West Elk Word

Brooke McMillan is the new Literary Arts Director for the Crested Butte Center for the Arts. Learn about the center's new drive toward building a literary arts and storytelling community in Crested Butte, and their hope to foster a love for the written word valleywide.

10/20/18 - West Elk Word: Brooke McMillan, Literary Arts Director, Crested Butte Center for the Arts

The One Valley Prosperity Project, or OVPP, was formed in 2014 as a collaborative effort to achieve, in the words of their website,  "a more prosperous and successful future" for all communities valley-wide. Some of its focus areas include affordable housing, economic resiliency, and social services. The OVPP recently released its 2018 State of the Valley Report. Gunnison Mayor Jim Gelwicks and Gunnison City Manager Russ Forrest dropped by the KBUT studios to talk what's been accomplished so far and the work ahead. They spoke with Toni Todd for West Elk Word, KBUT's premiere local public affairs interview show. Hear archived episodes of West Elk Word.

11/3/18 - KBUT's West Elk Word: One Valley Prosperity Project Update

Project Hope of the Gunnison Valley is a non-profit organization that supports and advocates for individuals affected by relationship violence and sexual assault. The organization offers services such as crisis intervention, a safe shelter, food and clothing, and access to legal aid. Outreach and Prevention Coordinator Jessica Wurtz talked to KBUIT's Toni Todd about the organization's mission and initiatives.

10/27/18 - KBUT's West Elk Word: Project Hope of Gunnison Valley

Crested Butte Mayor Jim Schmidt shares the town's views on the Brush Creek workforce housing proposal and discusses what the town itself has done in an effort to increase workforce housing in Crested Butte, with an emphasis on homes for middle-income residents.  He also discusses how the town is addressing challenges with traffic flow and parking.

11/10/18 - West Elk Word: Crested Butte Mayor Jim Schmidt

Learn about the work of the Hispanic Affairs Project of the Western Slope and its local program, Imigrantes Unidos de Gunnison.  Saenz, Marketa Zubkova and Fernando Molina share what it's like to be an immigrant in the Gunnison Valley. They also dispell some long-standing myths about immigrants and tell stories about the challenges they face.

11/24/18 - West Elk Word: Imigrantes Unidos de Gunnison/Hispanic Affairs Project

Shelley Popke and Nel Burkett are here to share colorful commentary on the latest exhibits at the Crested Butte Heritage Museum. They also have an update on phase 2 of the restoration of the Tony's Conoco building in downtown Crested Butte, the museum's iconic home.

11/17/18 - West Elk Word: Crested Butte Heritage Museum

Gunnison County's RE1J School District has a new superintendent. Leslie Nichols had been on the job for roughly six month, and not only does she like what she sees, but seems excited to take on the challenges faced by a small, diverse district. We discuss vocational training, diversity, the marked differences between the Gunnison and Crested Butte schools, plans for future growth, and more.

1/12/18 - West Elk Word: RE1J School District Superintendent Leslie Nichols

Scott Borden, John Messner, John Norton and Frank Kugel are all members of a larger committee known as STOR - Gunnison County's Sustainable Tourism and Recreation Committee. They share the committee's mission, discoveries, and discuss local efforts to protect Gunnison County's natural resources and ensuring a quality experience for visitors while recognizing the impacts of the tremendous growth in visitors we're experiencing in our community.

1/19/19 - West Elk Word: The Sustainable Tourism and Outdoor Recreation Committee

Brooke McMillan recently recently took on the Literary Arts program at the Crested Butte Center for the Arts. She's already grown it impressively, and is here to share upcoming workshops related to all things literary - storytelling, fiction, non-fiction, nature writing, poetry, and the upcoming Murder in the Mountains Mystery/Noir festival.

2/9/19 - West Elk Word: Brooke McMillan, CB Center for the Arts

This is part 1 of a 2 part conversation with Brian Calvert, Editor-in-Chief for High Country News. Brian shares why, in a time when newsrooms are shrinking, High Country News remains strong and growing.

2/23/19 - West Elk Word: Brian Calvert, High Country News, Part 1

Learn more about High Country News, how they manage to cover the entirety of the American West with in-depth, long-form storytelling, and why it matters. This is part 2 of a 2-part conversation with Brian Calvert, Editor-in-Chief for High Country News.

3/2/19 - West Elk Word: Brian Calvert, High Country News, Part 2

Drew Brookhart is the Executive Director for Gunnison County Libraries. Learn why libraries still matter, how they serve our community and about plans for Gunnison County Libraries to grow.

3/9/19 - West Elk Word: Drew Brookhart, Gunnison County Libraries

Professor and award-winning documentary filmmaker Jack Lucido is here to share his creative process, the stories behind his recent work, and the positive impact that can come from socially-conscious filmmaking.

2/2/19 - West Elk Word: Documentary Filmmaker Jack Lucido

Gunnison Underdog Rescue is the only foster-based animal rescue oranization in the Gunnison Valley. GUR's founder, Debra Callihan, tells us how the foster system works and how GUR collaborates with other local rescue organizations with the goal to save as many pets as possible and find them forever homes.  Learn about animal welfare laws and policy in Colorado, how the internet contributes to rescue efforts and more.

4/6/19-West Elk Word: Gunnison Underdog Rescue

George Sibley and Frank Kugel from the Upper Gunnison River Water Conservancy District share insight into the true meaning of drought. Learn what the River District is doing to plan for the future of our local watershed in light of the projected increase in our population by 2050 and the inevitable impact of climate change on both water quantity and quality in the Upper Gunnison River basin.

4/13/19 - West Elk Word: Upper Gunnison River Water Conservancy District

Dr. Duane Vandenbusche's latest book, co-authored with Grant Houston, is a collection of photos from Lake City's early days as a mining mecca. Dr. Vandenbusche, noted local historian and storyteller, shares colorful tales from that time in his own unique, indominable way.

4/27/19 - West Elk Word: Dr. Duane Vandenbusche

Daniel Brauch and Seth Firestone are here from Colorado Parks and Wildlife. Join the conversation about fishing, our local fishery and fish hatchery management, species conservation, habitat restoration, and more.

4/20/19 - West Elk Word: Colorado Parks and Wildlife- Seth Firestone and Daniel Brauch

Dave Ochs and Laura Pickett Daniels share the latest from the Crested Butte Mountain Bike Association, the oldest such organization in the country. Learn about trail building and maintenance, the Conservation Corp's efforts to clean up and educate visitors on how to protect our trails and public lands, upcoming CMBMBA events, and how to get involved.

5/4/19 - West Elk Word: Crested Butte Mountain Bike Association

Brandon Diamond discusses CPW's efforts with wildlife management and conservation. Learn how Colorado Parks and Wildlife works to manage wildlife of all sorts, most notably big game. The CPW also works to preserve threatened and endangered species, and keeps waterways stocked with fish. The CPW is funded by hunting and fishing license revenues-- find out why that's important and why some consider that a conflict of interest.

5/25/19 - West Elk Word: Brandon Diamond, District Manager for Colorado Parks and Wildlife

Shelley Popke and Nel Burkett from the Crested Butte Mountain Heritage Museum return. This time, they're accompanied by Jessica Reske and Beth Heller from Collections Assessment for Preservation. Learn about the museum's efforts to best care for its artifacts. It's a balancing act, putting items on display for long enough and often enough that folks can experience and learn from them, but not so long that they begin to degrade. How they're stored is  important; light, heat and humidity all have an impact on historical items. This is a fascinating conversation on the museum's quest to implement best practices in preserving their local treasures for future generations to enjoy.

6/8/19 - West Elk Word: Crested Butte Mt. Heritage Museum

KBUT is a community radio station serving Gunnison County, Colorado. Broadcasting since 1986, KBUT serves the Gunnison Valley through diverse on-air programs, volunteer opportunities open to all community members, and ongoing support for the area’s nonprofit organizations and educational institutions. Community radio is a significant facilitator of democratic ideals and civic participation and is an invaluable community resource, particularly for a rural and remote area such as Gunnison County.