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Aspen Center for Environmental Studies

The Aspen Center for Environmental Studies (ACES) is a nonprofit environmental education center with four locations around the Roaring Fork Valley of Colorado. ACES provides a variety of natural science programs for people of all ages and interests on a year-round basis.

ACES' mission is to inspire a life-long commitment to the earth by educating for environmental responsibility, conserving and restoring the balance of natural communities, and advancing the ethic that the Earth must be respected and nurtured.

Forests at Risk

Climate Change and the Future of the American West

Climate change poses a huge threat to the West. The current mountain pine beetle epidemic with over 50 million acres of dying trees in western North America has created a powerful “teachable moment” across the region.

A primary goal of the Forests At Risk symposium was to reframe the nation’s climate change dialogue by making the issue both personal and real to many who may not appreciate its connection to the immediate world around them.