to do pretty well.” The trees are sprouting from the remnants of the 2002 Hinman Fire, which burned 15,000 acres in North Routt County. To the south, on a crimson hillside across the Middle Fork of the Elk River, the mountain pine beetle similarly is transforming the forest. “Even with the beetle situation, this is what areas could look like,” Orange says. “Everything’s starting over. It just takes a little time.”
THE LAST STAND A five-part series by the Steamboat Pilot & Today INSIDE
Part 1: A battle lost
Part 2: Fumbled forest
Part 3: Boon or bust?
Part 4: The red scare
Market clashes with retail
Vision 2030 report: Community valued
Businesses express concerns about advantages for street vendors
Melinda Dudley
Blythe Terrell
PILOT & TODAY STAFF
PILOT & TODAY STAFF
STEAMBOAT SPRINGS
STEAMBOAT SPRINGS
Some Steamboat Springs business owners aren’t thrilled with the setup of the local farmers market. The Saturday market, on Sixth Street between Lincoln Avenue and Oak Street, continues through next weekend. It includes vendors who sell food, crafts, hats, art and clothing, among other wares. But about 15 business owners recently signed a letter sent to the board of Mainstreet Steamboat Springs, saying they thought the market gave vendors with nonperishable wares an advantage over shops, Mainstreet Manager Tracy Barnett said. “They want it to be a total farmers market, not having crafts as well,” she said. “Their issue, although they don’t say it’s competition, is that vendors don’t pay property tax and don’t have to maintain sidewalks, so it creates unfair competition, unfair market practices.” Mainstreet started the marSee Market, page 14A PAGE DESIGNED BY NICOLE MILLER
When locals were asked what they would like Routt County and their community to look like in 20 years, the most common answer was surprisingly simple. “Friendliness. That’s what people value the most,” Vision 2030 co-chair Kathy Stokes said. “And that’s great to hear, because that is our community — that sense of character.” Vision 2030 is a collaborative citizens’ effort to help define the future of the Yampa Valley, update 1994’s Vision 2020 Report of Recommendations and create a community vision. In gathering information through community meetings and surveys during the past year, Vision 2030’s recently released interim report revealed the largest percentage of respondents — 35.9 percent — were most concerned about preserving the character of the Yampa Valley. Of those who thought character was the top prior-
MATT STENSLAND/STAFF
Kathie Cummins, left, and Darlene Swain, of Fort Worth, Texas, check out bags for sale Saturday at the farmers market.
INSIDE Classifieds . . . . . . . Crossword . . . . . . . Environment . . . . . Happenings . . . . . . Horoscope . . . . . . .
ROUTT
3B 5E 6A 2A 5E
Milestones . . . . . . . Obituaries . . . . . . . South Routt . . . . . . Television . . . . . . . . Viewpoints . . . . . . .
COUNTY’S
3E 3A 7A 5E 4A
OUTSIDE
VIEWPOINTS
An afternoon thunderstorm. High of 84.
LAST WEEK: Do you think construction at Steamboat schools will cause problems at the beginning of the school year? Results/5A
To report home delivery problems, please call 970-871-4250 on Sunday from 7:30 to 9:30 a.m. Missed papers will be delivered by 10:30 a.m.
THIS WEEK: Is Delaware Sen. Joe Biden the best choice for Barack Obama’s running mate?
www.steamboatpilot.com
Page 2A
NEWSPAPER
OF
RECORD
SINCE
This week: Rebirth
DELIVERY PROBLEM?
1885
ity, more than 70 percent said that meant retaining smalltown feel and friendliness, and nearly 22 percent defined preserving character as maintaining a connection to local history and roots — with historic buildings, a Western feel and ranching tradition. Vision 2030 aims to take these subjective opinions and value judgments from area residents, then have relevant stakeholders consider and use them in tangible ways. For example, developers could keep in mind that people want a certain type of community — they’re not hoping to see strip malls and big box stores, or live in stereotypical suburb-type communities where they don’t know their neighbors. “If someone says what they really value most is friendliness, with the Steamboat 700 (proposed development), that means it should have bike paths, schools, community meeting places — all those things that create community,” Stokes said. See Vision 2030, page 14A
��������������� �����������������