Desiccated cheatgrass, now gone from Red Wind Point Open Space.

On a wind-swept mesa perched above the Crystal River at Red Wind Point Open Space, what’s most noticeable on the landscape is what’s not there – cheatgrass.

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A cow elk and calf at Sky Mountain Park in July 2022.

The hikers and mountain bikers who hit the trails of Sky Mountain Park on opening day (May 16) will join an impressive array of mammals and birds on the landscape – a testament to successful management of the area for both wildlife needs and human recreation.

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The fen at North Star Nature Preserve in 2022.

In the 1950s, a rare old-growth wetland near Aspen began slowly dying. Thousands of years in the making, the “fen,” as such wetlands are known, was succumbing to the forces of humankind – namely, an intentional effort to drain it for agricultural purposes. Two years ago, Pitkin County Open Space and Trails stepped in to alter its fate.

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