Aspen Journalism

Aspen Journalism Aspen Journalism is a nonprofit journalism organization based in Aspen, Colorado.

Our mission is to produce investigative and in-depth journalism for those with a stake in the Roaring Fork Valley and beyond. Aspen Journalism:

covers local government organizations and the issues on their agendas;

makes local public data and information more accessible;

produces investigative reports;

collaborates with other local news producers on stories and projects; and

produces news content on the Aspen Journal website and on Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr.

Aspen City Council's 4-1 vote to enact a Stage 3 water shortage comes after an exceptionally hot, dry winter and worseni...
06/09/2026

Aspen City Council's 4-1 vote to enact a Stage 3 water shortage comes after an exceptionally hot, dry winter and worsening drought conditions in the Roaring Fork Valley. New restrictions limit outdoor irrigation to two days a week, ban filling pools and water features, and increase rates for the city’s highest water users. Officials said the goal is to reduce overall water demand by 15% to 25% while protecting streamflows in Castle Creek.

At its regular meeting Tuesday, Aspen City Council approved staff’s recommendation of moving to a Stage 3 Water Shortage in a 4-1 vote.

Federal officials say a new plan for managing the Colorado River will rely on a shorter-term framework designed to respo...
06/09/2026

Federal officials say a new plan for managing the Colorado River will rely on a shorter-term framework designed to respond more quickly to worsening drought and fluctuating reservoir levels, according to reporting by Heather Sackett.⁠
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The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation plans to issue a 10-year framework with updated operating guidelines every two years after the seven basin states failed to agree on a long-term water-sharing deal. ⁠
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Colorado's representative in the negotiations, Becky Mitchell, raised concerns: “How do we fund and finance if we’re constantly renegotiating? And how do we create the certainty that the 40 million people deserve?”⁠
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Officials said the plan may initially mirror a Lower Basin proposal that calls for additional conservation cuts through 2028, while experts warned that temporary measures to prop up Lake Powell do not address the river’s long-term imbalance driven by climate change and overuse.⁠

Acting Commissioner of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Scott Cameron said at an annual conference on Colorado River policy that the agency will be using a 10-year framework, issuing new operational guidelines every two years.

Residents of Cavern Springs Mobile Home Park near Glenwood Springs are rallying to raise enough money to buy the land be...
06/08/2026

Residents of Cavern Springs Mobile Home Park near Glenwood Springs are rallying to raise enough money to buy the land beneath their homes before a June 13 deadline, competing against a Texas-based investment group.

Community organizations, local governments and donors have contributed more than $6.5 million toward an $11 million goal needed to secure financing for the $23 million property. The effort reflects a broader regional push to preserve mobile home parks as affordable housing, though advocates say rising sale prices, infrastructure costs and limited funding make resident ownership increasingly difficult to achieve.

“What we did last year — bringing the local governments, the private businesses and the philanthropic community together — was described as ‘miraculous,’ but I don't want us to believe that we can't do it again. We just did something for the first time that now we need to better understand...

The White River National Forest has lost roughly one-third of its year-round workforce since 2024, raising concerns abou...
06/08/2026

The White River National Forest has lost roughly one-third of its year-round workforce since 2024, raising concerns about the agency’s long-term ability to manage the nation’s busiest national forest.

The story details how hiring freezes, layoffs and early retirements under the Trump administration have hollowed out recreation, engineering and specialist positions, while outside hiring for entry-level jobs remains largely stalled.

Former forest leaders and employees warn that without recruiting and training new staff, institutional knowledge and future leadership pipelines could disappear, threatening projects, land management and visitor services across the forest.

All departments/programs at the White River National Forest have seen reductions in the workforce, except the forest leadership team, which has been able to fill positions with Forest Service employees who have left other roles within the agency. Recreation, engineering and specialist roles have bee...

Expanded traffic monitoring in Aspen is revealing how congestion has spread beyond Highway 82 and into surrounding neigh...
05/28/2026

Expanded traffic monitoring in Aspen is revealing how congestion has spread beyond Highway 82 and into surrounding neighborhoods and commuter routes.

New AI-powered counters showed Power Plant Road carried about 7% of Aspen’s total traffic in 2025 and up to 34% of afternoon peak traffic as drivers bypassed Highway 82 bottlenecks.

Officials are using the data to guide future traffic management, including a new “Michigan left” intersection near Woody Creek and proposed West End signage and roadway restrictions aimed at improving safety and reducing congestion.

Officials also look to increased RFTA ridership as a solution, with Pitkin County Commissioner Francie Jacober suggesting that free fares for bus trips systemwide should be considered.

An analysis of a calendar year's worth of data confirms that the side-entrance traffic makes up a significant portion of total traffic, as drivers seek to beat the gridlock that typically chokes Highway 82 during the morning and afternoon peak periods. Added together, vehicle counts from Highway 82....

Glenwood Springs’ planning commission voted 5–1 to revoke a decades-old permit for an ICE short-term detention facility ...
05/01/2026

Glenwood Springs’ planning commission voted 5–1 to revoke a decades-old permit for an ICE short-term detention facility after evidence showed repeated violations of a 12-hour holding limit since 2011. Prior to the key P&Z meeting, Glenwood staff recommend upholding ICE facility’s permit. ⁠
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The decision followed community complaints and data analysis revealing a pattern of overlong detentions. ⁠Officials warned the facility may not immediately close, citing possible federal preemption and legal challenges.⁠
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This story was produced through a social justice reporting collaboration between Aspen Journalism and Aspen Public Radio.

About 160 residents attended the hearing, and the planning commission received a standing ovation after it revoked the permit, but Hanlon said it will be difficult to enforce the decision if ICE, the GSA or the landlord appeals within the seven-day period or simply continues operating the facility w...

An Immigration and Customs Enforcement data analysis by Aspen Journalism of an ICE detention facility in Glenwood Spring...
04/28/2026

An Immigration and Customs Enforcement data analysis by Aspen Journalism of an ICE detention facility in Glenwood Springs found at least 17 over-limit detentions since 2011, prompting scrutiny and an April 28 hearing held by the city’s planning commission to decide whether to revoke the facility’s special use permit after multiple detainees were found to have been held there for more than 12 hours.

Ahead of the hearing, city officials have recommended upholding the special use permit for an ICE detention facility despite data showing repeated violations of its 12-hour holding limit. Instead of revoking the special use permit, they suggested requiring ICE and the GSA to provide “quarterly reporting of the number of detainees that have been processed at the facility and the amount of time that each detainee is held in order to determine compliance.”

Glenwood Springs officials are recommending that the city’s planning and zoning commission uphold a special use permit approved in 2003 for Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s short-term holding facility and administrative office near the Glenwood Meadows shopping area, despite data that shows...

Part 3: The history of B. Clark Wheeler, arguably one of Aspen's first larger-than-life characters in its long lineage o...
04/25/2026

Part 3: The history of B. Clark Wheeler, arguably one of Aspen's first larger-than-life characters in its long lineage of big personalities. As the indomitable man who trekked through driven winter snows to hammer a few stakes into pristine wilderness and name that 1880 mining camp “Aspen,” he lit a long fuse in time that begot today’s bastion of billionaires. ⁠

Possibly his betrothal hit a snag, or the countess puffery may have been a set up for a pretextual return to Aspen in 1907, when he took back control of the Aspen Times, announced he was running for the state House of Representatives and trumpeted reopening the Little Annie and Famous Tunnel.

Part two of a three-part series about B. Clark Wheeler recounts a brief, turbulent mayoralty and mounting legal troubles...
04/23/2026

Part two of a three-part series about B. Clark Wheeler recounts a brief, turbulent mayoralty and mounting legal troubles during Aspen’s silver boom.

Elected in 1890, Wheeler balanced roles as a promoter, miner and politician while facing accusations of manipulation and financial instability. As lawsuits and debts mounted, he delayed obligations and maneuvered assets. His experience reflects both his volatile leadership style and the broader speculative, boom-and-bust conditions shaping Aspen’s early development.⁠
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The Aspen Times Aspen Historical Society

Newspaper accounts reported claims against Wheeler, painting a pattern of manipulation and a life under pressure. But in the frontier era, when physical distance from problems created more insulation, Wheeler put off what he could by traveling and conducting state senate business, as he delayed and....

Without B. Clark Wheeler, Aspen might still be Ute City. This is the first of a three-part series by Tim Cooney for the ...
04/23/2026

Without B. Clark Wheeler, Aspen might still be Ute City. This is the first of a three-part series by Tim Cooney for the Aspen Journalism History Desk chronicling the life and times of B. Clark Wheeler, one of the most influential figures in Aspen history.⁠

https://aspenjournalism.org/b-clark-wheeler-a-nimble-man-in-his-time/

The yarn is often spun of Wheeler’s Herculean mid-February 17-day roundtrip snowshoe odyssey from Leadville to Ute City over Independence Pass to inspect mining prospects and lay out a town.

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1280 Ute Avenue, Suite 9
Aspen, CO
81611

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