Confrontation in Colorado's Farm-to-Table Capital

Mark Waltermire in front of his farm. Photos by Lexi Reich

Mark Waltermire has been tending goats and chickens at his farm, Thistle Whistle, in the lush North Fork Valley for 15 years. He grows 180 varieties of heirloom tomatoes and plans to expand his diverse vegetable orchard to offer even more options to Coloradans interested in eating better quality food. It’s a lifestyle shared with many people in the state’s farm-to-table capital.

For years, scores of organic farmers in the valley have organized to protect their natural resources, including the critically important North Fork of the Gunnison River, from oil and gas development. Together the community developed the North Fork Alternative Plan. Born in 2013, the plan suggested reducing the amount of public lands available for fracking, and that drilling wells should be at least a half-mile from the municipal water supply, among other things.

But now a move by the current administration has folks up in arms, as they fear potential cross- contamination from fossil fuel development. Known as the agricultural hub of Colorado, the North Fork Valley communities of Crawford, Hotchkiss and Paonia blame the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) proposed Uncompahgre Field Office Resource Management Plan for threatening their livelihoods and reputations. The community is raising its voice to protect their farmlands, clean water supply and air quality from pollution.

It has been an uphill battle. Last March, U.S. District Judge Lewis Babcock agreed with conservation groups in Paonia that the federal government’s proposed oil and gas drilling plans, which would’ve drilled 175 gas wells in the valley, fell short in studying the indirect impacts of oil and gas production on the people and the land.

Three months later, last June, the BLM announced a revised plan, known as Alternative E. It promises $2.5 billion in total economic output to the region, supporting up to 950 jobs over the next 20 years. How? By opening 95 percent of public lands in the North Fork to oil and gas development.

Eric Carlson, executive director of West Slope Colorado Oil and Gas Association, which represents the region’s oil and gas companies, explains that the new proposed Resource Management Plan has undergone processes analyzing the environmental impacts of resource extraction in great detail. He says the public can comment, interact and intervene upon it as much as they want to.

But that doesn’t mean the government will accommodate, according to Waltermire and others.

Most importantly, Alternative E ignored the community-developed North Fork Alternative Plan, which was scheduled to be approved or denied last October, but a decision has yet to be made.

“I was surprised at the extent of how it didn’t reflect our interests,” said Waltermire. “I go back and forth between being angry and feeling a little helpless at my ability to influence it.”

While milking his goat Lucy, Waltermire said farming has been a part of his family for generations. “It allows me to live a life that feels like I have the opportunity to be more responsible about my lifestyle choices. Growing my own food, providing food for others and integrating education into that makes me feel like I’m less a part of the problem and, perhaps, offering a solution,” he said, standing up with his basin full of milk. “Come on, Lucy!”

The people and the economy of the valley are closely connected with the region’s natural resources. Once shaped by coal mining, the rural valley has moved towards a more sustainable and diverse economy, with agriculture being a major player, especially within the last decade, according to the Center for American Progress, a nonpartisan policy institute.

Many community members and activists argue there are environmental and economic concerns from proposed oil and gas drilling; mainly, the threat of oil spills.

The North Fork is along Highway 133, a slim two-way mountain road with no shoulder, and a lot of rockslides and fragile soil. You can hear the buzz of cars from Thistle Whistle.

It’s not unlikely for a truck to get in an accident and contaminate water as oil spills downstream. The chemicals could go into irrigation ditches the farms and wineries of the North Fork depend on. These pollutants would also affect the Colorado River Basin states.

“It’s really inappropriate for the highway to have that kind of overwhelming truck traffic. Those trucks are not carrying peaches, but fracking sand and chemicals and all sorts of things we don’t want spilled into our river,” Waltermire said.

Brent Helleckson of Stone Cottage Cellars gazes at his winery. He has water rights that date back to 1884, and is fearful contamination from fossil fuel development will threaten not only his grapes, but the ambiance of the valley as a tourist destination.

The consequence of the spills extends beyond measurable contamination — it’s the reputation that’s soiled, he adds. “It’s already difficult enough to convince somebody to make a four-and-a-half-hour, five-hour drive from the Front Range to come over here and enjoy themselves in this area,” said Brent Helleckson, 60, owner of Stone Cottage Cellars in Paonia, a family-run winery. “If I have to get them to come through an oil and gas field in order to do that, it makes it much more difficult.”

Helleckson has water rights on his property that date back to 1884, and he resists leasing to the oil and gas industry. He says land close to nearby irrigation ditches, like Terror Creek Ditch, are being explored for leasing. “It seems very foolish,” he said.

Rich Rudin of Terror Creek Ditch declined to comment.

Jim Ramey of The Wilderness Society says many restaurants along the Front Range advertise that their ingredients are from North Fork Valley farms. He believes one oil spill could contaminate the reputation of Colorado agriculture.

A report by The Wilderness Society on the current administration and fossil fuel development from July says, “Our public lands and waters are supposed to be managed in the public interest and should play a leading role in our fight against climate change. But under this administration, management decisions are only accelerating the climate crisis.”

Patrick Dooling, executive director of the West Slope Conservation Center, looks at the Paonia River, which he is worried about from increased resource extraction taking place in the valley.

We are already seeing the impacts of climate change: models are predicting a hotter and drier future, a big challenge for farmers to cope with where there are even more limited water supplies, says Patrick Dooling, executive director of the Western Slope Conservation Center. Adding the environmental concerns of oil and gas drilling is disturbing to the North Fork and across the West.

“It really decreases our opportunities to market ourselves as this organic, natural, agricultural area,” said Dooling, gazing at the Paonia River.

Fossil fuel development is known to be water-intensive, supposedly using millions of gallons of water, and, once used, is often polluted and not able to be recycled for other purposes, or is pushed deep into aquifers, making it unavailable in our lifetime or our children’s, according to Dooling.

“I don’t get bored of this work. I get to work outside. I get a variety of physical and intellectual challenges. Philosophically, I feel like it allows me to live a life that feels like I have the opportunity to be more responsible about my lifestyle choices. Growing my own food, providing food for others and integrating education into that makes me feel like I’m less apart of the problem and perhaps offering a solution,” says Mark Waltermire, owner of Thistle Whistle farm in Hotchkiss, Colorado.

Emily Ibach, state affairs director at the Colorado Farm Bureau, disagrees: “Largely, we don’t see many issues with water after it is used for oil and gas production. There are limited uses for that water, but sometimes farmers are able to utilize it or it will be filtered and released into the rivers to be used by downstream users.” In fact, she says the oil and gas industry supports the agriculture industry, providing monetary incentives to farmers and ranchers who lease their land and water rights to the industry.

In 2017, state data shows oil and gas spills increased in Colorado, with reports of chemicals flowing directly into waterways. However, the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission spill analysis shows spills decreased in 2018. Yet, of all spills reported in 2018, 410 were within a half mile of a water well.

Dooling explains that by looking at other oil and gas producing basins across the world, development, overall, typically comes with increased air pollution and water contamination. In Wyoming, data from the Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission revealed an average of nearly two spills per day in 2018.

“If we’re going to allow leasing, we have to make sure that if oil and gas activity occurs, folks are protected from these potential problems, and they didn’t do that,” said Waltermire. “The two private companies that have the leases above us in our watershed are playing economic games that I don’t get.”

In a press release with the announcement of Alternative E, the BLM wrote they considered community input in formulating the new plan, which they say responds to “local community needs, while aligning with administration priorities, like public lands access, sustainable energy development, economic growth and conservation stewardship.”

It appears only time will tell what is to come of the diverse landscapes of lush greenery, rocky desert land and mountain ranges that compose the Nork Fork Valley.

Originally published in the Spring 2020 issue of SPOKE+BLOSSOM.