Earth Day celebration to be held Saturday
Durango Nature Studies’ fifth annual Earth Day 5K Celebration will be held from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at For the Birds and Rotary Park.
The cost is $15 in advance, $20 on race day and $10 per family for the 1-mile fun run.
A party including music from the Great Contention, prizes, activities, beer and pizza from Homeslice will take place from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
To register, visit Brown’s Sport Shoes, Backcountry Experience or www.durangonaturestudies.org/earthday.htm.
Southwest Farm Fresh receives $48,500 grant
Sen. Michael Bennet announces Southwest Farm Fresh cooperative has won a $48,500 Rural Business Enterprise Grant to develop a distribution cooperative to help farmers in Montezuma County sell their goods to the community and local businesses.
Southwest Farm Fresh is a group of about 18 independent area farmers and ranchers working together to develop the cooperative. The group worked closely with the Rocky Mountain Farmers Union Educational and Charitable Foundation to obtain the grant.
Gardening celebration to be held May 2-3
Northwest New Mexico Spring Gardening Celebration will be held May 2 and 3 at the San Juan College Outdoor Learning Center, 4601 College Blvd., Farmington.
New Mexico State University San Juan County Extension Master Gardeners and the San Juan College Horticulture Club and horticulture instructional program are collaborating to host the event, which will begin at 7 p.m. May 2 in the campus Sun Rooms, adjacent to the college cafeteria, with a book-signing by the authors of Flora of the Four Corners Region.
Activities will take place from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. May 3, including planting and gardening demonstrations, local vendors, music and activities for kids.
There also will be a plant sale hosted by the San Juan College Horticulture Club. Plants for sale will include vegetables, native plants and tropical indoor plants. Proceeds from the sale will support the club’s activities.
Farmers can apply for specialty crop grants
Sen. Michael Bennet announces that the Colorado Department of Agriculture received an $835,856 Specialty Crop Block Grant from the United States Department of Agriculture.
The grant, designed to expand markets for specialty crops, will support statewide projects that help Colorado growers market their crops.
Specialty crops include fruits, vegetables, tree nuts, dried fruits, horticulture, floriculture and nursery crops.
Funding and support for this program was provided by the 2014 Farm Bill. Specialty Crop Block Grants are allocated to states based on a formula that takes into consideration the specialty-crop acreage and the production value.
Interested applicants should apply at www.colorado.gov/cs/Satellite/ag_Markets/CBON/1251624912117.
Colorado ranch wins conservation award
The Turkey Creek Ranch owned and operated by Gary and Georgia Walker has received the 2014 Colorado Leopold Conservation Award.
The Pueblo-based ranch consists of about 65,000 deeded acres and is managed for wildlife and livestock. Under an agreement with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Walkers reintroduced black-footed ferrets, which were once thought to be extinct, in eastern Colorado.
The award recognizes private-landowner achievement in voluntary conservation. The Walkers will receive a crystal depicting Aldo Leopold and $10,000 at the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association’s Protein Producer Summit on June 16 in Colorado Springs.
Any Colorado rancher can apply for the award. For more information, visit www.leopoldconservationaward.org.
Herald Staff
