• During constituent time, a representative from Stop the Wolf Coalition urged Commissioners not to support the reintroduction of the gray wolf back into Colorado. Administrator Robbie LeValley referenced a pending resolution on the matter and Commissioner Don Suppes made the board’s position clear saying “It would be devastating.”
The question of reintroduction will appear on the 2020 ballot and has many local detractors besides Delta County Commissioners. They include Greg Walcher, former Director of the Department of Natural Resources in Colorado, who is quoted in a recent story in the Montrose Daily Press: “The forced introduction of wolves against the advice of Colorado’s own wildlife experts is a terrible idea. I have always supported reintroduction as an important tool to recover endangered species. I am proud that as Director of DNR, I was involved in the introduction of lynx, moose, bighorn sheep, prairie chickens, endangered fish, and many other species to Colorado. But wolves are different because they simply cannot peacefully coexist in a state with almost 6 million people.”
Advocates including Rocky Mountain Wolf Action Fund, the organization that got the measure on the 2020 ballot, say that Colorado voters want to restore the species to wild public lands: “A lack of natural balance means that too many elk and deer eat away the vegetation that holds streams and rivers back, leading to erosion and the disruption of even more habitats, like those for native beavers and songbirds.”
• As they do each new year, County Commissioners performed several “housekeeping” tasks including naming Commissioner Mark Roeber to take on the role of chairman on the Board of County Commissioners and Commissioner Don Suppes as vice-chair. Both will serve in this capacity through 2020.
OTHER NEW YEAR TASKS:
— Commissioners changed their business meeting day from the first and third Tuesday of the month to the first and third Wednesday to accommodate judicial hearings that will now take place on the second floor of the courthouse.
— Commissioners designated the front entrance of the courthouse as the official posting site for public notices and included in their passed motion that “courtesy” postings be maintained at the North Fork Annex and on the county’s website.
— Among the reorganization of board appointments, Commissioner Suppes was reappointed to the Delta County Economic Development (DCED) board and will serve through that organization’s fiscal year, which ends on April 1. While there was no mention of a proposed DCED replacement initiative dubbed, One Delta County, it is assumed that a commissioner will represent the county on its board. The group’s organizational chart indicates that a county employee will manage the project and another county employee will oversee the manager. Delta County also plans to contribute $42,734 in funding in 2020.
MORE ON ONE DELTA COUNTY — Summary budget and organizational chart
• On the second Friday of each month, citizens can sit down with a Delta County Commissioner over coffee. District 1 Commissioner Mike Lane will host the next “Coffee with a Commish” on February 14. The location has not yet been announced.