La Plata County Search and Rescue

Llamas fending for themselves in high country

Animals left behind when hikers rescued by helicopter

DATE: Aug 18, 2016 | CATEGORY: Local News

Two women rescued after three nights in Weminuche Wilderness

Military aircraft found hikers early Sunday morning

DATE: Aug 14, 2016 | CATEGORY: Local News

Rescue cards help fund local emergency responders

State program subsidizes Colorado SAR

DATE: Jul 27, 2016 | CATEGORY: Local News

For longtime lawman Dan Bender, a rescue becomes personal

Sheriff’s spokesman finds himself on the other side of a familiar mission

DATE: Jul 27, 2016 | CATEGORY: Local News

Durango woman rescued by helicopter from Engineer Mountain

Altitude sickness hit on hike with church friends

DATE: Jul 25, 2016 | CATEGORY: Local News

Missing hiker found north of Vallecito Reservoir

Nebraska man had split from family to get aid for father, who felt dizzy

DATE: Jul 21, 2016 | CATEGORY: Local News

Searchers credit father for keeping kids safe during Weminuche trek

Hikers had tent, other supplies for wilderness overnights

DATE: Jul 19, 2016 | CATEGORY: Local News

Man, 3 children found safe by other hikers

Family brought to Pine River trailhead

DATE: Jul 18, 2016 | CATEGORY: Local News

La Plata County to ask voters for property tax hike

Ballot item for roads and bridges to be floated a second time

DATE: Jul 12, 2016 | CATEGORY: Local News

Search and rescue crews retrieve hiker from Windom Peak

Rescue mission at 13,200 feet brings back man with broken ankle

DATE: Jul 10, 2016 | CATEGORY: Local News

Teenager rescued from Cascade Creek waterfalls

Third incident at popular jumping spot in two weeks

DATE: Jul 7, 2016 | CATEGORY: Local News

Woman dies jumping waterfalls at Cascade Creek; two rescued

A rescue turned into a recovery Sunday afternoon on Cascade Creek. “I can confirm we have a victim,” La Plata Search and Rescue President Ron Corkish said. “But this is in San Jua...

DATE: Jul 3, 2016 | CATEGORY: Local News

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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