News

• Valley Floor Day Instills Stewardship in a Changing Climate
• General Assembly Enters Final Days

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Valley Floor Day Instills Stewardship in a Changing Climate

On a bright spring day on the Valley Floor, more than 100 students from kindergarten through second grade explored wetlands, wildlife and local history as part of the annual Valley Floor Education Day.

“We just love providing them the opportunity to come and explore our beautiful, vibrant areas of nature, teeming with life and science lessons,” said Sarah Holbrook, executive director of the Pinhead Institute, a local STEM education nonprofit.

Throughout the day, students rotated through hands-on learning stations spread across the Valley Floor.

“This year we have a lesson on beavers, a lesson on the pH of the river, a lesson on owl pellets, which is so fun — you get to find the bones inside, basically owl vomit,” Holbrook said. “And then the historical museum is doing a lesson on the early settlers of this area.”

The Pinhead Institute hosted the event in collaboration with Sheep Mountain Alliance, the San Miguel Watershed Coalition, EcoAction Partners and the Telluride Historical Museum.

“Every year we love coming to Valley Floor Day because it’s so cool to see the kids out experiencing the landscapes that we’re working behind the scenes to protect,” said Ruthie Boyd, executive director of Sheep Mountain Alliance.

At the pond station, Boyd taught students about beavers and wetlands.

“We’re going over the Valley Floor and what it might have looked like if there weren’t people here,” Boyd said. “What it might have looked like if there were more beavers. If there were more beavers, it would have been even more of a wetland. We’re talking about what that is and why it matters that there are wetlands.”

Kendra Held of EcoAction Partners said the lessons also highlighted how beavers can help mitigate wildfire risk.

“Many adults that I’ve been speaking to are very concerned about the drought that we’re experiencing, and one of the driest and warmest winters we’ve had on record, and what that means for wildfire,” Held said. “I think for kids to understand what our strengths are, what we can do to support our ecosystems, is really important. To think about what tools we have in our toolkit — and beavers are one of them.”

That message resonated with first grader Reid Reynolds.

“[My favorite part was] learning about beavers,” Reynolds said. “That they help forest fires not happen.”

First grader Palmer Watenpaugh said he especially enjoyed learning about owls.

“I got to listen to different sounds of owls,” Palmer said. “One sounded like a ping pong ball going up and down.”

Palmer’s mother, Natalie Watenpaugh, joined the field trip and said she hopes the experience encourages environmental stewardship.

“I think especially as the world evolves, preserving these special places and educating kids on why it’s so important is crucial because they’re going to be the future generation that is going to be protecting places like this,” Watenpaugh said. “So if we can educate them this young about why they’re important, how we can enjoy them, what other animals live here, then we have a better chance of preserving places like this for our future.”

Held said she hopes the event also gives students a sense of optimism amid growing climate concerns.

“Even though, yes, there are still these big challenges that we have in our world, I think it’s important for young people to see and experience examples of collective community action and healthy ecosystems functioning in a beautiful way to weather the storms that come,” Held said.

The Valley Floor is approximately 570 acres at the entrance to Telluride. In 2009, the town purchased the land through a major community fundraising effort and placed it under a conservation easement to permanently protect it as open space.

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General Assembly Enters Final Days

Colorado’s General Assembly is set to adjourn Wednesday, marking the end of the 2026 legislative session.

In this installment of Capitol Conversation, statehouse reporter Lucas Brady Woods shares what to expect during the legislature’s final days.

Julia Caulfield (JC): The Colorado General Assembly is due to gavel out on Wednesday. So rather than focusing on a specific bill or the like today, I wanted to hear from you what that looks like. What are these final days in the legislative session like, what are lawmakers up to?

Lucas Brady Woods (LBW): The end of session really is all about getting bills passed and through the legislature, right? It’s inevitable that at this time of year there’s a little bit of a crunch.

I mean, they’ve gotten through a lot. They met over the weekend and got through a number of bills and have passed some, but they still have a lot to do.

One reason there is still a lot to do at the end of this session is because the budget really dominated the session this year and it wasn’t passed until pretty late in the session, which left less time for them to focus on other bills.

So both the House and the Senate are focused on just getting through and trying to not spend too much time on each of these bills, but really get them off the calendar and either onto the next chamber or out of the legislature into the governor’s desk.

JC: On that note, if they make it to the governor’s desk, Governor Polis has the opportunity to either sign or veto these bills. What has that looked like so far this session in terms of bills that he’s signing, things that are maybe getting a veto or kind of what his plan is for acting on all of these bills that are getting passed?

LBW: He has already started to sign bills that have been coming out of the legislature. He signed the budget and a number of other bills, including one that would tighten laws around 3D-printed firearms, and another that actually changes the overtime hour threshold for ag workers and a bunch of other bills.

There are some that he signaled he will veto most likely, like a big pro-union bill that was passed.

One thing that’s worth noting is once the legislature finishes, there are a lot of bills that he has to sign and he actually takes a tour around the state and signs bills in locations across the state. So that’s something that we’re going to see as soon as the session is over: Polis will start his bill signing tour.

JC: I acknowledge that this is not a full, accurate representation of what the General Assembly is like, but they come in for this relatively short amount of time of the year. To me, from a distance, it feels a little bit like summer camp. They’re all getting their stuff done, doing all the things. So in these final few days, summer camp is getting ready to break. What is the energy? What are lawmakers doing, or are there any celebrations or things that acknowledge the culmination of this time?

LBW: I wouldn’t call it summer camp. I would actually compare it more to high school. It’s a shorter legislative session versus an academic year, but it feels a lot like high school, with the lawmakers as the students.

But this year is different than other years that I’ve seen. It’s a lot more calm than past years.

I think part of that has to do with there aren’t as many big policies being passed this year. I mentioned earlier, the budget dominated things schedule-wise, but it also dominated things funding-wise. They did not have money, essentially, to fund policies this year because of the huge budget deficit.

So there weren’t a lot of huge controversial policies like there have been in past years. There were some, but just not as many. I think that’s created a more calm atmosphere here at the end of session.

But as we know, things can change here really quickly, so we will be watching.

JC: Well, and obviously lawmakers are wrapping up, but you are also wrapping up. Obviously, you keep working throughout the rest of the year, but your time at the Capitol building will come to a close once the session wraps as well.

So, Lucas, for you, do you have an end-of-session tradition or something that you’re going to miss about not coming to the building every day?

LBW: You know, coming to this building every day is pretty magical in a lot of ways. It’s a beautiful place, and there’s the camaraderie of the press corps and all the other reporters that are here, and we’re covering these things that are really important.

That coverage obviously does not stop, so I’m going to miss coming in here, but there’s a lot of work to be done. And it’s primary season, you know, so we are diving right into primary coverage and a big one, governor’s race, et cetera. So we’re going to be jumping right into primary coverage.

JC: It’s on to the next thing.

LBW: Yes, exactly.

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Script Club Explores Irish Dark Comedy

It’s time to go to the Script Club.

Telluride Theatre and the Wilkinson Public Library will host another installment of the Script Club this week, featuring Martin McDonagh’s “The Beauty Queen of Leenane.”

The dark comedy explores the toxic relationship between Maureen, a lonely middle-aged woman, and her mother, Mag, in rural Ireland.

McDonagh is an Irish playwright and filmmaker known for his dark and provocative humor. His works include the films “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” and “In Bruges.”

During the Script Club meeting, participants will discuss the history and themes of the play while also examining notable productions.

Copies of the script are available through the library. Additional copies can be requested by emailing [email protected].

This month’s Script Club will take place Tuesday, May 12, at 5:30 p.m. Following the discussion, the group will watch “The Banshees of Inisherin,” a film written and directed by McDonagh.

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Study Links La Niña to Increased Wildfire Risk

A new study from the University of Colorado Boulder and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration found that the El Niño-Southern Oscillation, or ENSO, is closely connected to the amount of land burned by wildfire in the Mountain West.

Last month, meteorologists announced that the La Niña weather pattern had ended after bringing below-average precipitation and warmer temperatures to the region.

According to the study, La Niña conditions are associated with more acres burned by wildfire during the summer and fall in the western United States because of drier conditions.

Andy Hoell, a senior research meteorologist at NOAA’s Physical Sciences Laboratory in Boulder, said researchers hope to further examine the connection at a more localized level but are limited by the amount of historical wildfire data available.

“Because we have area burned by wildfire data back to the 1980s and in some specific locations, you can go back a little bit further than that,” Hoell said. “So that is a place for us to continue to explore as we continue to get more data and more historical data.”

Hoell said the research could provide another tool for emergency managers and communities preparing for wildfire season.

San Miguel County, the West Region Wildfire Council and the Telluride Fire Protection District will host a wildfire preparedness discussion Wednesday, May 13, at 5:30 p.m. at the Wilkinson Public Library.

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Idaho Abortion Measure Could Reach Ballot

Abortion rights advocates in Idaho say they have gathered enough signatures to place a measure overturning the state’s near-total abortion ban on the November ballot.

For Rocky Mountain Community Radio, KHOL’s Jenna McMurtry reports that supporters submitted the petition ahead of the May 1 deadline.

Carla Smith, a physician and Victor resident, said she hopes ending the ban would encourage health care providers to return to Idaho and allow women to receive care closer to home.

“There’s now a maternal health care desert, if you will, that has been mapped out, and it’s just striking,” Smith said. “It is often hours to emergency care and even to routine care for more complicated pregnancies.”

Smith was among dozens of advocates gathering signatures throughout Teton Valley in recent months. County clerks have until July to verify the signatures.

Idaho lawmakers passed one of the nation’s strictest abortion bans in 2022. Since then, more than one-third of the state’s OB-GYN providers have either left Idaho or stopped practicing in the state.