KING AND QUEEN OF SKI TOWNS

Everyone is a King or Queen who is lucky enough or brave enough to live in a ski town.  The Landman had the most grandiose insight of his life in Telluride one day in the fall while riding with an Austrian in the San Miguel River canyon, after a grouse hunt.  He made the following comment that went directly to the Landmans heart and soul.  “You probably don’t realize how lucky you have been living in ski towns as long as you have.  You are surrounded by millions of acres of public land, national forest, that you can hike, hunt, photograph wildlife, all free, and never need permission from anyone to use.  The national forest is the best land in the west, towering over ranches, mesas, and ski towns, with herds of elk, deer, cougar and mountain sheep, and high basins with waterfalls, the absolute best land surrounding ski towns.  It provides for endless joy and adventure, and it is minutes from your home.  In Austria, you could not hike without permission from the descendants of the Kings of Austria, you could not hunt without paying an enormous fee to the landed gentry and nobility, and you could never buy their land or own something near the mountains.  How lucky and blessed are the people who live in Telluride, and take this public land for granted.  Europe is not like this, so enjoy it.”  The Landman was amazed at this statement of freedom, living in a ski town, where everyone is a King and a Queen, where it costs nothing to walk up into the mountains.  In the San Miguel county courthouse there is a large colored map on the wall that shows all the national forest land and displays the history of public lands in a narrative form.  At one time the public land contained over a billion acres.  Large chunks were lost when land was given to school sections, railroad companies, and mining claims, but Teddy Roosevelt created 400 million acres more, and developed the National Forest concept, preserving this kingdom forever.  Ski towns should give thanks to the Big Teddy Bear, Theodore Roosevelt, and visitors should enjoy the Kingdom above the valleys, a true and real paradise.