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Time Machine: 10 years ago, Eagle beavers busy building dams

Thick waterproof fur and a layer of fat is what keeps the beaver warm in cold water.
Rick Spitzer | Special to the Daily

10 years ago

June 10, 2013

The town of Eagle hired a local company to break up beaver dams in the Eagle Ranch area after a rapidly expanding population of beavers had begun building dams in town.

The beavers were “building dams in the residential area, killing trees and clogging storm ponds that are part of a pollution control system,” the Vail Dail reported. 



The company had broken up a large beaver dam near the bike bath and was monitoring a beaver that was in the area. 

The town’s open space director said the town has the option to trap and euthanize the beavers, “but that is the last thing anyone wants to do,” the Vail Daily reported. “Instead, trapped beavers will be relocated. The town started trapping and relocating the beavers last fall, but was told to wait until the summer to do any relocating.”

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20 years ago

June 6, 2003

A 14-person crew had begun sweeping a 400-acre portion of the East Fork area of Camp Hale in an effort to clear unexploded munitions from the former WWII training grounds, the Vail Daily reported. 

The effort began as the result of a discovery three summers earlier when a hiker discovered a piece of mortar round which authorities said was from a military training conducted 60 years earlier. The following summer, a trio of anti-tank mines were found by hikers, and the following fall, five rifle grenades were found. 

The discoveries forced the U.S. Forest Service to close 3,000 acres of the East Fork area and begin the process of sweeping the area. 

“On the first day of sweeping, crews found portions of hand grenades, artillery and mortar shells and other explosive devices,” the Vail Daily reported. “The old explosives are collected, cataloged and recorded for historical purposes.”

30 years ago

June 11, 1993

A report card for the Eagle River showed that while some portions of the river were healthy, others were not doing so well. 

The headwaters to Gilman area received an A- but Gilman to Minturn received a D+; Minturn to Dowd Junction received a C; Dowd Junction to Arrowhead received a B; Arrowhead to Wolcott received an A and Wolcott to Dotsero received a B+.

“If the river is to survive, passing marks are requisite,” the Vail Trail reported. “Contamination from the Eagle Mine at Gilman is but one reminder of man’s ability to hurt even that which he loves. Fish, insects and vegetation have suffered along the river due to high concentrations of metals seeping into the river.”

40 years ago

June 10, 1983

Another mudslide, the second in two weeks, blocked traffic lanes in the Dowd Junction area.

“A saturated layer of earth beneath Interstate 70 appeared to have stabilized Wednesday, one day after a sagging 60-foot section of entrance ramp crumbled, sending tons of mud down onto U.S. 6,” the Vail Trail reported. “Drill crews Wednesday discovered steady streams of water running about 40 feet beneath the interstate roadbed. The persistent runoff, increased by rains that drenched the area over the weekend, is being blamed for the second massive slide in two weeks.”

The problem began June 5, 1983, at about 3:45 p.m. when a 60-foot section of the entrance ramp started to crack, the Trail reported. The area was blocked off before the sagging pavement slowly collapsed at noon on Tuesday, June 7. The chain reaction sent the grass-covered embankment creeping across U.S. 6 at about a foot an hour, finally sliding across the rest of the road when the crumbling section of interstate collapsed above it.

50 years ago

June 8, 1973

Vail welcomed 550 delegates from the Western Regional Travel Conference to town for the 25th-annual American Society Travel Agents Convention.

Delegates from national tourist councils, every major airline and hotel chains were in town representing their various countries and companies, the Vail Trail reported.

“The largest delegation is that of Hawaii, which has taken over the Vail Village Inn and renamed it the Hawaiian Village Inn for the four-day conference,” the Vail Trail reported.

The featured speaker was Sy Fischer, CPA of Elmer Box and Company.

“Mr. Fischer will detail various accounting systems presently used by travel agencies, the need for industry standardization, and will develop in-depth methods necessary for successful operations in the future,” the Vail Trail reported.

60 years ago

June 6, 1963

All bids for the construction of the Homestake Access Road were rejected because the bids were too high, the Eagle Valley Enterprise reported.

The access road was required to for the creation of the Homestake Reservoir, a project aiming to divert water from the head of the Eagle River to the Front Range of Colorado.

The required access road “is to be nearly 4 miles long and will be in Eagle County,” the Enterprise reported. 


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