The West

EDIBLE ASPEN In his cowboy hat and blue jeans rolled over muddy boots, Tai Jacober seems more Marlboro Man than green crusader, but he’s a little of both.
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ASPEN PUBLIC RADIO If you’re a skier, you’ve probably heard of brands like K2 and Salomon. But what about Meier Skis? The one-man operation, which handcrafts custom skis from local wood, is part of a boom of boutique ski makers that’s making its mark on the industry.
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AMERICAN PROFILE Steve Borbas sits inside of a small shack at the top of Tenderfoot Mountain, waiting for a radio signal to flip the switch and light up a Christmas tradition that he and other volunteers have prepared for weeks and maintained for decades in Salida, Colo. (pop. 5,236). On the Friday evening after...
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ASPEN PUBLIC RADIO Many trees on the White River National Forest are dying. Bark beetles are killing lodgepole pines. Aspens are experiencing what biologists call sudden aspen decline. So the Forest Service is trying to actively manage for the future forest. It’s part of a national priority called “forest resiliency.” But some critics wonder...
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HIGH COUNTRY NEWS  She had three dogs at her feet, and her girlfriend sat beside her on a motel lobby couch. The two cats were at a kennel. Their VW van was full of climbing gear, and their motel room had a couple changes of clothes. “I’ve been thinking a lot about impermanence,” Ashley...
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ASPEN PUBLIC RADIO In the midst of the Great Depression, thousands of out-of-work young men from across the country found jobs in Colorado in the Civilian Conservation Corps. The government relief program hired laborers to build roads, cut trails and raise buildings on public lands throughout the United States. Nearly eighty years later, their...
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