Colorado state government - The Durango Herald

New state grant for plugging oil and gas wells will help close Colorado’s budget hole

Closures will save money on regulation, environmental costs and help soften blow of federal funding cuts

DATE: Aug 29, 2025 | CATEGORY: Local News

Portrait of Donald Trump donated by White House will hang temporarily in Colorado Capitol

Capitol Building Advisory Committee had been discussing whether to replace the presidential portraits with paintings of the state’s former governors

DATE: Jun 27, 2025 | CATEGORY: Regional News

State Sen. Cleave Simpson picked to lead Colorado’s Senate Republicans

Republican state senators have selected Sen. Cleave Simpson of Alamosa to replace former Sen. Paul Lundeen as their new Minority Leader. Lundeen resigned his office earlier this week to take...

DATE: Jun 13, 2025 | CATEGORY: Regional News

Fence around billionaire’s San Luis Valley ranch leads to new state law

Legislation gives local governments the authority to prohibit disruptive fences

DATE: May 30, 2025 | CATEGORY: Southwest Life

Republican Greg Lopez is running for a third time to be Colorado’s governor

Earlier this year, Lopez finished a short term-stint as a member of Congress

DATE: Apr 18, 2025 | CATEGORY: Regional News

Republicans in Colorado’s legislature want Trump AG to stop new gun control law

House Republicans announced effort Wednesday to get Pam Bondi to review constitutionality of gun-control measure

DATE: Apr 17, 2025 | CATEGORY: Regional News

Governor signs bill halting expansion of hard liquor sales in grocery and big-box stores

Senate Bill 33 was brought as a way to protect small businesses that sell alcohol from further economic decline

DATE: Apr 11, 2025 | CATEGORY: Regional News

Sen. Michael Bennet is officially running for governor

Colorado’s senior senator, Michael Bennet, is seeking a new job. Under a beautiful blue sky at City Park in Denver, Bennet officially kicked off his campaign for governor. He was there with ...

DATE: Apr 11, 2025 | CATEGORY: Regional News

Governor signs bill banning manufacture, limiting sale of many semiautomatic guns

Starting in August 2026, certain semiautomatic firearms that can accept detachable ammunition magazines will be outlawed in Colorado

DATE: Apr 11, 2025 | CATEGORY: Regional News

Senate Committee approves bill to expand Colorado’s shield law for abortion providers

Lawmakers vote to delay consideration of second abortion-related bill

DATE: Feb 14, 2025 | CATEGORY: Regional News

Rep. Lauren Boebert wants wolves off the endangered species list

It won’t end Colorado’s wolf program

DATE: Feb 7, 2025 | CATEGORY: Regional News

Report details how Colorado agencies can better support non-English speakers

State government programs are making strides toward better access for non-English-speaking Coloradans, a new report found, but more resources and coordination across agencies may be needed t...

DATE: Dec 22, 2024 | CATEGORY: Regional News

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Photos: Durango High School boys golf competes at stateDemons finished 14th after two rounds at Fox Hill Club in Longmont

Demons finished 14th after two rounds at Fox Hill Club in Longmont

Photos: Cowboy Gathering Social and Parade

Photos: High County Cattle Auction

High Country Cattle Auction brings top-notch stock and country charm to Southwest ColoradoFamily run, generational business dates back to 1940s

BREEN – The family-owned and operated High Country Cattle Auction is “in the bones” of the Cugnini family, said third-generation owner Chris Cugnini. The business was founded by Chris’ grandfather, Pat Cugnini, in the 1940s. Pat then passed the business down to his son, Duane Cugnini, who then turned the business over to daughters, Becky Hawkins and Chris Cugnini, whose daughters plan to take over the family business one day. The auction, which takes place once or twice a month from April to January at 13062 La Plata Highway (Colorado Highway 140) near Breen, attracts ranchers, farmers and those in the cattle industry from far and wide.

Former Durango resident Steve Greenburg has been attending the High Country Cattle auction for more than 40 years, and continues to travel to Breen all the way from Arizona, where he now lives. He attended the September auction last week, where around 1,200 animals were up for sale. Greenburg said effective bidding takes concentration and a practiced hand. “You want to make sure you don’t pay too much,” he said. “And if you do, you want to buy the business.” Amber Belvin, employee of 15 years and Chris’ operations “sidekick,” said bidders are most often looking for signs of good health in an animal, like a plump, filled-out body. If bidding on a herd, a look of uniformity among the animals is key to a good purchase, she said.

Despite Greenburg already having a handful of filled out bidding cards marking the cattle he had won within an hour of the Sept. 23 auction, he said the day was young. One sale day last year culminated in Greenburg taking home 22 semi-trucks worth of cattle, he said. Chris said Greenburg is one of the auction’s longest-term and most generous supporters. “(Greenburg) pays top-dollar,” Chris said. “And (that) makes me feel good, because we’re giving back to (the sellers). I know these people around here, and they’re the hardest working people on the planet. If I can get them 10 or 20 cents more per pound, then that makes us happy.”

Cattle auction prices have gone up in recent years, both at High Country and nationally, Chris said. This year, animals are going for $2,500 to $3,000 a head – double and triple the average prices from last year. The increase, Chris said, is in part because of a screw worm making the rounds in cattle in Mexico, which has lowered the number of cattle coming in from the south, along with people subdividing and selling cattle branches, and local cattle herd numbers diminishing, which has increased demand.

Chris called the price increase “good and bad.” “It’s great if you’re a seller, because there’s prices that you’ve never seen before,” she said. “Older men come in, (and they) can’t believe the prices. Some of them do this for a living, and they count on that, so they’re so happy.” Belvin said some smaller farmers opt to buy less cattle during price surges like this, but echoed Chris’ sentiment about sellers being ecstatic about the unprecedented profit.

Local cattle farmer Lawrence Martinez entered 59 steers and 95 heifers in the auction Tuesday. Martinez has been involved in the High Country Cattle Auction “pretty much forever,” but recent years have been especially fruitful for sales, he said. “These last few years, we’ve been coming here to sell, because this is the place to go,” he said. “I wouldn’t sell anywhere else. (The market here has) been so good.”The auction’s community roots and generational touch doesn’t stop at the Cugnini family: Shane Hatch, the auctioneer, took over the job after his father’s death, Belvin said.

The auction serves as an opportunity for community members to get together and bond, Belvin said. “When we do have an auction, it’s a great place where local farmers and ranchers can get together and talk,” she said. “They come to the cafe, and they talk about the hay, and the drought situation, and I think it’s a good connecting point.” Chris and Belvin both expressed feeling glad the auction can supply so much generational value to the local farming and ranching community. “I mean, what other business can you think of around here that’s the same, right?” Belvin said. “We’re fair, and we’re very meticulous at our jobs. We take it very seriously, because this is (some peoples’) livelihood.”

For the Cugninis – and long-term employees like Belvin, who have become an honorary part of the close-knit High Country Cattle Auction family – the heart of the business aligns with the heart of the local farming and ranching community. “We’re just good, hard working people – Americans – that want to make a good living, and live off this great land,” Belvin said. epond@durangoherald.com

Family run, generational business dates back to 1940s