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Videos & Photos

‘Serve and protect’: Durango residents turn on police over supposed complicity with ICEDPD chief says protest became a riot with agitators on both sides57603840A crowd of more than 100 people condemned Durango Police Department on Thursday after the police chief blamed protesters, in part, for violence that unfolded earlier this week outside a federal immigration field office. (Josh Stephenson/Special to the Herald)A crowd of more than 100 people condemned the Durango Police Department on Thursday when the police chief blamed protesters, in part, for violence that unfolded outside a federal immigration field office earlier this week.“The event Monday was not a peaceful protest,” Brice Current said, addressing Durango City Council at a special meeting on Thursday. “It was an unlawful protest that turned into a riot.”Residents said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents escalated the protest into a scene of violence while city and state law enforcement stood by and watched.The evening reached a crescendo on East Second Avenue between City Hall and the police department when a crowd confronted officers over not intervening with ICE’s arrest of two children and their father or when federal agents assaulted protesters days earlier.“You guys lost our trust. You guys didn’t do (expletive) for children. Go (expletive) yourselves,” Enrique Orozco-Perez, executive director of Compañeros: Four Corners Immigrant Resource Center, said to officers after the special meeting.Residents chanted “serve and protect” at officers. Some had written phrases criticizing ICE and demeaning the police chief in chalk outside City Hall.0VideoYouTube480360Police chief recounts eventsCurrent said DPD’s role at the protest – which was driven by the arrests of two children ages 12 and a 15 and their father by ICE agents for supposedly being unlawfully present in the country – was to observe and be present on the scene in case things got out of hand.DPD also investigated a report of abuse of one of the children detained at the ICE field office in Bodo Industrial Park and attempted a welfare check, but was denied entry into the facility, he said.He said the report of abuse was “found to be invalid,” although he was never allowed to check on the children before they were taken on Tuesday to a Texas immigrant detention center.DPD has received many requests to confront ICE agents, he said, but police can’t take action against federal agents because federal law overrides state and local law when they conflict. He expressed frustration in communicating with ICE officials over the course of the incident.When attempting the welfare check, for example, DPD ordered food for the children and tried to deliver it at the field office, he said. But an ICE supervisor asked him to remove chains that had been placed on the entrance gates by protesters, and despite Current saying he would work on that, he was denied entry into the facility.45812820Well over 100 people attended a special City Council meeting Thursday for a debrief about Duarngo Police Department’s role in a protest and conflict with federal agents earlier this week. With council chambers at full capacity, more than 60 residents packed into the City Hall foyer, and dozens more waited outside, listening to the meeting on loudspeakers. (Josh Stephenson/Special to the Herald file)Current said DPD officers asked protesters to remove the chains on Tuesday to no avail. After federal agents moved on protesters around noon that day, officers stationed at the fire department down the street headed toward the field office to provide medical aid to protesters. But about 10 protesters converged on them and they retreated, realizing their presence was escalating the situation.He said around 10 agitators were throwing milk cartons and water bottles at state troopers and federal agents when conflict erupted outside the field office.“At this point, we continued to gather information, take reports, collect videos and speak with state and federal partners, representatives, senators, city leaders, community members,” he said.He said residents asked DPD for previous police interactions with Fernando Jaramillo Solano, the father and asylum-seeker arrested by ICE.“He has no criminal history,” Current said.Two “No Kings Day” protests held earlier this year featured a combined 5,500 peaceful protesters, Current said, and that is more representative of Durango’s spirit than the protest outside the field office.He said he supports the First Amendment right to peacefully assemble and petition the government for a redress of grievances, and free speech is a cornerstone of democracy – particularly in uncertain times – but breaking the law is not the way to practice it.Chaining and blocking a federal entrance gate is against the law, he said.“While we recognize that emotions were high, we are disappointed by the behaviors and the display by agents and several protesters alike,” he said. “Such actions from either side distract from the important message of peaceful advocacy and make our shared goal of safety harder to achieve.”Tom Sluis, city spokesman, said the city has received angry letters and calls from residents accusing Durango police of assaulting protesters on Tuesday. But some federal agents who engaged protesters wore uniforms with “POLICE” written in large white lettering.Some residents have called the city back to apologize after realizing their error, he said.Current said in a written statement to The Durango Herald that identifiers such as “POLICE” are intended to communicate lawful authority and ensure officer safety, but they also create community confusion.“Local police departments have a unique and ongoing relationship with the people we serve,” he said. “Trust is essential – when someone is a victim of a crime, witnesses suspicious activity, or simply needs help, they must feel comfortable calling their local police without hesitation or fear. When federal agents use the same ‘police’ identifier, members of the public may mistakenly believe that local police are involved in unrelated federal operations, which can strain that trust and make our job of community protection more difficult.”“POLICE” is still among the most recognized symbols of law enforcement, and it represents legitimate law enforcement authority when worn by a federal agent, he said.43613163Federal agents cut cable locks put there by protesters in an attempt to prevent vehicles from leaving an ICE facility on Tuesday. On Thursday, Durango Police Chief Brice Current said DPD’s role at the protest was to observe and be present on the scene in case things got out of hand. (Josh Stephenson/Special to the Herald file)City Councilor Jessika Buell said DPD had an impossible job during the protest. But, she said, the federal response to protesters was disproportionately violent.Representatives for U.S. Rep. Jeff Hurd and U.S. Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper condemned the violence by federal officers and committed to investigating how to return Solano and his children to their home in Durango.19201240After a Durango City Council special meeting attended by more than 100 people Thursday evening, residents left messages criticizing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Police Chief Brice Current scrawled in chalk outside City Hall. Residents condemned DPD’s inaction during a federal assault on protesters outside an ICE field office on Tuesday. (Christian Burney/Durango Herald)Residents recount abuse by fedsProtesters who coalesced outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office in Durango’s Bodo Industrial Park on Monday and Tuesday were drawn together by a sense of right and wrong – the federal government arresting children on false charges and holding them for over 24 hours was wrong, they said. It was right to do something about it.Residents of Durango, Mancos and elsewhere from the region said in interviews on the scene with The Durango Herald they felt obligated to stick up for children and families who otherwise didn’t have anyone to turn to.Some of those protesters took it the extra mile. They sat side-by-side, arms linked, in front of the gates of the ICE field office gates, knowing at some point they’d likely be confronted by federal agents with pepper spray or worse.“These community members are willing to put their bodies and their criminal records on the line, and the human chain is the hardest thing for them to get through because in order to get through us, they have to escalate to violence,” Jay Conlan, an organizer, said on Monday. “We don’t want to do that, and we will sit here and let them escalate if that’s what they choose to do.”Someone placed chains on the field office gates to make it harder for agents to leave with the children. When the feds showed up later Tuesday, they came with chain saws, pepper spray and ammunition.Agents would go on to drag, beat, pepper spray and shoot protesters who blocked their way with less-lethal rounds.On Thursday, residents who attended the protest recounted how they were assaulted by officers and were left to fend for themselves in the aftermath. They criticized law enforcement and first responders for not intervening during the conflict with federal agents and after the fact when people might have needed medical care.Well over 100 people attended the special meeting. With Smith Council Chambers at full capacity, more than 60 residents packed into the City Hall foyer, and dozens more waited outside, listening to the meeting on loudspeakers.Residents – particularly in the foyer and outside – had dynamic reactions to comments from Current. Boos and shouts – and sometimes applause – often erupted from the crowd.Residents cringed when Current evoked Martin Luther King Jr. when he said “it is wrong to use immoral means to attain moral ends.”Makenna Bard, 16, said she “witnessed and experienced horrors and atrocities that truly go against what our beautiful country and city stand for” at the protest on Tuesday.She said she is appalled at DPD for sitting by while federal agents brutalized residents.“I called 911 and dispatch five times begging for ambulances and medical assistance. We were told that help was on the way but it never came,” Bard said. “Dozens of untrained citizens and two first aid-certified high schoolers, including myself, were the only people providing first aid at the site for over two hours.”She said residents feel “betrayed, lied to and disgusted.”38772250A crowd of more 100 people condemned Durango Police Department on Thursday when the police chief blamed protesters for violence that unfolded outside a federal immigration field office earlier this week. (Christian Burney/Durango Herald)She said she condemns every agency and person who assisted ICE’s “illegal abduction” of Solano and his children.Resident Riese Rose said protesters peacefully demonstrated, and federal agents brutally assaulted them. Protesters defended themselves.“I don’t consider human’s innate response to stay alive ‘violent,’” they said. “What was violent, though, was ICE agents dragging someone forcefully across the pavement and pepper spraying them within 2 inches of their eyes repeatedly.”They said they could see the agents’ disdain in their eyes through the small openings of their face masks.Durango fire says protest too dangerous to enterDurango Fire Protection District said in a news release on Friday that it monitored the situation at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office in Bodo Industrial Park on Tuesday, but it did not respond to people who had been pepper sprayed because it was not safe to do so.Standard EMS training and protocol requires personnel to ensure a scene is safe before entering to provide medical care, DFPD said. That applies to “shootings, stabbings, riots, and other potentially volatile situations.”DFPD said people had been exposed to pepper spray, but that is not typically life-threatening. Protesters were better equipped to aid people who fell victim to pepper spray than DFPD was with its standard supplies in its ambulances.Four ambulances were staged and ready to respond to any life-threatening medical emergencies, the release said.Rose carried a person to medical support before moving to another victim of pepper spray who was shouting that they couldn’t breathe. They carried that person to medical support as well. As they laid the person in the grass to rest, an agent shot the person again in the back with a pepper spray bullet.“I can’t describe to you what it was like to hear them yell out in pain while their body was contorting,” they said. “A wounded person being shot again – for what?”Rose said DPD officers and Colorado State Patrol troopers stood by and watched as protesters were assaulted. They stepped in only to protect ICE vehicles as agents drove away.Resident Lia Young said she attended the protest to defend the children arrested by ICE.She said she remembers what her little sister was like at 11 years old, and she would not want her to go through what the 12-year-old girl arrested by ICE is going through.Young was sitting in front of the south field office gate arm-in-arm with other protesters when federal agents arrived. An agent ripped her glasses off and sprayed pepper spray straight into her eyes, she said.She was pepper sprayed several times in her face and at least once in her crotch.“I’m on my period. I’m 21. It felt disgusting and extremely, extremely dehumanizing,” she said. “I felt very violated. It was extremely, intensely painful for the rest of that day.”But that was nothing compared to what the children arrested by ICE are going through after being dragged away from their family, she said.She said she wants ICE out of the community, and if DPD doesn’t develop a plan for dealing with ICE next time, the same situation that occurred on Tuesday will unfold again and again.40002252A crowd of more than 100 people chanted “serve and protect” at Durango Police Department officers Thursday after a special City Council meeting where Police Chief Brice Current debriefed councilors and the public about DPD’s response to protests and federal agents on Tuesday. (Christian Burney/Durango Herald)Resident Teal Lehto, who is also the La Plata County Democratic Party chair, said Colorado statute imposes a duty to intervene on officers using excessive force, including in riot and crowd-control situations.“I categorically reject the statement that Durango Police Department did everything they could,” she said. “They had a duty to intervene as things turned violent.”She referenced a statement Sgt. Padraic Ingle made to The Durango Herald on Monday that officers would be there to help protesters if violence occurred.“It is incredibly important for our law enforcement officials to mean what they say so they maintain trust with our community,” she said.She said DPD must do a better job at intervening when violence occurs in the community.Many protesters were under the age of 25, and the violence that unfolded at the protest does not occur often in Durango. She said City Council should require the police department to create open training to educate young people about their rights so they know when their rights are being violated.Rev. Jamie Boyce of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Durango contrasted the “warmth, generosity and kindness” she was met with from fellow protesters on Tuesday with the horror of federal agents stomping over protesters as DPD idly watched.“The excessive and brutal and cruel use of force by ICE and the complicity of local law enforcement as people screamed ‘Why won't you protect us?’ speaks to the moral crisis at hand,” she said. “The normalization and celebration of cruelty and brutality to suppress, terrorize, imprison and break our community; abducting people without due process; breaking families apart; militarizing our cities and using excessive force to suppress our right to assemble and right to speak.”cburney@durangoherald.comA previous version of this story misgendered Riese Rose, who goes by they/them pronouns.
‘Serve and protect’: Durango residents turn on police over supposed complicity with ICE
DPD chief says protest became a riot with agitators on both sides
Video and photos: Federal agents use pepper spray, rubber bullets on protestersMore than 100 demonstrators react to immigration arrests of two children, parent in Durango57603840A protester that was pepper sprayed calls her mother outside an ICE facility Tuesday in Durango. (Josh Stephenson/Special to the Herald)54583786Protesters link arms as agents pull them from the road as vehicles leave an ICE facility Tuesday in Durango. (Josh Stephenson/Special to the Herald)43662679Protesters link arms while being pepper sprayed as they try to prevent vehicles from leaving an ICE facility Tuesday in Durango. (Josh Stephenson/Special to the Herald)43613163Agents cut cable locks put there by protesters in an attempt to prevent vehicles from leaving an ICE facility Tuesday in Durango. (Josh Stephenson/Special to the Herald)45812820Protesters link arms while agents try to remove them as they try to prevent vehicles from leaving an ICE facility Tuesday in Durango. (Josh Stephenson/Special to the Herald)60004000Unable to see after being pepper sprayed, a protester dragged from her friends by law enforcement agents is helped to her feet by another protester outside an ICE facility Tuesday in Durango. (Josh Stephenson/Special to the Herald)57603840Protesters link arms while being pepper sprayed as they try to prevent vehicles from leaving an ICE facility Tuesday in Durango. (Josh Stephenson/Special to the Herald)60004000Melody Kiltz-Dawson leads others in a chant during a protest outside an ICE facility Tuesday in Durango. (Josh Stephenson/Special to the Herald)44283301Protesters link arms as they face off with agents trying to remove them outside an ICE facility Tuesday in Durango. (Josh Stephenson/Special to the Herald)43403172Protesters link arms while being pepper sprayed as they try to prevent vehicles from leaving outside an ICE facility Tuesday in Durango. (Josh Stephenson/Special to the Herald)Warning: This video includes obscene language and violence.0VideoYouTube480360
Video and photos: Federal agents use pepper spray, rubber bullets on protesters
More than 100 demonstrators react to immigration arrests of two children, parent in Durango
Residents celebrate solidarity, warn of authoritarianism at No Kings protests in Durango and BayfieldPeaceful gatherings for protection of democracy, immigrants, public lands and institutions30002183Inflatable characters lead a dance party of around 3,000 people on Saturday during a No Kings Day rally in Rotary Park. Protesters were largely cheerful, although they focused on a serious message about threats to democracy coming from the Trump administration. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)After the Trump administration painted peaceful protesters and Democrats as enemies of the U.S., protesters in La Plata County responded by throwing a dance party in Durango and jamming out to upbeat tunes in Bayfield.0VideoYouTube480360Despite welcoming and sometimes jovial vibes, a government shutdown, threats of selling off public lands and the erosion of democracy were on the minds of Durango and Bayfield residents on Saturday for No Kings Day of Peaceful Protests against the Trump administration.Nearly 7 million Americans had marched and protested in defiance of the Trump administration at more than 2,700 peaceful rallies around the country on Saturday, according to NoKings.org.54623492After the No Kings rally in Rotary Park, participants on Saturday lined Main Avenue from 15th Street to almost 32nd Street holding signs and chanting slogans. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)The national day of protest is the second nationwide No Kings event, organized by activist groups such as 50501 and Indivisible. The first No Kings Day was held on June 14, President Donald Trump’s birthday.Saturday morning in Bayfield, 200 or more people congregated along both sides of Bayfield Parkway outside Town Hall. That afternoon in Durango, thousands danced in Rotary Park and denounced the Trump administration before marching on north Main Avenue to 32nd Street and back.At least 3,000 people turned out to Rotary Park in Durango, with more in the wings on the Animas River Trail and along north Main Avenue. They carried signs with phrases such as, “Speak truth to power,” “Stop the reign of error” and “When tyranny becomes law rebellion becomes duty.”Many protesters appeared cheery and in good spirits. In Durango, Dan King rallied the crowd and invited the people to dance to music such as Plastic Ono Band’s “Give Peace a Chance.” Vivian SmothermanSome people wore inflatable costumes of pandas, unicorns, velociraptors, Rex from “Toy Story,” and a frog wearing a bandanna.The frog costume may have been a reference to recent protests in Portland where protesters wore vibrant costumes and danced tauntingly in front of immigration officials, presenting a different picture than the White House’s description of Portland as a “war zone.”30001982More than 200 people participated in the No Kings Day rally on Saturday in front of the Bayfield Town Hall. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)Some protesters carried red and black anarchism flags, and two people activated smoke bombs that sprayed thick red clouds into the air as the crowd dispersed, some toward downtown and others to march on north Main Avenue.Bayfield residents speak their mindsIn Bayfield, resident Laurie Robinson played her bagpipes as she walked up and down the sidewalk outside Town Hall. A man standing across the road dipped two long sticks linked by rope into a soapy bucket, lifted the sticks above his head and spread them apart to let the wind blow large, glossy bubbles into the air.Another woman wearing a different frog costume carried portable speakers playing upbeat music, including Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline,” Los Del Río’s “Macarena” and Sublime’s “What I Got.”She carried a sign that read, “United we ribbit, divided we croak.”The woman declined to provide her name, saying she is an employee of the U.S. Forest Service.“They have been waiting to do this,” she said, referring to proposed sales of public lands to private buyers. “They, as the billionaires, can make more and more money off this, and that’s what they’ve been waiting (for). But this is our land. I’m a public landowner. You are a public landowner.”She said letting private industries take unchecked control will lead to public lands being degraded and destroyed. Or, she added, public lands will become an amenity for the wealthy and unaffordable for working Americans.15001783Judy Blaisdell “whips” a king, her husband, Bob Blaisdell, during a No Kings Day rally on Saturday in front of Bayfield Town Hall. She said Pine River Rising, an activist group, has protested the Trump administration outside Town Hall since March, and she hopes to start productive community conversations to heal division between Americans. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)Public lands contain resources like timber and minerals the country can use – as long as they are extracted wisely, she said.“Our country is falling into authoritarianism,” she said, adding America’s degradation of democracy mirrors what happened to Germany with the rise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazis.Influence over the free press, control of free speech and educational institutions, and deploying the military into cities over domestic issues are all similarities she drew between the contemporary U.S. and Nazi Germany.20102028Jenny Winegardner participates in the No Kings Day rally in Bayfield on Saturday. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)She said the Holocaust – the state-sponsored and systematic murder of 6 million Jews and millions of other people – was awful and she does not mean to take away from its significance – but she fears the U.S. is heading down a similar path.30001846More than 200 people participated in the No Kings Day rally on Saturday in front of the Bayfield Town Hall. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)She said she recently visited the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., and the similarities were “shocking.”The Holocaust and mass murder did not materialize from nowhere, she said. It started with persecution.15001806Laurie Robinson plays her bagpipes during the No Kings Day rally on Saturday in front of the Bayfield Town Hall. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)“We’re sending people with no due process to foreign countries and foreign prisons, just like Germany did,” she said. “They started in Poland with their concentration camps, and they didn’t start with camps. They started with these laws to slowly degrade democracy.”Bayfield resident Judy Blaisdell, a member of the Pine River Rising activist group, said she’s been protesting outside Town Hall since March.She is saddened and fearful for the country, she said, because it’s fraught with division.3000748More than 200 people participated in the No Kings Day rally on Saturday in front of the Bayfield Town Hall. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)“People identifying our groups as terrorists, that is very frightening to me,” she said. “Watching our friends and neighbors be dragged away. There have been a lot of people arrested in this area.”She was referencing continued arrests of people suspected to be undocumented immigrants by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents as well as statements made by White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on Thursday ahead of the countrywide No Kings demonstrations.30002408Todd Anderson rings the bell in front of the Bayfield Town at the start of the No Kings Day rally in Bayfield on Saturday. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)“The Democrat Party’s main constituency are made up of Hamas terrorists, illegal aliens and violent criminals,” Leavitt said in an interview on Fox News.Leavitt is wrong, Blaisdell said.Blaisdell said Pine River Rising is nonpartisan and aims to build community.“We’re just a group of people that care about what’s going on in the world, and we care about each other, particularly our neighbors,” she said. “ … We’d like to start a conversation with anyone that wants to talk to us.”30001663La Plata County Commissioner Elizabeth Philbrick speaks to about 3,000 people on Saturday during the No Kings rally in Rotary Park. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)Elected officials warn of authoritarianism, encourage ‘community over contempt’In Durango, elected officials and former officials spoke to a crowd in Rotary Park that spilled onto the Animas River Trail and onto the sidewalk along north Main Avenue.Rick Petersen, a Durango School Board member who is seeking reelection, spoke about the importance of preserving education and protecting students. He decried attempts to smear DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion).David “It’s not an acronym, it’s not a buzz word, it’s not a dirty word,” he said. “Diversity of community benefits from a diverse population with many experiences. Every human being wants to feel included, wants to feel safe. That’s what this school district is about. Equity for every single person.”School board members Erika Brown and Andrea Parmenter, who are also seeking reelection, stood by Petersen.La Plata County Commissioner Elizabeth Philbrick spoke about the fall of democracy. Without explicitly mentioning the president, she said the Trump administration is following an authoritarian playbook to divide communities, override constitutional protections and take power.She said authoritarian regimes across the world and throughout history have attacked free press and spread disinformation, degraded independent institutions by installing loyalists, scapegoated people to turn them against their neighbors, and expanded their powers while dismantling free and fair elections.30002198Around 3,000 people attended the No Kings rally on Saturday in Rotary Park. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)Protesters on the gazebo at Rotary Park held signs with white text against black backdrops that read “Signs of fascism” in underlined text and messages beneath such as “Voter suppression,” Controlling the media“ and “Persecuting minorities.”“You will find a scapegoat, whether it is a minority, an immigrant or a political rival, they are the problem,” Philbrick said, delivering a civics crash course on authoritarianism. “There is no owning any of the mistakes, the leader will not do that. They become the self-proclaimed savior, defending the real people against imagined enemies.”cburney@durangoherald.comA previous version of this article gave an incorrect name for Dan King, who led chants at Rotary Park in Durango, and Rick Peterson, a speaker and Durango School Board member.
Residents celebrate solidarity, warn of authoritarianism at No Kings protests in Durango and Bayfield
Peaceful gatherings for protection of democracy, immigrants, public lands and institutions
Photos: Vallecito flooding aftermath30002000Leo Martinez, with McCarty Excavation & Construction at Vallecito Reservoir, builds a levee to keep Vallecito Creek from causing additional flooding near homes in northern Vallecito. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)20101437Jean Earp, with McCarty Excavation & Construction at Vallecito Reservoir, talks on Tuesday about flooding in northern Vallecito. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)30001882All kinds of machinery has been deployed to Vallecito to deal with flooding. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)30002000One of two houses torn down to prevent them from falling into the creek and causing other problems downstream, including taking out bridges. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)30001932A foot bridge used to cross Vallecito Creek is no longer accessible. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)30002000A home along Vallecito Creek. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)30002000A home with water flowing around it on Tuesday in northern Vallecito. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)30001885The hot tub that washed down Vallecito Creek on Saturday is seen floating in Vallecito Reservoir on Tuesday. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)30001881Logan Mosher, a firefighter with Upper Pine River Fire Protection District, places caution tape across a closed road on Tuesday. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)30001659A home with flowing water around it on Tuesday in northern Vallecito. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)30001738Someone’s deck and other debris sit near Vallecito Creek in northern Vallecito on Tuesday. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)30001999A tree floats down Vallecito Creek on Tuesday. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)3000176930001941One of two houses torn down to prevent it from falling into the creek and causing other problems downstream, including taking out bridges. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)30001923An excavator repairs a levee on Tuesday along Vallecito Creek. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)30002151One of two houses torn down to prevent it from falling into the creek and causing other problems downstream, including taking out bridges. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)30002000The clubhouse in the Mountain River subdivision is surrounded by floodwaters Tuesday near the northern end of Vallecito Reservoir. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)30001948The flooding Pine River on Tuesday next to 5 Branches Camper Park at the northern end of Vallecito Reservoir. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)30002000The Pine River barely flows on Tuesday around the bridge that leads to Five Branches Camper Park in north Vallecito. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)30001570The Pine River barely makes it under a bridge on Tuesday in Vallecito. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)30001909Logan Mosher, a firefighter with Upper Pine River Fire Protection District, talks about the decision to tear down a house before it fell into Vallecito Creek. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)
Photos: Vallecito flooding aftermath
‘It’s going to be weeks until this place resembles what it used to’First responders work to get evacuees back home, urge extreme caution to returning residents in Vallecito0VideoYouTube480360VALLECITO – Jean Earp slept only four hours between Saturday and Tuesday, working practically around the clock to divert torrents of water from the neighborhoods lining Vallecito Creek as it rose to 6,980 cubic feet per second. according to the U.S. Geological Survey Earp, a resident of Vallecito and an employee of McCarty excavation, had been preparing in anticipation of the floods with his excavator and front-end loader, trying to strengthen levees and fortify riverbanks. On Saturday, the rains came hard and waters rose fast, he said. The river jumped the banks, turning roads and front yards into torrents as it flooded through the community.About 390 homes were evacuated, and two houses on the banks of Vallecito Creek had to be destroyed by crews before they fell into the river, where they could damage bridges and cause dangerous blockages. Both homes were destroyed with their owners’ consent, said Upper Pine River Fire Protection District firefighter Logan Mosher.30001909Logan Mosher, a firefighter with Upper Pine River Fire Protection District, talks on Tuesday about the decision to take down a house that was about to fall into Vallecito Creek. Had the home been allowed to fall into the creek, it could have threatened bridges downstream. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)On Saturday, while waiting for La Plata County Sheriff’s Office deputies to arrive with their high-water rescue vehicles, Earp helped residents escape by loading them into the bucket of his front-end loader and driving them to safety. “Once the sheriff got here, people liked riding in the cab more,” Earp said on Tuesday while working to fortify a levee on West Vallecito Creek Road, preparing for the potential of another round of flooding. 952609A graph charting Vallecito Creek’s discharge rate in cubic feet per second from Oct. 7 to Oct. 14. The creek rose from 78.8 cubic feet per second at 9:30 p.m. Oct. 9 to 6,980 cfs at 1:45 p.m. Oct. 11. (Courtesy of the U.S. Geological Study) The river had carved a new channel around a foot bridge after a log jam had diverted its course. “Without 10,000 trees jamming everything up, the water would’ve flowed along its regular path,” Earp said, shaking his head. “We’re making up for lost ground.” This could be a cutline20101437Jean Earp, with McCarty Excavation & Construction at Vallecito Reservoir, talks about the Vallecito Creek flooding. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)Earp was one of many over the weekend who stepped up to defend houses and evacuate residents to safe ground, including personnel from the Upper Pine River Fire Protection District, the Red Cross and the La Plata County Sheriff’s Office, Search and Rescue, Road and Bridge and public health departments. On Monday, Gov. Jared Polis declared the flooding and ensuing evacuations to be a natural disaster, which helped quickly mobilize mutual aid from state agencies. 30002000Leo Martinez, with McCarty Excavation & Construction at Vallecito Reservoir, builds a levee to keep Vallecito Creek from additional flooding around homes in north Vallecito. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)By Tuesday, the flooding had mostly subsided. But in the wake of the storms, about 90 homes in Vallecito had been damaged, along with roads and bridges, according to a Monday news release from La Plata County. But that was not all, Mosher said. The Vallecito, Grimes and Los Pinos creeks had eaten away at their banks, creating undercuts that appeared stable, but would collapse under a person’s weight, plunging them into the water. And, he said, many trees in the area had become prone to falling over, even without wind. “The danger is not past,” Mosher said. “We still have super-unstable conditions, especially around any moving water. The shoreline is super waterlogged, super loose. We have trees that are still falling regularly, even without high wind.” What’s more, he said, is that as residents return and utility companies begin turning propane and electricity back on, there is a risk of electrical fires and propane explosions. “With power coming back on, utilities coming back on, gas coming back on, we have huge risks for structure fires in these residences when (residents) come back and try to turn on (their) utilities,” he said. At a Monday night meeting at the Bayfield Intermediary School, Upper Pine Fire Chief Bruce Evans advised evacuees to be extra cautious as they return to their properties. 392386Evans“We shut off a lot of peoples’ power and propane,” he said. “When we turn it back on, stay in the house for a significant amount of time, have a fire extinguisher on hand and if you see any smoke, call 911.”Evans asked residents to coordinate with their utility providers and the authorities to ensure that propane is turned on correctly to avoid tank explosions. Additionally, he said, residents should give stream banks a wide berth because they could be undercut. The odds of survival if someone fell into a river because an undercut collapses are low because of how fast the current would be moving. “If you fall in, the only place we may be able to get you out is the strainer downstream,” Evans said. A strainer is a stack of logs and debris horizontal to a river’s current that can trap a person in the current and cause them to drown. The Vallecito, Grimes and Los Pinos creeks were riddled with strainers after the storms caused hundreds of trees to fall and washed debris downstream. 30001570The Pine River barely makes it under the bridge on Tuesday that leads to Five Branches Camper Park in north Vallecito. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)Theresa Anselmo, director of La Plata County Health, said residents should anticipate having to get their drinking wells and septic systems tested for contamination. The floodwaters likely caused damage to both, and could have sent harmful bacteria into drinking water. Her department has been working alongside the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. “When you are returning and if you have a septic system, make sure you’re minimizing the water in that system,” she said. “Sewage could seep out of the system and into the groundwater.CDPHE Director of Environmental Health and Protection Patrick Cummins said his agency is working to make sure public water and sewage plants were not damaged. Luckily, he said, those systems were spared, though technicians were still monitoring them closely. “Either through good planning or good luck, none of the systems were impacted by the flooding,” he said. According to a Tuesday news release from La Plata County, evacuation orders in Vallecito are expected to be lifted Thursday. However, the release said that beginning at 8 a.m. Wednesday, residents may be escorted to their homes by deputies for important needs, “such as medication access or other urgent issues.”30002000The clubhouse in the Mountain River subdivision on Tuesday is surrounded by floodwaters from Vallecito Creek at the north end of Vallecito Reservoir. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)The release said the decision to lift evacuations relies on a number of factors: ensuring private roads are passable and safe, water and sewer are accessible, propane tanks are safe to turn on, and debris is managed correctly. “Emergency responders and damage assessment teams from La Plata County and (UPRFD) need time to assess the safety of the area prior to lifting evacuations,” the release said. The road to recovery in Vallecito will be long, officials said. Mosher said the cleanup of the community will be difficult, and complicated by the onset of winter. “It’s going to be a rush, because we will likely have snow coming by the end of the month,” he said. “A lot of these people need to get into their homes and repair any of the damage from the flood before snow hits the ground. It’s going to be weeks until this place resembles what it used to a week ago.”Mosher said the weekend was the busiest three days of his firefighting career. He said he had never seen the water in any of the three creeks rise that quickly. 30002000A home sits with flowing water around it on Tuesday as Vallecito Creek continues to flood in north Vallecito. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)“ (It was) super unique to have it here at my home district,” he said. “I’ve been working up here for three years and have never seen the water even close to this high.”Earp agreed, recalling how quickly the water in Vallecito Creek rose as 5.2 inches of rain fell locally within a 2½-day period, according to the National Weather Service. By 12:30 p.m. Saturday, he said, the creek had risen to 6980 cubic feet per second from only a few hundred. For contrast, he said, the creek had merely been a trickle in August and September as the area was experiencing high fire danger and drought conditions.sedmondson@durangoherald.com1521850A map of rain totals from the weekend published by the National Weather Service on its Facebook page. (Courtesy of National Weather Service)
‘It’s going to be weeks until this place resembles what it used to’
First responders work to get evacuees back home, urge extreme caution to returning residents in Vallecito
Photos: Durango High School boys golf competes at stateDemons finished 14th after two rounds at Fox Hill Club in Longmont20101424Durango High School senior Nolan Pace competes in the 2025 4A Boys State Golf Championships at Fox Hill Club in Longmont on Tuesday. (Jen Jardeleza/Special to the Herald) 15001712Durango High School senior Wyatt Lafferty competes in the 2025 4A Boys State Golf Championships at Fox Hill Club in Longmont on Tuesday. (Jen Jardeleza/Special to the Herald) 15001565Durango High School senior Nolan Pace fixes a divot on the green in the 2025 4A Boys State Golf Championships at Fox Hill Club in Longmont on Tuesday. (Jen Jardeleza/Special to the Herald) 20101301Golfing for Durango High School, Bayfield High School junior Hayes Malone checks his phone with Durango head coach Kirk Rawles looking on at the 2025 4A Boys State Golf Championships at Fox Hill Club in Longmont on Tuesday. (Jen Jardeleza/Special to the Herald) 15002223Golfing for Durango High School, Bayfield High School junior Hayes Malone lines up a tee shot in the 2025 4A Boys State Golf Championships at Fox Hill Club in Longmont on Tuesday. (Jen Jardeleza/Special to the Herald) 15001954Durango High School senior Nolan Pace competes in the 2025 4A Boys State Golf Championships at Fox Hill Club in Longmont on Tuesday. (Jen Jardeleza/Special to the Herald) 15002092Durango High School senior Nolan Pace chats with his dad, Joe, at the 2025 4A Boys State Golf Championships at Fox Hill Club in Longmont on Tuesday. (Jen Jardeleza/Special to the Herald) 15001396Durango High School senior Nolan Pace takes off his putter cover at the 2025 4A Boys State Golf Championships at Fox Hill Club in Longmont on Tuesday. (Jen Jardeleza/Special to the Herald) 15002289Durango High School senior Nolan Pace putts in the 2025 4A Boys State Golf Championships at Fox Hill Club in Longmont on Tuesday. (Jen Jardeleza/Special to the Herald) 15001429Durango High School boys golf head coach Kirk Rawles watches as his Demons compete in the 2025 4A Boys State Golf Championships at Fox Hill Club in Longmont on Tuesday. (Jen Jardeleza/Special to the Herald) 15002102Golfing for Durango High School, Bayfield High School junior Drew Jepson competes in the 2025 4A Boys State Golf Championships at Fox Hill Club in Longmont on Tuesday. (Jen Jardeleza/Special to the Herald) 15001774Golfing for Durango High School, Bayfield High School junior Hayes Malone competes in the 2025 4A Boys State Golf Championships at Fox Hill Club in Longmont on Tuesday. (Jen Jardeleza/Special to the Herald) 20101296Golfing for Durango High School, Bayfield High School junior Drew Jepson competes in the 2025 4A Boys State Golf Championships at Fox Hill Club in Longmont on Tuesday. (Jen Jardeleza/Special to the Herald) 15002038Durango High School senior Nolan Pace looks on at the 2025 4A Boys State Golf Championships at Fox Hill Club in Longmont on Tuesday. (Jen Jardeleza/Special to the Herald) 15001298Durango High School senior Nolan Pace smiles while competing in the 2025 4A Boys State Golf Championships at Fox Hill Club in Longmont on Tuesday. (Jen Jardeleza/Special to the Herald) 15001799Durango High School senior Wyatt Lafferty competes in the 2025 4A Boys State Golf Championships at Fox Hill Club in Longmont on Tuesday. (Jen Jardeleza/Special to the Herald) 15002067Golfing for Durango High School, Bayfield High School junior Drew Jepson competes in the 2025 4A Boys State Golf Championships at Fox Hill Club in Longmont on Tuesday. (Jen Jardeleza/Special to the Herald) 15002262Golfing for Durango High School, Bayfield High School junior Drew Jepson competes in the 2025 4A Boys State Golf Championships at Fox Hill Club in Longmont on Tuesday. (Jen Jardeleza/Special to the Herald)
Photos: Durango High School boys golf competes at state
Demons finished 14th after two rounds at Fox Hill Club in Longmont
Photos: Cowboy Gathering Social and Parade30001925The Durango Cowboy Gathering Parade is held Saturday on Main Avenue in downtown Durango. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)30001931Ballet Folklorico de Durango performs during the Durango Cowboy Gathering Parade on Saturday on Main Avenue in downtown Durango. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)30001717The Durango Cowboy Gathering Parade is held Saturday on Main Avenue in downtown Durango. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)30002294Tom Draft is dressed as Wyatt Earp, and Jessica Sugar Wolf is dressed in 1820s-style clothing on Saturday during the Durango Cowboy Gathering Horseback Social on Main Avenue in downtown Durango. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)30002000The Cowboy Chuckwagon Breakfast is held before the Durango Cowboy Gathering Parade on Saturday on Main Avenue in downtown Durango. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)20101694Rylo Sjoberg, 4, and his brother Koa, 8, enjoy the Durango Cowboy Gathering Parade on Saturday on Main Avenue in downtown Durango. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)30002126Smitty Smith gives Evelynn Silas a ride on his horse Dolly on Saturday during the Durango Cowboy Gathering Horseback Social on Main Avenue in downtown Durango. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)30002000McKenzie Kuehnert, 4, shows her empty hand to her mom Michelle as she and her sister Bexley, 2, being held by her dad Mark, while feeding alfalfa pellets to Moon. Moon is being ridden by Patty Ann Rager as her husband, Donald Rager, helps out on Saturday during the Durango Cowboy Gathering Horseback Social on Main Avenue in downtown Durango. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)15001514Bexley Kuehnert, 2, being held by her dad Mark Kuehnert, feeds alfalfa pellets to Moon, being ridden by Patty Ann Rager, as her husband, Donald Rager, helps out on Saturday during the Durango Cowboy Gathering Horseback Social on Main Avenue in downtown Durango. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)20101786The Durango Cowboy Gathering Parade is held Saturday on Main Avenue in downtown Durango. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)15001550The Durango Cowboy Gathering Parade is held Saturday on Main Avenue in downtown Durango. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)30002000Horses, riders and spectators mingle on Main Avenue on Saturday during the Durango Cowboy Gathering Horseback Social in downtown Durango before the parade. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)30002252Syd Masters & The Swing riders – Danny Winters, left, Syd Masters, center, and Jared Putnam – play during the Durango Cowboy Gathering Horseback Social on Saturday on Main Avenue in downtown Durango. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)30002024Tom Draft is dressed as Wyatt Earp on Saturday during the Durango Cowboy Gathering Horseback Social on Main Avenue in downtown Durango. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)30001965Lisa and Loren Skyhorse were honored as the Grand Marshals of the Durango Cowboy Gathering Parade during the Horseback Social on Saturday on Main Avenue in downtown Durango. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)30001399The Durango Cowboy Gathering Parade is held Saturday on Main Avenue in downtown Durango. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)30001736The Cowboy Chuckwagon Breakfast is held before the Durango Cowboy Gathering Parade on Saturday on Main Avenue in downtown Durango. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)42183081The Durango Cowboy Gathering Parade is held Saturday on Main Avenue in downtown Durango. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)30002004Horses, riders and spectators mingle on Main Avenue on Saturday during the Durango Cowboy Gathering Horseback Social in downtown Durango before the parade. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)30002112Mckenzie Wedemeyer, left, and Thomas Crook ride their horses up and down Main Avenue on Saturday during the Durango Cowboy Gathering Horseback Social in downtown Durango before the parade. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)30001871The Durango Cowboy Gathering Parade is held Saturday on Main Avenue in downtown Durango. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)30001836The Durango Cowboy Gathering Parade is held Saturday on Main Avenue in downtown Durango. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)30002000The Durango Cowboy Gathering Parade is held Saturday on Main Avenue in downtown Durango. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)30001871The Durango Cowboy Gathering Parade is held Saturday on Main Avenue in downtown Durango. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)30001513The Durango Cowboy Gathering Parade is held Saturday on Main Avenue in downtown Durango. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)30002044The Durango Cowboy Gathering Parade is held Saturday on Main Avenue in downtown Durango. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)30002000Teams of three get to pick up what the horses leave behind during the Durango Cowboy Gathering Parade on Saturday on Main Avenue in downtown Durango. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)15002167Some of the saddle work done by Lisa and Loren Skyhorse, who were honored as the Grand Marshals of the Durango Cowboy Gathering Parade during the Horseback Social on Saturday on Main Avenue in downtown Durango. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)30002065The Durango Cowboy Gathering Parade is held Saturday on Main Avenue in downtown Durango. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)
Photos: Cowboy Gathering Social and Parade
Photos: High County Cattle Auction30001925Buyers and sellers keep an eye on how much the cattle are selling for during the High Country Cattle Auction on Sept. 23 in Breen southwest of Durango. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)20101957Tom Conway watches the High Country Cattle Auction on Sept. 23 in Breen southwest of Durango. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)30002004Working the High Country Cattle Auction from left, Cortni Cox, Becky Hawkins, auctioneer Shane Hatch, and Duane Cugnini as buyers look over cattle in the ring on Sept. 23 in Breen southwest of Durango. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)47793388The High Country Cattle Auction on Sept. 23 in Breen southwest of Durango. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)30002036Debra Cugnini, front, owner of Debras Cafe and Natalie Douglas work in the kitchen that is inside the High Country Cattle Auction barn on Sept. 23 in Breen southwest of Durango. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)30002017Amber Belvin with High Country Cattle Auction looks over the newly renovated front of the auction barn that also houses Debras Cafe on Sept. 23 in Breen southwest of Durango. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)30002000Debras Cafe inside the High Country Cattle Auction barn on Sept. 23 in Breen southwest of Durango. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)30001813Bodie Hines moves cattle through pens and gates toward the High Country Cattle Auction barn on Sept. 23 in Breen southwest of Durango. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)30001535Working the High Country Cattle Auction from left, Cortni Cox, Becky Hawkins, auctioneer Shane Hatch, and Duane Cugnini as buyers look over cattle in the ring on Sept. 23 in Breen southwest of Durango. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)30001996Hank Greer, 5, left, Wyatt Horvath, 3, center, and Ryle Runyan, 3, play with trucks during the High Country Cattle Auction on Sept. 23 in Breen southwest of Durango. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)29682219The High Country Cattle Auction on Sept. 23 in Breen southwest of Durango. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)30001924Buyers and sellers keep an eye on how much the cattle are selling for during the High Country Cattle Auction on Sept. 23 in Breen southwest of Durango. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)15001596Buyers and sellers keep an eye on how much the cattle are selling for during the High Country Cattle Auction on Sept. 23 in Breen southwest of Durango. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)30001913A dog waits for its owner to return to the truck during the High Country Cattle Auction on Sept. 23 in Breen southwest of Durango. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)30001886Chris McElroy moves cattle through pens and gates toward the High Country Cattle Auction barn on Sept. 23 in Breen southwest of Durango. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)30001924Buyers and sellers keep an eye on how much the cattle sell for during the High Country Cattle Auction on Sept. 23 in Breen southwest of Durango. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)
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 1940s30002038Auctioneer Shane Hatch looks for the highest bid for the cattle in the ring on Sept. 23, at High Country Cattle Auction in Breen southwest of Durango. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)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. 924673Longtime bidder Steve Greenburg, formerly of Durango, now living in Arizona, concentrates on the cattle being auctioned Sept. 23 at the High Country Cattle Auction near Breen. Longtime employee Amber Belvin sits to his left. (Elizabeth Pond/Durango Herald)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. 30001813Bodie Hines moves cattle through pens and gates toward the High Country Cattle Auction barn on Sept. 23 in Breen, southwest of Durango. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)938700Greenburg holds his completed bidding cards marking all the cattle he had won at the High Country Auction near Breen on Sept. 23. (Elizabeth Pond/Durango Herald)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.” 0VideoYouTube480360Cattle 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. 30002000Debra’s Cafe inside the High Country Cattle Auction barn on Sept. 23, in Breen, southwest of Durango. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)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. 898638Lawrence Martinez entered 59 steer and 95 heifers in the High Country Cattle Auction near Breen on Sept. 23. (Elizabeth Pond/Durango Herald)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. 30001535Working the High Country Cattle Auction from left, Cortni Cox, Becky Hawkins, auctioneer Shane Hatch, and Duane Cugnini as buyers look over cattle in the ring on Sept. 23 in Breen southwest of Durango. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)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.” 30002017Amber Belvin, with High Country Cattle Auction, looks over the newly renovated front of the auction barn that also houses Debra’s Cafe on Sept. 23, in Breen, southwest of Durango. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)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 Upcoming High Country Cattle Auction datesOct. 7 Oct. 21Nov. 4Nov. 18Dec. 2 (weaned calf) Jan. 13For more information, visit www.hi-countryauction.com
High Country Cattle Auction brings top-notch stock and country charm to Southwest Colorado
Family run, generational business dates back to 1940s
Photos: Ride with the Champions bike parade44313576Sepp Kuss, Grand Tour champion, signs an autograph on the back of Preston Ryan, 5, as Will Kleinsmith, 6, looks on before the start of the Champions bike parade Friday that started at Buckley Park and went down Main Avenue to Fifth Street and looped back on East Second Avenue to the park. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)30001831Lining up to lead the Ride with the Champions bike parade from left, junior national champions Cooper Wells, 11, Anna Morozowich, 13, Leah Morozowich, 15, and Zoey Wage, 11; Grand Tour champion Sepp Kuss; long time local rider Bob Smith; Olympian Riley Amo; national champion Bailey Cioppa; national champion Ivan Sippy; Izzi Cowan; Olympian Todd Wells and world champion Ned Overend before the start of the Champions bike parade Friday that started at Buckley Park and went down Main Avenue to Fifth Street and looped back on East Second Avenue to the park. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)54583495A projector screen erected in Buckley Park for a showing of the GC Kuss documentary on Friday after the Ride with the Champions bike parade. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)30002211Sepp Kuss, Grand Tour champion, has his picture taken with Jr. National Champions, from left, Anna Morozowich, 13, Leah Morozowich, 15, and Zoey Wage, 11, before the start of the Ride with the Champions bike parade on Friday that started at Buckley Park. Hundreds rode down Main Avenue to Fifth Street and looped back on East Second Avenue to the park. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)30002173The Ride with the Champions bike parade on Friday started at Buckley Park riding down Main Avenue to Fifth Street and looping back on East Second Avenue to the park. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)30002032Riders park their bikes in Buckley Park for a showing of the GC Kuss documentary on Friday after the Ride with the Champions bike parade. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)30002060The Ride with the Champions bike parade on Friday started at Buckley Park riding down Main Avenue to Fifth Street and looping back on East Second Avenue to the park. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)30002099The Ride with the Champions bike parade on Friday started at Buckley Park riding down Main Avenue to Fifth Street and looping back on East Second Avenue to the park. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)30002000The Ride with the Champions bike parade on Friday started at Buckley Park riding down Main Avenue to Fifth Street and looping back on East Second Avenue to the park. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)30002000The Ride with the Champions bike parade on Friday started at Buckley Park riding down Main Avenue to Fifth Street and looping back on East Second Avenue to the park. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)30002023Roberto Delgado and his son Roberto Delgado Jr. 3, go to line up for the start of the Ride with the Champions bike parade on Friday at Buckley Park. The ride went down Main Avenue to Fifth Street and looped back on East Second Avenue. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)30001070Riders finish the Ride with the Champions bike parade on Friday that started at Buckley Park riding down Main Avenue to Fifth Street and looping back on East Second Avenue to the park. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)30002000The Ride with the Champions bike parade on Friday started at Buckley Park riding down Main Avenue to Fifth Street and looping back on East Second Avenue to the park. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)30002000The Ride with the Champions bike parade on Friday started at Buckley Park riding down Main Avenue to Fifth Street and looped back on East Second Avenue to the park. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)30001885A projector screen erected in Buckley Park for a showing of the GC Kuss documentary on Friday after the Ride with the Champions bike parade. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)30002005The Ride with the Champions bike parade on Friday started at Buckley Park riding down Main Avenue to Fifth Street and looping back on East Second Avenue to the park. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)30002265Olympian Riley Amos rides along in the Ride with the Champions bike parade on Friday that started at Buckley Park riding down Main Avenue to Fifth Street and looping back on East Second Avenue to the park. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)30002000The Ride with the Champions bike parade on Friday started at Buckley Park riding down Main Avenue to Fifth Street and looping back on East Second Avenue to the park. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)30001908Participants line up on 12th Street before the start of the Ride with the Champions bike parade on Friday that started at Buckley Park riding down Main Avenue to Fifth Street and looping back on East Second Avenue to the park. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)
Photos: Ride with the Champions bike parade
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