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Stagecoach burn deemed a success

STAGECOACH Colorado Division of Wildlife officials say a controlled fire near Stagecoach Reservoir in April to improve elk grazing areas is showing signs of success.

"It's really responding well," DOW biologist Jim Hicks said. "You can't even tell there was a fire in a lot of those places."

He said the oak brush, which is a valuable source of food for the elk, is returning strong, along with other native plants and grasses.

About 400 acres of land on Blacktail Mountain, just north of Stagecoach Reservoir, was burned by the DOW.

DOW: Population of eagles fares well

DENVER The Colorado Division of Wildlife says the state's population of the bald eagle are doing well, despite severe spring storms that caused the death of several bald eagle chicks.

DOW biologists monitoring 47 of the known 51 nests in Colorado documented 33 eaglets that fledged, meaning they reached the ability to fly. Of these, 24 were banded.

At least one was blown out of its nest and the DOW suspects several other deaths were caused by hypothermia because of unusual cold and wet spring conditions.

Volunteers for trail work needed

The Routt County Riders, a local mountain biking organization, is looking for some local gearheads to do some volunteer work July 29 to help put the finishing touches on the lower Bear Trail, off Strawberry Park Road.

Pete Wither, of the Routt County Riders, said the mile-and-a-half trail was constructed this summer to connected to the Elk Park Trail and bypass a two-track trail that went through private property.

The riders worked with the U.S. Forest Service and the International Mountain Bicycling Association to get the work done. Interested volunteers are encouraged to go to a slide show at 7 p.m. July 28 at Olympian Hall to learn about some of the work the International Mountain Bicycling Association has done in the past.

Firefighters let blazes burn

CRAIG (AP)

Firefighters let three lightning-sparked blazes near Dinosaur National Monument burn unhindered Saturday because they were on remote, unpopulated land.

''It's cleaning up all that fuel beneath the trees and preparing the brush to resprout and improve wildlife habitat,'' said Dave Root of the Craig Interagency Dispatch Center.