Stewards of the Land - The Durango Herald

In loving memory: Small cemeteries play important role

Small, rural cemeteries of La Plata County have played an important role in the lives of early settlers. These burial places have allowed people to honor their families and frien...

DATE: Dec 1, 2017 | CATEGORY: Stewards of the Land

Hunting on your national forest and Bureau of Land Management lands

By Alan Peterson There’s a lot more to an enjoyable hunt than getting a license or taking a hunter’s safety course. Do you know where you are going to start your hunt and what the...

DATE: Sep 29, 2017 | CATEGORY: Stewards of the Land

If water is life, there should be life in your water

“I was water brought to lifted leaves of daffodils and day lilies/Drank into the grace of trees – the aspens like the willows weep.” – from “Drop” by Elephant RevivalTo say “water is lif...

DATE: Aug 25, 2017 | CATEGORY: Stewards of the Land

The next generation of wilderness defenders

“Shoo!” “Scram!” “Oooogaboogaboogaboo!” The Wilderness Information Specialists in training started throwing rocks at a hollow log. The sound startled the mountain goats and they r...

DATE: Jul 28, 2017 | CATEGORY: Stewards of the Land

Food-conservation efforts have always been here

By Ruth Lambert San Juan Mountains Association April 2017 marked the 100th anniversary of the United States entry into World War I. With the war, our country sent many ...

DATE: Jun 23, 2017 | CATEGORY: Stewards of the Land

Get outside and learn something new this summer

Whether you are new to the area, or have lived in the beautiful Four Corners for years, there is something new you can learn at one of the free programs sponsored by San Juan Mountains Asso...

DATE: May 26, 2017 | CATEGORY: Stewards of the Land

Creating fire-adapted communities: It takes a village

This June marks the 15th anniversary of the Missionary Ridge and Valley fires and the fifth anniversary of the Weber and West Fork fires. Combined, these fires burned almost 200,000 acres. ...

DATE: Apr 28, 2017 | CATEGORY: Stewards of the Land

Backpacking is work, but it doesn’t have to be hard work

By Dr. Will Rietveld Many of us moved to Southwest Colorado for the wonderful climate, people and abundant public lands. With millions of acres of public lands surrounding us, we ...

DATE: Feb 25, 2017 | CATEGORY: Stewards of the Land

Art of misadventure: Appreciating the unpredictability

Not every adventure goes according to plan, but if it is not planned, the adventure might never go. This is the sentiment that occurred to me, not all at once, at some point in ...

DATE: Feb 4, 2017 | CATEGORY: Stewards of the Land

Plenty of bird watching to be had in winter

Birding in winter? Many people think of birding in the spring, when migrants from the South come back to our own little corner of paradise. But birding in the winter can be fun and rewarding...

DATE: Dec 24, 2016 | CATEGORY: Stewards of the Land

Allison’s Turkey Packers Co-op

During the dark days of the Depression, the residents of La Plata County struggled to survive and, in the rural areas, families helped to sustain themselves as they made the most of their fa...

DATE: Nov 26, 2016 | CATEGORY: Stewards of the Land

A new study of three Hispano cemeteries along the San Juan River

By Ruth Lambert San Juan Mountains Association In 1880, the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad pushed west from Antonito through Chama, New Mexico, and along the Navajo and S...

DATE: Oct 22, 2016 | CATEGORY: Stewards of the Land

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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 Vallecito

VALLECITO – 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.

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.

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 cutline

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.

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.

“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.

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.”

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.

“ (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.com

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 Longmont

Demons finished 14th after two rounds at Fox Hill Club in Longmont

Photos: Cowboy Gathering Social and Parade

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 1940s

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.

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.

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.”

Cattle 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.

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.

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.

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.”

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

Family run, generational business dates back to 1940s