Steamboat Pilot & Today

Winter walks with Yampatika

Yampatika and the U.S. Forest Service are offering free winter tours of the forest.

From 9 to 11 a.m. every Thursday, snowshoers can climb the uranium mine road with a naturalist. While going up the road, which is described as a moderate to strenuous tour, the participants will learn about the forest environment, plants and wildlife.

If snowshoeing is not your thing, there also is a ski with a naturalist tour from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. on Thursdays and Saturdays.

This tour will explore all the aspects of winter ecology.

Anyone interested should meet at Steamboat Ski Resort's Why Not ski run at the big red sign. Everyone in the family is welcome to go.

For more information, call the Forest Service at 879-1870 or Yampatika at 871-9151.

River park gets a name change

Yampa River Legacy, located in the newly constructed building two miles west of Hayden, has changed its name to Yampa River State Park.

The move was made officially on Jan. 19, but it could take a little while to get all the signs changed, Colorado State Parks spokesman Steven Hall said.

"This really ties it into the rest of state park system," he said.

About 10 million visitors go to Colorado State Parks, which encompass 215,000 acres of land and water in 40 state parks.

Hall said changing the name will serve the visiting public better because they will recognize it as a clean, safe area where they will have a high quality experience.

Forest serviceman heading north

Larry Kent, a civilculturist for the Hahn's Peak/Bears Ears district of Routt National Forest and most recently a key player in the spruce beetle suppression project here, accepted a job in Montana for the Forest Service.

Kent, who has worked for the Forest Service in Steamboat Spring for 12 years, will now work at the Bitterroot National Forest in Hamilton, Mont. Last summer, wildfires burned 300,000 acres of forest land. Kent will help a team reduce the risk of additional fires starting in urban interface areas there.

This is Kent's last week in Steamboat Springs. He then will go head to Montana.

"We are going to miss his expertise here," Forest Service spokeswoman Diann Pipher said.