Water and energy should be top priorities
Thankfully, the state of Colorado isn’t hosting the Olympics this winter, as we’re in a drought. We’re in the middle of February, with temperatures in the 60s, and the state’s snowpack is under 50 percent. Italy has been fortunate with abundant snowfall for its alpine events.
I was traveling in the mountains recently, and the $700 million highway construction on Floyd Hill is underway. They are still blasting out a mountain to straighten the highway, adding more traffic lanes and taking a break in this warmer weather.
The lack of snow has reduced the ski industry’s revenues by about 20 percent. Restaurant businesses in Idaho Springs, Vail, and Summit County are down sharply due to the lack of snowpack. There have also been layoffs on the ski slopes, and food banks are struggling to supply food to those in need.
The loss of electricity during the windstorms affected Idaho Springs, Boulder, and many other areas during the holiday season. This could be a prelude to future blackouts unless reliable energy sources are developed.
We need the coal plants reopened and perhaps converted to abundant natural gas. Nuclear is on the horizon, and northwest Colorado has been mentioned as a possible storage site for nuclear waste. There is a lot of open space between Craig and Vernal, Utah, with the vast Dinosaur National Monument on government land.
When I was growing up, our ranch was southeast of Maybell in Moffat County, and it holds the record for the coldest temperature ever recorded in Colorado: -61 degrees on Feb. 1, 1985.
I once helped my dad feed our cattle in temperatures of -50 degrees. The wagon wheels crunched and crackled over the frozen ice and snow as the hay load headed for the hungry Hereford cattle, known for being tough enough to survive cold weather. Surprisingly, pitching hay off the wagon kept me warm enough with overshoes, warm gloves and a heavy coat.
We had a team of horses, “Wally” and “Dolly,” large Percheron horses that could pull a sled or wagon through deep snow. Sometimes they had to leap forward to break a trail through the deep snow. During a blizzard in 1948, my dad had to hire a caterpillar operator to plow out the haystacks. The snow was so deep that we were diving off the barn roof into the soft snowbanks.
To this day, snowstorms are foreboding to me, and no doubt to livestock producers across Colorado who face winter winds and freezing weather 24/7 to keep livestock alive by providing food and water. The price of beef is high right now, but so are the challenges facing the beef industry in providing high-quality meat for your tables. However, the Trump administration is allowing imported beef from Argentina to artificially lower beef prices.
Instead of worrying about beef prices, the administration should focus on easing the drought, which is hurting U.S. ranchers and your pocketbook by driving up prices. They should also focus more on preserving our precious water and the electric grid.
Afterall, we are helpless without electricity.
To be continued.