After 17 years behind the director’s desk at the Colorado State University Extension of La Plata County, Darrin Parmenter has announced a growth spurt, of sorts. The horticulture specialist announced his departure from the role earlier this month, and started a new job as the CSU Extension regional director of the Western region March 4.
The way he tells it, the transition has a bittersweet hue to it.
“It always sucks to end one chapter, but it’s always nice to start a new one, I guess – or a book, however you want to make the cheesy analogy,” he said.
For over a decade and a half, Parmenter oversaw the staff of the county’s extension office and acted as a liaison to the community. And he taught. Extensively.
As the horticulture specialist, Parmenter said he would teach up to 30 classes each year.
“That’s going to be the big loss for me – I won’t be the local plant guy; that just isn’t going to be me anymore,” he said.
Extension’s job is to package up the best science-based practices and put them in an absorbable form. And in his capacity to do that job, Parmenter said he created a strong network of relationships that kept him seated in the role.
“I have 50-plus Master Gardeners who area kind of … my grandmas,” he said. “I’ve got 50 people who really like to take care of me and who truly care about us and care about the world of plants and environment.”
The new role will mean less individualized time with the La Plata County community, as Parmenter turns his focus to a 15-county region across Colorado’s Western Slope. His domain stretches north to south, from Wyoming to New Mexico, and east to west, from Utah to the base of the Rocky Mountains.
As population increases across the region and the climate continues to produce less predictable weather patterns, Parmenter said his goal is to facilitate the prosperity of farmers and gardeners by supporting the local leaders.
Even though the self-described plant nerd will no longer be writing his monthly “From the Extension Office” column in The Durango Herald (something he assures us he will miss greatly; his predecessor will take over authorship), Parmenter says he will not leave Durango. However, he will be moving out of the Extension office at the La Plata County Fairgrounds. For now, he’ll be working from home and from the Fort Lewis College Center for Innovation.
And although he may be growing a bit farther from his La Plata County roots, Parmenter says the core mission of his work remains the same.
“We are this inclusive institution where we just want people to learn and prosper and get some good research-based information,” he said.
rschafir@durangoherald.com
