Water supply - The Durango Herald

Boiling advisory lifted in Ignacio after water main break

Pipe rupture occurred Feb. 14, impacting properties west of Goddard Avenue

DATE: Feb 20, 2024 | CATEGORY: Local News

State health department to fine Lightner Creek Mobile Home Park owner over sewage

19 years after first violation, Darlene Mann to face financial consequences for pollution

DATE: Feb 13, 2024 | CATEGORY: Local News

Durango City Council approves rezoning of Grandview property to low-density residential use

Councilors break from Planning Commission recommendation to reject reclassification

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Sticks in snow

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DATE: Oct 16, 2023 | CATEGORY: Local News

Bill seeks to ensure clean water for tribal communities

Bennet says too many tribal members forced to travel long distances for ‘fundamental human right’

DATE: Jul 19, 2023 | CATEGORY: Local News

Water restrictions might be issued in Durango as a result of busted pipe at Goeglein Gulch

Largest municipal customers asked to voluntarily limit use

DATE: Jul 5, 2023 | CATEGORY: Local News

Water line break in east Durango closes Goeglein Gulch Road for repairs

Taps run dry for residents in at least three subdivisions

DATE: Jun 29, 2023 | CATEGORY: Local News

Long-awaited water dock opens in western La Plata County

‘It saves time, it saves money, it saves fuel,’ says elected official

DATE: Jun 27, 2023 | CATEGORY: Local News

Bennet introduces Headwaters Protection Act in Congress

Legislation would work to protect watersheds and forestry across the U.S.

DATE: Jun 7, 2023 | CATEGORY: Local News

City of Durango seeks partial design completion for first phase of Lake Nighthorse pipeline

Utilities manager says this will be a collaborative effort with community stakeholders

DATE: May 11, 2023 | CATEGORY: Local News

Vallecito Reservoir prepares for above-average runoff

Bureau of Reclamation expects inflow to be more than double reservoir’s capacity

DATE: May 10, 2023 | CATEGORY: Local News

Q&A: Durango water-rights activist uses social media to educate

Teal Lehto has 48,000 followers after one year on Tiktok

DATE: May 4, 2023 | CATEGORY: Local News

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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