By Larry Caswell and Bob Lagow
In 2005 Red Feather Lakes area resident Bob Lagow approached friends in his book club and asked if they would be interested in forming a group to perform research and provide educational and policy information to the members and the community at large. This would entail not only educating themselves on important issues but also sharing the results of our research with other members and the public via a website and public presentations.
The group agreed to form a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization for this purpose. Dave Doft, Michael Sledge, Harry Corwin, Bill Gilbert, Larry Caswell and Bob Lagow agreed to be Founding Directors of the organization. They met weekly throughout the winter and spring of 2005/2006 and developed the principles, bylaws, and a statement of purpose. This was a challenging, rewarding, and enjoyable time for these individuals, who became even better acquainted with each other as they built personal relationships.
They agreed on Mummy Range Institute as the organization name after the Mummy Range which forms the boundary of Rocky Mountain National Park to our south…one large section of which resembles a reclining mummy. They designed a logo and created a website through the invaluable work of Ben Myers. The logo was used to brand items of clothing, a carry bag, business cards and stationery.
The Institute soon gained a membership of interested and committed individuals from the Red Feather / Poudre Canyon / Livermore area and held regular meetings including attendance by the general public. The Institute did research and educational outreach on such topics as sustainability, voting rights, energy, economics, and governmental lobbying. Other projects in which the Institute’s influence was felt included involvement in local meetings between representatives of the Red Feather Lakes community and Larimer County government to advance planning, and cooperation and participation in meetings regarding the gas fracking controversy in the Nunn area east of Fort Collins. When Larimer County proposed the Glade water storage project which would have resulted in a dam along Highway 287, thus reducing the spring flow of water in the Cache La Poudre River, members initiated a project calling for more study and consideration of alternatives to the county proposal.
In 2011 Larimer County submitted final plans to locate a communications tower on the peak of Middle Bald Mountain. This tower, which had been under consideration by Larimer County since 1996, was designed to improve emergency communication with hard-to-reach mountain areas such as portions of Poudre Canyon. The Institute objected to the proposed location on top of the signature back-drop mountain of the immediate Red Feather area, visible to almost everywhere in the region. In addition, Middle Bald contained the only alpine zone ecosystem in the Colorado portion of the Medicine Bow Mountain Range. The Institute contended that this delicately sensitive area would be damaged by tower construction and future maintenance. The tower would also have resulted in the need to add power lines in areas where none existed. Additionally, serious questions were raised about the adequacy of the testing of the location and whether the tower would actually improve communications in all of the targeted problem areas. By continuing to demand accountability from the county, the Institute gained a victory in that the tower location was changed in late 2014 to near the Killpecker Trail, an obscure location not visible throughout the entire Red Feather area and not endangering a rare, alpine ecosystem.
Besides the decision on placement of the radio tower and questioning the construction of Glade Reservoir, the Mummy Range Institute was directly or indirectly responsible for placement of guard rails along County Road 74E and Larimer County’s early decision to use paper ballots and mail-in voting before the State followed its lead.
After the tower decision in 2014, the Institute dissolved after eight years of providing rewarding social interactions between community members, education on many important issues, and grass root influence on important local issues. In keeping with its statement of purpose, its unused funds were donated to the Red Feather Lakes Library to assist in the continuing education of the local community. That statement of purpose which directed the activities of the Mummy Range Institute for its entire existence was:
Promoting values that are indispensable in providing a compassionate society and a sustainable future for endless generations.
Logo design by Sally McCreary, sister of Sandy Lagow