{"id":72264,"date":"2017-05-21T13:31:18","date_gmt":"2017-05-21T19:31:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/hickenlooper-signs-hemp-bill-into-law-in-cortez\/"},"modified":"2017-05-21T19:31:18","modified_gmt":"2017-05-21T19:31:18","slug":"hickenlooper-signs-hemp-bill-into-law-in-cortez","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/hickenlooper-signs-hemp-bill-into-law-in-cortez\/","title":{"rendered":"Hickenlooper signs hemp bill into law in Cortez"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><!-- gallery:28051f7d-c803-4535-8951-73eaca5dbf0e --><\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video wp-block-embed-youtube naviga-video-embed\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/3kJyxQJg2Gs\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper stopped in Cortez Sunday to sign a bill protecting hemp farmers who use water stored in federal reservoirs.<\/p>\n<p>The bill was introduced in the state Legislature by Sen. Don Coram, and sponsored by Rep. Marc Catlin. Both are Montrose Republicans.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have a tradition of a bill-signing tour to show what your local legislators are up to,\u201d Hickenlooper told a crowd of about 40.<\/p>\n<p>Colorado legalized growing hemp in 2014, but it is still banned at the federal level, creating complications when water from a federal project is used to water it.<\/p>\n<p>Senate Bill 117, titled \u201cRecognize Industrial Hemp Agricultural Product for Agricultural Water Right,\u201d says Colorado water right holders have the right to use it on hemp if the person is registered by the state to grow hemp for commercial, or research purposes.<\/p>\n<p>During an interview with The Journal, Hickenlooper said the hemp water bill will give farmers some reassurance, and he was cautiously optimistic that it could become a good cash crop for the state.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHemp is a very versatile product with a lot of uses, and it does not make sense why it\u2019s illegal,\u201d at the federal level, Hickenlooper said. \u201cHaving it grown and processed in the state could create a new niche market.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Coram said he was motivated to introduce the bill after meeting with a farmer in the Arkansas Valley who said he could not use water from a Bureau of Reclamation facility to water his large hemp farm.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI said this is wrong because hemp has a great future in Colorado,\u201d he said. \u201cThe bill passed 99-1.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Industrial hemp is used to make fuel, textiles, soaps and much more, but because it is a form of cannabis, it is banned by the federal government, even though it does not have the psychoactive properties of it\u2019s genetic cousin, marijuana.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe facts are that Colorado water rights are owned under Colorado law, and they can be used to grow hemp, which the state legalized,\u201d said Catlin. \u201cThe federal government saying they cannot is overreach.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>On the issue of a federal review of national monuments, including the local Canyons of the Ancients, Hickenlooper said they \u201cshould stay\u201d as monuments for protection. Regarding the legislatures recent commitment to spend $1.9 billion for transportation, he said 25 percent would be earmarked for rural areas.<\/p>\n<p>Before the bill signing at Cortez City Hall, Hickenlooper toured the Ute Mountain Trading Co., east of Cortez on U.S. Highway 160. He was joined by his wife Robin and local leaders, including Ute Mountain Chairman Harold Cuthair.<\/p>\n<p>Acting General Manager Tawnie Knight explained how the pottery is made on-site by local Native Tribes. Artist Timothy Root showed off the finished product in the large gallery.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Ute pottery designs tell the stories of the bird\u2019s eye, the rains, and the mountains,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>A relaxed-looking Hickenlooper was impressed by the pottery manufacturing area, asking questions, and commenting \u201ccool\u201d and \u201cawesome\u201d  several times. When told business was good and growing, he asked if they could keep up with demand.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe can ramp up production to whatever the market demands and we continue to get new contracts,\u201d said general manager Judd Rogers.<\/p>\n<p>About 8:30 a.m., Hickenlooper signed the teacher-shortage bill at Fort Lewis College.<\/p>\n<p>The teacher-shortage bill, sponsored by Coram and Rep. Barbara McLachlan, D-Durango,  \u201crequires the Department of Higher Education in partnership with the Department of Education to examine recruitment, preparation and retention of teachers and to prepare a strategic plan to address teacher shortages in school districts and public schools within the state,\u201d according to the Colorado General Assembly website.<\/p>\n<p><em class=\"mwc_shirttail\"><a href=\"mailto:jmimiaga@the-journal.com\">jmimiaga@the-journal.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>supports growers who rely on water stored in federal reservoirs<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":72265,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[281,2547,21,13,28,29,295],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-72264","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-agriculture","tag-arable-farming","tag-cortez","tag-frontpage-lead","tag-headlines","tag-newsletter","tag-water"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72264","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72264"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72264\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72265"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72264"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72264"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72264"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=72264"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}