Mountain Town Economics 2.0: Housing, Development, Public Lands, the Forest Service, & More w/ Jonathan Houck
BLISTER Podcast
BLISTER
4.8 • 560 Ratings
🗓️ 8 June 2026
⏱️ 64 minutes
🔗️ Recording | Apple Podcasts | RSS
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Today we’re talking about housing, affordable housing, development in mountain towns, public lands, and more with Gunnison County commissioner, Jonathan Houck, an avid mountain biker, skier, and former sponsored climber.
Note: We Want to Hear From You!
We’d love for you to share with us the stories or topics you’d like us to cover next month on Reviewing the News; ask your most pressing mountain town advice questions, or offer your hot takes for us to rate. Email us at: info@blisterreview.com
RELATED LINKS:
Get Yourself Covered: BLISTER+
See our Updated Mtn Bike Buyer’s Guide
Enter Our Free Weekly Gear Giveaways
Our Other Mtn Town Economics Conversations:
Ep. 390: Mountain Town Economics 2.0: Telluride Update w/ Jason Blevins
Ep. 389: Telluride Closes, Ski Patrol Strikes, & the Future of Ski Resorts w/ Jason Blevins
CRAFTED Ep 47: How to Design a Well-Crafted, Affordable Home w/ Zack Giffin
Ep. 275: Mtn Town Economics: Zack Giffin on Skiing, Tiny Homes, & Big Solutions
Ep. 270: Mtn Town Economics & Outdoor Recreation
Ep. 179: Mtn Town Economics, Pt 2: Housing, Community, & Core Values w/ Troy Russ
Ep. 177: Mtn Town Economics, Pt 1: Affordable Housing, Short-Term Rentals, & More w/ Jenny Stuber
TOPICS & TIMES:
New BLISTER+ Members (1:21)
Houck: Climber, Skier, Mtn Biker (2:42)
How Did You Get into Politics? (5:59)
Duties of a County Commissioner? (9:25)
Affordable Housing Updates (12:10)
Pushback (22:39)
Quality of Space & Numerous Stakeholders (28:30)
Managing Federal Lands (48:05)
Houck’s 10-Year Prediction (59:17)
CHECK OUT OUR OTHER PODCASTS:
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Hey everybody, welcome back to the Blister podcast on the Blister Podcast Network. |
| 0:07.4 | I'm Jonathan Ellsworth, and you can check out everything. |
| 0:10.9 | We're doing and reviewing over at blisterreview.com and on our YouTube channels, Blister Review |
| 0:18.4 | and Blister Studios. |
| 0:21.5 | Today, we've got another addition to our series on Mountain Town Economics, and in the |
| 0:27.6 | show notes of this episode, we will provide links to each of the episodes in this series |
| 0:32.8 | that we started back in 2021. |
| 0:36.7 | Joining us today is Jonathan Hauk, who you heard from on a panel session at our |
| 0:43.0 | 2023 Blister Summit, and we published that conversation as Blister Podcast episode number |
| 0:50.4 | 270. |
| 0:52.9 | Jonathan is an avid mountain biker, he's a skier, and back in the day, he was also a sponsored |
| 1:00.5 | climber. |
| 1:01.5 | Currently, he's also a commissioner of Gunnison County, Colorado, where Crested Bute is located, |
| 1:08.4 | and for years now, I have respected just how thoughtful and |
| 1:12.8 | solutions-oriented Jonathan is, which is why I'm really excited to share this conversation |
| 1:20.3 | with you. |
| 1:21.5 | Okay, now I want to give a shout out to a few of our newest Blister Plus members, and that includes |
| 1:27.0 | professional mountain biker |
| 1:28.9 | and Red Bull athlete Hannah Bergman in Bellingham, Washington. |
| 1:33.8 | Wow, welcome, Hannah. |
| 1:35.5 | We've got Marcus in Clark, Colorado. |
| 1:38.9 | Okay, we've also got Curran Capels in Los Angeles, California. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BLISTER, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BLISTER and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.