The Outsider | Ham radio wizards blend new, old technology to bolster communications in crises

Growing community of amateur radio operators ready to serve in crises

JEFFERSON — Far from pavement, in a craggy South Park meadow of sagebrush and granite, a die-hard group has established a high-tech command post.

They’ve circled their camper trailers. Long-retired satellite news vans — their dishes teetering 40 feet up — line the perimeter. Generators hum next to banks of solar panels.

Willem Schreüder climbs into his trailer, where towers of computer equipment blink and whir. He taps on a laptop, scrolling through 239 fixed and mobile radio relay sites across the Rocky Mountains, showing off customized software that can remotely control and repair remote radio signal transmitters.

“A lot of what we do is backup for public safety and even though we are volunteers, we take our work very seriously,” said Schreüder, a long-bearded professor of computer science at the University of Colorado who has been involved with amateur radio for more than 40 years. “Really we are amateurs in name only.”

There is nothing amateur about the gathering in the remote corner of South Park. Part of the National Association for Amateur Radio’s annual Field Day — a nationwide rally of licensed ham radio hobbyists that started in 1933 — the circled collection of high-tech camper trailers and vans is bustling with technical wizards training for that day when they are called into service.

It could be a tornado, flood, hailstorm or wildfire. Maybe an earthquake or solar storm has knocked out satellite communication. Maybe rural emergency service folks need help with a big event, like a mountain bike or running race. Whatever the reason, there are 19,629 licensed amateur radio operators in Colorado — almost 750,000 in the U.S. — who are trained and ready to keep critical communications flowing.

“For most amateur radio groups, it’s about serving our communities,” said Desiree Baccus — call sign N3DEZ — with the Rocky Mountain HAM Radio club, a nonprofit that maintains a network of radio-transmitting equipment across Colorado, New Mexico and Wyoming. “There is only so much local sheriffs can do in small towns and you will see amateur radio operators stepping in to fill the gaps as volunteers to help as a second service to our emergency management professionals.”

A visit to the meadow for the national field day reveals a vibrant ham radio community still communicating over radio waves — just like their predecessors more than a century ago — but infusing the antiquated technology with new-school digital tools. They are forging new roles for their growing community while honing skills that are critical in crises.

Radio operators have helped with evacuations around recent fires in California and Hawaii and helped support police radio transmissions in 2019 when a shooter opened fire at the annual garlic festival in Gilroy, California.

“It’s so cool when you think about how all amateur radio operators are volunteers, ready to step in and help at a moment’s notice,” said Tom Kephart — KC0GDM — from Firestone, who has been licensed since 1988. “These are people who really love this hobby and want to serve. And they are always trying to find ways to improve and serve better.”

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At least 32 people have died in Colorado reservoirs and rivers this summer

430}Number of citations issued by CPW rangers for PFD violations this year, compared with 244 for the same span in 2023

The park ranger on the trail around Sylvan Lake was hollering.

“Paddleboarders! Meet me by the dock!” he said.

Maray Lindley, 17, and her friend paddled back to the shoreline, where the ranger asked why the two girls didn’t have life jackets.

“I just completely forgot. We came up through the side and missed the signs,” said the Eagle high-school student.

Lindley got a $102.50 ticket from the Colorado Parks and Wildlife ranger.

“It was a lot. I was surprised,” she said. “He was talking about all the drownings.”

Since March 28, at least 32 people have died in Colorado’s reservoirs and rivers. Not even halfway through July, that’s pacing ahead of the record 42 deaths Colorado Parks and Wildlife tracked in 2022. A Colorado Sun accounting of water deaths this year includes 17 deaths in reservoirs and 15 deaths in moving water.

Of the people who died while recreating on a watercraft, six were not wearing a personal floatation device, or PFD, and two slipped from improperly worn PFDs.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife is hammering on its life jacket messaging, emphasizing Colorado laws that require PFDs.

“Many people are just unaware of the law so education is a great option,” CPW spokesman Joey Livingston said.

On top of the educational campaign, CPW is issuing tickets.

Through July 9, CPW officials have written 430 citations for PFD violations. For the same period in 2023 the agency issued 244 tickets. In all of 2023, CPW officers issued 497 tickets to PFD rule-breakers.

>> Click over to The Sun next week to read this story

The Outsider now has a podcast! Veteran reporter Jason Blevins covers the industry from the inside out, plus indulges in the fun side of being outdoors in our beautiful state.

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A 50-year fight in Crested Butte ends as Forest Service approves land swap that will forever block mining on Red Lady

Crested Buttians do not need many reasons for a party. A legendary mailman. A bike race without pedaling. Skiing through downtown alleys. The arrival of fall. Or spring. Just about any breeze in Crested Butte warrants a parade.

So imagine the spectacle in September when Crested Butte celebrates the end of a nearly 50-year, culture-defining battle to squash mining on the beloved peak above town. That is going to be the party of the century on Elk Avenue.

“Heads up for a good day to be in Crested Butte,” said Jon Hare with the High Country Conservation Advocates.

The fight over molybdenum mining on Mount Emmons — the pink-hued peak that Crested Butte locals call their Red Lady — is over. After nearly 50 years of impassioned battle to block hard-rock blasting on the Red Lady, the Forest Service has approved a deal that will forever remove the prospect of mining on thousands of acres in the watersheds above Crested Butte. The deal ends the longest running mine clash in the Lower 48.

The decision by Chad Stewart, the supervisor of the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forests, still requires deal-closing signatures in September from the Mount Emmons Mining Co., the Crested Butte Land Trust and the Forest Service. The mining company gets 539 acres around the historic Keystone Mine and beneath its water treatment plant on Coal Creek upstream of Crested Butte and the Forest Service gets four parcels of private wetlands and wildlife habitat in Gunnison and Saguache counties. The deal also includes conservation agreements and mineral withdrawals that will end the prospect of mining and allow nonmotorized recreation on more than 1,300 of the mining company’s mining claims above Crested Butte.

The decision marks a final step in a campaign that began in the 1970s as the end-of-the-road community began to transition away from mining and embrace a less impactful appreciation of natural amenities.

“Most mine fights do not end in a collaborative agreement to end mining,” said Julie Nania with High Country Conservation Advocates, or HCCA, who has spent a decade working with the Mount Emmons Mining Co., local leaders and environmental groups on the complex deal to eliminate mining above Crested Butte. “It’s finally here. It is so amazing.”

>> Click over to The Sun on Friday to read this story

The Outdoor Industry Association divorces Outdoor Retailer, ending a 30-year partnership

The Outdoor Industry Association is divorcing the Outdoor Retailer trade shows, ending a 30-year partnership.

The national trade association with more than 4,000 outdoor industry members — manufacturers, suppliers, sales reps and retailers — has ended its exclusive partnership with Emerald Expositions, the trade show operator that owns the biannual Outdoor Retailer trade shows. The separation comes as the outdoor industry matures into a political and economic force and the role of once-essential trade show gatherings evolves.

Kent Ebersole, who took the reins at Boulder-based OIA in 2022 just as Outdoor Retailer decamped from its five-year home in Denver for Salt Lake City, said his group appreciates the “valuable opportunities” Outdoor Retailer provided for OIA members.

“This next chapter enables our organizations to work to unify our industry, foster growth and deep community engagement,” Ebersole said in a statement announcing the split.

Since taking over at OIA, Ebersole has orchestrated a significant shift in the association’s business strategy. For decades, OIA relied heavily on royalty payments from Outdoor Retailer trade show business, with revenue from the trade shows accounting for more than 70% of the association’s annual revenues. A review of the nonprofit association’s tax filings show more than a decade of annual trade show revenue between $4.1 million and $5.2 million.

When trade shows collapsed during the pandemic, that annual revenue for OIA fell to $642,000 in 2021 and never recovered, reaching only $1.69 million in 2022.

But OIA collected a record $3.1 million from membership dues in 2022 and posted an all-time high annual revenue of $8.59 million in 2022, marking a strategic maneuver away from trade show money.

Meanwhile Emerald Expositions has been struggling. The company, which hosts 140 trade show events a year, has slowly been crawling out of the hole created by the pandemic. In 2018, as the company moved Outdoor Retailer to Denver from its longtime home in Salt Lake City, the company’s stock traded for more than $20 a share, with annual revenues hitting $381 million. The company’s stock now trades around $5 a share and revenues reached $383 million in 2023 after cratering in 2020 and 2021.

The most recent Outdoor Retailer business-to-business trade shows in Salt Lake City have not rebounded to previous traffic levels, with fewer high-profile brands that once shaped the annual gatherings taking huge booths and hosting pricey parties. Denver and the Colorado outdoor recreation office last month launched the annual Outside Festival, which hopes to fill the hole left by Outdoor Retailer with music, art and education for businesses and consumers.

The ground is shifting for the outdoor industry. Where trade shows fit in the maturing industry’s landscape remains to be seen as manufacturers and retailers move beyond the need for traditional face-to-face meetings to conduct business.

Since Emerald Expositions and Outdoor Retailer acquired the venerable Snow Show trade show from SnowSports Industries America, or SIA, in 2017 for $16.7 million, SIA has evolved into an educational resource for winter businesses. OIA now must similarly shape its future, but without that pile of new money.

Outdoor policy, education and advocacy remain a critical need for the $1.1 trillion recreation economy. The players in that economy are jostling for position.

The influential Outdoor Recreation Roundtable — led by former OIA policy boss Jessica Wahl Turner — is shepherding industry priorities in Washington, D.C. The Outdoor Recreation Roundtable is making huge gains in D.C. with passage of comprehensive recreation legislative packages.

There are now 23 state outdoor recreation offices. The 3,000 member Sports and Fitness Industry Association is emerging as a potent force. SIA is taking ownership of education work with winter businesses.

That leaves opportunities and challenges for OIA as it writes a new chapter without a role in the industry’s once-signature trade show. OIA’s research into participation trends remains a critical tool for outdoor policymakers, manufacturers and retailers. Its work promoting sustainability and diversity for outdoor businesses is equally important.

Ebersole spent two years working on the divorce from Emerald, which did not want to break the partnership. Now he can focus on the next steps. He’s rebuilding OIA’s government affairs and advocacy team, with a focus on working in areas under-represented by the Outdoor Recreation Roundtable — which has a lot of motorized recreation members. (OIA’s 10-year head of government affairs, Rich Harper, just retired.)

“We will have a new advocacy team in a month and there are lanes that we care about where I think we can have more impact than (the Outdoor Recreation Roundtable),” Ebersole said in an interview with The Sun. “Our members are different from their members. There is space for both of us.”

Ebersole said OIA also plans to “double or even triple down” on data and analysis of trends in the outdoor recreation economy. OIA will remain in the events business, fostering growth of smaller business gatherings and educational work. The association plans to continue working with businesses to grow sustainable operations — lessening impacts through production and the supply chain — as well as helping business owners grow their operations. OIA also hopes to develop a broader outreach program to distribute its research and educational information.

“We have a lot of areas where we hope to grow,” Ebersole said. “We will be going where our members want to go.”

— j

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