{"id":2457195,"date":"2020-04-15T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-04-15T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/?p=324355"},"modified":"2020-04-15T05:00:00","modified_gmt":"2020-04-15T11:00:00","slug":"snowmass-town-council-discusses-covid-19-response-wildlife-management-jas-labor-day-experience-at-work-session","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/snowmass-town-council-discusses-covid-19-response-wildlife-management-jas-labor-day-experience-at-work-session\/","title":{"rendered":"Snowmass Town Council discusses COVID-19 response, wildlife management, JAS Labor Day Experience at work session"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-image p402_hide\">\n<div class=\"caption-container\"> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/04\/briefs-svs-120419-1024x682.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-post-image\" alt srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/04\/briefs-svs-120419-1024x682.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/04\/briefs-svs-120419-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/04\/briefs-svs-120419-768x511.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/04\/briefs-svs-120419.jpg 1292w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"><figcaption><strong>Snowmass Village seen from Brush Creek Road in January 2019.<\/strong><br \/><em>File photo\/Snowmass Sun<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">At a virtual work session April 13, Snowmass Town Council discussed and gave direction to town staff on a handful of topics, including the town\u2019s COVID-19 response, wildlife management of area bears, elk and mountain lions, and Jazz Aspen Snowmass\u2019 request to explore Buttermilk as a future venue option for its Labor Day Experience festival. Here\u2019s the recap:<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">SNOWMASS COVID-19 RESPONSE<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">At a 3 p.m. Pitkin County Board of Health special meeting April 13, the board <a id=\"N0x2bbff00N0x2a602c0:N0x2bbff00N0x2a33578\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/pitkin-county-health-board-urges-residents-to-wear-masks-in-stores-other-places\/\">issued an advisory recommending residents wear masks<\/a> in essential businesses and other areas where it\u2019s harder to practice social distancing.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">A few hours later, Markey Butler, county public health board chair and Snowmass mayor, posed to council and town staff the question of how the village should ensure all residents have access to cloth face masks and what more it can do to support the community.<\/p>\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"col\">\n<div class=\"row at-donation at-donation-mobile p-0\">\n<div class=\"col-xl-4 p-2\">\n<div data-bg=\"url(https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/AT-logo-white.png)\" class=\"p-0 mt-2 mb-2 h-75 text-center rocket-lazyload\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/AT-logo-white.png\" class=\"logo m-0 p-0 invisible\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-bg=\"url(https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/at-banner-paypal.jpg)\" class=\"col-xl-8 p-3 text-center rocket-lazyload\">\n<h3 class=\"d-inline mr-3\">Support Local Journalism<\/h3>\n<p><button class=\"btn d-inline\" type=\"button\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/donate\/?utm_source=article&amp;utm_medium=website&amp;utm_campaign=donation&amp;utm_term=&amp;utm_content=mid-article\">Donate<\/a><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cThe question becomes one of if we as a town need to put some dollars toward this because I think of those who are no longer working and $3 is $3 and $5 is $5,\u201d Butler said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">After some discussion around potentially purchasing masks for village residents from others in the Roaring Fork Valley who are making them, council decided to keep an eye on essential businesses this week to see how many people were wearing masks, indicating to staff and council members what the need may be. Town Council plans to continue its mask discussion at a regular meeting in the near future.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Council also encouraged residents to look at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website for more information on face masks, including how to make your own, and to check out the Roaring Fork Swap Facebook page, where Councilwoman Alyssa Shenk said people are selling homemade masks at reasonable prices.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Beyond helping locals get cloth masks, council also asked town staff to prepare an emergency ordinance for its April 20 regular meeting that would appropriate more funds for COVID-19 relief.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Town Council members also wanted staff to gather data on how the $100,000 the town\u2019s contributed so far to Pitkin County\u2019s COVID-19 relief fund has been utilized and how many Snowmass Village residents have applied for the relief funds.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cI think we need more money to help the community,\u201d Councilman Tom Goode said. \u201cI think we need to keep the community as number one right now, whatever that takes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">CPW BRIEFS COUNCIL ON BEAR, ELK AND MOUNTAIN LION MANAGEMENT<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Snowmass police are going to work more closely with Colorado Parks and Wildlife this summer to handle area black bears that exhibit bad behavior.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">As explained to Town Council April 13, Police Chief Brian Olson said a \u201cbad bear\u201d is one that gets habituated to foraging for human food, breaking into homes, cars and digging through trash to find it, potentially putting people in danger.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Olson said Snowmass got \u201cbeat up pretty bad\u201d with bears breaking into homes last year, and that dealing with bad bears opens up the opportunity for \u201cgood bears,\u201d or those who practice natural foraging habits, to flourish.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cSnowmass is not changing a thing really, all of our officers participate in bear hazing and trying to move bears along when they\u2019re not behaving,\u201d Olson said. \u201cWe are going to reach out more to parks and wildlife just to supplement what we do and make sure we have enough staff.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Snowmass police are also expanding their own wildlife management outreach this year, with plans to get more permanent messaging on ways property managers, visitors, part-time and full-time residents can help keep bears from accessing human food.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Last week, <a id=\"N0x2bbff00N0x2a60320:N0x2bbff00N0x2a33e30\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/bears-are-out-in-snowmass-police-encourage-starting-wildlife-safety-practices\/\">a bad bear broke into a village home and ate a loaf of bread<\/a>. Snowmass police were able to get it out of the home and notified CPW, which trapped the bear and euthanized it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cThe bear that we caught a couple of days ago came out of hibernation and the first thing he did was went and broke into two houses,\u201d Tesch said. \u201cWe\u2019re still seeing conflicts on the rise, so hopefully if we\u2019re more proactive in our response and get out there sooner we can eliminate some of these habituated problem bears that in the long run will lessen our conflicts all around.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">At the April 13 work session, Kurtis Tesch, district wildlife manager with CPW for the Aspen-Snowmass area, echoed Olson\u2019s sentiments on needing to get a better handle on the area\u2019s problem black bears.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">That\u2019s why he said CPW is pursuing a three-year bear management plan for the upper Roaring Fork Valley.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">CPW hopes to host a bear summit later this year to discuss the proposed bear management plan and collaborate with local municipalities, counties and U.S. Forest Service officials, but it may not come to fruition until next year due to the COVID-19 crisis.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cWe want to all get on the same page of how we\u2019re managing bears in the area,\u201d Tesch said. \u201cThe main focus will be to eliminate the conflicts that we\u2019re having and to increase our communication with each other to work more together as a team.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Tesch also updated council on CPW\u2019s six-year population study of the area\u2019s Avalanche Creek elk herd, noting that 40 pregnant females were captured and collared this year to help with research and tracking.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cWe\u2019re into our second year of a six-year study, everything is going as well as expected but there\u2019s no real data to share at this point but hopefully we\u2019ll get some really good results,\u201d Tesch said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">CPW is also launching a new statewide mountain lion management plan, Tesch said, which creates larger hunting boundaries and hopefully helps to stabilize the mountain lion population.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Tesch does not anticipate the change will have a significant impact on Snowmass Village or bring a large influx of hunters to the area.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">JAS TO EXPLORE BUTTERMILK AS 2021 LABOR DAY EXPERIENCE VENUE<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Snowmass Town Council members Monday expressed consensus on allowing Jazz Aspen Snowmass to explore the base of Buttermilk Ski Area as a potential 2021 Labor Day Experience venue. Read the full story <a id=\"N0x2bbff00N0x2a60380:N0x2bbff00N0x2a34538\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/jas-to-explore-buttermilk-as-2021-labor-day-experience-venue-with-snowmass-blessing\/\">HERE.<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/snowmass\/snowmass-town-council-discusses-covid-19-response-wildlife-management-jas-labor-day-experience-at-work-session\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Snowmass Village seen from Brush Creek Road in January 2019.File photo\/Snowmass Sun At a virtual work session April 13, Snowmass Town Council discussed and gave direction to town staff on a handful of topics, including the town\u2019s COVID-19 response, wildlife management of area bears, elk and mountain lions, and Jazz Aspen Snowmass\u2019 request to explore [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2457195","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-18 04:09:39","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley&#039;s Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2457195","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2457195"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2457195\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2457195"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2457195"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2457195"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}