Sunday, February 20th - Photo Of The Week... A small herd of Elk grazing on the hillsides above the switchbacks of FDR 128, as the first rays of sunrise light the trees with color... A photo of the scene taken on Wednesday morning has been chosen as this weeks featured "Photo Of The Week"...

Elk grazing at sunrise on the hillsides above the switchbacks of FDR 128 on Wednesday morning.

Saturday, February 19th - Concerns Raised Over Big Thompson Water Quality... In an article published in the Friday edition of the, "Estes Park Trail Gazette", it was reported that concerns over the water quality of the Big Thompson River have recently been voiced by the, "Colorado Water Quality Control Commission"... The Commission plans to investigate the results of a 2003 study that indicates excessive levels of various chemicals present in the river from below the, "Estes Park Power Plant", downstream to Loveland... The article stated, "The study found the following in the water: silver, arsenic, copper, iron, mercury, manganese, lead, nickel, benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylenes, methyl tertiary butyl ether, total coliforms, e coli, total organic carbon, calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium, sulfate, chloride, bicarbonate, ammonia, nitrate+nitrate, kjeldahl nitrogen, orthophosphate, dissolved and total phosphorous... The Commission’s primary concern is for the discharge of copper into drinking water supplies that exceeds water quality standards... As much as about 100 times the water quality standard has been released into the Big Thompson River in the last few years... Excessive amounts of copper are lethal to fish and can make humans sick with gastrointestinal problems... Research studies indicate that even small excesses of copper in drinking water may contribute to Alzheimer’s disease and cardiovascular disease... Copper in drinking water has also caused fatal cirrhosis of the liver in the past, but is a rare problem today..." The complete, "Trail Gazette", article can be found via the link provided below...

Friday, February 18th - Trailer Jack-knifed Near Combat Rock... FDR 128 was closed for about an hour this afternoon as residents worked to free a trailer which had jack-knifed just above switchbacks near Combat Rock... The vehicle had almost made the steep rise when it slid back down and into the rocks, completely blocking the road... This occurred right at the time that children attending Big Thompson Elementary were being dropped off... The Stage Stop Café provided warmth and shelter for the children, as well as giving them free chips and hot chocolate... Resident and parent, Bridget Spangler, walked down to the bus stop in Drake and watched over the children at the Stage Stop until their parents could get down to pick them up... The vehicle was eventually freed with the help of resident Greg Cooper and his older Land Cruiser... Many thanks to the Stage Stop Café, Bridget, Greg and the others who worked to get our road open and making sure that our children were safe...

Truck and trailer jack-knifed near Combat Rock at 4:30PM	Greg Cooper helps pull truck free with his '75 Land Cruiser

Thursday, February 17th - Volunteers Needed For Larimer County’s Parks & Open Lands... Volunteers are needed for Larimer County Parks and Open Lands programs and projects beginning this spring... Interested individuals are invited to attend the next Volunteer Orientation on Saturday, February 19, from 9 – 11:30 a.m., at The Bison Visitor Center at, "Carter Lake"... There are a variety of volunteer opportunities to anyone interested in restoration, re-vegetation, recreation or education programs... The orientation will focus on details about each of our programs and on valuable training and other benefits... Snacks and beverages will be provided... To secure a spot call: (970) 679-4553 or email Pbrennan@larimer.org to sign up... More information can be found by clicking link below...

Wednesday, February 16th - Horsetooth Mountain Park Prescribed Burn Today... The, "Larimer County Parks and Open Lands", Department staff will conduct slash pile burns today at "Horsetooth Mountain Park", west of Fort Collins... The pile burns are part of an on-going wildfire mitigation/forest health project in the Park, involving mechanical thinning and hand piling tree limbs and dead material... The slash piles will be burned when there is at least 3 inches of snow on the ground to prevent fire spread... An interagency team of trained firefighters will conduct the burns in accordance to, "Larimer County Burn Permit Regulations"... Smoke from the burning piles will be visible from Fort Collins, Loveland and along the Northern Front Range... Please do not call 911 or your local law enforcement, as they are already aware of burns... If you have any questions, please contact Mark Caughlan at (970) 498-5600... The Horsetooth Mountain Park Forest Management Project has been going on since the fall of 2001, and will continue in the future... Approximately 60 acres along the South park boundary and 20 acres along the North park boundary have been treated to date...

3rd Annual Reusable Art Contest For K-12 Students... Are you a K-12 student in Larimer County??? Are you creative and do you want a chance to win some great prizes??? If so, then enter the student "Reusable Art" contest, where kids make art from trash... But hurry; the deadline for entries is Monday, February 28th...

Rules

• Contest open to all K-12 students in Larimer County.
• Artwork can be of any kind, but must be made with scrap materials (old cans, used paper, scrap metal, etc.)
• Artwork may be designed to hang on wall, hang from ceiling, or stand freely.
• If free-standing, it should not be more than 18 inches wide or long.
• Judges will choose 12 finalists by March 11.
• On April 23, finalists’ artwork will be displayed at the open house at the Garbage Garage, Larimer County’s waste and recycling education center (located at the landfill).
• Visitors to the open house will vote for three grand prize winners; in case of a tie, judges will make the final decision.
• Prizes: Finalists will receive a package of “recycling goodies;” each grand prize winner will also receive $50 and have their artwork displayed at the Garbage Garage for one year.
• Winners agree to the use of their name on Larimer County’s Web site, in press releases, and in other means of public display.

Participating teachers or individual students: Call 498-5772 by February 28 to make arrangements to have your artwork judged. Individual entries should be dropped off at the Larimer County Solid Waste Department's downtown Fort Collins office at 200 W. Oak, Suite 4000, Fort Collins. The office is open from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.   Questions? Call 498-5772. Complete informaton can be found via the link provided below...

Tuesday, February 15th - Winter Storm Warning Lifted... The National Weather Service in Denver has lifted the Winter Storm Warning previously set to expire at 10PM for the Drake, Glen Haven and Storm Mountain areas... Roads remain slick with icing beginning to occur in many spots... The narrows of the Big Thompson Canyon are icy on the curves... FDR 128 is improved from this morning with no accidents or ditched vehicles as of 6PM... Dropping temperatures overnight are expected to increase icing in the usual areas... Residents are advised to use extreme caution if traveling tonight or early in the the morning, particularly on Railsback Hill and the switchbacks of FDR 128... 4WD, chains and/or adequate snow tires are highly recommended...

Winter Storm Warning Issued... The National Weather Service in Denver has extended a "Winter Storm Warning" to include Larimer County, northwest Weld County, and the foothills of Boulder County , including the Drake, Glen Haven,. and Storm Mountain areas, until 10PM this evening... This Is A Warning And Not A Watch!!! SNOW WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THIS EVENING AND WILL BE HEAVY AT TIMES. STORM TOTAL SNOWFALL WILL BE 10 TO 20 INCHES IN THE FOOTHILLS...AND 5 TO 10 INCHES IN THE FORT COLLINS AREA. TRAVEL WILL BE HAZARDOUS AND MAY BECOME IMPOSSIBLE ON LESS TRAVELED ROADS IN THE FOOTHILLS. IF YOU MUST TRAVEL...ALLOW PLENTY OF EXTRA TIME AND CHECK THE LATEST ROAD AND WEATHER CONDITIONS BEFORE LEAVING... This warning has been lifted for our area...

FDR 128 Extremely Hazardous... 9:00AM UPDATE: FDR 128 remains extremely hazardous with travel being discouraged... Larimer County remains on, "Accident Alert", with snow continuing to fall at a moderate rate... Accumulations up to 6 inches have been reported on Storm Mountain...

"Railsback Hill" on FDR 128 at 9AM appearing more like a ski run than a road.

8:00AM UPDATE: Multiple accidents are being reported throughout the Northern Colorado area with area roads being extremely slick... Emergency services are currently responding to multi-vehicle accident on Hwy 34, three miles west of Drake near mile marker 71... Larimer County has just gone to, "Accident Alert", status...

As of 7:30AM: It is being reported that several vehicles are stuck on FDR 128 with the road being nearly impassable... The switchbacks are reported as being a sheet of ice with even fully studded and chained 4WD vehicles experiencing extreme difficulty in this area... The extreme icing in this area is partially due to the heavy use of Mag-chloride as a dust inhibitor last summer now causing the snow to melt on contact with the road surface then refreezing to ice as temperatures drop... Recent warm temperatures also are a contributing factor to the icing... Any travel on FDR 128 at this time is highly discouraged... 

Fire Truck Insurance Soon Due... This year's insurance for the SMERT fire truck is soon coming due... SMERT, Storm Mountain Emergency Response Team, provides emergency services to the Storm Mountain area and are in many cases our first responders... Having a fire truck on location can save valuable time in emergency situations... SMERT is asking residents who wish to contribute to the insurance to mail a check to:

Snow Falling Across Area... As of 6AM, snow is continuing to fall across our area with accumulations of 1-2 inches being reported... Roads are snowy with some icing in the usual spots on FDR 128... Residents are advised to use extreme caution and allow extra time for travel this morning... Chains, 4WD, and adequate snow tires are recommended on FDR 128... Snowfall is expected to continue through the day... No official watches or warnings are currently in effect for our area...

News posts from previous weeks are located in our "News Archive" which can be found by clicking the button below:

Storm Mountain Net