Noticias

• BLM Shares Updates on the Landscape
• The West End Roundup with The San Miguel Basin Forum
• Norwood Water Starts Flowing

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BLM Shares Updates on the Landscape

Change is in the air for federal public land management agencies. Since President Donald Trump took office in January, funding cuts, changes to environmental policies, and hiring freezes have many land management offices waiting to see what’s next.

Derek Padilla, field manager for the Bureau of Land Management’s Tres Rios Field Office, updated the San Miguel County Board of Commissioners on Wednesday about recent changes.

“As of today we’ve been pretty fortunate and haven’t had a significant impact to our workforce,” Padilla said. “We have had two people take advantage of the deferred resignation program, one person in our oil and gas program who was near retirement anyways. They would have been going here soon regardless. And then we had someone out at Canyon of the Ancients who took advantage of the deferred resignation program as well. So right now that’s the only impact.”

Padilla said only two staff members resigned out of a staff of about 35. However, the office is under a hiring freeze until at least July.

He also discussed American Helium, the company that acquired assets from the bankrupt Paradox Resources. The latter owes more than $800,000 in back taxes to San Miguel County and millions more to other agencies.

“Lastly, we continue to work with American Helium, who are the entity that purchased Paradox Resources’ assets,” Padilla said. “They are working diligently to come into compliance. They are still not producing out there but are addressing a lot of the environmental issues that have been identified over the years.”

“They had a lot of infrastructure issues out there—tanks that were in pretty bad disrepair that they have since pulled and are replacing,” he said. “They’re also doing an assessment of the entire field out there to identify which wells should be plugged, which are still viable for production, and then also addressing their pipelines and checking in on the integrity of them so that once they do get to the point of production that they know they’ll be capable of handling product moving through those pipelines and not having any major issues.”

Padilla said the company intends to begin production as soon as it comes into compliance. The Tres Rios office oversees rich uranium and oil and gas prospects, both named in Trump’s executive order to “unleash American energy,” which seeks to fast-track environmental permitting for domestic energy development.

Despite that, Padilla said oil and gas interest hasn’t increased.

“With unleashing American energy a priority from the administration, we haven’t been directly impacted yet,” Padilla said. “Most of our oil and gas activity is down to the Southern Ute Tribe, who have been very active, but they don’t intend to do anything different than what they’ve already been doing. We did receive notice from Kinder Morgan, Bayliss, and some other oil and gas operations that at least at this point in time they don’t have plans of increasing their pace and scale of operations on the Tres Rios Field Office.”

In April, the Department of the Interior released guidance to dismantle many aspects of the National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA—most notably expediting processes for endangered species and cultural resources.

Padilla said he expects to receive three uranium mining plans of operations, a significant shift for the typically slow-paced West End. He also noted that the White Mesa Uranium Mill in Utah has resumed operations.

“The only thing that we’ve been told is they are starting to process material there, but that they have enough of their own material that they haven’t requested other mines to provide product for processing,” he said. “So that’s the reason we haven’t seen anything come up like the Sunday Mine Complex here locally, but that’s the extent of my knowledge of what’s going on over there.”

Meanwhile, San Miguel County is updating its mining land use codes to provide more protections for wildlife, county services, and roads. The comment period is open at sanmiguelcountyco.gov—search for “renewable energy and natural resources.”

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West End Roundup: Wolves, Trustees, and Healthcare Planning

Today on the West End Roundup with the San Miguel Basin Forum, KOTO’s news team chats with editor Regan Tuttle. In this week’s headlines:

• CPW’s Rachel Sralla visited Nucla last week to update the community on the state’s wolf reintroduction process. Tuttle shared more details during the segment.
• Joseph Hittinger was appointed Nucla’s newest Town Trustee. Tuttle explained how the appointment process unfolded.
• The Basin Clinic, fresh off receiving an award, is looking ahead to future funding and strategic planning. Tuttle discussed the clinic’s vision going forward.

The San Miguel Basin Forum is a locally owned and operated newspaper out of Nucla, Colorado. Visit SanMiguelBasinForum.com for biweekly news, events, and local happenings in the West End.

Story begins at: 5:28

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Norwood Water Starts Flowing

For the Town of Norwood, spring runoff is underway. After an average winter snowpack, runoff totals are expected to be lower than previous years. For residents of Norwood and Wrights Mesa, runoff supports agricultural, ranching, and irrigation uses.

Since 2018, some Norwood residents have received raw water from the Gurley Reservoir. Norwood Public Works Director Randy Harris said the system will begin flowing soon.

“I’m going to go right into the most pressing thing that everybody in town is wondering about,” Harris said. “I’m told there will be water in the south lateral tomorrow and we will start filling our reservoir tomorrow. It’ll be Friday before town sees water, but if everything goes well, Friday night or Monday we’ll have water.”

Raw water is seasonal and typically only flows during the growing season.

“I know people, as you know, are calling nonstop,” Town Clerk Amanda Pierce said during the May 14 Town Trustee meeting. “If you want to keep your faucet on and hook your hoses up, do what you need to. But if you keep it open, that’s on you, and when water comes, it comes.”

Mayor Candy Meehan emphasized the need for a unified message as drought conditions are expected.

“I actually got to talk to the administration today,” Meehan said. “Having a common message in regards to our water and getting everybody the information that’s consistent and relatable—we’re water-scarce and encourage many members who are on the raw water system to consume carefully.”

Meehan is a leader in the Wrights Mesa Water Coalition, a collaborative group of water and community stakeholders. In a press release, she said the coalition “serves as a catalyst, helping to convene stakeholders, build consensus, and support long-term planning with a clear understanding of the needs on the ground.”

Norwood and its water commission are planning for infrastructure upgrades to support future development and water delivery reliability.

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Stories & Poems Welcomes Archaeologist Glade Hadden

The Stories & Poems series will host archaeologist Glade Hadden of Paradox on Wednesday, May 21, at 6 p.m. at the Lone Cone Library.

Hadden, a Registered Professional Archaeologist, has spent more than 30 years in the field. He moved to Paradox Valley in 2018 to be closer to the region’s archaeology and has since led tours for the Naturita Public Library.

He previously served as area archaeologist for the BLM’s Uncompahgre Field Office in Montrose and got his start as a seasonal “dig-bum” for the National Park Service and BLM before becoming a private consultant.

Hadden will share stories from archaeological digs across the West.

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Youth Lacrosse Tournament Comes to Telluride

After a strong high school season, Telluride will host the inaugural Telluride Youth Lacrosse Tournament on Saturday, May 17, and Sunday, May 18.

Boys and girls teams from Montrose, Vail, Aspen and Grand Junction will compete at Down Valley Park, Lawson Hill, TMHS turf, and Town Park.

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Southern Ute Tribe Calls for Pipeline Accountability

In December, a pipeline near Durango failed, spilling more than 20,000 gallons of gasoline on the Southern Ute Indian Reservation. Now, the Tribe is calling on the pipeline’s owners—a fossil fuel transportation company—to do more to remediate the damage.

Rocky Mountain Community Radio’s Caroline Llanes has the story.

Story begins at: 15:24

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GOP Pushes Back on Clean Energy Tax Credits

House Republicans are aiming to roll back clean energy tax credits. From the Colorado Capitol News Alliance, Caitlyn Kim reports on how the proposed rollback could impact Colorado.

Story begins at: 16:45

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37 New Citizens Naturalized in Boulder

Every week, thousands across the U.S. complete the process of becoming naturalized citizens. Last year, more than 800,000 people took the oath.

On Tuesday, 37 new citizens from more than 20 countries were sworn in at the Boulder Public Library—many of whom took a citizenship class right at the library.

KGNU’s Sam Fuqua reports for Rocky Mountain Community Radio.

Story begins at: 17:40

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