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The I-70 Scout & Eastern Colorado News

Category: Nature & Science

  • Colorado Lands At Bay

    Colorado Lands At Bay

    Keeping Public Lands in Public Hands

    Democrats on Committee Defeat Bill to Erode Federal Management of Colorado Public Lands

    With a 6-3 party-line vote, the House State, Veterans & Military Affairs Committee defeated a bill this afternoon that threatened to make federal employees subject to criminal charges simply for doing their job managing public lands.

    HB17-1141 would criminalize the Bureau of Land Management or Forest Service for managing grazing on land being leased by grazers. The bill would set a dangerous precedent of creating penalties for a government employee doing their job and would threaten to embolden the small subset of ranchers who sympathize with the Ammon Bundy armed seizure of a federal wildlife refuge in Oregon last year.

    I cannot tell you how much respect I have for the ranchers of this state, I’m voting no on this bill because of the dangerous precedent that it sets, said Rep. Edie Hooton, D-Boulder.

    Scott Braden, a public land and wilderness advocate from Mesa County described the bill as “a misguided attempt that would make it nearly impossible for federal managers to do their job. Colorado is blessed with over 23 million acres of public lands. These lands bolster our economy and our quality of life.”

    I agree that our agricultural and ranching industries are important to our state and must be protected, but any perceived abuse by federal employees against ranchers won’t be resolved by this bill, said Rep. Adrienne Benavidez, D-Adams County.

    Organizations opposed to the bill include Conservation Colorado, Colorado Cattlemen’s Association and the Colorado chapter of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers.

     

     

    Humans Dramatically Increase Seasonal Extent of U.S. Wildfires

    Humans have dramatically increased the spatial and seasonal extent of wildfires across the U.S. in recent decades and ignited more than 840,000 blazes in the spring, fall and winter seasons over a 21-year period, according to new University of Colorado Boulder-led research.

    After analyzing two decades’ worth of U.S. government agency wildfire records spanning 1992-2012, the researchers found that human-ignited wildfires accounted for 84 percent of all wildfires, tripling the length of the average fire season and accounting for nearly half of the total acreage burned.

    The findings were published today in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

    There cannot be a fire without a spark. Our results highlight the importance of considering where the ignitions that start wildfires come from, instead of focusing only on the fuel that carries fire or the weather that helps it spread. Thanks to people, the wildfire season is almost year-round, said Jennifer Balch, director of CU Boulder’s Earth Lab and an assistant professor in the Department of Geography and lead author of the new study.  

    The U.S. has experienced some of its largest wildfires on record over the past decade, especially in the western half of the country. The duration and intensity of future wildfire seasons is a point of national concern given the potentially severe impact on agriculture, ecosystems, recreation and other economic sectors, as well as the high cost of extinguishing blazes.

    The annual cost of fighting wildfires in the U.S. has exceeded $2 billion in recent years.

    The CU Boulder researchers used the U.S. Forest Service Fire Program Analysis-Fire Occurrence Database to study records of all wildfires that required a response from a state or federal agency between 1992 and 2012, omitting intentionally set prescribed burns and managed agricultural fires. Human-ignited wildfires accounted for 84 percent of 1.5 million total wildfires studied, with lightning-ignited fires accounting for the rest.

    In Colorado, 30 percent of wildfires from 1992-2012 were started by people, burning over 1.2 million acres. The fire season length for human-started fires was 50 days longer than the lightning-started fire season (93 days compared to 43 days), a twofold increase.

    These findings do not discount the ongoing role of climate change, but instead suggest we should be most concerned about where it overlaps with human impact,” said Balch. “Climate change is making our fields, forests and grasslands drier and hotter for longer periods, creating a greater window of opportunity for human-related ignitions to start wildfires.

    While lightning-driven fires tend to be heavily concentrated in the summer months, human-ignited fires were found to be more evenly distributed across all seasons. Overall, humans added an average of 40,000 wildfires during the spring, fall and winter seasons annually — over 35 times the number of lightning-started fires in those seasons.

    We saw significant increases in the numbers of large, human-started fires over time, especially in the spring. I think that’s interesting and scary because it suggests that as spring seasons get warmer and earlier due to climate change, human ignitions are putting us at increasing risk of some of the largest, most damaging wildfires, said Bethany Bradley, an associate professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and co-lead author of the research. 

    The most common day for human-started fire by far, however, was July 4, with 7,762 total wildfires started on that day over the course of the 21-year period.

    “Not all fire is bad, but humans are intentionally and unintentionally adding ignitions to the landscape in areas and seasons when natural ignitions are sparse,” said John Abatzoglou, an associate professor of geography at the University of Idaho and a co-author of the paper. “We can’t easily control how dry fuels get, or lightning, but we do have some control over human started ignitions.” 

    The new findings have wide-ranging implications for fire management policy and suggest that human behavior can have dramatic impact on wildfire totals, for good or for ill.

    “The hopeful news here is that we could, in theory, reduce human-started wildfires in the medium term,” said Balch. “But at the same time, we also need to focus on living more sustainably with fire by shifting the human contribution to ignitions to more controlled, well-managed burns.”

    Co-authors of the new research include Emily Fusco of the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Adam Mahood and Chelsea Nagy of CU Boulder.

    The research was funded by the NASA Terrestrial Ecology Program, the Joint Fire Sciences Program and Earth Lab through CU Boulder’s Grand Challenge Initiative.

     

     

    500+ New Trees in 2017 Thanks to $35K in Grants

    BROOMFIELD, CO – The Colorado Tree Coalition (CTC) is awarding nearly $35,000 in grants to eleven Colorado communities and organizations to help fund the planting of more than 500 new community trees in 2017. A diverse array of tree planting, maintenance and education projects are receiving funding. Communities receiving grants include Grand Junction, Durango, Alamosa, Aurora, South Suburban Parks & Recreation District, Monte Vista and Pueblo.

    One project receiving funding this year is Durango’s Mountain Middle School’s, “Trees are the answer!” project. This project will help encourage and educate future generations on the principles of planting, nurturing and sustaining a healthy tree population. Durango’s Mountain Middle School is focused on two areas of the campus that are void of all trees.

    Another organization receiving 2017 funding is the City of Pueblo Parks and Recreation Department. They will receive $2,000 for their Municipal Tree Nursery Project. The purpose of the project is to strengthen community ties and partnerships with the City of Pueblo’s Urban Forestry Program. Additionally, Pueblo Parks and Recreation will work with a local non-profit organization, Tree’s Please, in two ways. First, Tree’s Please and the City of Pueblo will create a City-Wide Tree Board. Secondly, the project will initiate a tree nursery to provide trees for future planting projects in the City of Pueblo.

    While grant recipient projects vary, a few will add trees to parks, trails, schools, and downtown areas. Many will also focus on countering the threat posed by emerald ash borer (EAB), a non-native pest discovered in Boulder, CO, in 2013. EAB attacks and kills ash trees, which make up about 15% of the state’s urban trees. Grant-funded EAB projects this year will plant native and diverse trees beneath existing ash, preparing for their likely eventual decline as EAB spreads across the state.

    Each year, the CTC awards thousands in grant money to Colorado communities to help preserve, renew, and enhance one of Colorado’s most valuable resources: its urban forest. Aside from aesthetic benefits, urban trees protect the air and water from pollution, save energy by shielding homes from summer sun and winter wind, increase property values, and improve the economic viability of commercial areas.

    The Colorado Tree Coalition awarded nearly $50,000 to 17 organizations in 2016. Along with matching funds provided by the grant recipients this helped plant more than 360 trees in communities across Colorado. Each of these projects allowed residents the opportunity to make a difference in their community with a combined total of 3,117 hours of volunteer service. CTC grants are made possible through the support of the USDA Forest Service, the Colorado State Forest Service, Xcel Energy Foundation, Xcel Energy Vegetation Management, Colorado Public Radio and other private donors, and our Colorado Tree Coalition members and supporters. Since 1991 the Colorado Tree Coalition has awarded 501 grants totaling over $844,000. These grants have been matched with over $7.8 million in community money and/or time. As a result of these grants over 74,110 trees have been planted throughout the state.

    The Colorado Tree Coalition is a volunteer-driven non-profit organization leading statewide efforts to preserve, renew and enhance community forests. Programs administered by the CTC include, among many others: Trees Across Colorado, ReForest Colorado, the Select Tree Evaluation Program, and the 5th Grade Poster Contest.

     

      

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  • Mumps Outbreak

    Mumps Outbreak

    Mumps outbreak in the Denver metro area continues

    Tri-County Health Department is alerting parents that mumps continues to spread in the Denver metro area. Ask your doctor about mumps if you develop acute painful swelling around the cheek area. Mumps is contagious so stay home for 5 days after swelling begins. Measles, mumps, rubella vaccine protects against mumps. Children could be exposed in schools so check MMR vaccination records. Unvaccinated children could be kept home if mumps breaks out in their schools. Visit www.tchd.org for more information.

     

     

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  • Colorado Fruit & Vegetable Growers Association’s 3rd Annual Conference

    Colorado Fruit & Vegetable Growers Association’s 3rd Annual Conference

    Please join the Colorado Fruit & Vegetable Growers Association’s 3rd Annual Conference, Tuesday, Feb. 21, at the Renaissance Denver Stapleton Hotel. There will be plenty of stories, including but not limited to the Colorado produce industry, new food safety regulations and research, produce consumer trends, innovative production and produce marketing, farm-to-school programs, crisis management, the latest in produce nutrition research.

    Registration and breakfast begin at 7:30 a.m., conference begins at 8:30 a.m. You are welcome to attend any or all of this event, but we would like to know you are coming, so we can provide you with a name tag and lunch (if desired). 

    More information on the conference, including schedule and speaker bios, please visit: cfvga.org

     

  • Bill Introduced: Colorado Public Lands

    Gardner, Bennet Introduce Colorado Public Lands Bills

    WASHINGTON—Senators Cory Gardner (R-CO) and Michael Bennet (D-CO) today released the following statements after introducing five public lands bills pertinent to Colorado.

    “Colorado’s public lands are national treasures and I’m proud to work across the aisle to protect our state’s natural beauty,” said Gardner. “Each of these measures proposes a legislative fix that will have a lasting impact on Colorado and ensure future generations are able to enjoy Colorado’s great outdoors. I look forward to working with my colleagues to advance these bills through the legislative process.”

    “Our public lands define Colorado and help drive our outdoor recreation economy,” said Bennet. “These bipartisan, commonsense measures will help to preserve our pristine lands, protect wildlife habitats and expand outdoor access for years to come.”

    The Bolts Ditch Access and Use Act would authorize special use of the Bolts Ditch headgate and the segment of the Bolts Ditch within the Holy Cross Wilderness Area, allowing Minturn to use its existing water right to fill Bolts Lake. This would solve a problem created in 1980 when Congress designated Holy Cross Wilderness area, but inadvertently left Bolts Ditch off of the list of existing water facilities. The Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument legislation will allow for enhanced wildfire protection as well as additional habitat for wildlife and recreational opportunities for visitors. Established as a national monument in 1969, the Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument is located west of Pikes Peak and less than 40 miles from Colorado Springs. The monument is home to diverse fossil deposits, maintaining a collection of over 12,000 specimens. It also provides recreational experiences and curriculum-based education programs for its visitors. A private landowner submitted a proposal to donate 280 acres of land adjacent to Florissant Fossil Beds Monument, but due to current law the land donation cannot take place. This commonsense legislation would permit a landowner to donate private land to Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument.

    The Wedge Act would aid the Forest Service in acquiring several parcels of land adjacent to Rocky Mountain National Park. This Act would help preserve critical wildlife habitat, Colorado River headwaters, and a highly visible view shed in the area commonly referred to as the Wedge.

    The Crags, Colorado Land Exchange Act is a federal land exchange where the Forest Service would acquire pristine land in the Pike National Forest allowing for more outdoor recreation near Pikes Peak.

    The Elkhorn Ranch and White River National Forest Conveyance Act would correct the discrepancy that took place from conflicting land surveys and require the Forest Service to convey acreage to private ownership that is rightfully private property, according to the Forest Service’s own conclusion and recommendation.  For nearly 100 years, 148 acres of land has been used as private land even though it is included in Forest Service survey maps, and this legislation allows for the resolution between the Forest Service and the private landowner.

  • Dismantling Obamacare: Impacts on Rural Colorado

    Dismantling Obamacare: Impacts on Rural Colorado

    What Trump’s repeal of Obamacare would mean for one rural Colorado hospital

    Kelsey Ray
    By: The Colorado Independent

    San Luis Valley Health Regional Medical Center in Alamosa is a small hospital with only 49 beds. But it is the only hospital within 121 miles with a labor-and-delivery ward — last year, obstetricians there delivered 435 babies — and it provides oncology, orthopaedic and emergency services. The hospital treats more than 1,000 inpatient visitors and more than 10,000 emergency room visitors each year. Most of those patients are poor and rely on Medicaid.

    President Donald Trump’s determination to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has provoked panic among Colorado’s health care providers, with plenty of hospitals scrambling to understand what will happen next. But the effects of a repeal will be most dramatic at small, rural medical centers like the one in San Luis Valley, where even minor budget cuts can put crucial services on the chopping block.

    “San Luis Valley is as good a poster child as any for what is at stake in the state,” says Steven Summer, president of the Colorado Hospital Association (CHA). “And we have grave concerns.”

    The San Luis Valley medical center is at particular risk because of its low-income population and relative distance from other health care providers, but other rural hospitals are similarly vulnerable. About half of the CHA’s more than 100 member hospitals are rural institutions.

    It remains unclear exactly what actions Trump and the Republican-majority Congress will take in the coming weeks. But one critical aspect of the ACA under threat is Medicaid expansion, a funding source upon which rural hospitals such as San Luis Valley rely heavily.

    Donna Wehe, a spokeswoman for San Luis Valley Health, says understanding the looming threat requires understanding how hospitals get paid. When patients have private insurance, their medical bills are largely covered by insurance companies. The federal government reimburses treatment costs for new Medicaid patients under the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion program. But patients without insurance typically have to pay out of pocket, and medical bills add up quickly. That makes uninsured patients much more likely to default on their debts.

    Hospitals like the medical center in San Luis Valley, which serve poor, rural clients, are used to dealing with bad debts and providing “charity care,” which means the occasional forgiveness or partial forgiveness of medical bills.

    “Unlike other organizations, as a hospital we don’t get the chance to say we’re not open,” says Wehe. That means providing care upfront — “we carry a big accounts receivable” — even to patients who cannot afford it.

    Wehe says the hospital is more than happy to work with patients who need financial assistance, and won’t turn clients away for a lack of insurance or an inability to pay. The demographics of the area mean the hospital often works with undocumented immigrants and transient residents, who either do not qualify for Medicaid or lack the proper paperwork to obtain it. Without the financial benefit of Medicaid reimbursement funds, the hospital will struggle to provide the same breadth of services while continuing to care for these uninsured populations.

    “If we have no way of getting reimbursed for the care we’re delivering, that’s just not a sustainable business model,” she says. “If and when these cuts start to happen, rural hospitals will get hurt more than urban hospitals because we are not able to absorb the impact of such large cuts.”

    Colorado was one of about 30 states that took advantage of the Medicaid expansion under the ACA. Hospitals and health care providers here now receive 100 percent federal reimbursement for the more than 250,000 new Medicaid patients who enrolled under the expansion plan. San Luis Valley Health, the health care system which oversees the medical center, saw Medicaid’s share of its payor mix increase from 21 to 33 percent since 2014. Its Medicaid enrollment has increased 70 percent over the same period.

    “Our story is that persons who gained coverage [under the ACA], got on Medicaid. Very few of our clients moved to private insurance,” says Konnie Martin, the CEO of San Luis Valley Health. “They just couldn’t afford it.”

    That coverage increase, Martin says, meant the health system was able to achieve a small positive margin. She used extra funds to replace important medical equipment that was outdated, often several years beyond its life expectancy. The center also raised its trauma level to support 24/7 surgery and orthopaedic coverage to the region, and added specialty services such as cardiology and oncology.

    Martin says Medicaid expansion also has meant longer operating hours, shorter wait times and a reduction in overall health-care costs. New Medicaid patients are able to see primary care physicians, which means they are more likely to receive preventative care to ward off more serious health problems. They’re also more likely to make appointments with their physicians rather than resorting to costly emergency room visits at any sign of sickness.

    According to the Colorado Hospital Association’s Summer, Colorado has seen an 8 percent reduction in emergency room visits in the past few years. “The fear is of going back to an increase in emergency room use, which means patients don’t have primary care physicians,” he says. “Good health care needs to be at the right time and the right place, and both of those things are violated when people aren’t covered.”

    Summer says that in the face of cuts like the ACA repeal would bring, health care centers in more urban areas might spread the burden: Nearby hospitals could choose to split up specialties like obstetrics and oncology. That’s simply not possible in Alamosa. “In [Martin’s] case, she doesn’t have anybody to turn to,” he says.

    The importance of the San Luis Valley Health system extends beyond its role as a health care provider. It is a major employer in the region, providing more than $38 million worth of salaries and benefits each year. “We put a lot of people to work,” says Wehe. “So it’s an economic trickle-down effect if we have to start scaling back.”

    Emily Bussey, a longtime Alamosa resident and an employee at San Luis Valley medical center, says job cuts would be devastating. “More people would be forced to leave and look for jobs elsewhere,” she said. A mother herself, Bussey says she couldn’t imagine having to travel so far to deliver her babies, and that “depending on the time of year, you probably don’t want to have to go through the mountains.”

    Any economic impact would be worsened by the $195 million in health care cuts Gov. John Hickenlooper proposed last year, in anticipation of surpassing the state’s voter-approved spending limits. Colorado also will soon be responsible for 10 percent of the cost of new Medicaid patients, because the federal reimbursement rate will drop to just 90 percent by 2020.

    The Colorado Hospital Association says that even if Republicans put forth a replacement plan for the Affordable Care Act, it will “be implemented in a place that is already fragile, thanks to what is happening at the state level.”

    Wehe says the Affordable Care Act wasn’t perfect. It “didn’t go far enough,” for example, in providing insurance coverage for people who are self-employed or who don’t qualify for tax credits, and reduced the number of insurance providers available in the state health exchange. But she says it was an important step forward, and hopes to see positive changes in whatever alternative Republicans put forth.

    “Health care is a very personal journey, and it is not something that should be upset every time there’s a new presidential election,” she says. “I’m hopeful that because there were some fixes needed under the Affordable Care Act, that maybe there could be some plans and people at the table who will say, ‘This is good, this is how we stay whole.’”

    Otherwise, Wehe says, in order to continue providing care to uninsured patients, the hospital could be forced to cut programs based on its bottom line. “We want to be focused on care, we don’t want to have to be focused on profit. This hospital has never been focused on profit.”

    As for Summer, he says that despite fears, he has no choice but to remain optimistic. “Look at the institutions that represent the foundations of society: They’re churches, academic institutions and hospitals. We’re resilient,” he says.

    Photo credit: Jeffrey Beall via Wikimedia Commons 

  • Annual Conference: Food Safety

    Annual Conference: Food Safety

    Produce Group’s Annual Conference: Food Safety

    WHEN: Feb. 21, 2017, Renaissance Denver Stapleton Hotel

    Registration Rates Increase Feb. 8

    Assisting growers in their safety practice and helping them comply with the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) implemented last year is a focus of the 2017 Colorado Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association (CFVGA) Third Annual Conference, Feb. 21 at the Renaissance Denver Stapleton Hotel. Addressing conference goers from 10 to 11am, will be Bonnie Fernandez-Fenaroli, executive director of the Center for Produce Safety (CPS).

    The food safety landscape is constantly changing as new technology allows for the quick identification of pathogens in the food chain. Extensive collaboration with members of the produce industry, regulatory agencies and academia, allows CPS to prioritize research and make results available to support growers in their continuous improvement of food safety programs. – Fernandez-Fenaroli

    CPS is a public /private partnership that funds food safety research on behalf of the fresh produce industry. Its unique approach to filling food safety knowledge gaps has become an industry resource throughout the United States and abroad.

    CPS research results are posted on its website. The newest information is presented at its annual research symposium, which this year will be June 20-21, in Denver. CFVGA will be offering a limited number of scholarships for growers to attend the symposium.

    In addition to the plenary session with Fernandez-Fenaroli, a conference break-out session will feature Dr. Ines Hanrahan, who will present a case study of the outbreak on caramel apples in late 2014. She will focus on action taken immediately following the outbreak to identify priorities for training and research and describe the improvements that the Northwest apple industry has taken to reduce the risk of reoccurrence.

    Growers interested in taking FSMA food safety training are invited to register for the full day certification training, the day before the conference, Feb. 20, also at the Renaissance Denver Stapleton Hotel.

    CFVGA’s full-day conference is designed to inspire growers and others in the produce industry as well as to provide networking and education. More than 300 people, including produce buyers and exhibitors are expected to attend. For more information and to register for both the conference and the training, log on tohttp://cfvga.org . For more on CFVGA: http://coloradoproduce.org

    The CFVGA is comprised of more than 200 members, including growers of all sizes and types of production throughout the state, as well as representatives of allied industries. The Colorado fruit and vegetable growing sector contributes nearly $300 million to Colorado at the farm gate and is multiplied as it goes through the distribution chain. Over 60,000 Colorado acres are in fruit and vegetable production.

  • TRUMP ISSUES GAG ORDER ON USDA & EPA

    TRUMP ISSUES GAG ORDER ON USDA & EPA

    TRUMP ORDERS GAG ON U.S.D.A. & Environmental Protection Agency

    “Starting immediately and until further notice” the department’s main research divisions of the USDA and Environmental Protection Agency “will not release any public-facing documents. This includes, but is not limited to, news releases, photos, fact sheets, news feeds, and social media content,” according to an internal memo sent to BuzzFeed News.

    The message was handed down to the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) from the Environmental Protection Agency and US Department of Agriculture just days after Donald Trump was sworn into office as President. A couple of other agencies have been put on an order to obtain ‘prior authorization’ over what they are allowed to share with the public, among them is the Environmental Protection Agency. Confirmation of this report from the new Administration is still pending. Neither the USDA or EPA has blogged, twittered or posted any news or updates since. 

    What does this mean?

    The ARS is the main research agency of the USDA and is tasked with “finding solutions to agricultural problems that affect Americans every day from field to table.” The memo outlining these new rules has not been made public, but the ban reportedly includes everything from summaries of scientific papers to USDA-branded tweets. Scientists are still able to publish their findings in peer-reviewed journals, but they are unable to talk about that research without prior consent from their agency.

    How much does public science really shape our lives? For instance, the weather app on your phone projects rain with minute-by-minute precision—or warn you about an impending tornado—is underpinned by government science (in this case by the National Weather Service). The reach of government science isn’t just limited to the weather however. Government science is what determines which strain of flu should go into each year’s flu vaccine. It’s what helps us avert pandemics and helps farmers maximize the yield of foods that feed us and exports too. The work of Cooperative Extension exists to improve the livelihood of farmers, which is underpinned by government science. The research has value because of its dissemination to the public. When science isn’t released and discussed, we can’t make decisions based on it.

    Who is the USDA?

    The Unites States Department of Agriculture is governed by the Executive Branch of our Government. USDA‘s Mission: “Enhance the quality of life for the American people by supporting production of agriculture; ensuring a safe, affordable, nutritious, and accessible food supply; caring for agricultural, forest, and range lands; supporting sound development of rural communities; providing economic opportunities for farm and rural residents; expanding global markets for agricultural and forest products and services; and working to reduce hunger in America and throughout the world.”

    Through inspection and grading, the U.S. Department of Agriculture enforces standards for wholesomeness and quality of meat, poultry and eggs produced in the United States. USDA food safety activities include inspecting poultry, eggs, and domestic and imported meat; inspecting livestock and production plants; and making quality (grading) inspections for grain, fruits, vegetables, meat, poultry and dairy products. USDA’s education programs target family nutritional needs, food safety and expanding scientific knowledge. The department supports education with grants in food and agricultural sciences and conducts its own and cooperative food research.

    • A number of research and public programs are housed under the USDA, for instance, WIC, SNAP, and Food Security. A complete list can be found here.

    Who Is the EPA?

    According to their website, the Environmental Protection Agency aims to: 

    • Develop and enforce regulations

    When Congress writes an environmental law, we implement it by writing regulations. Often, we set national standards that states and tribes enforce through their own regulations. If they fail to meet the national standards, we can help them. We also enforce our regulations, and help companies understand the requirements.

    • Give grants

    Nearly half of our budget goes into grants to state environmental programs, non-profits, educational institutions, and others. They use the money for a wide variety of projects, from scientific studies that help us make decisions to community cleanups. Overall, grants help us achieve our overall mission: protect human health and the environment.

    • Study environmental issues

    At laboratories located throughout the nation, we identify and try to solve environmental problems. To learn even more, we share information with other countries, private sector organizations, academic institutions, and other agencies.

    • Sponsor partnerships

    We don’t protect the environment on our own, we work with businesses, non-profit organizations, and state and local governments through dozens of partnerships. A few examples include conserving water and energy, minimizing greenhouse gases, re-using solid waste, and getting a handle on pesticide risks. In return, we share information and publicly recognize our partners.

    • Teach about the environment

    Protecting the environment is everyone’s responsibility, and starts with understanding the issues. The basics include reducing how much energy and materials you use, reusing what you can and recycling the rest. There’s a lot more about that to learn!

    • Publish information

    Through written materials and this website, EPA informs the public about our activities.

     

    For more information about what the EPA’s Mission and Purpose is visit their website here. For more information about what the USDA’s Mission and Purpose is visit their website here.

     

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  • Colorado Positive for Phylloxera Infestation

    Colorado Positive for Phylloxera Infestation

    Four More Colorado Vineyards Test Positive for Phylloxera Insect

    BROOMFIELD, Colo. – In November 2016, the Colorado Department announced that an insect capable of damaging Colorado’s wine grape crop was confirmed in Mesa County; since then, an additional three vineyards have tested positive for the insect. US Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service entomologists identified grapevine phylloxera (Daktulosphaira vitifoliae) on Vitis vinifera grapevines in the Grand Valley American Viticultural Area (AVA), which is a federally designated grape production area in western Colorado. 

    In its full life cycle, phylloxera can take multiple forms. The most serious and damaging form, which was recently discovered in Mesa county, feeds on roots of grape plants. It can damage the plant by disrupting water and nutrient flow. Initially, infested plants appear weakened, stunted, and with leaves lighter in color which may look like they are suffering from a nutrient deficiency. In addition, phylloxera can live out another stage of its life on grapevine leaves. This less serious form feeds on leaves that causes leaf galls to develop, but generally not on V. vinifera.

    Our priority right now is to continue surveying vineyards to see how widespread this infestation is and to encourage Colorado’s grape growers to practice biosecurity methods that can help protect their crop said Laura Pottorff, CDA’s Nursery and Phytosanitary program manager.
    The main mechanism of phylloxera spread over long distances is on grape nursery stock.  Therefore, the Colorado Department of Agriculture is urging vineyard operators to contact their supplying nurseries to find out what, if any, procedures they have in place for identifying and stopping the spread of phylloxera. Colorado grape growers should also take the following precautions:
    • Watch plants for symptoms of chlorotic leaves, stunting, poor vigor, and other symptoms that mimic nutritional deficiencies.  If detected roots of plants must be sampled for presence of phylloxera.
    • Contact CSU- Western Colorado Research Center (970-434-3264) or CDA (303-869-9070) to take part in survey of your vineyard.
    • All harvesting and cultivation equipment should be power washed or sanitized between fields.
    • When purchasing grape nursery stock from any nursery, request that the plants be hot water dipped prior to shipment. If nurseries are not able to hot water dip vines prior to shipment, then growers themselves need to hot water dip vines prior to planting. For details of this procedure, contact CDA, CSU or the Colorado Wine Industry Development Board (CWIDB).
    • Examine and inspect all new nursery stock prior to planting. Contact the Colorado Department of Agriculture if you would like to request assistance with inspection of incoming nursery stock. 303-869-9070
    • Consider use of grafted grape nursery stock for all susceptible cultivars, including all those of Vitis vinifera origin.
    Phylloxera is found throughout the United States. It has also been present throughout Europe since the 19th Century as well as in California since the early 20th Century.  Although its discovery will cause our grape-growers to adopt new biosecurity measures to limit its spread and impact, Colorado will continue to produce world-class wines just as they continue to do in Europe and California said Doug Caskey, Colorado Department of Agriculture’s Executive Director for the CWIDB

    Phylloxera History

    Colorado has approximately 150 grape growers tending 1,000 acres of vineyards and more than 140 licensed commercial wineries.  These vintners produced 166,000 cases of wine during the 2016 fiscal year, which equaled more than $33 million in sales. Phylloxera is native to the eastern and southeastern United States, where native American grape species (such as Vitis riparia and Vitis labrusca) co-evolved with the insect. Though it has spread around the world since the mid-19th Century to many other wine regions, prior surveys found no evidence of phylloxera in Colorado’s commercial vineyards. Grape species native to the U.S. are generally resistant to phylloxera, but V. vinifera vines have no natural resistance whatsoever.  This is why phylloxera nearly wiped out all the vineyards in Europe once it survived the trans-Atlantic trip in the mid-19th Century. On V. vinifera grape cultivars, phylloxera normally infests only the underground parts of the plant and eventually kills the vine. The leaf-feeding, gall-producing form is not present. In susceptible American Vitis species and hybrids, the full life cycle occurs, including the leaf-galling form. Colorado had been one of the few wine regions worldwide to not have been affected by phylloxera and as such many grapevines are self-rooted on V. vinifera rootstocks.
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  • Researcher Devotes 25 Years to Developing Pueblo Chile Variety

    Researcher Devotes 25 Years to Developing Pueblo Chile Variety

    Dr. Michael Bartolo is the best sort of person, accomplished yet humble. Since 1992, he has patiently bred chile peppers to find varieties that are  popular with buyers and profitable for growers. In 2005, Arkansas Valley growers first planted “Mosco”, a  Pueblo chile type. Today, Mosco is one of the most popular chiles  grown in and around Pueblo, Colo.

    That is not an easy accomplishment, given that Arkansas Valley residents are serious about their chiles. The region’s largest city, Pueblo, Colo., hosts one of the largest food festivals in the state.  The Pueblo Chile and Frijole Festival, held annually in September, draws in over 130,000 visitors.  The main attraction is the ever-popular Pueblo (a.k.a. Mira Sol) Chile.

    Bartolo, who is the vegetable crop specialist and manager of Colorado State University’s Arkansas Valley Research Center in Rocky Ford, Colo., was born and raised on a small farm east of Pueblo. He received his undergraduate and master’s degrees at Colorado State University, and in 1990, he received a Ph.D. in plant physiology from the University of Minnesota.

    In 2014, he joined with other growers and allied industries to serve on the organizing board of directors for the Colorado Fruit & Vegetable Growers Association (CFVGA). He continues to serve as a CFVGA board member.

    According to Bartolo, the Pueblo Chile has been cultivated in southern Colorado for over 100 years. “It is characterized by the upright growth habit of the pepper,” he said. “Hence the name Mira Sol, which translates into looking at the sun.”

    The Pueblo Chile originated in Mexico and was brought into the United States and improved by horticulturalist Fabian Garcia, a researcher at what is now New Mexico State University.   From there, the pepper made its way into southern Colorado.

    Bartolo’s chile breeding legacy started officially in 1992 when he obtained a strain of Pueblo Chile from his uncle, Harry Mosco, a farmer on the Saint Charles Mesa, east of Pueblo. Today, the Mosco variety has become the predominant Pueblo Chile variety in and around Pueblo. 

    The researcher’s matter-of-fact modesty makes it sound as though development of the Mosco variety was a small project on the side with which he was fortunate to associate. In fact, it was a project “on the side,” as Bartolo’s primary work is researching production and irrigation practices. But, development of the chile took a lot of time and many hours of work over two-plus decades.

    Breeding the Mosco Chile was low tech, explains Bartolo. “If I were breeding for a seed company, it would be in a controlled environment in a greenhouse with precise pollination between plants and multiple crops each year.”

    Bartolo’s chile plants grow in the open. “Chiles cross-pollinate, and insects can carry pollen from long distances, providing potential for some unusual varieties.”

    “In 1994, I found a superior plant and saved its seeds. I continued to use the single plant selection process to develop more uniformity within the desired traits,” he said. “I asked a few growers and family members to try the seeds and took their feedback to adjust my selections in future years.”

    In addition to taste and hardiness, Bartolo’s input from growers steered him toward plants that yielded fruit that was easy to pick and which had thick, “meaty” flesh, ideal for roasting.

    “Mosco has thick fruit walls and high yield potential relative to the original forms of the Pueblo Chile,” he said. “This variety also has excellent roasting and eating characteristics.”

    The Mosco Chile is more pungent than a typical Anaheim-type pepper, yet less “hot” than a jalapeño. Its estimated pungency is 5,000-6,000 Scoville units.  The Mosco Chile is green and turns red as it further matures. It is Bartolo’s opinion that the red Mosco Chile is a bit sweeter with a subtler heat.

    Bartolo’s chile breeding program is recognized for its importance to the chile industry by Pueblo growers.

    “Mike Bartolo’s work to breed peppers that are both suited for cultivation in southern Colorado and sought after by consumers is invaluable to chile growers,” said Dominic DiSanti, a fifth generation chile grower from Pueblo, Colo., and a fellow CFVGA board member. “Growers are grateful to work with someone who understands real world production issues and offers so much knowledge and experience in specialty crops. The results of his two and a half decades of pepper development and research have helped our production tremendously and yielded superior varieties.

    Neither Bartolo nor DiSanti, both of Italian heritage, find irony in their passion for developing and growing chiles most often associated with Mexican cuisine.

    The Arkansas Valley is a melding of cultures and the foods that represent these cultures,” said Bartolo. “Growing up, we used chiles in our sausages, and we often had roasted chiles with many of our traditional meals

    Arkansas Valley chile growers took their passion for chile a step further by launching the Pueblo Chile brand in 2015.

    “They had been talking about this (branding the Pueblo Chile) for years,” said Bartolo, who suggested growers look into getting a Specialty Crops Block Grant administered by the Colorado Department of Agriculture. “The growers got the grant as well as a lot of support from the Pueblo Chamber of Commerce and Pueblo County government to promote Pueblo Chiles. A lot of folks were involved.”

    Although development of the Mosco variety is a major accomplishment for a ‘side project,’ Bartolo continues to breed chiles. “We are making additional selections that will result in other varieties developed specifically for Colorado growing conditions,” he said.

    Bartolo’s chile breeding project as well as irrigation and production research conducted by the Arkansas Valley Research Center will be the focus of his presentations at both the Colorado Farm Show Produce Day, Jan. 24, at Island Grove Park in Greeley and the CFVGA Third Annual Conference, Feb. 21, at the Renaissance Denver Stapleton Hotel in Denver.  

  • ATTN: Colorado Grants Available for Crop Growers

    ATTN: Colorado Grants Available for Crop Growers

    Grants Available to Benefit Colorado’s Agricultural Specialty Crops

    Colorado produces a wide variety of specialty crops, from peaches and apples to chiles and hops. To help develop and promote the state’s specialty crops, the Colorado Department of Agriculture (CDA) is seeking proposals for the Specialty Crops Block Grant Program. Specialty crops are defined as fruits and vegetables, dried fruits, and nursery crops including floriculture and sod.

    This grant program provides a great opportunity for producer groups, researchers and organizations to improve how they grow, process and market specialty crops. We hope our new application process this year will provide us with a wide variety of projects and applicants.- Glenda Mostek, CDA Marketing Specialist

    In recent years, funds have been awarded to dozens of organizations to help implement research and consumer promotions.  These grants included Fort Lewis College to evaluate high altitude production of hops varieties and create grower alliances to assist with production and marketing, and Slow Food Denver to create youth farmers’ markets.

    SPECIALTY CROPS include: FRUITS, VEGETABLES, TREE NUTS, DRIED FRUITS, HORTICULTURE, NURSERY CROPS (including FLORICULTURE)

    CDA Funds

    In 2015, over $730,000 was awarded through the Colorado Department of Agriculture’s Specialty Crops Program. CDA anticipates in 2017, that approximately $500,000 will be available for the grant program, with approved projects starting early in 2018. The grant program is funded through the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which partners with State Departments of agriculture to enhance the competitiveness of specialty crop producers in areas such as marketing, promotion, education, research, trade and nutrition. Producer groups, organizations, and associations, as well as state and local organizations, academia and other specialty crops stakeholders are eligible to apply either as single entities or in combined efforts. Grants must impact the specialty crop industry as a whole and cannot be used to solely enhance an individual farming operation or business.

    Grant Application

    The grant application process has changed this year. The initial phase of grant selection will involve shorter, concept proposals. Concept proposals must be received electronically by close of business (5:00 p.m.) on March 1, 2017. For program guidelines and an application, visit HERE or call 303.869.9173. 

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