SLV

Whimsy, Welding and Nostalgia

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UPDATED Editors note: John passed away Dec. 8 after sustaining multiple injuries in a car accident on Nov. 12. Please give here if you are able. Thank you. COOPER THE WHOOPER, a pile of welded and painted farm tools and spare parts, stands on U.S. 160 in the center of Monte Vista. Cooper was my …

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News from the San Luis Valley

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Adams State Under Heat

The most affordable university in Colorado is under heat, facing pressure from news sources that have labeled it one of the least effective colleges in the United States. Payscale.com listed Adams State as one of the colleges with the worst ROI, or return on investment. The ROI is meant to represent whether the amount of tuition spent on the degree will likely be worth the amount of money made with the degree. After Payscale’s list went public, Adams State has been featured on various blogs and articles questioning the worth of higher education and citing how low the college is on the list. Not all, however, are comfortable with the way the study was conducted, with objectors noting the extremely small sample sizes, the basing of rates on out-of-state tuition and failing to take into account the graduate student population. 

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News from the San Luis Valley

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SLV – The Mecca for Solar Energy in Colorado

U.S. Secretary of the Interior and native of the San Luis Valley Ken Salazar released the final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) on July 24 identifying potential utility-scale solar development on public lands in the west.

All of the solar zones specified in Colorado are targeted for approximately 16,300 acres in the San Luis Valley. They include: Antonito Southeast on the boundary of Colorado/New Mexico, Los Mogotes East in Conejos County, Fourmile East in Alamosa County, and De Tilla Gulch about eight miles outside of Saguache.

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The Woes and Joys of an Experiment in the Off-Grid Life: Part I

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By Magda Sokolowski

Since the day we met on a rutabaga farm more than ten years ago, my husband Michael and I have shared a dream of one day homesteading. Over the years, one variation of what this would look like gave way to another as we nurtured and fed our idea of greater self-sufficiency. Sometimes, we imagined a farm with goats from whose milk we would make cheese. The idea of a large organic garden and a seasonal vegetable market was always a favorite standby in our musings, and then sometimes, I found myself in one particular reverie that came back again and again: I had visions of myself sitting at a desk, breaking from the task of writing to look out the window of our hand-built cabin onto a large meadow with a sisterhood of peaks in the distance demanding attention. And to the left (or right) of the cabin, in a patch of piñons (or maybe they would be Douglas firs or Ponderosa), I could see Michael bear the axe down on a round of wood that would soon become our heat.

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News from the San Luis Valley

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by Patty LaTaille

Hot and Dry – Beware – It’s Fire Season

Due to the lack of snow on the peaks and no precipitation this winter, the SLV is scary dry. The “Green Fire” north of Alamosa in mid-April was one of the San Luis Valley’s biggest brush fires this season. 50-60 firefighters were at the scene.

In addition to the Alamosa Volunteer Fire Department, firefighters were called in from the Mosca-Hooper, Monte Vista and Costilla County departments. Crews from the U.S. Forest Service and Colorado State Forest Service also assisted with firefighting efforts, and a team from Woodland Park arrived to help fight the fire.

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News from the San Luis Valley – September 2009

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Natural Gas Exploration in Baca on Hold Until Ruling

CRESTONE – Toronto-based Lexam Explorations has agreed not to drill for gas on the Baca National Wildlife Refuge until a federal judge rules on an environmental groups’ request for a preliminary injunction on drilling.

The groups are seeking an injunction to block any ground-disturbing activity on the 92,500-acre refuge until the lawsuit is resolved.

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News from the San Luis Valley – August 2009

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Solar Farm on tap for 2010

ALAMOSA – A new solar farm is scheduled to be installed across from the current Sun Edison solar farm near Mosca on Hwy 17. The 200-acre project, to be built in 2010, is projected to produce 17 megawatts of sun-generated power and 48,000 megawatt hours by 2011.

Sun Power hopes to create 50 local jobs during the construction phase with several longer-term positions after completion.

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News from the San Luis Valley

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By Marcia Darnell

Water Woes West

Now it’s Monte Vista with a water weakness. The town had to perform a chlorine flush after tests showed coliform bacteria in the system. Monte Vista is asking residents to reduce outdoor watering during the Big Flush. It seems more water in the system means a more effective cleansing.

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News from the San Luis Valley – June 2009

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By Marcia Darnell

Here Come da’ Judges

The Supremes came to the Valley for Courts in the Community. The program transported the Colorado Supreme Court to Alamosa High School to hear arguments in a real case before students. The kids had a chance to ask questions of the attorneys involved after the justices adjourned.

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News from the San Luis Valley

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Update on the Lexam drilling project

by David Bright

CRESTONE -The fight to stop Lexam Exploration, Inc. from drilling three 14,000 wells in the Baca Wildlife Refuge has been going on for over two and a half years. The most recent development is an agreement reached between Lexam, The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the San Luis Valley Ecosystem that will give the organizations working on the issue more time to find a permanent solution. The agreement will be in place until August 1, 2009. It will “cease all construction activities on the Lexam Road” (a road owned by Lexam that crosses the refuge) and stop any other work on access roads and well pads from beginning.

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