Shame on the U.S. Forest Service for allowing a field of thousands of thistles to grow and go to seed at the agency’s Trimble Lane facility, in spite of dozens of calls from local residents and HOAs during the past four months. The excuse is that the Forest Service intends to sell the property, so now with every puff of wind millions of thistle seeds are blowing all over the Animas Valley. This is all in violation of both state and county regulations for weed control.

Shame on the state and county for not forcing the Forest Service to comply with the regulations. The county would fine and or go in and control weeds on private property and bill the owner of costs, but they have allowed the Forest Service to ignore the rules. This is a real disgrace, and everyone in the valley near the area will suffer with more thistles for years to come.

Shame on the city of Durango and Department of Transportation for allowing weeds to thrive on the new median at the intersection of U.S. Highways 160 and 550. The city has spent thousands of dollars on the art rock piece and plans to spend even more but can’t even spend a few dollars to control the weeds. Last spring, the median looked quite nice with flowers, but the area receives no maintenance, and the weeds took over. What a disgrace for the city. The city doesn’t seem to care how it looks to everyone driving on 160 or 550. If left alone, the weeds will cover the valuable artwork that most residents and visitors do not like. Maybe this is the plan to make the controversial and expensive artwork disappear? Most communities that want to attract visitors have beautiful flower displays, but Durango has its weed patch. Very sad.

Don Bruning

Durango