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Warning: the following is a bad news/good news type of story. First, the bad news: all of us with loving pets will have to face that day when our heart is ripped out of our chests as we say goodbye. (We’ll allow a moment to wipe your eyes.)
But – now for the good news. It doesn’t have to be all doom and gloom, according to Carbondale filmmaker Ashley Mosher.
Mosher will be in town this Saturday to screen her latest documentary, “Goodboy,” detailing her own end-ofdoggie life experience with her beloved chocolate lab, Kenya. Kenya, who was an adoptee and lived to the ripe doggie age of 16, was Mosher’s first dog. Thus, it was the first time she was faced with grappling with the dreaded “how do I know when it’s time for him to go?” question.
“I originally made this film because this was the first time I had gone through this loss myself,” she said. “This was something no one told me about but something we need to talk about.”
Mosher said the film is not meant to be a “doggie downer” (although tissues are recommended). Rather, the goal is to open up the discussion and remove taboos on death and dying. In addition to the end of life of her dog, the film also follows Mosher as she deals with the death of her father.
“We’re terrified of coming to the end of our lives, but in the meantime, we’re screwing up how we live our daily lives,” she said.
Mosher said the film is about being present and finding a way to embrace and celebrate the end of life, whether a human or animal. And she promises the story is told with a tender and uplifting tone.
“If I’m at all a good filmmaker, then it won’t be depressing,” she said. “It’s an adventure, told with humor, curiosity, beauty and color. At the end of the day, this story is about joy and love.”
“Goodboy” shows from 4-6 p.m., Sat., Sept. 21, at Durango High School. A panel including Mosher will follow. Proceeds benefit the La Plata County Humane Society.
For a trailer of the film, go to: www.good boythemovie.com.
opinion
LaVidaLocal
Where is the wuv?
Many people are not talking these days, refusing to show up for a heartfelt discussion, even when it comes to expressing their most intimate secrets.
As a baby boomer, I remember Vietnam war protests, Woodstock, free love, marijuana and even LSD. Supposedly, everyone was doing it, and maybe all of it at the same time. Our parents swore they’d never seen the likes of this behavior. Now the religious right along with some of the Republican Party wants to settle on a policy of legislating what the public should and should not be able to decide for itself.
Things have changed. It’s all about making laws that don’t involve much love.
“Litigants 1 & 2, do you take each other to be legally contracted partners, to have and tentatively hold each other accountable in all financial and emotional disagreements from this day forward?”
“We do.”
“By the power vested in me before these assembled potential witnesses, I pronounce you legally bound individuals in all future outcomes and offspring of this arrangement.”
Thankfully I can still hear a little bit of actor Peter Cook’s 1987 “Princess Bride” performance declaring, “Marwage, that bwessed awangement ... .”
“Do you remember who received the first piece?”
“I know it wasn’t me.”
“Then one hand might have been on her butt”
“It could have been.”
The National Association for Presiding Judges and Court Executive Officers suggests values are a quality “hard to define but important to possess ... individuals are often unsure about what constitutes a value (and) we have found that people don’t spend much time thinking about what they stand for unless they face a crisis.”
A 2023 NPR interview on one unmarried woman’s complaint about relationships went like this: “I have my towels on the rack situated a certain way and my perfume bottles and everything. And when they come over ... like, the relationships I’ve had recently ... I’ll come into my bathroom after they’ve left, and it’s like, what happened in here? Like… my little Chanel towel ... is on the sink. And I’m like, ‘Oh, God.’”
I swear I’m not making this up. What used to be thought sacred, like vows, prayers, promises and handshakes, must be approached more carefully. It could be we all feel like ceremonial witnesses who may be required to appear in court.
“Do you remember where the groom’s hands were just before the couple cut the wedding cake?”
“Well, maybe somewhere behind the bride, like near her waist or back or shoulder?”
“So you’re not sure?”
“I don’t exactly remember, I must have been paying attention to the cake.”
Thumbin’It
FLC’s football team broke its five-year, 40game losing streak last Saturday with a win over Arizona Christian, 17-12. Technically, it was the longest losing streak in college football. Sko Hawks.
Woohoo. La Niña is in the house. Granted, this could be really good or really bad for winter in Southwest Colorado. But since we’re such optimists, we’re going with the “good” scenario.
The Fed cut interest rates by half a point this week. We’re not going to pretend we know the foggiest about this economic funny business, but if it means lower rates on credit cards, and home/car/student loans, we’ll take it.
Ethical beliefs, like a compass, guide our personal choices, but increasingly we seem to require a judge and jury to weigh our most basic decisions.
“Is that a canker sore on your lip?”
“No, it’s a wart. Why do you ask?”
“No reason.”
“Were you thinking about kissing me?”
“Kissing you? Don’t be ridiculous!”
“You’re probably worried about STDs.”
“I was not worried, I was concerned it hurt.”
“Canker sores are not contagious.”
“I didn’t know that, but I really don’t care.”
“It’s the warts that can be transferred.”
“You ought to get it taken care of.”
“Actually, it’s just a canker sore. Eventually it’ll go away.”
“Then why did you tell me it was a wart?”
“I wanted you to think I was a prince.”
“That’s the worst come-on I’ve ever heard.”
“So kissing is out of the question?”
“Kissing was never part of the question.”
“A handshake?”
“No, that’s my Parkinson’s.”
Maybe it’s not the Bible but the Beatles who best explain what we need to know.
There’s nothing you can know that isn’t known.
Nothing you can see that isn’t shown.
Nowhere you can be that isn’t where you’re meant to be.
It’s easy.
All you need is love.
Someone recently shot and killed a California condor near Cortez. Since being saved from the brink of extinction in the late 1980s, the giant endangered birds have only been spotted in Colorado once or twice. So, way to go, dude.
Bike theft is on the rise in Durango, according to police, with thieves going so far as to cut locks. Eighty-one bikes have been stolen so far this year, compared to 36 in the first nine months in 2023.
Massive floods have wreaked havoc across four different continents in recent weeks, claiming thousands of lives. Coincidence? Scientists say such events are only going to become more frequent in the new climate normal.
SignoftheDownfall:
– David Feela
Back to the Tooter Instagram “model” Maecee Lathers crashed her Mercedes in Miami last month and killed two people, but she claims innocence. You see, Lathers was high on a new synthetic party drug called “pink cocaine” or “C2” that Venezuelan gangs are bringing into the U.S. According to Lathers, the C2 allowed her to time travel when she wrecked, so she obviously can’t be blamed. But detectives think Lathers might be lying because when she attempted to flee the scene, bystanders caught and held her down until she was arrested, which usually doesn’t happen to people capable of time travel.
Protect women’s rights
I can sympathize with those who oppose abortion. I do not believe that any woman considers abortion lightly.
But what happens when the government intervenes in a decision that should be between a woman and her doctor? We’ve seen it already, in states where abortion has been outlawed or restricted.
Women whose fetuses are not viable forced to carry it to term. Doctors afraid of losing their license or even being imprisoned forced to make a decision that could imperil the mother’s life. Girls who have been raped forced to go to another state to terminate their pregnancy.
If Trump is re-elected, we can expect a national abortion ban – and possibly a contraception ban. Trump has bragged about overturning Roe v. Wade. His running mate has said he opposes abortion even to save the life of the mother.
Once an abortion ban is in place, women and girls will not have the option to go to another state to receive care. If reproductive freedom is important to you, you must vote!
Vote for Kamala Harris. Vote for the party that respects and honors women.
–
Philip Riffe, Hesperus
The original wokesters
History is a funny thing, and we are living in truly historic times. There are several adages about history that most of us are familiar with, such as “those who fail to learn from the past are doomed to repeat it”. The puzzling thing is that so many just don’t know history, the story of us and how we got here today.
As an illustration, during this political season, we hear many who desire positions of leadership making proclamations about the founding of this country and the men who helped frame our government, their intents and their motivations. The shocking part of these statements is that so many times these boastful candidates and politicians are completely ignorant of the truth and history of what actually happened.
The Founding Fathers of our nation, the framers of our Constitution were unique products of the historical era known as the Age of Enlightenment. This was an intellectual and cultural movement in the 18th century, mostly centered in Europe, that emphasized reason over suspicion and science over blind faith. The ideas of John Locke and
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, among others, brought forth challenges to the long period of superstition, repression, ignorance and a geocentric theory of the cosmos – an era known as The Dark Ages.
Locke, Rousseau and others promoted the notion of a “social contract,” the idea that government receives its powers from the consent of those who are governed. They promoted the idea that there were
inalienable rights, and accompanying those rights were responsibilities. They promoted the idea that all men are created equal. These were radical, revolutionary ideas shared amongst the literate elite of European society. In our world today, they would be considered far left-wing ideas; in a word, they were “woke.”
In our current vernacular, woke is used as an adjective, meaning someone is aware of and actively attentive to important societal facts and issues (especially issues of racial and social justice). We cannot deny that our Founding Fathers were attentive to important societal facts and issues of their day. They were not perfect, but they did create a founding document that for the time was radical, forward thinking and capable of changing. The Constitution, as created, was not a perfect document, but it had a built-in apparatus to bring us toward “a more perfect union.” The Amendment process allows the people to improve upon the original document, and we have done so 27 times.
The history of our nation has been a steady, sometimes halting, march forward. The citizens rights have constantly been expanding, including who is even considered a citizen. The process of selecting our representatives has also been changing, as has been who may be qualified to be elected. With various amendments to our Constitution, we have been striving toward becoming a more perfect union.
In this political season, we sometimes illustrate the lesser characteristics of our experience. When “woke” becomes a pejorative label causing people to be subject to ridicule and persecution; when books are banned from schools and libraries because their content makes some uncomfortable; when basic medical care is de-
nied to pregnant women; when public school students are taught that slavery had some redeeming characteristics; and when some promise that by voting for a certain candidate it would remove the “worry” of ever having to vote again, I doubt that our Founding Fathers would say that we have reached a more perfect union. To me, a foundational knowledge of our history is critical to our path forward.
– Gene Orr, retired educator of 43 years, Durango
Care about hunting ethics
I’m a 64-year-old wildlife advocate who has lived on Deer Mesa just outside of Norwood, for the past 36 years. I moved to Colorado from Texas 38 years ago and have longed to see the end of needless suffering of innocent wildlife ever since.
I worked at the Rocky Mountain Wildlife Ark and Rehabilitation Center on Wilson Mesa in 2004-05 and was caregiver to two mountain lions, two Canada lynxes and a bobcat as well as a host of predators and raptors.
As a rural resident, it makes good sense to vote YES to protect mountain lions and bobcats from needless suffering done by trophy hunting and to stop trapping our bobcats just to make fur coats. I am not alone, and other rural Coloradans are on board with this one.
There is not one acceptable reason or justifiable excuse for killing any lion or bobcat that is in nature, in their home, and not causing any trouble to us or to our animals.
We need to stop killing them for trophies and skinning them to make fur coats in China.
This kind of activity is not even close to resembling deer hunting. We don’t chase deer with dogs wearing
tracking collars, just so some head-hunter paying an outfitter $8,000 can walk up and shoot an animal stuck in a tree.
This issue is most closely related to what the citizens did to protect bears from baiting and hounding years ago. It makes sense to have some measure of ethical standards, and trophy hunting crosses that line.
California stopped this nonsense 50 years ago, and their lion populations are stable, deer thrive and a mere 15 lions were killed for livestock predation last year, according to state data. Compared to Colorado, and most states that allow trophy hunting, that is extremely low.
– Ruthie McCain, Norwood
District 3 locked out again
A serious question for La Plata County Democrats and progressives claiming to fight for democracy: Why do you fight for the status quo when the State Legislature even considers district voting vs. at-large voting for county commissioners? Did you know that a Democrat candidate for District 3 county commissioner has never won a majority vote within the geographical boundaries of District 3? That Democrat candidate is dependent on votes from Durango liberals to win.
In several elections, the Democrat District 3 candidate didn’t even win the precinct in which he or she lived! In essence, the city of Durango has two county commissioners while the preferred candidate of District 3 residents is locked out again.
Simple question: Why do Democrats and progressives fight district voting?
– Dennis Pierce, Durango
WritersontheRange
People power
Without volunteers, there would be no Colorado Trail
by Dave Marston
The Colorado Trail, an iconic 567mile high-elevation trail that crosses the Rockies, owes its existence largely to Gudy Gaskill, a charismatic, 6-foot-tall woman who could make tough things seem easy.
Gaskill not only carried out the vision of a state trail, beginning slowly in the late 1970s, but also gave birth to it. In 1972, she lobbied Congress, along with forester Bill Lucas, credited with the Colorado Trail idea, to change federal law so volunteers could be allowed to build trails on public land.
Volunteerism was so potent an idea, that when, in 1984, writer Ed Quillen broke the story about Gaskill’s efforts to revive trail building that had foundered under the Colorado Mountain Trails Foundation, people were energized to join her. Soon, thanks to fundraising, she had 350 volunteers coming each summer to join trail crews she often led herself. She made creating the Colorado Trail seem like a privilege: You camped out in beautiful backcountry, ate great food and found stamina you never knew you possessed.
In 1985, caught up in the story, my father, Ed Marston, then publisher of High Country News, volunteered my sister, Wendy, 15, and me, 13, for a week of trail building. That’s how we learned how to swing those axe-like tools called Pulaskis on the Molas Pass to Durango section.
Gaskill herself led our crew, setting out early with orange ribbon to mark the trail. She was efficient and tireless, and in just a few hours, older, urban and young volunteers became trail builders with blisters to prove it.
It was exciting to work on a trail that unfurled along the rooftop of Colorado. Typical trails in those days led up mountains or over steep passes. The Colorado trail rejected peak-bagging and offered a moderate route of week-long, 70-mile sections, neither losing nor gaining elevation rapidly, though often charting a route above tree line.
I joined a trail crew to revisit my childhood adventure this summer, and from Aug. 7-11, Denver friend Jeff Miller
and I worked to repair trail in Chaffee County’s Collegiate Peaks Wilderness.
In wilderness, if there’s a tree to fell, you use a handsaw. We needed to move big rocks, so two of us yoked ourselves together in nylon harnesses to do that. We divided labor this way: Men hauled big rocks, and women wielding rock hammers smashed the rocks into gravel.
Trail work has changed a lot in 39 years. Back then we built water bars to stop erosion from runoff. Logs anchored into slopes sluiced water off trails but required annual maintenance. Now, water moves off trail through “grade reversals.”
The trail swoops below grade, efficiently shunting water off the path, then swoops back up to level grade. Drains are large
versions of grade reversals.
My fellow volunteers were largely thru-hikers, skilled backcountry voyageurs who spend their holidays hiking the trail from Denver to Durango in one go. Mark Stephenson, 26, from Pittsburgh, was one of the most ardent fans. He arrived on the trail via Greyhound bus with $40 in his pocket, saying, “This is a place where money doesn’t matter.”
Thinking a reported 2½-mile hike to camp would be easy, my friend and I arrived at the trailhead loaded up with both front and back packs. I confess to having done the shopping. My friend was optimistic: “I can carry anything 2½ miles.”
But our camp had moved 6 miles away and 2,700 feet uphill. We made it, slowly, and once at camp, we quickly became free-store proprietors. But there was another problem: I’d left my tent poles at home. Crew leader Matt Smith, an engineer from Golden, easily came up with a fix: He used parachute cord to rig up the tent fly, then added a tarp to ward off the rain that soaked us every afternoon and night.
I don’t recall meeting thru-hikers in the mid-1980s, but today they seem to dominate hiking culture. I could only listen as the rest of the group talked about trails known by acronyms, including the famous AT – Appalachian Trail.
“You’re doing great work!” hikers told us as they passed by. Crew leader Smith offers this perspective today: “Nineteenthousand volunteer person-hours go into trail improvement every year.”
We owe thanks to those original trail stalwarts – forester Bill Lucas, journalist Merrill Hastings and of course, Gudy Gaskill. Their vision created one of the state’s wonders.
Dave Marston is the publisher of Writers on the Range, writersontherange.org, an independent nonprofit dedicated to spurring lively conversation about the West. He lives in Durango. ■
Jeff Miller, left, and David Marston get their hands dirty on a section of the CT in the Collegiate Peaks Wilderness this summer./ Photo by Matt Smith
Marston
BetweentheBeats
A bluegrass soul
Talking with guitar/vocal wunderkind Eli Emmitt
by Stephen Sellers
For this week’s “Between the Beats,” I sat down with Durango’s kindest hometown hero, Eli Emmitt. Emmitt grew up in Crested Butte in a loving, creative, musical family, and with those values deep in his heart (and armed with a few family guitars), he’s well on his way to cultivating a creative, soulful musical family of his own here in Durango. Eli’s eponymous band, in which he is lead singer, songwriter and plays guitar, is set to open for local legends Elder Grown on Sept. 28 at the Animas City Theatre. I recently sat down with Eli to learn more about how he sees, hears and feels the world around him. Enjoy a brief snippet of our conversation.
SS: Eli, the people want to know: what is your middle name?
EE: My middle name’s Charles. Actually, my parents named me after this really amazing guitar player, Charles Sawtelle. So, I feel really honored to be named after him.
SS: How did you find your way to Durango?
EE: When I was searching for colleges, I landed on Fort Lewis College. I fell in love with the town and ... I’ve been here ever since. I graduated last December.
SS: What are your earliest musical memories?
EE: The Four Corners Folk Festival. I remember camping out there, listening to all the musicians playing around the campfire, and the little jams at the festival. That experience has always stuck with me. That’s kind of how I got introduced to music—through that world.
SS: I remember the music I heard around the house growing up, like The Beatles. Then there was a point where I discovered grunge music and techno. Did you have a similar musical evolution, growing up around bluegrass and then finding sounds that really lit your fire?
EE: That’s a great question. Both my sister and I eventually branched out. She was the first to break out of the bluegrass world and get into rap, hip-hop, neo-soul, soul – you know, the Black-inspired, soulful music. Bluegrass has similar roots in the South and in Black music, so we were both drawn to that deep soul. I was inspired by her and started writing music related to that world too.
SS: What kind of music would we find on your high school playlists?
EE: I was the kid blasting the Flecktones down the main drag. A lot of classic bluegrass– Tony Rice, for example. But that quickly evolved after I graduated. I think Stevie Wonder was the first artist who really sparked my interest in soul, and that led me to artists like Hiatus Kaiyote, D’Angelo, Sam Cooke and more modern artists like Leon Bridges.
SS: You’ve experienced a lot of live music. What do you think makes for a great band or band leader?
EE: It’s a continuously evolving question. What always comes up is: “How can I be the best team player? How can I communicate kindly with my band members? How can I cultivate a team dynamic?” I’ve been in situations with band leaders who had an almost tyrannical way of leading, and it just blocked the sun.
SS: What does it mean to “make it” as a musician?
EE: I try to separate it from the financial aspect. I think “making it” for me means feeling fulfilled – feeling successful within myself and in the spaces I create with the people I get to be around musically. The more I cultivate the musical family I envision, the more successful I feel.
SS: What is it about the guitar that lets you express your soulfulness?
EE: The guitar, especially the electric guitar, has a beautiful way of singing because you can bend the notes. It’s like singing vocally but with an instrument. I love the feeling of hitting one note and having it fill you with passion, excitement and the soul of the music.
SS: You’ve been in the studio recently, correct?
EE: Yes. The songs I’m recording now are songs I’m also playing with my band. I’m kind of modeling it as a solo project, though. I’m recording a lot of it on the Front Range with some friends I’ve been connected to through my dad, which I feel really fortunate about. I’m going to release a four-track EP this spring, and my vision is to keep building on that and eventually work toward an album.
SS: We’re all looking forward to your next show at the Animas City Theatre. The Eli Emmitt Band will be setting the tone for Elder Grown.
EE: Elder Grown is an amazing group and has been a great support system – an older crew of musicians that I definitely look up to. I see them as role models. I think it’s going to be really fun, and I’m really excited. I feel fortunate to be part of this project, part of this concert and part of supporting them. I’m also hoping to raise awareness for my upcoming releases. ■
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*Read by 4,000 discerning sets of eyeballs every week. (*Although a few probably just look at the pictures.) For info. on how to get your business or event seen, email: telegraph@durangotelegraph.com
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Eli Emmitt
Who speaks for the land?
West End residents voice concerns over creation of Dolores monument
(Editor’s note: The following is the first in a two-part series by Mancos-based reporter Ilana Newman focusing on the reactions of residents on the proposed creation of the Dolores Canyons National Monument. The monument would cover about 600 square miles in an area of western Colorado stretching from Nucla and Naturita to close to Grand Junction.)
by Ilana Newman / The Daily Yonder
If you ask folks in the rugged West End of Colorado what they think about a proposed national monument status for hundreds of thousands of acres of land in the region, you’re likely to get a consistent answer: “No thanks, not here.”
The national monument would stretch from Nucla and Naturita in the south to nearly Grand Junction in the north, encompassing approximately 390,000 acres, according to the current map on the website of Protect the Dolores, a coalition of groups that is promoting the monument.
Many residents feel that a national monument would threaten the diversity of their economies, potentially restrict access to land they love and overpower already weak infrastructure with an influx of visitors.
“We don’t have the infrastructure here at all. That’s one of the things we’ve tried to hammer home is that this is not an economic benefit for these communities. … and if it’s ever going to be, we need five or 10 years to get prepared for this,” Katey Herland, a rancher and resident of the West End, said.
National monument status adds protections to federal land that is already managed by a federal agency. In the case of the Dolores, that’s the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management.
But residents are worried about the shape proposed protections of the land might take. They also feel excluded from the planning process, fearing that, ultimately, decisions will be made bypassing their concerns.
“We’re not against protecting anything,” said Her-
land. “It’s the fact that none of these conversations happened with these communities. It’s the fact that all the planning that’s gone in on the proponent’s behalf didn’t consider stakeholders, didn’t consider the reality of how this would affect these communities. And that’s wrong.”
The monument’s advocates say the plan would help West End communities get ahead of visitor and infrastructure demands that are likely to occur anyway.
The Dolores River shaped this landscape, cutting deep into western Colorado’s red rock sandstone. Mesas topped with piñon, juniper and ponderosa line the two-
lane highway that winds through the path of least resistance. Two hours south of the proposed monument, barely any cars can be spotted on the highway.
The red-tinged desert could be easily mistaken for Moab. No towns and only a few ranches and homes pepper the landscape until the town of Naturita (pop. 478) and its sister town, Nucla (pop. 590). Less than two hours from Moab to the west and Telluride to the east, it could not be further away in spirit from these tourist destinations. The West End remains mostly free from visitors, which is just how many residents like it.
The biew down Colorado’s Highway 141, twhich leads from the West End to Grand Junction. This view looks toward Utah’s La Sal Mountains. Much of the land between the road and the La Sals would be included in the Dolores Canyons National Monument./Photo by Ilana Newman/Daily Yonder
It’s a fragile landscape with soil crusts that are easily damaged and take hundreds of years to grow and cacti and sagebrush dotting the valleys and hillsides. Trails are rugged – or don’t exist at all – and it’s easy to get far away from a paved road.
Galit Korngold owns a business in Naturita, right on Highway 141. “I love the traffic, but I don’t want them to stay here. I like living in a quiet little town. I don’t want it to turn into Moab,” she said.
But for Protect the Dolores, a monument designation feels vital to protect the biodiversity, cultural sites, geologic formations and public access for the future.
While some of the concerns are more rooted in emotion than reality, the sentiment is one of misrepresentation. People feel unheard and excluded from the conversation around the monument.
What does it mean to protect land? Who gets to choose what that protection looks like? These are some of the questions at the heart of the controversy.
The Talk of Town
A Tuesday morning in May in the Coop Country Ace Hardware in Nucla felt like a potential minefield for a reporter asking about a contentious national monument. But people were excited to talk about their stories and connections to the land. They shared their worries about what would happen if a monument was designated.
High on the list were fears that the area would become overrun with visitors who would overwhelm roads and resources. There were also concerns the economy would become overly reliant on low-paying tourism jobs.
A national monument would allow current commercial uses to continue, with limited new uses and development. Federal land in the area currently has mining, grazing, public utilities, commercial outfitting, and oil and gas leases. The proposed Dolores Canyons National Monument would be free and open to the public to camp, hunt, fish, boat, horseback ride, hike, ride mechanized or motorized vehicles and more.
Later that day, ranchers Mark Templeton and Lorraine Garvey spoke about their deep connection to the home they have worked on and cared for all their lives.
Templeton’s family has been ranching in the West End for more than 100 years. He worries that a national monument could bring in people who do not respect the landscape. Templeton and many others feel the area is already protected by its current national forest and Bureau of Land Management designations.
The change in management would occur through a resource management plan, which would replace existing management plans currently fragmented be-
tween the Forest Service and the BLM. However, the monument would continue to be managed by the BLM and the Forest Service – not the National Park Service, according to Protect the Dolores. The process of creating a resource management plan would include public input, which encourages local communities to get involved.
But the initial efforts of Protect the Dolores to get the monument established left residents with doubts about their inclusion in later stages.
Despite the potential to contribute to a future resource management plan, residents feel left out of the current conversation. Herland, who owns land that would be surrounded by the monument, said she was never approached by anyone from the monument campaign, and to her knowledge, only one landowner was.
Makayla Gordon is the executive director of the West End Economic Development Corporation (WEEDC). She and other community leaders were involved in a September 2023 meeting with Protect the Dolores and expected to be more involved in the map process. Attendees of the meeting told me they were initially excited about the prospect of being involved.
“We were brought into it ... with the assumption that when we were having that initial conversation, we were going to be a part of the map construction. Then my
next meeting in January with them, I was handed the map, and I was like ‘This isn’t what we were expecting,’” Gordon said.
Gordon and other residents were taken aback by the size of the monument, which in the current draft encompasses around 600 square miles.
The Protect the Dolores website states that the map draft is a starting point for discussion that will continue to be adjusted based on input from stakeholders.
Aimee Tooker, a West End community leader who was also a part of those initial meetings, left with a “warm fuzzy feeling,” after giving a list of questions and concerns that she expected to be addressed. But as the winter wore on, she said that questions were still not being answered, and she felt ignored.
During a community meeting in Nucla, Tooker said, “Let us write the conservation plan and let us design the map. I know we can do it better, and more inclusive, and with truly local stakeholder input.”
Templeton, the rancher, said he has a message to the people who want a monument. “Just come enjoy the country. We’ll share it with you as long as you’re stewards. We don’t want you coming here and making a big mess just like you don’t want us making a big mess. But you can do anything here right now that you could do in a monument.”■
Thursday19
Fiesta on the Mesa, 4-8 p.m., FLC Student Union
Ska-B-Q with music by Shane Finn, 5-7 p.m., Ska Brewing, 225 Girard St.
Trivia Night, 5-7 p.m., EsoTerra Ciderworks, 558 Main Ave.
Live music by Andrew Schuhmann, 5:30 p.m., The Office Spiritorium, 699 Main Ave.
Live music by Adam Lopez, 6-9 p.m., 11th Street Station, 1101 Main Ave.
Durango Autumn Arts Festival, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., E. 2nd Ave., downtown Durango
Live music by Alison Dance Duet, 12-2 p.m., Lola’s Place, 725 E. 2nd Ave.
Irish Jam Session, 12:30-3 p.m., Durango Beer & Ice Co., 3000 Main Ave.
Board Game Sundays, 2 p.m., Lola’s Place, 725 E. 2nd Ave.
Theatre performance of “Wait Until Dark,” 2-4 p.m., Durango Arts Center, 802 E. 2nd Ave.
Live music by Tim Sullivan, fund-raiser for the La Plata County Dems, 3-6 p.m., Rotary Park
“Reviving the Powerhouse: A Restoration Story,” 5-7 p.m., The Powerhouse, 1333 Camino Del Rio
Durango Brass free concert, 6 p.m., corner of College Drive and Main Avenue
Live music by the Blue Moon Ramblers, 6-9 p.m., Diamond Belle Saloon, 699 Main Ave.
Live music by Ben Gibson, 6-9 p.m., The Office Spiritorium, 699 Main Ave.
Monday23
Happy Hour Yoga, 5:30 p.m., Ska Brewing, 225 Girard St.
Live music by Terry Hartzel, 5:30-10 p.m., Diamond Belle Saloon, 699 Main Ave.
AskRachel Tool vulture, avoiding the NPCs and rice or wrong
Interesting fact: Properly and promptly cooled rice and other grains are still safe to eat as leftovers, according to Consumer Reports. I didn’t know the magazine was for consumers of starch, but hey.
Dear Rachel,
Tell me this isn’t freaking weird. My brother has a neighbor who is about to go into assisted living. The neighbor (in good mental health) told my brother to come get whatever tools and supplies he wanted, because the family was just going to give it all away. So now my bro is sending me pics of this other dude’s garage stuff asking me what I want. It feels like being such a vulture. But also I could use tools. Is this weird?
– The Tool Man
Dear Tim Taylor,
Every person in this chain of events is being very kind, in your telling of it. But too much kindness weirds me the eff out. It’s like Stepfording and Sunday Schooling all at once, and I just want to nope out. If it were me, I’d take no part in these vulturing shenanigans. Unless the neighbor’s got a reciprocating saw. You can always use a reciprocating saw.
– In safety goggles, Rachel
Live music by Leah Orlikowski, 6-9 p.m., The Office Spiritorium, 699 Main Ave.
Singo with Devin Scott, 6 p.m., Grassburger South, 360 S. Camino Del Rio
Cattlemen’s Candidate Forum, local candidates for office, 7-9 p.m., La Plata County Fairgrounds.
Comedy Showcase, 7:30 p.m., Starlight Lounge, 937 Main Ave.
Tuesday24
“Over in the Meadow” talk and book signing with Chandler Strange and Celestia French, 3:30-5 p.m., Durango Botanic Gardens, 1900 E. 3rd Ave.
4CORE’s Meet the Green Biz Experts Panel, 56:30 p.m., LPEA, 45 Stewart St.
Durango Open Studio Artist Panel Discussion, 57 p.m., Smiley Studio 14, 1309 E. 3rd Ave.
Rotary Club of Durango presents Give a Dam’s Nichole Fox speaking about beavers, 6-7 p.m., Strater Hotel, 699 Main Ave.
Live music by Nina Sasaki & Dan Carlson, 6-8 p.m., Lola’s Place, 725 E. 2nd Ave.
“A River Runs Through It,” presentation by FLC professor Andrew Gulliford, 6-8 p.m., FLC, 125 Noble
Dear Rachel,
I’m about to visit home (far far away) for the first time in many years. I get 10 days there. I tried to keep my visit low-key, but my parents are blabbermouths, and now I have every NPC from my past trying to get together. It would be fun but no one understands that 10 days is not that long when you’re going home for other reasons. What’s a good way to say “thanks but no thanks?”
– Homeward Bound
Dear Booked Up,
If you can swing a one-and-done, you set up a big open house. “I’ll be at Chuck E. Cheese from noon to 3 on Thursday, come by if you can, I’d love to see you and please bring good presents!” Except pick a place with real food and probably some booze and an exit strategy out the back door when your time is up, because no one understands your limitations but you.
– Hasta la vista, Rachel
Dear Rachel,
What’s this I’m learning about rice being dangerous as leftovers. I guess it killed a guy not too long ago? I always have leftover rice and the microwave kills things anyway. Now
Hall, hosted by SW Sierra Club.
Live music by Terry Hartzel, 6-9 p.m., Diamond Belle Saloon, 699 Main Ave.
Live music by Sean O’Brien, 6-9 p.m., The Office Spiritorium, 699 Main Ave.
Open Mic Night, 7 p.m., Starlight Lounge, 937 Main
Wednesday25
Lunch & Learn: Utilizing and Developing AI Assistants with FLC professor Tom Miaskiewicz, 12 noon -1p.m., TBK Bank, 259 W. 9th St.
Live music with Dan Carlson & Nina Sasaki, 4:30-6:30 p.m., Meadow Market, 699 Edgemont Meadows Rd.
Animas City Night Bazaar, 5-8 p.m., Riverview Elementary
Womenade Celebration and open house, 5:306:30 p.m., 701 Public House, 701 E. 2nd Ave.
Author Event & Book Signing with Laura Pritchett “Playing with Wildfire,” 6-8 p.m., Maria’s Bookshop, 960 Main Ave.
Live music by Terry Hartzel, 6-9 p.m., Diamond Belle Saloon, 699 Main Ave.
Email Rachel at
I’m wondering if I’m living dangerously. Rice, to fridge or not to fridge?
– Living on the Edge
Dear Living on a Prayer,
Let me preface everything I’m about to say with I AM NOT A TRAINED PROFESSIONAL IN ANY FIELD AND THIS SHOULD NOT BE CONSTRUED AS LEGAL OR ANY OTHER REASONABLE ADVICE. But I think so long as the rice has met food safety requirements, and you’re not plucking it from your brother’s neighbor’s fridge like a vulture, you’re likely gonna be just fine.
– Buen provecho, Rachel
Live music by Terry Rickard, 6-9 p.m., The Office Spiritorium, 699 Main Ave.
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Few of the vegetables grown in the 21st century are in their original wild form. Many are the result of crossbreeding carried out by humans. The intention is to increase the nutritional value, boost yield, improve resistance to insects and survive weather extremes. I invite you to apply the metaphor of crossbreeding to your life. You will place yourself in maximum alignment with cosmic rhythms if you conjure up new blends. Be a mix master. Favor amalgamations and collaborations. Transform jumbles and hodgepodges into graceful composites. Make “alloy” and “hybrid” words of power.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): “All I ask is the chance to prove that money can’t make me happy,” quipped comedian Spike Milligan. I propose we make that your running joke for the next eight months. If there was ever a time when you could get rich more quickly, it would be between now and mid-2025. And the chances of that happening may be enhanced considerably if you optimize your relationship with work. What can you do now to help ensure you will be working at a well-paying job you like for years to come?
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): The World Health Organization says that 3.5 billion people don’t have access to safe toilets; 2.2 billion live without safe drinking water; 2 billion don’t have facilities in their homes to wash their hands with soap and water. But it’s almost certain that you don’t suffer from these basic privations. Most likely, you get all the water you require to be secure and healthy. You have what you need to cook food and make drinks. You can take baths or showers whenever you want. You wash your clothes easily. Maybe you water a garden. I bring this to your attention because now is an excellent time to celebrate the water in your life. It’s also a favorable time to be extra fluid and flowing and juicy. Here’s a fun riddle for you: What could you do to make your inner life wetter and better lubricated?
CANCER (June 21-July 22): Cancerian rapper and actor Jaden Smith has won a few mid-level awards and has been nominated for a Grammy. But I was surprised that he said, “I don’t think I’m as revolutionary as Galileo, but I don’t think I’m not as revolutionary as Galileo.” If I’m interpreting his sly brag correctly, Jaden is suggesting that maybe he is indeed pretty damn revolutionary. I’m thrilled he said it because I
love to see you Cancerians overcome your natural inclination to be overly humble and self-effacing. It’s OK with me if you sometimes push too far. In the coming weeks, I am giving you a license to wander into the frontiers of braggadocio.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Research at Queen’s University in Canada concluded that the average human has about 6,200 thoughts every day. Other studies suggest 75% of our thoughts are negative, and 95% are repetitive. But here’s the good news: Your negative and repetitive thoughts could diminish in coming weeks. You might even get those percentages down to 35% and 50%, respectively. Just imagine how refreshed you will feel. With all that rejuvenating energy coursing through your brain, you may generate positive, unique thoughts at an astounding rate.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): You have probably heard the platitude, “Be cautious about what you wish for. You might get it.” The implied warning is that if your big desires are fulfilled, your life may change in unpredictable ways that require major adjustments. That’s useful advice. However, I have often found that the “major adjustments” necessary are often interesting and healing – strenuous, perhaps, but ultimately enlivening. In my vision of your future, Virgo, the consequences of your completed goal will fit that description. You will be mostly pleased with the adaptations you must undertake.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): The grayheaded albatross makes long, continuous flights without touching the ground. I propose we nominate this robust traveler to be one of your inspirational animals. I suspect you, too, will be capable of prolonged, vigorous quests that unleash interesting changes in your life. I don’t necessarily mean your quests will involve literal longdistance travel. They might also take the form of vast and deep explorations of your inner terrain. Or maybe you will engage in bold efforts to investigate mysteries that will dramatically open your mind and heart.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): You are in a good position and frame of mind to go hunting for a novel problem or two. I’m half-joking, but I’m also very serious. I believe you are primed to track down interesting dilemmas that will bring out the best in you. These provocative riddles will ensure that boring riddles and paltry hassles won’t bother you. You are also likely to dream up an original new “sin” that will stir up lucky fun.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Your spinning and weaving abilities will be strong in the coming weeks. I predict your knack for creating sturdy, beautiful webs will catch the resources and influences you require. Like a spider, you must simply prepare the scenarios to attract what you need, then patiently relax while it all comes to you. Refining the metaphor further, I will tell you that you have symbolic resemblances to the spiders known as cross orbweavers. They produce seven different kinds of silk, each useful in its own way – and in a sense, so can you. Your versatility will help you succeed in interesting ways.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Capricorn basketball player JamesOn Curry had the briefest career of anyone who ever played in America’s top professional league. Around his birthday in 2010, while a member of the Los Angeles Clippers, he appeared on the court for 3.9 seconds – and never returned. Such a short-lived effort is unusual for the Capricorn tribe and will not characterize your destiny in the coming months. I predict you will generate an intense outpouring of your sign’s more typical expressions: durability, diligence, persistence, tenacity, resilience, determination, resolve and steadfastness.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): It’s a good time to embrace the serpent, metaphorically. You may even enjoy riding and playing with and learning from the serpent. The coming weeks will also be a favorable phase for you to kiss the wind, consult with the ancestors and wrestle with the most fascinating questions you know. So get a wild look in your eyes, dear Aquarius. Dare to shed mediocre pleasures so you can better pursue spectacular pleasures. Experiment only with smart gambles and high-integrity temptations, and flee the other kinds. PS: If you challenge the past to a duel (a prospect I approve of), be well-armed with the future.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Panda bears don’t seem to enjoy having sex. The typical length of their mating encounters is from 30 seconds to two minutes. There was a dramatic exception to the rule in 2015, however. Lu Lu and Zhen Zhen, pandas living at the Sichuan Giant Panda Research Center in China, snuggled and embraced for 18 minutes. It was unprecedented. I encourage you, too, to break your previous records for tender cuddling and erotic play in the coming weeks. The longer and slower you go, the more likely it is you will generate spiritual awakenings.
This week’s FREE music:
Thurs., Sept. 19, 6-9pm: Adam
Fri., Sept. 20, 7-10pm: Lizard Head Quartet
Sat., Sept. 21, 12-3pm: Devin Scott
Sat., Sept. 21, 7-10pm: Chris Murry
Sat., Sept. 21, 10pm-1am: House DJ Party
Sun., Sept. 22, 1-3pm: Randy Crumbaugh
**FREE Trivia Every Tuesday @ 6 p.m.**
1101 Main Ave. • DGO, CO
Lopez
Deadline for Telegraph classified ads is Tuesday at noon. Ads are a bargain at 10 cents a character with a $5 minimum. Even better, ads can now be placed online: durangotelegraph.com Prepayment is required via cash, credit card or check.
(Sorry, no refunds or substitutions.) Ads can be submitted via: n www.durangotelegraph.com
n classifieds@durango telegraph.com
n 970-259-0133
n 679 E. 2nd Ave., #E2
Approximate office hours: Mon-Wed: 9ish - 5ish
Thurs: On delivery
Fri: Gone fishing; call first
HelpWanted
Heartwood West Tree Service LLC seeks skilled trades people. ISA Certified preferred. Send letter of interest to: Heartwoodwest@gmail.com
Nonprofit Seeks FT Coordinator
Wildfire Adapted Partnership seeks a full time Operations & Outreach Coor. to work out of WAP’s Durango office, assisting the Executive Director with the dayto-day operations of the organization and conducting wildfire preparedness outreach. For the full job announcement please visit: www.wildfireadapted.org or call 970-385-8909 .
Wanted
Books Wanted at White Rabbit
Donate/trade/sell (970) 259-2213
Cash for Vehicles, Copper, Alum
Etc. at RJ Metal Recycle. Also free appliance and other metal drop off. 970259-3494.
ForSale
Reruns Home Furnishings
Lots of new furniture/cool furnishings for home, office or dorm. 572 E. 6th Ave. Open Mon.-Sat. 385-7336.
Services
Parent Coach
Helping to build a strong family team. 970-403-3347.
Inside/outside storage near Durango and Bayfield. 10-x-20, $130. Outside spots: $65, with discounts available. RJ Mini Storage. 970-259-3494.
Need a House Sitter?
I'm local, dependable & trustworthy. Please call 402-206-4735 or 970-424-1962 for more info and rates
Chapman Electric
Mike, 970-403-6670. Colorado licensed and insured. 25 years serving the Four Corners .
Boiler Service - Water Heater
Serving Durango over 30 years. Brad, 970-759-2869. Master Plbg Lic #179917
BodyWork
Massage by Meg Bush
LMT, 30, 60 & 90 min., 970-759-0199.
CommunityService
LPEA Seeks Community Input
In celebration of National Co-op Month this October, La Plata Electric Association is hosting a series of focus groups aimed at shaping the future of
LPEA. Focus groups take place Thurs., Oct. 3, 12 noon-2 p.m.; Tues., Oct. 8. virtual 12 noon-2 p.m.; Tues., Oct. 22, 5-7 p.m.; Tues., Oct. 29, virtual 5-7 p.m. Sign up at tinyurl.com/53thajxd
The Maker Lab in Bodo Park
Collaborative workspace, tools, learning and equipment featuring metal and woodworking, laser cutting, 3D printing, electronics and sewing. Classes for all levels. www.themakerlab.org
Americorps is Hiring
Our partner organizations are concentrated in La Plata and Montezuma counties and span from September - May or August 2025. To learn more, visit
‘The Instigators’ A Casey Affleck, Matt Damon crime caper, in Boston? Go figure. – Lainie Maxson
unitedway-swco.org/americorps.
Volunteers Needed
Do you want to make a difference in the lives of others? Alternative Horizons in need of volunteers to staff our hotline. Training and support provided. For more info., visit alternativehorizons.org
