{"id":22699,"date":"2025-04-14T16:17:50","date_gmt":"2025-04-14T22:17:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/uncut-montezuma-countys-weed-program-has-fallen-to-the-lowest-priority-heres-why\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T22:16:26","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T04:16:26","slug":"uncut-montezuma-countys-weed-program-has-fallen-to-the-lowest-priority-heres-why","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/uncut-montezuma-countys-weed-program-has-fallen-to-the-lowest-priority-heres-why\/","title":{"rendered":"Uncut: Montezuma County\u2019s weed program has fallen to the lowest priority. Here\u2019s why."},"content":{"rendered":"

\"A
A field of Hoary Cress, a noxious weed that spreads fast and creates a monoculture, is part of the mustard family, and not many herbicides work on it. (Courtesy photo)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

Editor\u2019s note: The three-part series about the loss of Montezuma County\u2019s noxious weed program was published in September. This is the original, uncut version.<\/em><\/p>\n

Montezuma County\u2019s noxious weed program once struggled to meet the bare minimum required by Colorado\u2019s Noxious Weed Act, then with financial help grew for nearly a decade to become the envy of Southwest Colorado.<\/p>\n

Between 2019 and 2022, the program was awarded $352,000 in grants, which were mostly matched by funds from landowners. Bonnie Anderson, the weed department director, was selected as 2022 Weed Manager of the Year.<\/p>\n

That all ended in March.<\/p>\n

Anderson was fired in October. And this year, the county commissioners approved a weed management plan so unpalatable to its noxious weed advisory board \u2013 made up of six weed experts \u2013 the entire board resigned.<\/p>\n

\"Montezuma
Montezuma County Noxious Weed Manager Bonnie Anderson was named 2022 Weed Manager of the Year for Colorado for her outstanding efforts in the field. (Journal file photo)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cThe county commissioners weren\u2019t responsive to our suggestions,\u201d said Steve Miles, a former advisory board member named Conservationist of the Year in 2008.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur role was to advise, and they weren\u2019t interested in what we were having to say. That\u2019s why we all resigned.\u201d<\/p>\n

The resignation forced the Board of County Commissioners to absorb the role.<\/p>\n

\u201cAny time there\u2019s a board not functioning, the commissioners basically end up having to take over that task. We\u2019ve got so many other priorities, that it\u2019s kind of fallen very low, to the very, very lowest priority that you could possibly deal with,\u201d said County Commissioner Jim Candelaria.<\/p>\n

\"James
James Candelaria<\/span>du1-i-syn<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The new noxious weeds director is James Dietrich. He doubles as the natural resources planning and public lands coordinator.<\/p>\n

\"James
James Dietrich<\/span>du1-i-syn<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Travis
Travis Anderson<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cShe had such a terrific program going,\u201d said Brad White, a former advisory board member and a farmer in Pleasant View. \u201cWe were hoping we could find someone to step in her shoes and keep it going, but it completely went flat.\u201d<\/p>\n

One full-time staff, the only applicant for the job, is dedicated to the noxious weed department. He has little to no experience in the field, but Dietrich said he holds promise.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the biggest milestone right now, because we were just flat no capacity when everybody left,\u201d Dietrich said.<\/p>\n

In the wake of the department\u2019s exodus, its successful programs were cut.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were finding that expenses were outpacing revenues,\u201d said Travis Anderson, the county administrator. He is not related to Bonnie Anderson.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnfunded mandates from the state of Colorado are just tough to deal with because where do we get the funds?\u201d said Candelaria.<\/p>\n

Last year, it spent about $12,000 less than it was expected to.<\/p>\n

As far as individual programs go, in 2023, the Phreatophyte Project got $96,963 in grant funding; its expenses were just under half that. That project even made the Road Department about $10,000.<\/p>\n

The noxious weed department got its funding from three sources: the county road department\u2019s mill levy, the general fund and outside funding such as grants.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen Bonnie got in there, she \u2026 got a lot of grant funding and increased the program without a burden on the landowners or the county\u201d said Eddy Lewis, the owner of Southwest Weed Control and an advisory board member for 26 years.<\/p>\n

In March, the county decided to take the program back to what the statute says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s where we\u2019re going with the program,\u201d said Candelaria. \u201cIt\u2019s just to what the statute says we have to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

The county has other, pressing priorities to spend its money on. Public safety, for example, ranks higher on the agenda than weeds, Candelaria said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are the second-lowest-paid agency in the state of Colorado,\u201d said Montezuma County Sheriff Steve Nowlin. \u201cI am 17% behind the number of deputies for the per capita that we have. I\u2019m only running two deputies a shift, and they\u2019re working 12-hour shifts.\u201d<\/p>\n

The board recently cut the public safety budget by more than $1 million.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen they found that Kinder Morgan and other taxes were dropping, and they couldn\u2019t meet the budget with the amount we had to have, they decided to make major cuts,\u201d Nowlin said.<\/p>\n

One source of revenue for Montezuma County is property taxes, which makes up 18.11% of its total revenue. A little more than half of that 18.11% comes from Kinder Morgan Inc. and its carbon dioxide operation.<\/p>\n

In other words, about 9% of the county\u2019s total revenue comes from Kinder Morgan \u2013 not more than half its total revenue, like Commissioner Kent Lindsay mistakenly said while discussing the county budget at the Dec. 28 board meeting.<\/p>\n