Stories in this list received the most page views on SummitDaily.com from Aug. 31 to Sept. 6. 

1. More than 3.5 million birds migrated over Colorado in 1 night this week. Residents are being asked to turn out their lights to help them

Coloradans are being asked to dim their lights to aid millions of birds flying over the state each night amid the annual fall migration.

Every year, billions of birds migrate north in the spring and south in the fall. Nearly 80% of birds that migrate do so at night, often navigating by starlight, according to the National Audubon Society. However, artificial light from humans can disorient the birds, throwing them off their migration path and sometimes causing them to collide with buildings or windows.

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“Our artificial lights are a big problem for them,” Richard O’Brien, the chair of Lights Out Colorado, said in an email. “They have amazing journeys, sometimes thousands of miles to South America. It’s time to remind our neighbors: Turn out unneeded outdoor lights, each night for at least the next month.”

During the migration, Lights Out Colorado — a program supported by Dark Sky Colorado and the Denver Audubon — asks residents to take simple actions to help protect the birds traveling at night: Shield outdoor lights to prevent light from being emitted upwards, and turn off lights as early as possible during the bird migration season.

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In Colorado, the peak bird migration starts on Sept. 1 and continues through Sept. 24, according to BirdCast, a migration forecast tool created by The Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Colorado State University and University of Massachusetts Amherst.

— Ryan Spencer

2. Breckenridge becomes first mountain resort community in Colorado to get DarkSky certification

DarkSky Colorado community program manager Michael Rymer hopes Breckenridge is the first domino to fall. 

On Aug. 22, Breckenridge became the first mountain resort community in Colorado to get certified as a DarkSky community, according to DarkSky International. In doing so, Rymer said the town proved it’s possible for tourism-reliant economies to change the way they use light.

DarkSky is a global movement created in 1988 meant to mitigate light pollution for the sake of environmental, human and animal health. Municipalities, parks and reserves, private land and even urban areas can seek various DarkSky certifications. The organization encourages communities to redirect light sources downward and use light in a way that doesn’t pollute the sky rather than turning lights off. For a community like Breckenridge, it must get not only its municipal lights in compliance with DarkSky regulations, but residential lighting as well. This is done through changing town code. 

Breckenridge’s path to certification actually started with a Blue River resident. Assistant Town Manager Julia Puester said Martie Semmer’s public comment encouraging the town to pursue DarkSky certification put the idea on town staff members’ radar around two years ago now. Semmer had been a longtime advocate of mitigating light pollution and was involved with DarkSky Colorado for a number of years. She was familiar with what a community needed to do to get certified and knew certification was feasible for Breckenridge.

Breckenridge Town Council signed off on the idea, and staff members worked getting the town into compliance. Per DarkSky regulations, the town set parameters for outdoor lighting related to max wattages and color hues for bulbs. Outdoor lighting must be fully shielded and cast downward, according to the regulations. 

Rymer helped the town get into compliance, which he said was fairly easy given the town already had elements in its lighting codes that supported the requirements. He’s seen the process of getting certification vary in the communities he’s worked with. He said he thinks the presence of tourism Breckenridge didn’t make the process anymore difficult for the town, he said it created another tourism attraction and shows its feasible for other destination communities.

“Breckenridge being a very highly visible town for that reason, I think we’ll have a lot of positive chain reaction within the state and hopefully within the region for these places that do offer that type of outdoor recreation,” he said. 

Rymer said Colorado has the most places pursing some sort of DarkSky certification than anywhere else in the world currently, highlighting how even other places in Summit like Frisco are working towards certification.

— Kit Geary

3. Coroner identifies man who died after possible fall from balcony in Dillon

Editor’s note: Updated reporting on this story is available at SummitDaily.com.

Law enforcement believes a man who died Saturday night, Aug. 30, did so after falling from a balcony in Dillon. 

The Dillon Keystone Police Department wrote in a Facebook post that officers found a man, who the Summit County Coroner identified as Benjamin Christopher Daugherty, a 26-year-old from Basalt, unresponsive and not breathing around 8:12 p.m.

Daugherty was in a grassy area, according to the post, and although first responders attempted “immediate lifesaving measures,” Daugherty succumbed to his injuries.

An initial investigation determined the man sustained fatal injuries after falling from an elevated balcony. The circumstances surrounding the fall are currently under investigation, according to the post.

Summit Daily News requested a report from the incident and is awaiting a response.

— Kyle McCabe

4. Front Range man dies after ATV pins him in the backcountry near Georgia Pass, a popular recreation area in Colorado

A Front Range man is dead after his all-terrain vehicle pinned him in the backcountry near Glacier Ridge on Georgia Pass on Sunday, Aug. 31, according to a Summit County Sheriff’s Office press release. 

Other trail users found the man, who was reportedly riding alone, unresponsive underneath his ATV and used a satellite message to report it to Summit County dispatchers. The message said the man had no pulse and was not breathing, and authorities pronounced him at the scene once they located him. 

Summit County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Mike Schilling said the man was not renting the ATV when the crash occurred. 

A preliminary investigation found that the man was involved in a crash that caused the ATV to roll on top of him. 

“The exact time of the crash is currently unknown,” the release states. “The man was wearing a helmet and appeared to be properly equipped for his day in the backcountry.”

The identity, cause of death and manner of death will be released at a later time. 

“Satellite messengers are an important tool for backcountry safety. While this incident ended in tragedy, satellite messengers are often the only way to summon help when outside of cell service,” said Summit County Sheriff Jaime FitzSimons. “In this case, passersby used their devices to get help and remained on scene to assist with the investigation. They did everything they could, and their efforts are commendable.”

The Sheriff’s Office and Summit County Rescue Group shared condolences to the family and friends impacted by the loss of life. 

The Red, White & Blue Fire Protection District and Flight for Life Colorado both assisted in the incident. 
For backcountry safety information, visit the Summit County Rescue Group’s website at SCRG.org.

— Kyle McCabe

5. Here’s where Breckenridge is at with its Runway Neighborhood project and how a new free skier parking lot could work

As Breckenridge inches closer to determining a final price tag for what officials are calling its last workforce housing neighborhood, the town opened the floor for public opinion at a recent meeting.

Breckenridge both prepped to convey land, part of which previously served as free skier parking for Breckenridge Ski Resort, and held a town hearing for its Runway Neighborhood Project at an Aug. 26 meeting. 

First planned to house around 140 units — including single family homes, duplexes and townhouses — Breckenridge officials decided to only tackle an 81-unit project due to economic uncertainty and hold off on a second phase, for now.

Slated to be near Upper Blue Elementary School and other neighborhoods on Airport Road, a Breckenridge resident raised concerns about the impacts the development could have on the surrounding area. 

Resident Gail Marshall worried about the additional density the development will bring to an area of town she said has already undergone an increase in traffic. She worried about emergency services’ ability to respond to situations in the vicinity in a timely manner and wondered how an emergency evacuation plan for the road adjacent to Colorado Highway 9 would work if more residents and their cars were introduced to the area.  

She said the feel of the neighborhood she bought into over 20 years ago changed, and this will further fuel that. 

“I drive around units that have been built on North Airport Road, and it seems more urban than a small-town feel. … I just get concerned about overdevelopment,” she said. 

She also had concerns that moving free skier parking further from the resort to make room for the development will exacerbate the parking issue the town already has.

— Kit Geary