12/20/2023 0 Comments City hotel venture towns![]() They’re building boutique hotels just for kittiwakes, so the birds can raise their families in town without being a nuisance to people. Taking a cue from the hotel construction around Tromsø, Reiertsen and a group of colleagues have hatched a plan to help save these iconic Arctic seabirds. This unusual urban invasion may be a last chance for the region’s kittiwakes, whose numbers along the coast of Norway have plunged by three-quarters since the 1980s, says Tone Kristin Reiertsen, a seabird ecologist with the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research in Tromsø. “The kittiwake cliffs are just being emptied.” “There's something going on in the bird cliffs that makes them struggle to raise chicks,” says Reiertsen. Now, due to a warming ocean, increased storminess and other changes that are decimating chick production in their normal habitat, the birds have been setting up house in places such as shopping centers and office buildings in Tromsø and other towns along Norway’s north coast, where they are rankling locals with their noise and mess. ![]() But in the past few years from March to September, that’s changed. Usually, kittiwakes nest in cliffs over the ocean and seldom venture inland. These guests are black-legged kittiwakes-the most seafaring member of the gull family, and one that is facing an uncertain future. While the human tourist boom is on hold for now, some visitors are still flocking in and looking for suitable places to stay. Spurred by a recent flood of adventurers chasing the northern lights and sightseers wanting a glimpse of the glaciers before they’re gone, this tourism hub on Norway’s north coast has been building hotels geared for an anticipated 2.3 million visitors a year. Fine dining, great skiing and easy access to the imposing Gore Range ensures Vail remains one of the country's great ski towns.TROMSØ, Norway Construction cranes tower stork-like over the skyline of this burgeoning burg 200-plus miles above the Arctic Circle. The largest ski resort in the USA sits above two quaint, Bavarian-themed base villages on the west side of Interstate-70's Vail Pass. Leadville is also a launching pad for Sawatch Range trips and fly fishing the Arkansas River. ![]() Today, its Victorian main street, loaded with restaurants, antique, outdoor and coffee shops as well as annual events like big-air ski joring, continues to draw visitors. Once Colorado's economic epicenter, Leadville attracted such Western luminaries as Doc Holliday and “The Unsinkable” Molly Brown. Take a mine tour, go off-roading and enjoy classic Colorado dining in Idaho Springs, located 45 minutes east of Summit County on Interstate 70. Located on the east side of the Interstate-70 Eisenhower Tunnel, Georgetown is nestled in a narrow valley alongside two reservoirs featuring the no-frills Loveland Ski Area and the Georgetown Loop Railroad. Fairplay and its sister town, Alma, have eclectic main streets with a smattering of authentic mountain shops, restaurants and bars. A historic gold mining town, Fairplay, aka “The Real South Park,” is the largest community on a vast grassland flanked by Highways 285 and 9.
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