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  • From: Lawrence London <lfljvenaura@gmail.com>
  • To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [permaculture] The Sun Sets on Western Slope Farms | Colorado valley with the most organic farms in the state about to be opened up to heavy gas exploration/fracking.
  • Date: Thu, 20 Oct 2016 17:31:43 -0400

Opinion: The Sun Sets on Western Slope Farms | 5280
http://www.5280.com/news/environment/digital/2016/10/opinion-sun-sets-western-slope-farms

Colorado valley with the most organic farms in the state about to be opened
up to heavy gas exploration/fracking. 95% of the areas BLM land to be
opened up for development against the will of the residents. Please sign
the petition and share this article.

Opinion: The Sun Sets on Western Slope Farms

Eugenia Bone, a nationally known food journalist, cookbook author and
part-time Western Slope resident, asks for help in saving her community
from the natural gas industry.
By

- Eugenia Bone <http://www.5280.com/tags/authors/eugenia-bone>

October 18 2016, 1:40 PM

The bucolic North Fork Valley in its present state. —Photo by Celia Roberts


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How many of you have driven to the Western Slope to buy Paonia cherries or
West Elks wines? How many have spent the night at one of our bed and
breakfasts or guest ranches, fished the Gunnison, or biked the scenic loop?
Maybe you’re a chef who has featured the North Fork Valley’s heritage pork,
grass-fed beef, Avalanche cheese, Peak Spirits’ eau de vie, Ela Family Farm
peaches, Thistle Whistle Farm vegetables, or purchased Big B’s ciders and
juices at Whole Foods?

If you have been to the North Fork Valley or enjoyed its distinctive foods,
I’m glad.

Because if the natural gas industry has its way on November 1, a
deceptively routine process called a Resource Management Plan will start
the industrialization of this special place.

The North Fork Valley, which includes the towns of Paonia, Hotchkiss, and
Crawford, is home to the largest concentration of organic farms
<http://paoniachamber.com/food-and-wine/> in the state. It’s also a
designated Colorado Creative District
<http://www.colorado.com/articles/colorado-creative-districts> and an American
Viticulture Area <http://www.westelksava.com/>. The region is a
checkerboard of private farms and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) parcels
laced with a web of irrigation ditches, many of which run through or by BLM
land. And almost all the BLM spaces have been targeted for fracking
<http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2012-07-12/the-fight-over-fracking-in-colorados-north-fork-valley>,
according to Natasha Leger, interim executive director of Citizens for a
Healthy Community <http://www.citizensforahealthycommunity.org/>, a
grassroots organization established in 2009 by residents concerned about
the risks of large-scale oil and gas development in the community.

The Uncompahgre field office, which manages more than 900,000 acres of BLM
land, has proposed opening 95 percent of the area above and below ground,
including split estate leases under organic farms, to oil and gas
extraction, Leger says. What does industrialization mean to our farms and
vineyards? Drinking water contamination; health problems from methane
pollution, ozone smog, and soot; well pads, roads, pipelines, and other
infrastructure; heavy truck traffic on our two-lane country highway and
subsequent road damage; water source depletion; increased demands on public
services like 911 and police; and the plugging and cleanup costs of
orphaned wells.

More broadly, home and farm values will tank, organic certifications will
be compromised, irrigation water supplies will be more difficult to obtain,
and livestock and crops will be exposed to pollution and wastewater spills.
According to Environment America Research and Policy Center’s 2012 report,
“The
Costs of Fracking,”
<http://www.environmentamerica.org/sites/environment/files/reports/The%20Costs%20of%20Fracking%20vUS.pdf>
the
“protections” for landowners and families are antiquated and inadequate. If
fracking is permitted, the valley will pay the price in health and
livelihoods, and the state will pay the price in decreased food production,
in dignity, and in heritage.

But the pressure is on because “the industry has its plans,” says Leger.
With gas prices expected to rise
<http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/06/business/energy-environment/oil-glut-here-comes-some-more.html>
in
the next two years, the oil and gas industry is looking (and even planning)
for future sales overseas. Jera, a Japanese energy procurement
company, is pushing
for federal approval
<http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/articles/firm-urges-feds-to-ok-jordan-cove> of
a liquefied natural gas terminal proposed by Canadian energy company
Veresen and based in Jordan Cove, Oregon. The gas, which would travel via
pipeline from Colorado, would be exported to Tokyo. At times, it feels like
fracking is a done deal: Twice in the last four years the valley has fought
gravel pit proposals that many believe were aimed at providing the gravel
to pave future well access roads.

People talk about energy independence, but at what price? These proposed
leases are on or near agricultural land, as is the case throughout
Colorado. It’s easy to forget that agriculture is the ultimate measure of a
country’s strength and independence. So it begs the question: Why aren’t we
having a conversation about food independence? It seems crazy to
industrialize our established food sheds, and foolish to forget that
“soil,” as Wes Jackson, founder of the Land Institute
<https://landinstitute.org/>, pointed out
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJ9h6WYnYFI> in a 2012 talk at the David
Brower Center, “is more valuable that oil.”

The industrialization of the North Fork Valley will mean the end of a
unique and environmentally pristine region that has been producing fruit
and families for more than 100 years. We have fought back the oil and gas
industries twice already, and the valley is united, once again vigorously
objecting to this plan.

But this time we are outmanned. The Secretary of State cynically crushed
Initiative 75 and 78
<http://www.boulderweekly.com/opinion/when-it-comes-to-the-secretary-of-states-office-the-appearance-of-impropriety-is-a-big-deal/>,
which would have allowed local people a say in the industrialization of
their communities. And in an election cycle, especially one as politically
perilous as this, it’s practically impossible to get the attention of our
elected representatives, some of whom are already antagonistic
<http://www.postindependent.com/news/local/bennet-to-reintroduce-bill-protecting-thompson-divide/>
to
the idea of limiting gas exploitation.

This time, the only thing we have left to fight for the future of the North
Fork Valley is our voice. Please lend yours
<http://www.citizensforahealthycommunity.org/submit-rmp-comment-letter.>.

#savethenfv

*Eugenia Bone <http://mycophilia.com/about.html>, a nationally known food
journalist and cookbook author, writes frequently about the North Fork
Valley. Follow her on Twitter* *@EugeniaBone
<https://twitter.com/eugeniabone>.*



  • [permaculture] The Sun Sets on Western Slope Farms | Colorado valley with the most organic farms in the state about to be opened up to heavy gas exploration/fracking., Lawrence London, 10/20/2016

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