Living with the looming Lumien

To the editor,

With FCI’s track record of stunning, quality projects, Durango probably couldn’t have picked a finer construction company for its new housing development, the Lumien Apts., on E. 32nd Street. It’s also reassuring that we live in a community whose leadership has the creation of much-needed affordable housing at the forefront of its civic agenda. Nevertheless, before starting up a project of this magnitude, perhaps more analysis could have taken place regarding how the development would impact the local environment and the people already living in the area.

As a resident of one of V.O.A.’s Cedar View apartments for seniors, adjacent to the Lumien site, I can attest to the negative impact this project has had on the local environment and the overall quality of life of area residents.

After more than a year of construction activity, it has been a wild ride for many seniors, some of them veterans who suffer from PTSD, given the loud, harsh, sudden noises and the constant backing-up beeping of vehicles and machinery. With a 6:30 – 7 a.m. work start-up for the crew (including some weekends) those of us who have trouble sleeping have had little rest or respite with the coming of dawn. Residents with emphysema, asthma and other breathing problems have been affected by the dust and sand generated on the building site. Undoubtedly, electric bills for residents in the area have risen due to their efforts to shut out the noise, sand and dust.

For over a year, residents of our apt. complexes have been unable to enjoy the lovely outdoor spaces V.O.A. so thoughtfully provided. A preferred seating area, where neighbors congregated to sun and chat (once centered around a fire pit, which was removed for safety

during the last dry season), must now give way to a pathway so that Lumien residents can have access to other parts of the neighborhood, although another pathway, on the north side of the Lumien property, already exists.

Most painful of all has been watching the razing of the sage and juniper field, thriving with life, removed in its entirety to make way for the building site. The owl that lived there is gone its comforting nighttime hooting ritual silenced forever. The wide variety of Colorado birds the field attracted is gone, too, and the spring and summer of 2015 have brought mostly sparrows and doves to our feeders. In that safe and nourishing sea of native plants, deer with their young, and the great antlered buck, will no longer nibble undisturbed as in previous years. It will no longer be a meet-up place for neighbors walking their dogs, who loved their playtime in the field.

No more sightings of little creatures leaping in the snow; no more enlivening scents arising from the field after a rain; the endless views of the valley from our windows, gone; the crystal clear views of the nighttime skies, now obscured by towering parking lot lights-all these things, which nourished our spirits and drew our souls to nature and social connectedness, are gone. The peace that area residents enjoyed is gone forever, too, with the 50-family complex about to open its doors, and a “sister” complex going up within a year or two.

Based on these facts, one could conclude that the quality of life for seniors and other residents of this area – not to mention wildlife – has plummeted by probably 70 percent, if not more. Surely there were other alternative sites, with adequate acreage, feasible developmental costs and accessibility to mainstream Durango that could have been successfully developed and still enlivened the local economy. Financial considerations are important, and budgets must be respected, but other considerations –  clearly, long-term environmental impact and quality of life for all concerned – need to be a critical focus in deliberations ad planning before moving ahead with the creation of new housing options.

– M. Brancheau, Durango

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Support LWCF reauthorization

To the editor,

At the end of this month, the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) is set to expire, unless reauthorized by Congress. Established in 1964 through a bipartisan act of Congress, the LWCF uses royalties paid by energy companies drilling for oil and gas on the Outer Continental Shelf to conserve important natural resources and expand public lands access. Funding comes from a maximum of $900 million in royalty payments collected annually from oil and gas companies, not from taxpayer dollars.

The LWCF enables sportsmen access to millions of acres of public lands – and has expanded access to millions more – all while strengthening quality habitat for fish and game. Colorado has received more than $230 million in LWCF funding for 974 projects. Those grants typically are matched by an equal amount of state or local funding, thus doubling the federal investment. The Ophir Valley of the Uncompahgre National Forest, Great Sand Dunes National Park, the wildlife refuge complex of the San Luis Valley ecosystem, and the Canyons of the Ancients National Monument are past beneficiaries of LWCF matching contributions in our state.

Studies have found that every dollar invested in land acquisition or improvement generated a $4 return on the investment for communities. And U.S. sportsmen comprise a powerful economic engine, annually contributing close to $90 billion to the nation’s economy and supporting 1.5 million jobs. The broader outdoor recreation and conservation economy is responsible for more than $600 billion in consumer spending every year.

Recently, LWCF funds have been used to acquire the 11,179-acre Devil’s Canyon Ranch in Wyoming, a premier hunting area with important herds of bighorn sheep, mule deer and elk; to protect the working forests around Wisconsin’s Chippewa Flowage, one of that state’s most pristine lakes and best trophy fisheries; to secure habit in the Dakota grasslands for more than 100 breeding birds, including 12 waterfowl species – a region that has been described as America’s “duck factory;” to protect the confluence of the Ohio and Tradewater Rivers in Kentucky – an action that is providing significant watershed and water quality improvement to the benefit of public hunting and fishing.

According to report from the Congressional Sportsmen Foundation, lack of public access is the number one reason why sportsmen quit hunting. A loss of federal LWCF funding for public access easements and public land acquisition will only further this problem. And as rural lands across the country continue to disappear, public access to federal lands will become increasingly important. LWCF funds play a vital role in “unlocking” millions of federal acres currently unavailable to sportsmen. LWCF is essential to make public lands public by securing recreation access, particularly where opportunities for sportsmen and others to access public lands are limited or precluded.

As explained by Backcountry Hunters & Angler’s President and CEO, Land Tawney: “LWCF is the best tool available to provide access for hunters and anglers, as well as habitat conservation to make sure sportsmen have something to chase once we get there. The program invests in the conservation of fish and wildlife habitat and enhances recreational access, which means more rewarding days afield for America’s hunters and anglers.”

For additional information on how LWCF funds have benefited Coloradans, see: www.lwcfcoalition.org/co lorado.html.

– David Lien, chairman, Colorado Backcountry
Hunters & Anglers

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Lost and Found

Lost and Found

under the grey beat of time,

conjoins sorrow and joy

during our privilege of journey.

We become full and empty.

And yet,

anchored in hope,

we love the small moments drifting

under the snow of silence.

Like an old unmoored boat,

which has been blown by

the breath of many fates

we age,

slipping into the tide

of a darkening-blue night.

New moons and full moons,

like trembling musical notes,

echo what is Lost and Found

during our slow rhythmic drift

under those ageless and endless stars.

– Burt Baldwin, Ignacio