I would like to thank The Herald and The Pine River Times for finally reporting why the move of the La Plata County Airport terminal is such a baffling problem to Durango. Both papers used the same “story” and complaints. But both showed why the game’s in full swing. As stated by Daniel Murray, land use “not wanted near the airport:”
Water features (ponds for livestock and irrigation) that attract wildlife like deer, elk bear and muskrats).A golf course (2½ miles to the east and out of the flight path) with other water features (sprinklers for farming). Landfills (there are none on McCaw Mesa unless you count a cemetery five miles away). Dense livestock operations (the mesa’s been prime cattle and sheep habitat for 120 years and the indigenous people used it to pasture horses in winter) .Uses sensitive to airport operation ( no meditation, egg hatching or cheese factory). Thus the real reason to change roads and move buildings (what happens to the old terminal?) turns up: The county wants to obtain the last of McCaw Mesa.
Get the county to say it out front instead of crawling through endangered cacti and jumping mice, or trying to influence the other livestock producers in La Plata County that planes can haul cattle, sheep, potatoes or horses better than trains.
String bikinis and ganja will not build the area back. Trains and trucks will definitely move more product and people.
Herald and Times, thanks again.
Paul McCaw
Oxford
