Calibrating the data logger…
Connects federal housing policy, regional planning commissions, and land development frameworks to the challenges of managing growth in sensitive mountain and rural landscapes like the Gunnison Basin.
Land use planning and community growth management in mountain towns addresses how small western communities like Gunnison, Crested Butte, and the surrounding Gunnison Basin direct urbanisation, balance economic development with open space preservation, and provide the infrastructure, affordable housing, schools, and public safety services their residents need. Mountain communities face a distinctive set of pressures: tourism-driven booms, mineral and energy extraction cycles, seasonal labor demands, and the conversion of working ranchlands into 35-acre subdivisions and ranchettes that fragment habitat and stretch highway maintenance costs across larger service areas. Master planning, zoning tools such as minimum lot size and slope restrictions, density bonuses, and Smart Growth approaches are all deployed to shape where and how growth occurs.
This policy area matters for the Gunnison Basin and western Colorado because growth decisions cascade across decades. A single final plat approval can lock in road networks, school facility demands, water and utilities commitments, property tax revenue streams, and the loss of wildlife habitat — including for species like the Gunnison sage-grouse, a Federal Category 1 candidate. Communities must weigh takings concerns, TABOR revenue limits, affordable housing shortages tied to high vacancy rates in second-home markets, and the cost of public-private partnerships against the long-term character of the landscape. Defining terms like the A-95 clearinghouse process (an intergovernmental review system) or a three mile plan (a municipality's planning influence beyond its boundaries) is essential for residents engaging in these decisions.
Colorado's modern framework for managing growth emerged in the early 1970s. The Colorado Land Use Commission Recommendations (1970) established statewide guidance on land use controls, growth monitoring, and environmental review, drawing lessons from Hawaii's pioneering land use law Colorado Land Use Commission Recommendations. That same era produced the Report of the Colorado Rural Development Commission (1972), which laid out a vision for regionalism, rural development, and water policy across the Front Range and western slope Colorado Rural Development Commission. As energy development accelerated, the Tax Lead Time Study for the Oil Shale Region (1974) examined fiscal alternatives for communities facing rapid growth from extractive industries — a template directly relevant to molybdenum-era Gunnison County .
Technical report (1979-1980s). Covers Gunnison, Gunnison County, Colorado. Topics: molybdenum mining, land use planning, community design, sensitive a...
Technical report (September 9-14, 1979). Covers Gunnison, Colorado, Gunnison County. Topics: land use planning, design excellence, mineral extraction,...
Technical report (1972). Covers Colorado, Front Range, Grand Junction. Topics: rural development, growth policy, regionalism, water policy. Agencies: ...
Technical report (1974). Covers Colorado, oil shale region, western Colorado. Topics: tax lead time, rapid growth, fiscal alternatives, oil shale deve...
County plan (1975). Covers Sheridan County, Wyoming, Boulder. Topics: population, education, housing, employment. Agencies: Sheridan Area Planning Age...
Technical report (1974). Covers Silver Heels Room, Denver, Colorado. Topics: A-95 process, clearinghouse process, regional planning, A-95. Agencies: M...
1. Despite extensive development of successional theory, few empirical studies have evaluated whether existing models are applicable to human-modified...
This dataset provides historical stock market performance data for specific companies. It enables users to analyze and understand the past trends and ...
Federal coordination was structured through the Mountain Plains Federal Regional Council A-95 Regional Conference (1974), which formalized the clearinghouse process linking the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, and state agencies A-95 Regional Conference. HUD's Annual Arrangements program sought to improve coordination of community development block grants and special revenue sharing Annual Arrangements. At the county level, the Boulder County growth study (1973) became an influential model for community consultation and growth management that other Colorado counties consulted Boulder County Growth Study.
Key stakeholders include municipal governments, county Boards of Commissioners, local Planning Commissions, Boards of Zoning and Architectural Review, the Colorado Department of Local Affairs, HUD, and the Department of Commerce. In Gunnison County, Western State College (now Western Colorado University) has been a recurring civic partner, hosting collaborative design efforts such as Planning and Designing for Growth: A Total Community Process, which paired the Rural Communities Institute with the National Endowment for the Arts to address sensitive-area development during the AMAX molybdenum boom Planning and Designing for Growth Design Challenge of the 80's. Earlier outreach work — Communications with Municipalities (1967) — used public opinion surveys and random sampling to connect Western State College with local leaders in Gunnison and Salida Communications with Municipalities.
Management approaches range from regulatory tools (moratoria, minimum standards, Master Street Plans, final plat review, protection strips) to fiscal tools (school impact fees, revenue bonds, Low Income Housing Tax Credit financing, Urban Development Action Grants). Douglas County's School Impact Fee Program documents how counties can tie residential development approvals to school facility financing under the Colorado School Finance Act Douglas County School Impact Fee. The Colorado Community Assessment Manual provides a standard methodology for communities undertaking economic development self-evaluations Colorado Community Assessment Manual. Special district governance — water, sanitation, fire — is supported through strategic planning resources like Special District Leadership Performance Special District Leadership. County-level Overall Economic Development Programs, modeled in places like Valencia County, New Mexico, illustrate areawide planning structures Gunnison-area entities have adapted Valencia County OEDP, and the Sheridan County Data Base Book demonstrates the population, housing, and employment data foundation such plans require Sheridan County Data Base Book.
The most pressing issues today include the affordable housing crisis driven by tourism and remote-work in-migration, the fiscal squeeze of TABOR on municipal revenues, infrastructure deferred maintenance, wildfire defensible space requirements and emergency evacuation plans, and the cumulative habitat effects of 35-acre subdivisions outside municipal boundaries. Mountain towns must also manage visual pollution, strip development along highway corridors, parking and circulation, and rising level-of-service standards for utilities, trash collection, and public safety. The Art of Managing the Environment frames many of these as classic urban sprawl and regional environmental management problems requiring integrated solutions Art of Managing the Environment, while Dollars and Sense in Conservation reminds planners that renewable and nonrenewable resource trade-offs underlie every land use decision Dollars and Sense in Conservation.
Emerging directions emphasize collaborative design, community entrepreneurship, public-private partnerships, and place-based projects that integrate the Gunnison Trail System and other recreation assets with controlled growth strategies. Models like the EPA River Basin Model show how computer simulation can support integrated water quality and land use decisions in basins like the Upper Gunnison River Basin Model Overview River Basin Model: Chairman and Council.
RMBL scientists generate the long-term environmental observations — on phenology, hydrology, pollinator populations, and community assembly processes — that inform whether land use decisions are actually protecting the basin's ecological integrity. Even narrowly focused ecological studies, such as Martinez's work on host plant selection by the treehopper Publilia modesta under varying moisture availability (Martinez, 2001), illustrate how subdivision patterns, irrigation withdrawals, and open space configuration alter the microhabitats that sustain native communities. Coupling RMBL's research with county master plans, impact fee programs, and special district strategies allows managers to evaluate extinction debts, growth-rate trajectories, and protection priorities at the scale where policy actually operates.
Annual Arrangements: Improving Coordination of Community Development Programs. →
Boulder County, A Study of Growth in Boulder County (1973). →
Colorado Community Assessment Manual. →
Colorado Land Use Commission Recommendations (1970). →
Communications with Municipalities (1967). →
Dollars and Sense in Conservation. →
Douglas County Government Action Regarding the School Impact Fee Program. →
Martinez, 2001. Publilia modesta (Membracidae) and the effect of moisture availability on host plant selection. →
Mountain Plains Federal Regional Council A-95 Regional Conference (1974). →
Organization and Plan for Valencia County's Overall Economic Development Program. →
Planning and Designing for Growth: A Total Community Process. →
Report of the Colorado Rural Development Commission (1972). →
Sheridan County Data Base Book. →
Special District Leadership Performance. →
Tax Lead Time Study for the Oil Shale Region (1974). →
The Art of Managing the Environment. →
The Design Challenge of the 80's: Industrializing – Developing Sensitive Areas. →
The River Basin Model: An Overview. →
The River Basin Model: Chairman and Council. →
Technical report (1970-1973). Covers Gary, Indiana, Wisconsin. Topics: Annual Arrangements, special revenue sharing, community development, Chief Exec...
County plan (1973). Covers Boulder County, City of Boulder, Boulder. Topics: growth, land use, growth management, community consultation. Agencies: Bo...
Economic Developer’s Council of Colorado and Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade, April, 2002
Technical report (1960s-1974). Covers San Diego County, Erie County, Nashville-Davidson. Topics: urban sprawl, environmental management, Regional Envi...
County plan (1991-1992). Covers Douglas County, Castle Rock, Parker. Topics: school impact fees, school impact fee program, residential land developme...
Technical report (1971). Covers River Basin. Topics: water pollution control, river basin model, computer simulation, economic sector. Agencies: U.S. ...
Document (1990s). Covers Canon City, Loveland, Colorado. Topics: strategic thinking, strategic planning, community-based strategic planning, citizen-b...
Technical report (December, 1971). Covers Washington, D.C., River Basin, TWOCITY. Topics: River Basin Model, water pollution control, water quality de...
Technical report (1982). Covers Washington, Washington, DC, Oregon. Topics: Comprehensive Diagnostic Evaluation, wastewater facility functions, utilit...
Technical report (1971). Covers RAYMO CITY, continental United States, Cuyahoga River Basin. Topics: River Basin Model, water pollution control, water...
Technical report (1974). Covers Nashville/Davidson County, West Virginia, Nashville. Topics: government productivity, systematic analysis, productivit...
Technical report. Covers Massachusetts, Colorado, Denver. Topics: zoning, land use, land-use map, zoning ordinance. Agencies: Community Planning Secti...
Technical report (1982). Covers New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania. Topics: water infrastructure financing, waste management, water and waste manageme...
Technical report (1977). Covers Salt Lake City, Utah, Washington, D.C.. Topics: Zero-Base Budgeting, organizational impact, resource allocation, decis...
Technical report (1971). Covers Washington, D.C., River Basin, mountains. Topics: River Basin Model, planning and zoning, economic development, land o...
Technical report (December, 1971). Covers Washington D.C., TWOCITY, river basin. Topics: water pollution control, river basin model, government budget...
One of the overarching goals of the Colorado Division of Wildlife Long Range Plan is to "Lead statewide efforts involving federal, state, county and l...
Kate Clancy, Shelly Grow, & Lydia Oberholtzer. Henry A. Wallace Center for Agriculture & Environmental Policy. April 2003.
Correspondence (1995). Covers Crested Butte, Gunnison, Gunnison Community. Topics: City Center Plan, affordable housing, high density housing, commerc...
Technical report (1968-1972). Covers Washington, Washington, D.C., State. Topics: federal grants, budget allocation, cost allocation plan, indirect co...
U.S Department of Health, Education, and Welfare- Eilliot L. Richardson, James F. Kelly, Ernest M. Allen, Sc.D. 1968.
Technical report (2003). Covers Mechanicsville, Tennessee, Knoxville. Topics: charrette, community planning, mixed-income housing, dynamic planning. A...
Correspondence (1970s-1980s). Covers Gunnison, Colorado Springs, San Diego. Topics: Master Plan, economic development. Agencies: Gunnison County Plann...
County plan (1970). Covers Teton County, Wyoming, Idaho. Topics: subdivision platting, land division, subdivision ordinance, preliminary plat. Agencie...
Document (1970-1973). Covers Colorado, Littleton, Colorado Springs. Topics: land use planning, quality of life, environmental impact. Agencies: Colora...
Technical report. Covers Twin Cities, Minnesota, Muscatatuck National Wildlife Refuge. Topics: Resource Planning, land use allocation, resource invent...
Document (1977). Covers South, West, northeast quadrant. Topics: Community Development Block Grants, urban development, allocation formulas, federal a...
County plan. Covers Teton County, Idaho, Rexburg. Topics: land subdivision, subdivision, road improvements, utilities. Agencies: Teton County, County ...
Technical report. Covers Colorado, Denver. Topics: community general plan, urban planning, land use planning, general plan. Agencies: Housing and Home...
Correspondence (early 1970's to middle 1990's). Covers Gunnison County, Colorado, Paris. Topics: costs of growth, fiscal impact analysis, infrastructu...
Technical report. Covers Colorado, Denver, Chicago. Topics: land use survey, land use mapping, zoning, planning. Agencies: Community Planning Section,...
County plan (November 2004). Covers Gunnison County, Colorado, Gunnison-Crested Butte Corridor. Topics: Development Impact Analysis, Land Use Alternat...
Technical report (1970). Covers Colorado, Delta, Gunnison. Topics: socioeconomic data, population demographics, housing characteristics, income statis...
Management plan (1990). Covers Area A, Area B, North Area. Topics: multiple use planning, recreation development, timber management, watershed protect...
Technical report (1982). Covers Washington, DC. Topics: contract procedures, professional services contracting, requirements definition, request for q...
Senate Bill “Concerning an authorization of voter-approved revenue bonds for the purpose of financing water infrastructure projects by the state.” 200...
News article (1977-1980). Covers North Sea, Aberdeen, Scotland. Topics: offshore oil exploration, oil reserves, oil exploration, oil production. Agenc...
~ view western water policy , ', "" and recommen<J.ways'to re- ~ solve· water conflicts. ' - ~ Tom Sansonetti, mo~t re-: . · ~ cently the Interior Dep...
CommunityByDesign, RPI Consulting LLC, Lueck & Associates, Robert Odland Consulting, Consensus Builders, Terrasystems Southwest. La Plata County Plann...
County plan (20 year period). Covers Gunnison, US Highway 50, Highway 50. Topics: Planned Unit Development, affordable housing, public infrastructure,...
Use our statement developed at “Brainstorming Session” last Tuesday combined with statement by Bill Roseberry (some excellent goals). 1, Development A...
Crested Butte is in Danger and you can help, ‘This valley with its exquisite mountain scenery, its vast open expanses, its superb recreational opportu...
Technical report. Covers Colorado, Denver. Topics: preliminary reconnaissance, community planning, survey and planning. Agencies: Colorado Division of...
The table below contains housing policy options, most of which address “affordable housing”. The policies range from a “hands off” approach by local g...
Technical report (1976-1977). Covers Colorado, transmountain. Topics: land use, water policies, land use controls, transferable development rights. Ag...
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Document (Fall 2002). Covers Los Angeles, East St. Louis, Matamoros. Topics: community leadership, sustainable community change, community development...
Technical report (1973). Covers City of Lakewood, Jefferson County. Topics: referral process, rezoning, procedural impact statement, development plan ...
News article. Covers Las Vegas, Nevada, Carson City. Topics: public land auction, development. Agencies: Bureau of Land Management, Interior Departmen...
Correspondence. Covers Crested Butte, this valley, this watershed. Topics: growth management strategies, bio-diversity. Agencies: Town of Crested Butt...
The Formation inter-genemtional trnnsfer of productive .lands. of the CCALT · •. Conservation ease- Go almost anywhere ·ments are tailor-made for n in...
County plan (1967). Covers Teton County, Wyoming. Topics: subdivision approval, townsite plats. Agencies: Board of County Commissioners, County Commis...
Technical report. Covers Denver, Colorado. Topics: preliminary reconnaissance, community planning, land use planning. Agencies: Community Planning Sec...
The Governor’s veto of the affordable housing loans and grants line item for the 2002-2003 state budget, and the sunset of the State Low Income Housin...
Correspondence (2019). Covers Gunnison, Colorado, WSCU Kelley Hall. Topics: responsible personal, community and land practices, education, economic de...
Correspondence. Topics: endowment management, fund management, investment policy. Agencies: USDA, Smithsonian Institute, National Endowment for the Ar...
THK Associates, inc. 1974.
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News article. Covers Japan, Lake Buena Vista, Wellesley. Topics: real estate investment, workspace organization. Agencies: STB Research Institute, Sum...
Correspondence. Topics: GPR research, GRP project. Agencies: city council.
Carl H. Nue Jr. 1991.