Winter is coming (someday) and the Colorado Avalanche Information Center is staffed up with 25 full-time forecasters, nearly double the number it had when director Ethan Greene joined in 2005.
“We’ve had a fair amount of growth in that 20-year period, which is amazing,” Greene said. “The CAIC is an amazing organization, and I’m privileged to work here, do this work for the folks of Colorado, and work with a great team of dedicated, intelligent, well-trained avalanche workers. But we still cover a huge amount of terrain for the number of people we have.”
Forecasting begins Nov. 1 for mountain roads and backcountry zones, but will it be impacted by the government shutdown?
Krystal 93 news director Phil Lindeman talked with Greene for insight on funding, priorities and why “safe” is a luxury these days.
Krystal 93: What does the federal shutdown mean for the CAIC?
Ethan Greene: It’s a difficult one to answer because of the budget environment we’re in. The state has had a few challenging cycles, both the regular cycle and the special session, but because of the funding the CAIC gets and the size of the program – probably because of the support we get from executive branch and department of natural resources – our program is not changing substantially right now. It’s really hard to know what the next couple years look like.
We get a lot of support through the state’s public safety mission, through the department of natural resources. We also work very closely with the folks in the federal government and the Friends of the CAIC, our nonprofit partner. Those relationships are even more important at these times, when we’re trying to fund the programs we feel passionate about.
K93: Do you feel relatively safe then? We’ve been hearing about social services (like food and parental support) disappearing or being trimmed because of the shutdown.
EG: I don’t know if “safe” is the way I would describe it. The folks who manage the budget for state of Colorado have some very, very hard decisions. We’re trying to talk about the work we do and why it’s important and put it into context, but when you’re looking at schools and food assistance and medical care, these are really hard decisions those folks have to make. All of that will be changing over time. It really is hard to say how right now.