Local government, business, nonprofits work together to help North Fork growers impacted by drought
This year has been one of the toughest in recent memory for North Fork growers. Delta Conservation District Manager Cally Hale told Delta County Commissioners during the August 18th meeting that a perfect storm of weather wiped out nearly 90% of the fruit crop.
Minimal snowpack, an unusually warm February and a cold April — all added up to a devastating financial hit for orchardists across the valley.
Hale told Commissioners that the community isn’t standing still and has developed programs to help area producers hit hard by the freeze and drought.
The Delta Conservation District is part of the North Fork Producer Support Network, a coalition working to keep farmers and farmworkers afloat. One of their key efforts is the “Nourish Our Farmers” program — providing take‑home meals to producers through partners like the Learning Council, Farm Runners, and Big B’s Farmer Social. And they’re already planning to expand that food‑security work into the broader Delta County region.
New District Manager Kajra Bowman says the district has also compiled mental‑health resources, and producers are already using them. She emphasized that support isn’t just for landowners — it’s for orchard and farm workers, too. When the crop failed, many of those workers lost their seasonal income overnight.
The network is wide and growing. Partners include the North Fork Creative Coalition, Valley Food Partnership, Rocky Mountain Farmers Union, CSU, and SeedPeace in the Roaring Fork Valley — all working together to make sure the people who grow our food aren’t left behind.
Marx and running mate making a series of Western Slope campaign stops this weekend
Republican gubernatorial candidate Victor Marx and his running mate, George Washington Market, are hoping to appeal to Western Slope voters with a series of campaign stops this weekend. The two will appear at events in Palisade, Delta, Grand Junction, Montrose, Ridgway, and Gunnison over the next three days. Marx’s chances of victory are fairly slim, given that the state hasn’t had a Republican governor in two decades. Marx has led an unconventional and divisive campaign so far. Winning the primary only narrowly over state senator Barbara Kirkmeyer, Marx has built a deeply religious and conservative platform. He’s also an intriguing story-teller, though sometimes difficult to believe, by Republicans and Democrats alike. He’s claimed that his stepfather forced him at age seven to shoot and kill a man, that he’s rescued countless women and children from “high risk global conflict zones, and that he’s performed exorcisms– over the phone.
Ballots for the November election will be sent out in mid-October, just about two months away.
Ophir Pass to close weekdays as part of a mine cleanup project
Ophir Pass Road will be closed on weekdays beginning on Monday, August 24 for construction. GMUG says the temporary closure is necessary to construct a retaining wall as part of a mine-cleanup project led by the Forest Service and partner agencies.
The road will be closed Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. starting Aug. 24 and continuing through Sept. 11. Ophir Pass Road will remain open daily from 5 p.m. to 8 a.m. and all day on weekends during this period.
Full closure details and a detailed map will be added to the GMUG alerts page once the closure is active.
GMUG loosens fire restrictions
GMUG also announced it stepped back fire restrictions from Stage 2 to Stage 1 for all lands it manages. The changes went into effect yesterday, August 20th.
GMUG says the decision to reduce fire restrictions was made based on fuel moisture levels and the amount of precipitation both received and forecasted across the Forest.
While the loosening of restrictions is a good sign, residents and visitors should still be careful to follow Stage 1 restrictions, which can be found on the GMUG website.
Interior Department reportedly restricts staff from telling the public about deaths or injuries in National Parks
The Mountain West News Bureau’s Hanna Merzbach tells us that a dozen press freedom groups are pushing back.
In July, a video went viral of a bison charging a visitor in Yellowstone and throwing him eight feet into the air. Yet, the park never issued a press release. That’s concerning for Anne Marie Tamburro, a lawyer with the Society of Professional Journalists. "There's not a lot of information about why this could be happening, what visitors could be doing differently," she told Merzbach.
The Interior Department reportedly issued a memo in December, telling staff to no longer confirm fatalities, serious injuries or emotionally sensitive incidents. It argues this is to create a more consistent approach across parks and respect privacy, not to conceal fatalities.
But Tamburro and other press freedom advocates are urging the department to reconsider. In the last two decades, the most deaths happened in Lake Mead, Grand Canyon and Yosemite.
Recycling in rural areas comes with certain challenges
Last December, Colorado approved a statewide recycling plan that includes a goal of expanding recycling access to every household in the state.
But in rural communities, smaller populations and limited infrastructure can make recycling more challenging.
For Rocky Mountain Community Radio, KBUT’s Marcy Trent Long takes a look at what it takes to recycle in one rural Colorado community.
