The key to life OPINION

96% of our terrestrial birds rely on insects supported by keystone plants.”

Branching Out

By Geneviève Villamizar

Returning West as a young adult, two things blew me away: its screaming blue skies and the alkaline pungency of its landscape. My entire physical body recognized both as home; deserts and mountains were the playground of my earliest years. In the weeks before moving onto campus, I gathered armfuls of tall western sage, rabbitbrush and brome. I wove in asters and larkspur, blazing star and sunflowers. The hall outside my dorm room was so strong of scent, I was warned that “burning incense is against the rules.”

Every region on Earth has its own “incense,” the fragrance of its dominant flora, commingled. Many of these plants are keystone species, critical to sheltering, nurturing and feeding the majority of wildlife species, explains the National Wildlife Federation. “Without keystone plants in the landscape, butterflies, native bees and birds will not thrive;

Letters

Re: Thoughts to share

Like so many of us in the West, we live large and play hard, no bandwidth for the “little stuff”; turning our sights instead to the grandiose or epic. As recreators, we are public land users, conquering rivers and mountains, rock and ice, to engage our passions. (I am looking in a mirror as I write that.) So when I bring these ubiquitous species home, it’s an effort to capture every grand adventure, epiphany, achievement or ass-kicking the backcountry has given me.

A deeper lesson, indelibly marked by place, has risen for me: a commitment to honor these places…

…by staying out of them.

Headline after headline, study after study reports the ways that our playtime is pushing species to the brink — or outright extinction. I continue to look in that mirror and ask myself: Why disturb places so critical to others’ survival… when I don’t really have to?

From the most delicate larvae ensconced in subterranean mycorrhizae… to apex predators providing ecological services… to each everyday, ordinary species in between… I’ve had to ask myself: Am I more important than them?

It is not a loss to me. I’m

In a recent letter to The Sopris Sun, a writer shared her observations that school-aged children use the library computers to play violent video games, implying that shooting games lead to school shootings, and suggesting that library staff should prohibit access to these games in the library.

As the writer observed, our library is a gathering place for middle schoolers after school, particularly on early release Wednesdays. And many kids use our public computers to play an online game called “Shell Shockers”, in which the player is an armed egg fighting against other eggs with guns. The game is rated E10+, which means that the content is “generally suitable for ages 10 and up” and “may contain cartoon, fantasy or mild violence, mild language and/or minimal suggestive themes.”

We recognize that not everything accessible through our computers will be appropriate for all audiences. However, we must abide by library policy, which states that “the responsibility to choose to access or not access specific materials found in the library rests with the individual customer. No library staff member or any other person, group, or organization should restrict an individual’s access to materials. The discovering other wilds, places of obvious overlap between wild and developed. Feral places along roadways, edges of parking lots, abandoned places where nature is taking over again. In these borderlands, I can still get my dose of wild from the synanthropic species — the creatures that aren't as bothered by us and, in fact, have found ways to leverage our resources and infrastructure to their own advantage. This still makes for an impressive immersion into the lives and antics of residential deer herds, hawks, eagles, ravens, magpies, migratory songbirds, wild turkeys, coyotes, foxes, raccoons, whistle pigs, skunks — even simple ol’ squirrels or gophers.

I’m Homo sapiens, sling shot in hand. So are you, I hope. Here we are, peering up at the goliath of climate change and mass extinction. What can a feeble primate such as you or I do in the face of all that?

We can introduce keystone species at home. We can jumpstart wildness in the space we rent or own or steward by planting all those common, ordinary “weeds” right up to our door. A triumph today can be making a difference. A score today can be the number of living things that show up for you. A rite of passage can be the first time you achieve a goal made for the planet instead of yourself. It feels pretty freaking awesome, to be honest.

When we plant a rabbitbrush responsibility for selecting what a minor may read or view lies solely with the parent or legal guardian.”

I know how hard it is to send kids off to school with reports of mass shootings constantly in the news and on our minds. Fortunately, research has shown no link between violent video games and mass shootings. In particular, a recent study at the University of Oxford debunked the theory, with the lead researcher stating that “despite interest in the topic by parents and policy-makers, the research has not demonstrated that there is cause for concern.”

On early release Wednesdays, and at other times throughout the week, we provide library-led activities in our Community Room, but many kids choose to spend their time on the public access computers. We’re happy to be a place that kids want to be, and we encourage families to have open discussions and set personal boundaries with their children before allowing them to visit the library on their own.

Tracy Kallassy, Carbondale Library branch manager

Diplomatic solutions for Ukraine!

Okay everyone, time to face up to the very real and looming possibility that the intensification of this Russian/ or sage (just an example among many species to play with), we support an ecological web of life. So much bigger than you or me (how’s that for an epiphany or an epic?). Forty-four moths and butterflies use sage; 28, rabbitbrush. Beyond pollen or nectar, imagine how many moles, voles, rabbits, snakes, toads, etc. scurry from bush to bush for burrowing, cover or shade. Deer and elk eat either when there’s little else.

Less grandiose to some of us? Birds. Ducking under a sage last week, I looked up and discovered a nest, so delicate, so perfectly woven into its branches, yet invisible to any from the outside. That feathered brainiac built in the midst of a flying, crawling food buffet.

I grew up on Marty Stouffer’s Wild America, but this stuff, in real life? Is way cooler: moths getting it on, squirrels kickin’ ass at parkour, ravens duking it out with hawks… our fellow sentients, living out lives just as we are, replete with adventures, epiphanies, triumphs and downfalls.

Small, insignificant or common species are the key to life on this planet, and the key to saving it. Before we can save the rhino, orangutan or whale, we self-indulgent humans might look to save ourselves. But without saving these “plain old” species first, we cannot save the grand — or even ourselves.

Ukrainian, NATO/American, globalist proxy war has already led us into WWIII. There still may be time for diplomacy and resolution, but all of us, no matter what our political persuasion, must now fearlessly make it known to our local, state and federal officials that they must immediately find diplomatic, de-escalating solutions to stop this madness. I certainly haven’t heard anything about finding diplomatic solutions, have you? We can’t be fooled again, can we? And now the threat is nuclear. Yes, what’s happening in Ukraine is horrifying. Putin is certainly a war criminal, and our hearts go out to these poor people, but please, step back and get a whiff of the danger we’re all in if this proxy war isn’t resolved diplomatically. I don’t pretend to know all the ins and outs of it, but I sure can smell a putrid pack of war-like, nefarious, totalitarianminded rats scurrying around the globe. Can’t you? Their hidden networks of turd-filled nests have now infested just about every major sector of our society…

Sounds a little crazy, I know (and I sincerely hope I’m the lune), but it’s just that history is filled with supercrazies that simply want to kill people and destroy everything good. Our planet and continued on page 18

Editor Raleigh Burleigh 970-510-3003 news@soprissun.com

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The Sopris Sun Board meets at 6:30 p.m. on second Thursdays at the Third Street Center.

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Our Underwriters and Nonprofit Partners!

Seeding collaboration

On Feb. 1, two nonprofits focused on local food systems resilience — the Farm Collaborative, headquartered at Cozy Point Ranch near Snowmass Village, and Seed Peace, located at Sunfire Ranch south of Carbondale — announced that they will be joining forces “to increase efficiencies while maximizing impact.” Seed Peace’s farmer and production programs will expand at both sites and continue under the banner of the Farm Collaborative.

“This partnership between two great organizations ushers in a new era of collaboration as the regenerative farming renaissance emerges in the Roaring Fork Valley,” said Jason Sewell, fifth generation owner of Sunfire Ranch.

Mountain Fair 52

The 52nd annual Carbondale Mountain Fair poster design contest is underway. The theme this year — Where The Wild Things Grow — “is a celebration of the flora and fauna (and possibly fairies!) that inhabit our greater mountain community,” announced Carbondale Arts on Feb. 7. Interested artists should submit a welldeveloped concept for the design along with at least three work samples by April 1. For more details, contact brian@ carbondalearts.com

RJ Paddywacks

Cool Bricks Studio

White River Books

Alpine Animal Hospital

Novus Glass

Nonprofit Partners

Wilderness Workshop

5point Film Festival

Basalt Library

Aspen Strong

Carbondale Rotary

Carbondale Animal Shelter

Carbondale Arts

Carbondale Chamber of Commerce

Interested in becoming an Underwriter or Nonprofit Partner in 2023? Email Todd@ soprissun.com or call 970-987-9866

Right on track

The Roaring Fork School District’s graduate rate exceeded the state average for on-time graduation in 2022, with 85.2% of students graduating on-time as compared to the 82.3% state average. The local dropout rate, however, was slightly higher at 2.5% compared to the state’s 2.2% in 2022.

Centennial plate

Coloradans can now vote to determine the Centennial State’s 150th anniversary license plate design. The Colorado Division of Motor Vehicles has narrowed the contest down to three options, and the deadline to vote is Feb. 15. Learn more at DMV.Colorado.gov/ HistoricColorado

Planning ahead

Permits for Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness overnight trips in the 2023 season will become available for reservation on Feb. 15. You can plan ahead by visiting www.recreation.gov

YOUR

Call

Students at Crystal River Elementary School (CRES) have been making the most of winter with outdoor sports organized by P.E. teacher Marty Madsen. Ice skating and Nordic skiing have long factored into the physical education program developed by Madsen, who is in his 20th year with the school. Prior to COVID, the kids would shuttle to the Gus Darien Arena for skating. Beginning in 2021, with help from Cuc Construction, the school now has its own mini rink. “I love my job, and I finally got to the point where I really get to do these fun and unique things that kids can experience at school,” said Madsen.

Scholarship season

Colorado Mountain College encourages prospective students to think about securing funds through March 1 for the upcoming school year. In partnership with FirstBank, opportunities include up to $2,375 for a student who is the first in their family to pursue a degree, as well as a new $100,000 endowment to provide scholarships each year in perpetuity. Learn more at coloradomtn.academicworks.com

Hospitality Marketing

Olivia Savard, born and raised in the Valley, and Marlene Neidert, former marketing project manager for Visit Glenwood Springs, have launched a new agency “to help local businesses in the tourism and hospitality industries navigate the ever-changing world of social media and digital marketing.” Learn more about Hospitality Marketing at www. hospitalitymarketing.org

Thanks, Dr. Exby!

After eight years serving students, faculty and staff at Colorado Mountain College (CMC) Spring Valley campus

Working Together

For Pets And Their People

2801 CR 114 Glenwood Springs, (970)947-9173CO and Glenwood Center, vice president and dean Dr. Heather Exby is retiring at the end of the spring semester. Exby “championed” the $5 million Promise of Spring Valley capital campaign, wrote CMC President and CEO Dr Carrie Hauser in a press release. “We are profoundly grateful for all that Heather has done…”

CARE has 5 dogs and 5 cats available for adoption.

They say it’s your birthday!

Folks celebrating another trip around the sun this week include: Charley Hill (Feb. 9); Diego Gonzales, Sara McAllister and Pam Rosenthal (Feb. 10); Georgia Chamberlain, Linda Criswell, Anne Goldberg, Thomas Mack, Sydney McBrayer and Hamilton Pevec (Feb. 11); Raleigh Burleigh, Sam Hayes, Ciara Low, Faith Magill, Meghan Murphy, Sarah and Laura Nelson, Jamie Ramge, Gene Schilling and The Sopris Sun (Feb. 12); Amy Rota (Feb. 13); Gabriela Meijia, Winnie Steindler-Crampton and Andrea Stewart (Feb. 14); Jennifer Moss, Scott Levine, Dave Plumb and Megan Tackett (Feb. 15).

RJ offers a “C.A.R.E. new adoptive including a “Paws for a first time

RJ PADDYWACKS offers a “C.A.R.E. package” for new adoptive families, including a “Paws for Points” plan and a first time 15% discount for your new pet.

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