Aspen Journalism
A herd of bighorn sheep graze along the Crystal River near Penny Hot Springs on Tuesday. Local groups are restarting a push for a federal Wild & Scenic designation on the upper portion of the river.
Heather Sackett/Aspen Journalism
REDSTONE After a four-year hiatus, residents of the Crystal River valley are reviving efforts to protect the upper portion of the river through a federal designation.
The Crystal River Caucus, Pitkin County, the Crystal Valley Environmental Protection Association and others are once again discussing designating the upper 39 miles of the river from the two branches of its headwaters in the Snowmass-Maroon Bells Wilderness to the first major downstream irrigation diversion, the Sweet Jessup Canal as Wild & Scenic.