Ice Fire burns in San Juan County

The Ice Fire on Monday night, courtesy San Juan County Office of Emergency Management

News

By News Staff, on October 20, 2020

UPDATE 5:30 p.m. TUESDAY 10/20

The San Juan National Forest has officially closed down access to all forest lands from Ophir Pass Road to the south ridge above South Mineral Canyon. This includes Rolling Mountain, Twin Sisters and Bear Mountain, with U.S. Highway 550 as the boundary on the east and the Uncompahgre National Forest on the west. The order comes this afternoon from Forest Supervisor Kara Chadwick as crews continue to fight the Ice Fire.

An official message went out to San Juan County ...

Main, News...

Oh, what fun it is to dance

December 24, 2025

Main, News...

Affordable housing nonprofit to expand across state

Telluride-based Rural Homes plans to build 120 new units in 2026, but future of Ouray project unclear

By Lia Salvatierra lia@ouraynews.com

December 24, 2025

Telluride-based Rural Homes is entering a new era of affordable housing work across the state after bringing on a new CEO and looking beyond pilot projects in Ouray and San Miguel counties. The afford...

Feature

SEASON OF SHARING

Second Chance Humane Society

December 24, 2025

Editor's note: The Ouray County Plaindealer is continuing its tradition of featuring nonprofit organizations based in Ouray County, serving Ouray County in a series of profiles called Season of Sharin...

Feature

Home Trust of Ouray County

December 24, 2025

Year established as a nonprofit: 2018 What does your organization do for Ouray County? Affordable housing remains one of the most pressing challenges facing Ouray County, where the median price for a ...

Feature

SEASON OF SHARING

Sherbino Theater/ Ridgway Chautauqua

December 24, 2025

Letters, Opinion...

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Time to reconsider policing in Ouray

December 24, 2025

Dear Editor: With the departure of Interim Police Chief Daric Harvey, Ouray once again faces instability in its police department. Rather than automatically rebuilding the same structure, this feels l...

Letters, Opinion...

Let’s recommit to being kind, understanding

December 24, 2025

Dear Editor: As we welcome the winter solstice, and the slow return of the light, I want to share some thoughts for the season, and the year to come. I believe the core values of the season, whatever ...

Columns, Opinion...

From start to finish, a too-warm, too-dry 2025

December 24, 2025

Dreaming of a white Christmas? Wunderground’s “meteorologists qualify a white Christmas as one with at least an inch of snow on the ground [SOG] on Christmas morning,” (Hayden Marshall and Jonathan Er...

Feature

SEASON OF SHARING

Uncompahgre Watershed Partnership

December 24, 2025

Feature

SEASON OF SHARING

West Region Wildfire Council

December 24, 2025

Year established as a nonprofit: 2007 What does your organization do for Ouray County? With wildfires becoming a greater and greater risk to Western Colorado, WRWC strives to educate and aid in wildfi...

News

Commissioners appoint replacement clerk

By Lia Salvatierra lia@ouraynews.com

December 24, 2025

Ouray County commissioners have appointed a current employee to replace outgoing Clerk and Recorder Cristy Lynn when she leaves her position in January. Commissioners unanimously approved appointing c...

Remote-triggered avalanche in San Juan Mountains

First responders receive first COVID-19 vaccines