A knife through the heart of community and wildlife

Tom Cardamone, Guest Commentary

As I ponder the important questions about the future of the open space in Aspen that are on the upcoming ballot, I was reminded of the summer of 1985 when I was driving into town with Nat Reed. Nat was a dignified statesman and conservationist who co-authored the Endangered Species Act and served as Assistant Secretary of the Interior in both the Nixon and Ford administrations.

After learning about the idea that some had of crossing the peaceful, green foreground to Aspen with a highway, he turned to me and growled, “That would be a knife through the heart of your community. Then, raising his voice, Nat said: “Don’t let them do that!”

We were touring the region from Glenwood Canyon to Aspen. I especially wanted to give him a bird’s-eye view of the Marolt Open Space and North Star Nature Preserve from Aspen Mountain. Together these are natural portals that define and contain the edges of our town, standing as green monuments to how our community valued nature, tranquility and beauty, both then and now.

I explained to Nat that studies and data indicate that slicing through the open space would do little or nothing to relieve traffic and would leave many of us feeling foolish for supporting an infrastructure project that destroyed our open space without improving our lot. This holds true today, as voters consider a mid-20th-century solution to our 21st century needs.

I sit in that crawling traffic into and out of Aspen often enough to feel everyone’s anxiety — only to waste more time hunting for parking and wishing I’d arrived on some great form of mass transit.

I think of Nat Reed’s “A knife to the heart — don’t do that!” comment and wonder if Aspen can come up with a solution that is visionary and cutting edge — one that enhances and elevates transportation.

And then there is the important matter of wildlife conservation. Over decades the greater valley community has accomplished remarkable feats of wildlife and habitat conservation. Municipalities, agencies, nonprofit conservation organizations and many individuals have all pitched in. Our Roaring Fork Biodiversity Study is now a model for statewide conservation.

From time to time there have been disingenuous attempts to pursue other agendas under the banner of wildlife conservation. In 2024, city of Aspen staff approached me (without such an agenda) to understand whether the Roaring Fork Biodiversity and Connectivity Study produced maps and data that would support the idea that a cut-and-cover tunnel for the highway across Marolt Open Space would preserve a wildlife migration or movement corridor — or not.

We got together with the lead scientist on the study and reviewed the maps and data. The message to city staff was that wildlife values in the dry meadows of Marolt Open Space were low, and the idea that there was a movement/migration corridor there was not accurate.

The scientist and I then pointed out that the highest wildlife and biodiversity values were in the riparian ecosystem, down along the banks of Castle Creek. According to Colorado Audubon, 90% of Colorado’s 800 species of birds, fish and mammals are dependent on riparian ecosystems. These ecologically rich oases are valuable, rich and scarce, occupying less than 2% of the landscape.

New highway bridge abutments in the riparian zone combined with the general fragmenting effect of a highway would seriously degrade the Castle Creek ecosystem. We cautioned city staff that the plan to build a highway across Marolt Open Space, even with a cut-and-cover tunnel, would lead to a net loss for wildlife.

There is no plausible advantage to wildlife if a highway divides the Marolt Open Space and degrades the riparian ecosystem of Castle Creek, which is orders of magnitude more ecologically valuable than dry, upland ecosystems. To assert otherwise is a disingenuous ploy that only serves to undermine legitimate wildlife and biodiversity conservation initiatives.

Walter and Elizabeth Paepcke and other founders of modern Aspen were such forward-thinking visionaries, concerned with the greater good of society. Let their memory inspire us to adopt a transportation solution that serves people, builds community and gets us out of cars and into each other’s company.

If you live and vote in Aspen, please vote yes on Referendum 1 and no on Referendum 2.

Tom Cardamone is the founder of the Watershed Biodiversity Initiative and chair of Roaring Fork Safe Passages. He was also executive director for many years of the Aspen Center for Environmental Studies (ACES) and a founder of the Pitkin County Open Space and Trails Program.