Ranger Megan Ballard (right) chats with a familiar dog walker on the Rio Grande Trail. The dog owner said she has leashed her dogs on the trail ever since a conversation about it with Ballard two years ago.

Educator. Ambassador. Enforcement officer. Rescuer. Trash collector. Pitkin County’s Open Space and Trails rangers wear many hats, usually simultaneously. And they’ve got the stats to prove it.

(more…)

A pine marten, captured by a wildlife camera, bounds across the snow.

There’s a killer in the woods, but only small mammals need worry.

(more…)

A crew installs one of the next-gen monitoring stations on open space on Independence Pass in September.

Measuring the amount of water contained in Colorado’s largest natural reservoir is not an exact science, but the U.S. Geological Survey intends to help improve estimates. Pitkin County’s open spaces will help.

(more…)