Stuff by Geneviève Villamizar

  • Locations: Columns, Opinion Published

    Branching Out: The heady high of hens

    Branching Out: The heady high of hens thumbnail

    So, COVID has you contemplating chickens? Homebound, several of our friends have taken on a flock and it’s been fun to watch their affection blossom. It was a big step; hens live from five to ten years, so there’s little room for impulsiveness. Still interested? Read on and… read more →

  • Locations: News Published

    Fundraising made fun

    Fundraising made fun thumbnail BMX for BMS? Self-directed routes could certainly include a few laps at the Crown Mountain Bike Park. Photo by Olivia Emmer.

    After a two-year hiatus in fundraising, Basalt Middle School (BMS) is excited to launch a new annual event – and it’s not selling magazines.

    Digging deep, Principal Jennifer Ellsperman references school values to explain their shift in fundraising efforts.

    “Fundraisers in the past [entailed]… read more →

  • Locations: News Published

    Post-burn, life returns at Hanging Lake

    Post-burn, life returns at Hanging Lake thumbnail Nearly one year after the Grizzly Creek Fire came close to scorching Hanging Lake, new life returns emerges from beneath the ashes. Photo by Paula Mayer.

    Peak summer heat. Drought and Code Red winds that had brawled with billowing skies of black, gray and amber. Fifty square miles of wildfire shut I-70 down for thirteen days. Between the recent Lake Christine Fire, COVID, global warming and species collapse — the 2020 Grizzly Creek Fire… read more →

  • Locations: News Published

    Bonedale's Environmental Bill of Rights

    Bonedale’s Environmental Bill of Rights thumbnail Former Carbondale trustee and current Environmental Board member Frosty Merriott spearheaded efforts to draft the town's Environmental Bill of Rights. Courtesy photo.

    Of course a town like Carbondale has an Environmental Bill of Rights! (EBOR).

    But I sure never knew it until I began to volunteer on the Environmental Board last year. Intrigued, I wanted to learn more, so I reached out to my peers in town circles. I discovered… read more →

  • Locations: News Published

    Shippee Open Space sustains Highland cattle and elk

    Shippee Open Space sustains Highland cattle and elk thumbnail OST is charged with conserving open space Ag lands, and also to continue existing wildlife use and need, especially wintering grounds for elk. Photo by Paul Holsinger.

    There’s a precious parcel of land where the Avalanche elk herd can forage in peace, away from shoulder-season recreation on the Crown. It’s sandwiched between two chunks of private Mountain Primal Meat Company acreage. It’s enclosed in a multitude of adjacent conservation easements. It’s Pitkin County’s Shippee Open Space. read more →

  • Locations: News Published

    Burning out the old, bringing in the new

    Burning out the old, bringing in the new thumbnail Last week, the Carbondale Parks Department began a controlled burn at the Nature Park. Photo by Olivia Emmer.

    Burning the land is a spring rite practiced for centuries around the world by the indigenous and attuned peoples of Earth. It perpetuates resilient succession within forests and renewal processes across grasslands. Fire has always been a natural part of evolution, and ancient humans picked up on that.
    Carbondale… read more →

  • Locations: News Published

    A toast to open space ag lands

    A toast to open space ag lands thumbnail Photo courtesy of Woody Creek Distillers.

    Pat Scanlon, co-founder of Woody Creek Distillers (WCD), would trial nine potato varieties in search of the perfect vodka potato. In so doing, WCD became the first lessees to grow vegetables on Pitkin County Open Space and Trails ag lands.
    “Of course it would be a Colorado potato,” Scanlon… read more →

  • Locations: News Published

    Honoring women peacemakers

    Honoring women peacemakers thumbnail

    “I was worried that people would say, ‘Oh gosh, I could never bring the whole Masai village back or anything like that!’ I want readers to see the tactics of these women so they can apply them on an everyday basis as ordinary people.”
    Paonia farmer and author… read more →

  • Locations: News Published

    Sinking roots in stewardship

    Sinking roots in stewardship thumbnail Pitkin County Open Space and Trails’ Agriculture and Conservation Administrator Paul Holsinger reviews maps with regional farmers and ranchers during the first Glassier public process. Courtesy photo.

    The sole function of land — its ecosystems and all life therein — is to perpetuate itself. Plants or creatures at every (in)conceivable scale feast upon one another, building soil, circulating water, and distributing byproducts — infinitely. Land is nourishment; it’s that simple.
    A simple concept, but easy to… read more →

  • Locations: Español Published

    Siembra invernal

    Siembra invernal thumbnail Arvejas sembradas en un traslúcido de leche. Foto por Michelle Cox.

    Traducción por Dolores Duarte

    En las próximas décadas, veremos al COVID como un capítulo de plantar semillas por más tiempo; un tiempo de desaceleración y reconexión. De más tiempo en el portal, de caminatas largas y de más tiempo auténtico de naturaleza.
    En estos momentos más lentos, ¿notaste algo… read more →