• In early April, the San Juan National Forest announced it had acquired 160 acres of elk and mule deer habitat within an important migration corridor on the Pagosa Ranger District.
The joint effort, which began in 2021 between the U.S. Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation (RMEF) and the Saunders family, who resides in Albuquerque, N.M., was completed through a conveyance from RMEF to the San Juan National Forest. The Land and Water Conservation Fund funded the acquisition and received broad support from sportsman’s and conservation groups, as well as the Southern Ute Indian Tribe and Archuleta County.
• On April 4, the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) and the Town of Pagosa Springs hosted an informational public meeting about CDOT’s upcoming U.S 160 reconstruction project through downtown Pagosa Springs.
The meeting turned contentious at times, with downtown business owners — particularly owners of re- tail shops — expressing worry that the construction will “kill” business revenues during the important months of the peak summer tourist season.
The project will replace the cur- rent asphalt roadway with a new concrete road surface through the main street business district and was slated to begin in the summer of 2024.
• In April, it was announced that members of the Pagosa Springs High School (PSHS) Pirate basketball program received honors for their work over the winter season: coach Wes Lewis (Intermountain League [IML] Coach of the Year), Blake Laner (IML all-conference first team, IML co-Player of the Year, all-state second team), Colt Lewis (all-conference first team, IML co-Player of the Year, all-state honorable mention), Nathaniel Kinsley (all-conference first team, all-state honorable mention), Chase Harper (all-conference honorable mention) and Ridge Wilson (all-conference honorable mention), Annie O’Donnell (IML all-conference first team, Colorado Coaches of Girls Sports all-state team, all-state honorable mention and Colorado High School Coaches Association all-state team), coach Sarah Osborn (IML Coach of the Year) and Daveyann Snarr (all-conference honorable mention, Colorado Coaches of Girls Sports all-state team), Kylie Ketchum (all-conference honorable mention), Elizabeth Currier (all-conference first team, all-state honorable mention) and Karsyn Shahan (all-conference first team, all-state honorable mention).
• A thin layer of clouds and being outside the path of totality didn’t stop area residents from taking in the April 8 solar eclipse. The next total solar eclipse that will be visible from the United States will be on Aug. 23, 2044.
• On April 9, 6th Judicial District Attorney Sean Murray confirmed the case against Bret Smith, the driver of the SUV involved in the Jan. 29 crash that included a school bus, had been dismissed due to the defendant’s death.
In March, Pagosa Springs Police Chief William Rockensock announced that Smith had been charged with careless driving causing bodily injury.
• The PSHS Lady Pirate track and field team took first at the Bob Archibeque Invitational on April 12 in Cortez, with their Pirate counterparts taking second on the boys’ side.
• The 2024 Spanish Fiesta royalty was named at an April 13 event. Thirteen local youth competed for the honors. The honors went to Lillyan Vega, princess; Tesla Morris, queen attendant; and Dazia Villarreal, queen; Annissa Chavez, junior princess attendant; Cambria Herrera, junior princess; Ana Romero Gallegos, princess attendant; and Anthony Rodriguez, junior prince.
The royalty represented Spanish Fiesta — set for July 27 — and helped the community throughout the year by performing acts of service.
• The Continental Divide Freeride ski and snowboard team sent two athletes to the International Freeskiers and Snowboarder’s Junior National Championships for Region 2 (North and South Americas) in Breckenridge in April.
Bradley Lamoreaux and Logan Lamoreaux both received invitations to the championship event.
Logan Lamoreaux claimed fifth-place position in the finals.
Bradley Lamoreaux garnered second place in the National Championship for U19.
With his second-place finish in the championships and a consistent competitive season, Bradley Lamoreaux also earned third place overall in the 2023-2024 IFSA Region 2 Mens’ U19 Snow- board Series for the season. The top five athletes from the season were selected to compete in the Freeride Junior World Championships in Austria against athletes from across Europe and the Americas.
• On the morning of April 15, local officials and others broke ground on the Archuleta County Transit Facility in Harman Park.
• On April 16, CDOT announced that it had denied the only bid it received for the planned reconstruction of U.S. 160 through downtown Pagosa Springs.
CDOT Regional Communications Manager Lisa Schwantes indicated that CDOT only received one bid for the project, which was 35 percent, or roughly $6.6 million, over budget.
“I have to say, after careful consideration of that bid, we rejected it,” she said. “So, what this means is that we are going to repackage this project.”
• Following extensive debates at several meetings, the Archuleta County Board of County Commissioners (BoCC) approved a resolution designating Archuleta County as a “non-sanctuary county” at its April 16 meeting.
The concept of passing a resolution stating that Archuleta County is not a sanctuary county for the purposes of sheltering and providing services for undocumented immigrants began with Commissioner Warren Brown presenting the idea at the March 19 BoCC work session, where he noted that he had heard concerns from constituents about the potential that busloads of undocumented immigrants could be brought to the county and that the county does not have a resolution stating that it is not a sanctuary county.
• At its regular meeting held on April 18, the Pagosa Springs Town Council voted to approve the second reading of an ordinance authorizing the acquisition of the 11.85 acre property located at 229 U.S. 84 #A.
• On April 19, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit ruled that the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) is required to provide access to a 300-acre parcel on Wolf Creek Pass that is owned by Leavell-McCombs Joint Venture — the site of the proposed Village at Wolf Creek.
• The PSHS Pirate baseball team built a four- game win streak in April, outscoring its opponent 61-13 in four games. With the wins, the Pirates moved to 8-8 on the season and 2-2 in league play.
• The PSHS Pirate track and field teams continued their seasons in April, with multiple school records set and a number of Pirates setting new personal records.
Riley Carr broke her own record in the 200 and the Lady Pirate 4x100 team — Annabelle Parker, Sienna Rose, Lexi Campbell and Carr — broke the record set the previous season.
• Rachael Berndt and Dieter Denen were named prom king and queen at PSHS’s annual spring dance that was held on April 27 with a masquerade theme.
