GUNNISON — Even as wildlife managers were feeding deer deprived of grazing land by deep snowdrifts in the Gunnison Basin, clouds were being seeded to bring more precipitation in another part of the county.
In the southern part of the basin around Slumgullion Pass and other areas, the snowpack hadn’t been deep enough to cut off the seeding project, said Joe Busto, a staffer on the Colorado Water Conservation Board’s watershed-protection and flood-mitigation section. But public concern over wildlife and snow removal halted the seeding as of Monday.
The program helps boost the watershed and snowpack in an area that depends heavily on outdoor recreation to feed its economy, said Jane Wyman, Gunnison County weather-modification coordinator. The Crested Butte ski resort accounts for much of the county’s tourism revenue. The snow seeding program there and in other northern areas of the county was stopped more than a month ago when winter storms boosted the snowpack.
