The mountain area’s newspaper since 1958
WEEK OF FEBRUARY 27, 2025
VOLUME 66 | ISSUE 15
$2
Suicide prevention concert inspires Firefall singer to do more BY JANE REUTER JREUTER@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Firefall founder Jock Bartley was so inspired by a suicide prevention benefit concert he performed Feb. 13 in Evergreen that he plans to do more of them. Once a national spokesperson for suicide prevention, Bartley did his first concert for the cause in more than 20 years at Evergreen’s Center Stage. “I’m going to do many more of these,” Bartley said partway through the concert. Funds from ticket sales benefitted Resilience 1220, the Wooden SEE CONCERT, P16
Starting in July, Jeffco Open Space plans to mitigate 86 acres in Conifer’s Beaver Ranch Park.
COURTESY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
Jeffco plans more tree cutting in its parks to stem wildfires
LEADERSHIP BLOOMS IN SCOUT TROOP P4 RIVALRY ENDS IN A ROUT
Some residents say the work is drastic, needs more community input BY JANE REUTER JREUTER@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Jefferson County plans more forest mitigation work in several of its parks in the next two years, work outlined under a2022 Jefferson County Open Space Forest Health Plan designed to protect the areas and nearby communities from wildfire. This year, the county plans to
mitigate 86 acres in Conifer’s Beaver Ranch Park and begin similar work on 72 at Lookout Mountain Preserve. The Preserve is at the top of Lookout Mountain near the Nature Center and Boettcher Mansion. In coming years, the county will do more work at Conifer’s Meyer Ranch and Flying J parks, where some work has already been done. It will also return to
HAPPENINGS: 6 | VOICES: 10 | LIFE: 14 | PUZZLES: 19
multiple other parks where it’s done work to remove seedlings that have since grown in areas where projects first began 10 to 15 years ago. While the scale of work at each site varies, it often includes cutting large swaths of trees to help slow the spread of wildfire. The county’s report says removing stands of live trees also returns the areas to a more natural state.
A century of fire suppression has made the forests unnaturally dense and unhealthy, according to the report. “If we can keep those fires burning low to the ground because there’s greater spacing among trees, that’s healthier for our forest,” Jefferson County Commissioner Lesley SEE TREES, P7
P17
2025
VOTING STARTS
MARCH 1!
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