News

• Telluride 6th Grader Shines in State STEM Competition
• County Commissioners Move Towards Land Conservation Easement
• State Mining Division Presents to County

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Telluride 6th Grader Shines in State STEM Competition

The future is bright for STEM students in Telluride. Telluride sixth grader Ingram Olson is looking to bring some of that brightness to solar panels.

“I really wanted to focus on climate change cause it’s a constant threat to our world and the next generation after us,” Olson said. “With renewable energy, solar panels are used a lot in our region in Colorado.”

“My theory was that by coating it with a layer of certain mixtures I could improve the efficiency and to the point where I could lower the cost because of how much more efficient it was,” he said.

Olson just returned from the Colorado Science and Engineering Fair, a state competition that he qualified for after regionals in Grand Junction. After months of preparation, Olson presented his idea to improve solar panel efficiency.

“Right now, solar panels commercially produce about 700 kilowatt hours per year. Which is a lot, but it’s actually only about 20% of the sunlight that they get per day,” he said. “Current silicon panels are very expensive because you have to mine and purify them. Some new technologies can be made in the lab.”

During Olson’s research, he was connected with NREL, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Boulder. Gin Randolph, the gifted education coordinator for the Uncompahgre Board of Cooperative Education Services who assists with STEM competitions, said a conversation with NREL helped Olson’s next steps.

“I think that was a real key launching point to his methods and just going to the next level with his project because he was able to see what’s being done in the field and got some inspiration there as a student researcher, so that was really exciting,” Randolph said.

Olson came across perovskites, which he explained are promising materials.

“They’re known for their cuboctahedron crystalline structure because with that they can capture more of the light spectrum including ultraviolet,” he said.

While perovskites are hard to come by, Olson experimented with more accessible materials.

“I could test a mixture of beet juice and titanium dioxide,” he said. “In theory, the beet juice would capture more of the light spectrum like perovskites, and then the titanium dioxide facilitates the movement of electrical particles.”

That’s right—beet juice. Olson tested the mixture, along with a mixture of titanium dioxide and white vinegar, and a control in a dark room with small solar panels. He then extrapolated those results to see how they’d perform on commercial-size panels.

“They did show that the titanium dioxide and beet juice was slightly more efficient than the other two, and the titanium dioxide and white vinegar was actually less efficient than the control panels,” Olson said. “When you scale this up to a commercial size, it’s certainly not worth it, and it might actually make it cost more given that you need to coat it with titanium dioxide and beet juice.”

Ingram presented his research to a crowd in Fort Collins and won the Burt Rutan Energy Award. As for what’s next:

“I would definitely like to get my hands on perovskites, which are not commercialized yet because they’re not as weather resistant as a simple silicon panel, which can last up to 30 years,” Olson said. “Although perovskites don’t last quite as long, this is mainly because they’re so much more efficient and much less expensive because you can make them in a lab.”

Randolph said STEM education helps students experience what it’s like to be a researcher or engineer and gives them a better understanding of what that career may look like.

“STEM is one of those areas that is just so hands-on and exciting that it’s so important to provide,” Randolph said. “There aren’t that many industries directly in the Western Slope that students can tour and be involved with, so the science fair is a way to get them out there and get them exploring—just like interviewing NREL. That’s right here in Colorado, but it’s not something that you see every day. So going out to where those research sites are, or at least interviewing them as mentors, is super important.”

Ingram remains excited to continue to find solutions to climate change.

“I think definitely in the realm of climate change with constant looming problems like global warming, it’s important to keep thinking in the bigger picture and testing new things that might not have been thought of earlier,” he said. “I encourage everyone to keep thinking outwards about science, and you might end up in Fort Collins like I did.”

Those in the STEM world who are interested in connecting with students for projects or field trips can reach out to Gin Randolph at unboces.org.

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County Commissioners Move Towards Land Conservation Easement

It’s not every day that a land conservation easement opportunity comes along. Typically, conservation easements are complex agreements between landowners and land trusts with individualized prescriptions for conservation in perpetuity.

On Wednesday, San Miguel County commissioners approved $35,000 to aid in a conservation easement process for 5,720 acres in Disappointment Valley.

“This is exciting because this will be the first land conservation easement out here in Disappointment Valley and in Slickrock and Egnar,” said Janet Kask, the county’s director of parks and open space. “When Nick approached me about this, it was something that was different with its attributes but at the same time it was certainly worth considering and discussing. Again, it would be a first for our land heritage program. So far the county has preserved or at least contributed to transaction costs for almost 25,000 acres total, whether it’s in the land heritage program or conservation easements. So we would add this to that. Again, the key is retiring development rights and preserving these lands in perpetuity.”

The funds are coming from the Land Heritage Program, which sees funding from the open space mill levy. Commissioners discussed the proposal in their annual Egnar meeting, apropos given the location of Disappointment Valley.

Nick Jacobsen with Colorado West Land Trust presented alongside Kask. Jacobsen is working with the landowner through the process of a conservation easement.

“We’re looking at a working ranch,” Jacobsen said. “Yes, it did used to be owned by the Sucla family. It’s now owned by a new landowner, Martin Peachy. He has not owned land in Disappointment Valley before. He has owned land in San Miguel County and is very trusted in seeing working land remain working ranches. He works with a local ranch manager to operate this as a working cattle operation, and that’s what he’s entrusting doing with this conservation easement—continuing to produce food and fiber for our surrounding communities, to continue to provide open space that you see when you drive on Highway 141, and continue to provide wildlife habitat. Even though we can’t access it as members of the public, that’s not something that will be allowed in this conservation easement. I don’t know of a single mule deer or elk that seems to acutely understand private land boundaries—except during hunting season, when they seem to really understand it.”

The $35,000 from San Miguel County goes toward transaction costs, which total almost $100,000. The landowner has agreed to contribute over $50,000 to those same costs. Jacobsen said this is an exciting opportunity and pointed to the San Luis Valley to demonstrate the impact of subdivided land—even when undeveloped, it can restrict economic opportunities for ranching and agriculture.

“This is a unique property in the area,” Jacobsen said. “It is 5,720 acres surrounded by 90,000 acres of BLM and Forest Service leases, which makes it a functional contiguous ranch that you can trail cattle around year-round. It’s a very viable operation. It employs two people full time currently, potentially more in the future, and many more folks seasonally depending on what’s going on in the ranch.”

Parks and Open Space maintains roughly $100,000 per year in the Land Heritage Program fund for opportunities like this one. Jacobsen said the county’s contribution will be leveraged with nearly $3.7 million in state funding, which results in a $106 return in conservation value for every dollar the county contributes.

While the county is contributing financially, the agreement is between the landowner and the land trust.

“To me, a conservation easement is the ultimate exercise of private property rights,” Jacobsen said. “This is a landowner making a voluntary decision to encumber his or her land permanently and not allow subdivision development. There’s no government control. San Miguel County is not reserving any right of enforcement with a conservation easement. It is a relationship between the private nonprofit land trust and the landowner.”

Final agreements will take time. Meanwhile, staff members visited the ranch in Disappointment Valley on their drive back to Telluride to take a look at what may be the next conservation easement in San Miguel County.

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State Mining Division Presents to County

For an activity that is rarely seen by the general public, mining has a rich regulatory world. The Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety, or DRMS, presented to the San Miguel County Planning Commission on Thursday, May 8.

“Our objectives are to promote the responsible development of the state’s mineral and energy resources while protecting the public health, safety, welfare of the environment,” said Russ Means with DRMS. “We reclaim coal and minerals-mined acres back to a beneficial post-land use. We protect the environment by ensuring regulatory compliance with coal and minerals-mined sites. We coordinate regulatory and public review processes with federal, state and local agencies. We implement interagency agreements for groundwater, stormwater point source and mine waste issues.”

Means continued: “We allow for the continued development of mining while requiring that those lands be returned to a beneficial use. And we aid in the protection of wildlife and aquatic resources in conjunction with CPW and CDPHE on these issues and ensure the general welfare of the people of the state of Colorado are addressed.”

Means shared an update on mining permits in San Miguel County.

“Right now, you have 15 active mine permits,” he said. “Five of those are county pits for construction materials for your road and bridge department. We have five 112 DMOs—the DMOs are designated mining operations, which are the highest level of regulatory oversight—and then there are five construction material sites and stuff other than the county pits. There are three uranium DOE sites that are under permanent cessation, which means they are in final reclamation, and we have one uranium mine which is in temporary cessation, which means it’s in the standby process. For notices of intent, there are currently seven uranium NOIs out there and one placer mine.”

The presentation came at a convenient time. The Planning Commission is in the process of overhauling their land use codes for mining. Planning Commission Chair Lee Taylor provided insight into how the county’s codes align with others.

“For example, our concern—since most mining is on federal or state property—has to do with mitigation of impacts,” Taylor said. “So roads, traffic, housing and employment, and that’s our ball field, and we know that’s our ball field.”

Means reiterated that DRMS remains committed to keeping open communication with county partners on mining activities.

The Planning Commission is considering the draft mining regulations on Thursday, June 12. Comments are requested by June 2. This is the third draft of the regulations, which have seen two public meetings and several rounds of meetings with federal and state agencies.

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Mountain Village Roadwork Scheduled Through May 30

The Town of Mountain Village is conducting major roadway improvements from May 12 through May 30. This project addresses critical asphalt failures at key locations throughout the town.

The project will include repaving portions of Mountain Village Boulevard from the town entrance at Highway 145 to Pennington Place, and from Russell Drive to the Galloping Goose Bridge just east of Victoria Drive, the Village Court Apartments entrance and the Meadows Parking Lot.

Work takes place during weekdays and traffic control will vary by location. For updates, visit townofmountainvillage.com/current-projects.

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Lone Cone Library to Host Yard Sale and BBQ May 10

It’s spring cleaning season. If you find yourself sifting through old clothes or barely used outdoor items, consider the Lone Cone Library.

The library in Norwood is hosting a community yard sale and BBQ all day on Saturday, May 10.

They are accepting donations of usable and sellable items. Call the library at 970-327-4833 for details. Those interested in reserving a table for the barbecue can visit loneconelibrary.org to sign up

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House Republicans Advance Budget Bill That Could Sell Public Lands

Selling public lands could be on the table as Congress attempts to pass a federal budget.

During a 13-hour hearing Tuesday, Democrats on the House Natural Resources Committee repeatedly introduced amendments to the spending bill. One Democrat called it the “most cartoonishly extreme environmental destruction bill this country has ever seen.”

The bill would mandate new oil and gas lease sales across public lands in Western states, reduce the royalties fossil fuel companies pay to lease, and charge the public a fee to comment during environmental review processes.

Republicans voted down amendment after amendment, not answering questions or engaging in any debate. This prompted Colorado Democrat Rep. Joe Neguse to ask whether they were under a “gag order.”

“Why are you here? Why attend this hearing? Just to sit here for 10 hours and say nothing? This is what your constituents pay you for? I mean, why not defend your values?” Neguse said.

At 11 p.m., Republicans Rep. Mark Amodei of Nevada and Rep. Celeste Maloy of Utah introduced an amendment to the proposed budget that would prompt the sale of thousands of acres of public lands in both states.

Maloy said there were certain lands that everyone agrees should not be for sale, but this land in southwestern Utah would help reduce the federal deficit and assist local communities.

“Approximately 82% of the county is federally managed, mostly BLM,” Maloy said. “The high percentage of federal lands impacts the local government’s ability to work on economic and transportation development, manage natural resources and fully take advantage of recreational activities.”

Democrats were astonished at the amendment, many questioning why the Republicans would introduce it in the “dark of the night,” without a hearing before the Public Lands Subcommittee and without any maps or financial analysis.

Rep. Jeff Hurd of Western Colorado was the lone Republican vote against the amendment. It passed and the bill will be considered by the full House.

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Colorado Senate Advances Ballot Measures to Fund Free School Meals

The Colorado Senate has passed legislation to send two ballot measures to voters this November to bolster funding for free school meals.

For the Colorado Capitol News Alliance, Jenny Brundin reports.

Story begins at: 17:17

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Carbondale Nonprofit Becomes Lifeline for Immigrant Youth

Each day after school, dozens of local students head to the Stepping Stones center in Carbondale on Colorado’s Western Slope.

The nonprofit offers free, bilingual programs ranging from tutoring and outdoor activities to mental health and crisis support. It has also become a second home for many, including a growing number of Spanish-speaking students from immigrant families.

For Rocky Mountain Community Radio, Aspen Public Radio’s Eleanor Bennett reports.

Story begins at: 18:00

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