Here is a great source to find it.  www. ArtisansTrail.org

Everywhere in Colorado, there are creative, talented and hardworking artists and artisans. This is especially true in Park County.

We have created the Park County Artisans Trail to help you find our artists and their best quality artwork. You can experience first-hand the creative environment as the artists are willing to meet and share their studio workshop with you. In addition, the many art galleries in the County are available to showcase the work of these various artists under one roof.

Come join us on this exciting journey and discover the unique artists along the Park County Artisans Trail.

Range Map

The South Park Shooting Range could open as early as this summer.

The range is on Elkhorn Road, also known as County Road 15, about one mile east of U.S. 285 near Como.

The land is owned equally by Park County and Colorado Parks and Wildlife. When the shooting range opens, it will be managed by Fairplay-based South Park Shooting Association.

It was reported in the July 3, 2009, Flume that the shooting range would open in Sept. 2009. In the Feb. 25, 2011, Flume, it was reported the shooting range would open in July 2011.

Those dates passed without the range opening, but there are signs of progress that increase the possibility of achieving the planned 2012 opening.

Two of the three stipulations of the conditional use permit required by Park County have been completed: a perimeter fence and road into the area. Also, $133,000 in grant money from Colorado Parks and Wildlife through U.S. Fish and Wildlife is now available and can be used for the remaining requirement – an emergency call box – and other shooting range improvements.

Range history

The South Park Shooting Association was formed in January 2004 (see the Jan. 16, 2004, Flume), and it has worked to establish a shooting range since that time.

In July 2008, the shooting range land was bought jointly by Park County and the then-Colorado Division of Wildlife, now merged with Colorado State Parks and renamed Colorado Parks and Wildlife.

Groundbreaking on the site was in July 2009. The Association was optimistic that the range would open in September of that year. It didn’t open in 2009.

In February 2011, the Association began building a buck and rail perimeter fence. Reports were that the shooting range would open by last summer, but it didn’t open in 2011.

A grant for $133,000 from Colorado Parks and Wildlife through U.S. Fish and Wildlife was applied for and awarded. There was a delay in processing the grant, which set the opening date of the shooting range back to (possibly) the summer of 2012.

Sertoma’s 16th Annual Cowboy/Victorian Ball

Saturday, December 10th, 2011 at the

Fairplay-Valiton Hotel
500 Main Street
Fairplay, CO 80440

7:30pm to midnight

With advanced payment of the
bedrock price of $35 -  proceeds benefit area charities.

It’s a full evening with snacks and entertainment; Fourth Artillary Quadrille Ensemble – the unified performance of an entire group of civil war era musicians; Victorian or Cowboy Attire appropriate to the era of 1880 to 1900 is required

For tickets and information, please call

Jerry Lipuma, 970-409-9869 or

Merrily Brew at 719-836-0533

Winter is amazing in Park County and in my opinion one of the best times to be up here!!  Wildlife wanders into residential areas more, the quiet falling snow around the Cabin and of course snow ball fights with the kids.

A Couple things you should ask yourself… how often do you come up?  Will you be up in the winter?

If you are coming up at least every two weeks them most folks will leave their cabin “On”.  This is just simply turning down the heat and closing up the blinds and lastly turning off the well pump.

Some Basics to Shut Down:

• Get a digital thermostat, especially if you have zoned heating.
• Turn it as low as you are comfortable doing, most do around 50 degrees.
• Close the blinds to hold some of that heat in.

If its longer than every couple weeks then you may want to consider draining all your pipes and actually turning off you heat to save on propane bills. So this involves completely draining the pipes and using antifreeze to keep some spots from freezing.

Some Basics to Winterize:

• Turn off the heat
• Drain all pipes, Pressure Tank & Hot water Heater, check for low spots… may need to be blown out.
• Don’t forget the water to the fridge and dishwasher
• Toilet & Tanks need to be drained
• Put antifreeze in the P Traps, USE RV ANTIFREEZE (PINK).

Every house is different so be sure to look everything over and to have a plan.  If you are at all unsure of how or what to do it is a great idea to hire a local Handy Man to walk you through it the first time or two an then make a checklist.

Contractors List – http://jeffersonrealestateinc.com/2010/07/contractors-list/

Some Other tips for Winter

• Make a checklist especially if friends & family use the cabin.  One to turn on the cabin the other to shut id down.
• Be sure the Hot Water heater is full before turning it on, especially if they are electric.  Electric units will pop the heating elements if they are not surrounded by water.  Couple extra elements are always a good idea to have around.
• Charge up your septic before winter with bacteria. Rid-X or we all like to use a product called Bio-Sure available online.  This will generate heat in the septic tank.
• Leaky toilets or dripping faucets can cause water to freeze in the waste line.  Reason being the slow moving water will freeze before it reaches the tank causing an ice dam.  This is nearly impossible to clear without professional help.
• Always turn off your well pump!!  Even if you come up every single week.  This little effort can save you from a real headache if for some reason heating fails in the cabin.

The Cline Ranch State Wildlife Area, the 11th SWA in Park County, had a ribbon-cutting and dedication ceremony marked by a number of speeches. About 60 people attended the ceremony at the SWA, which was held by the Cline ranchhouse built in the 1920s.

The SWA is located northwest of U.S. 285 about one mile northeast of the Como exit off U.S. 285. The SWA, with 1,635 acres of fish and wildlife habitat, opened on Sept. 1 for public fishing, hunting, and non-vehicular recreation such as hiking and wildlife viewing. An indoor shooting range is a future possibility.

View Cline Ranch SWA in a larger map

Colorado Area Wildlife Manager Reid Dewalt acted as master of ceremonies at the dedication. He said that Great Outdoors Colorado – which is funded from the Colorado State Lottery – provided most of the money for the project.

The Colorado Habitat Stamp Program also provided substantial funding.

The SWA property was purchased in late December 2010 for $2.64 million. An additional $1.1 million from Great Outdoors Colorado was used for conservation easements on 4,270 acres of the ranch – now called the Tarryall Creek Ranch and formerly known as the Cline Ranch. Those 4,270 acres include the 1,635 acres that make up the SWA.

The Park County Land and Water Trust Fund – which is funded by a 1 percent sales tax in Park County – provided $500,000 in matching funds for the purchase. The 1 percent Park County sales tax is dedicated to “the preservation, protection, acquisition, improvement and maintenance of Park County’s remaining water resources and lands containing associated water rights and resources.”

Park County owns the SWA property, and Colorado Parks and Wildlife will manage the SWA.

Dewalt said the Cline family members were surprise visitors at the dedication, and he was honored they had attended.

Dr. Foster Cline Jr. told a couple of stories about growing up on the ranch that drew a laugh from the attendees, such as his sneaking out of the top floor of the ranch house with his brother to go fishing during nap time.

Future plans for the ranch house include restoring it as a visitor’s center.

Cline told the story of Mount Silverheels, which is next to the ranch. It was named for a dance hall girl who cared for sick miners during a smallpox epidemic. She always wore silver-heeled shoes. He said he didn’t know the SWA had been named for the Cline family until they had arrived for the

dedication.

Map

Foster Cline Sr., the doctor’s father, originally bought around 300 acres and increased the size of the ranch to 4,500 acres during the 1920s and 1930s, when adjacent land was put up for sale.

A large portion of the ranch is east of U.S. 285 and not in the SWA. A lease agreement between the Park County Fly Fishing Program and current owner Tarryall Creek Ranch LLC permits fly fishing for a fee along 1.3 miles of Tarryall Creek east of U.S. 285.

Also on the east side of U.S. 285 is the locally famous King Coal Mine and town site. Mining coal at the site was a feat itself in the late 1800s.

About 200 acres of the ranch in that area was purchased in 2008 for an outdoor shooting range. Both Park County and the former Colorado Division of Wildlife – now part of Colorado Parks and Wildlife – contributed $100,000 each for the purchase.

The shooting range will be managed by the South Park Shooting Association and will will not be located near either the town or the mine. What is left of them will be preserved and interpreted as a historical site.

Cline gave credit to Carl Palmer of Beartooth Capital Partnership, a capital investment company located in Bozeman, Mont., for the ranch being preserved and not subdivided for residential development.

Beartooth had bought the Cline Ranch in March 2008 as an investment, renamed it the Tarryall Creek Ranch, and put two conservation easements on 4,270 acres in 2008 and 2009. The conservation easements are held by Colorado Open Lands.

Mike King, Colorado Department of Natural Resources director, and Rick Cables, Colorado Parks and Wildlife director, spoke of the “incredible resources in South Park.”

“South Park is a place that touches your soul,” King said. “It is a sanctuary for me.”

Cables said that if the Cline family had not been good stewards of the ranch, it would not have been eligible as an SWA. “Place is what brings people together to make things happen,” Cables said. “This is one of those places.”

He listed and thanked the 10 partners in the project, especially the Parks and Wildlife staff, including Fairplay District Wildlife Manager Mark Lamb.

Park County Commissioner John Tighe said he had not known that old narrow gauge railroad tracks and some coal piles still ex

isted on the SWA property until he had gone fishing and hiking there the first week it was open to the public.

Tighe said if the citizens of Park County had not renewed the 1 percent sales tax in 2008, the county would not now own the Cline Ranch SWA land.

Great Outdoors Colorado Executive Director Dan Larkin noted that “it is a ‘wow’ moment coming over Kenosha Pass,” and Great Outdoors Colorado has invested more than $11 million in keeping that ‘wow’ moment alive in South Park.

Committeeman Dan Larkin described the importance of the Habitat Stamp $10 fee on each fishing and hunting license in protecting land for public recreatonal access and conservation easements. He emphasized that anyone can buy a Habitat Stamp, not just hunters, to preserve wildlife habitat. “It is a warm spot in my heart that this has happened,” Larkin said.

Trout Unlimited representative Steve Craig said that he had learned at a young age the difference between fishing small streams such as Tarryall Creek and big rivers such as the Arkansas River. Small streams are his favorite. As he was speaking, an elk cow joined the ceremonies as she passed through to the Tarryall Creek.

Craig described the importance of not overusing public lands and that Colorado Parks and Wildlife was limiting access to four vehicle parking spaces, and fishermen could only fish on one of four stream segments designated by the parking spaces.

Beaver ponds are also in abundance along the stream.

Beartooth Capital partner Carl Palmer said the concept of land preservation started when Park County Tourism and Community Development Director Gary Nichols, Area Wildlife Manager Dewalt and he sat around a table discussing possibilities after Beartooth purchased the ranch.

Palmer said as partners grew, so did that table, and the vision for the ranch grew into what it is today.

He said that at one point he thought things might unravel, but Northeast Regional Wildlife Manager Steve Yamashita made sure that didn’t happen.

Dewalt closed by saying, “Mark (Lamb) and Gary (Nichols) make quite the duo. (Due to their efforts) a lot of South Park is a huge wildlife corridor.”

After the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Lamb told The Flume that fishing will be closed each fall on Oct. 1 so conflicts between fishermen and hunters do not arise. Fishing on the 2.7 miles of Tarryall Creek on the SWA will open again in the spring.

Fishing at the SWA is catch-and-release, but each angler is allowed to keep one fish.

Lamb said the hardest educational piece is getting the point across that without properly releasing fish, they usually die within a couple of hours even though they swim away, looking as if they are unharmed.

He said the most important issue is to immediately decide if this is the fish to keep when it is caught. If not, it should immediately and gently be released back into the water, not just thrown back in. Also if fish are kept until a “better one” is caught, the stress and sometimes injury caused by the capture will usually cause the fish to die.

Lamb said that in order to maintain a quality experience for all visitors to the SWA, the parking spaces will limit not just fishermen, but also hunters, hikers and horseback riders to a total of 16 people at any one time (four per vehicle). No camping is allowed, and SWA visitor hours are limited to one half hour before sunrise to one half hour after sunset. Vehicles cannot be left overnight.

Previous Article From 2009

$2.14 million grant OKd for ranch near Como

Lynda James
Correspondent

Park County received notice that on Nov. 16 the Colorado Wildlife Commission approved a $2.14 million grant for the purchase of 1,200 acres of the Tarryall Creek Ranch east of Como.

The main purpose of the purchase is to provide public recreation. The grant funding is from the Colorado Division of Wildlife’s Habitat Protection Program.

Park County Land and Water Trust Fund, funded by the county’s 1 percent sales tax, will provide $500,000 in matching funds for the grant.

The 4,500-acre ranch was formerly known as the Cline Ranch and lies on both sides of U.S. 285.

“This brings together all the goals the Tourism Department has been pursuing for several years on one property – conservation, public use, historic preservation and a business development opportunity,” Park County Tourism and Community Development Director Gary Nichols told The Flume.

Two years ago, the ranch was purchased by Beartooth Capital Partnership, a capital investment company located in Bozeman, Mont.

Beartooth is putting the entire ranch under a conservation easement. Funding for the conservation easement was provided by a Great Outdoors Colorado grant and the PCLWTF earlier this year. Colorado Open Lands will hold the conservation easement.

The 1,200 acres that will be purchased with the CDOW grant is on the west side of the highway. It includes the 1920s historic ranch house, 2.7 miles of Tarryall Creek, 30 beaver ponds and 250 acres of riparian willow habitat.

Beartooth is retaining 240 acres on the west side that will be limited by the conservation easement to one residential site.

Nichols said the next step is to have the land appraised at fair market value. That value will be based on a hypothetical scenario of the land being developed with 35-acre lot sizes. Then the final purchase price will be negotiated.

The partners anticipate completing the purchase and developing a management plan by the fall of 2010. The ranch will be open to the public in the summer of 2011 for hunting, fishing and equestrian use.

Nichols said that it has not yet been decided if Park County or CDOW will own the land or if the two will jointly own it.

Plans also include restoring the historic ranch house as a visitor’s center/caretaker facility, establishing equestrian trails between the house and Como, developing an all-season pistol range, and possibly building two small guest cabins and hiking trails. A business opportunity will exist for a caretaker and possibly a gift/recreational supplies shop.

Nichols said there may be an opportunity to partner with Park County water conservancy districts to develop a series of water storage ponds that will be stocked for public fishing.

Nichols, CDOW District Wildlife Manager Mark Lamb, and CDOW Area Wildlife Manager Reid DeWalt will jointly develop the management plan for the property. Both CDOW personnel live in Park County.

In 2008, Park County and CDOW also provided $100,000 each to purchase 200 acres of the ranch on the east side of U.S. 285 to develop a public outdoor shooting range. That purchase includes the late 1800s King Coal Mine.

“I’m excited because this represents a culmination of various efforts that we’ve been engaged in for a long time,” Nichols said.

The ranch has been one of the most popular areas leased for fly fishing through the South Park Fly Fishers program, which allows fishermen to fish on several historic ranches.

In August, the CDOW did a scientific survey of the fishery in the stream that runs through that ranch and found 1,900 trout per mile, which is very high, Nichols said, and equates to about 200 pounds of trout per acre of stream.

“That is very high by any standard,” he said.

The area also sees very high use of deer, elk and antelope, as well as water fowl, Nichols said. In addition, the historic ranch house on the property is a priority for restoration. Nichols isn’t sure what the house will be used for in the future, but it could become a residence for a ranch caretaker or a retail facility. Before the CDOW will distribute the money, Nichols will need to develop a master plan for the property.

Cline Ranch Area

“There’s probably opportunities that I haven’t even thought of on that ranch that will be beneficial to the community,” he said.

Wildlife manager DeWalt also was upbeat about the grant and the prospects.

“We’re excited for the opportunity to provide public access,” he said. Both projects – on either side of U.S. 285 – are important because of the high quality habitat on the property and high quality fishing and hunting potential.

DeWalt said the Tarryall Creek Ranch ties in with five other parcels owned by CDOW in the corridor and private conservatio

n easements that will help protect elk migration routes as well as big and small game habitat.

- Debra Orecchio contributed to this article.

Main Street Party gets under way on Saturday at 11:00 a.m. with the fun continuing right through until 6:00 p.m. The Merchandise Tent will be opening up at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday. The party gets going again on Sunday morning with the Street Party from 11:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. Sunday’s party is a bit more laid back, family oriented and still a whole lot of fun!

Gourmet multi-course dinner is held on Friday evening the 16th.
Enjoy a multi-course meal elegantly paired with European biers and alternate wines with the 1st course starting at 6:00p.m. There is limited seating and the dinner has been a sold out event the last four years. It is a great evening of food, new friends and the perfect kick off to an amazing Oktoberfest celebration dinner.

http://www.gobreck.com/events/town-events/breckenridge-oktoberfest