Making peace with Turtle

Opinion by Will Evans Special to The Sopris Sun

For years, people have gathered at the base of our mountain. Many thousands of years.

Over centuries, a succession of aspen, juniper, pinyon, ponderosa, scrub oak and spruce exchanged places, descending into valleys filled with sage brush and, at the river’s edge, cottonwood thrived. There were trails but no fences, no roads, nor divisions of the land. This region was one living, pulsating, largely undisturbed organism without any sizable human irrigation systems.

We are not as old as the mountain, so we gather for the opportunity to learn and to remember — to be aware.

All stories — like all life, like all water — are deeply interconnected. For the most part, the story here has been a living world story. There are exceptions. Times of tragedy — times of a dying world story.

In recent years, we have enjoyed a relative balance between our watershed and the beings dwelling here. Even at this altitude, with harsh winters, one can feel the balance, vitality, a sane pace of life and respect in our community poised just south of the fast lane and across the Roaring Fork River.

From the living water within us and around Carbondale, we send greetings to the living water within all the children of Carbondale.

In the 1990s, when life was slower, a critical moment occurred; the town budget ran low and they stopped spraying herbicides in the parks. A small, low, yellow flower, a prime target of herbicides, began to reappear. As Doc Philip watched, he was undergoing an inner-change; he was transformed by the beauty and taste of the dandelion. Doc realized every part of dandelion was edible and he particularly enjoyed making dandelion beer.

After an appropriate interval of time, Doc explained what he was observing to the Carbondale Environmental Board. They then went to the Town Trustees and said, “While there was not enough money to spray our parks, our land became organic and we are going to have a celebration.” The people told the Town, we want to keep our parks organic, and their celebration was the birth of Dandelion Day. The Town listened and in 1999 pronounced the dandelion to be the Carbondale Town Flower.

As a result, thousands of people, creatures, plants, acre-feet of water, pollinators and turtles have benefited from Carbondale’s identity and integrity as a “no spray town.” While creatures large and small, seen and unseen, thrive in healthy soil and feast on healthy plants, people sit on the grass, dance barefoot in our local living world story and children play. The quiet western painted turtle family at the pond in the Nature Park has been one of many little noticed beneficiaries.

As life sped up in the Valley, people took on more than one job to make ends meet. Still, more people came. As the number of cars on the highway increased, we sped up more and drove faster to keep up. We began to forget. We forgot how much is enough. We began to outrun the carrying capacity of our watershed. We forgot to respect ourselves and each other. And waiting at a distance is a sprayer with a list of what he has been told are “noxious weeds.” As we forget our story, he takes a step forward.

This year, a sense of urgency manifested around Canada thistle, a particularly prickly character, a pioneer species which comes in early to heal disturbed soil. Fortunately, we have local farmers skilled at healing soil. Jerome Osentowski and Brook LeVan are acknowledged for their abilities to heal soil in the Town of Carbondale Integrated Weed Management Plan, 9/22/2019, Section V, Resource Directory.

And this current chapter of our story also has a heroine, a woman from Durango named Katrina Blair, who has spent her life with plants. She was inspired by Carbondale’s Dandelion Day and has even written a book, “The Wild Wisdom of Weeds,” which includes a chapter on thistle. She acknowledges and understands plants, she respects them and even knows how to eat thistle.

Over the years, as the beauty and feeling in Carbondale attracted more people, the balance of our community developed a wobble. People began believing a story of disrespect; believing they can do whatever they want without consequences.

On Valentine’s Day, we were informed that Canada thistle “is winning the battle” in our Nature Park and a decision had been made. As a “last resort” the Town Trustees and Environmental Board approved using chemical herbicides beginning this springtime and autumn for three years to “eradicate” thistle.

Although the Town expresses a desire for an alternative to chemical herbicides, they report a lack of success with the strategies utilized. Some solutions which seemed promising are no longer available. As a last resort, Milestone and Opensight are the chemicals selected.

Fortunately, Katrina has been having results working organically in parks for Durango, Mancos, Ophir, Sawpit and Telluride. After the Carbondale Parks Department learned of Katrina’s work and reviewed her proposal, they hired her Bee Happy Lands team to do a training for park staff at the Delaney Nature Park on May 12, the day before Dandelion Day.

This could be a pivotal moment in our story. Because there are two different stories about thistle. Two different ways of measuring reality.

Two different perspectives of what is healthy.

One story understands thistle comes to heal disturbed soil. Humans are great disturbers of soil — we build homes, buildings, stores, roads, ditches, fence lines, golf courses, shopping malls and more. In this story, thistle is an important plant in a watershed.

This time of year, at the transition from the darkness of winter and to