Jul. 03, 2006 - 19:19 MDT

THERE ARE A FEW

There is a part of Southern Colorado that is as beautiful as I conceive Heaven must be. An area around Westcliff. It is in an area called "The Wet Mountains" and the growth that I saw there when I went through looked lush and almost tropical. Didn't get there as often as I would like. Ranches mostly. But I do remember visiting with a man who was mining in a mine his Dad started, not getting rich, just getting by and happy with life.

I read an article in this morning's Rocky Mountain News by Sara Burnett of that paper about a man and a family that leads me to admire folks like that. They feel about things I wish other folks who could do the same would feel.

I shall quote passages out of a long article:

A FAMILY THAT WENT TO BAT FOR THE LAND

WESTCLIFFE -- "Bouncing down the gravel road that runs through his family's land, Randy Rusk steers his dusty Ford pickup with one hand and alternates shifting gears and pointing with the other."

"There to the north is the ranch that once belonged to Frank Kennicott, who registered the state's first cattle brand, back when this still was the Colorado Territory."

"There's the old house where Rusk grew up and where his parents, now 86, still live, and the once-grand Beckwith Ranch, where Rusk and other young ranchers gathered back in the day to dance, tell stories and get all pie-eyed and fall over."

"And to the west, carved into a dark slope of the Sangre de Cristo mountain range, are the light green veins that Rusk's wife calls "the scar."

"It was there the developers in the late 1970s cleared trees to open a ski area called Conquistador."

"To hear Rusk tell it, Conquistador was the beginning of the end for the Wet Mountain Valley, about 80 miles southwest of Colorado Springs.

"First the land speculators came, the 57-yeart-old Rusk recalls. THen the developers. Then the rooftops."

"Conquistador failed to turn a profit and closed in the late 1980s, but the developers kept coming."

"Now, subdivisions surround the Rusk's property. Real estate offices outnumber restaurants on Main Street."

"Across from the old Beckwith Ranch is a "talking house," a sales office with a sign advising passersby to tune their radios to 1610 AM for information on available lots."

PROTECTING THE LAND

"The changes prompted the Rusk family in 2002 to sell development rights for their 1,500-acre property to the Trust for Public Lands, a non-profit that helps landowners establish conservation easements."

"The Rusk''s easement led to several more in the area. So far, nearly 7,000 acres have been protected from subdivisions or development, said Doug Robotham, director of the Colorado office of the Trust for Public Lands. Some 11,000 acres could be protected by 2007, he said."

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The article goes on at length, however that is the gist of it. Further along it relates that a family member of the Rusks is quite unhappy about things as well as some of the nearby folks who had a different view on how things should be run.

From my own view, ranches and farms contribute to the wonderful scenery of our country, but roofs and streets don't really add to the picture.

Of course I grew up in the Denver area in a town that was relatively small, with miniscule suburbs around it. Countryside was close to the settlement and the Indians relatively peaceful here back then.

I grew up seeing our beautiful hills suffer development, house excresences perched here and there, most of which would have looked nice in a city but certainly are out of place in the hills. And it was all legal, landholders had the right to sell and developers had the right to do their thing too.

But according to the way I look at it, the Rusks had a perfect right to do what they did, also. Preservation of scenic land from development in perpetuity seems to be giving from the heart.

Some effort is being made here in this area. Along Clear Creek which runs through town, from Golden east is a green belt open to the public, pretty well left in its natural state, but with paths and other amenities throughout. Over five miles of things as they once were.

Often looking through the trees one can see the commerce of the city taking place, perhaps notice traffic on I-70 nearby, yet the tranquility brings a sense of peace to a person,I think.

If people like Rusk don't bite the bullet and put their property into conservation easements, then every hill will have a ski run with a resort at the bottom, and the once peaceful flatlands will be blacktopped and swarming with cars and shopping facilities.

Of course city folk who grew up crowded and "with it" probably don't feel the same about "wide open spaces" as many of us Westerners do. The super-highways whiz by, but a mile or so on either side is still some quiet and peaceful life, just as it once was -- except the horse and wagon stays on the ranch and the cars run the roads.

I do so hope that I survive while we can yet get peace and quiet with an uplifting scene ahead, stil yet, THERE ARE A FEW . . . . . . . .

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