For those who are interested in seeing the revegetation work done in Crowley County there will an upcoming tour on Wednesday, Sept. 8. The tour will begin with registration at 10 a.m. in the Crowley County Administration Building, 603 Main Street, Ordway, Colo. The tour is sponsored by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, Crowley County Board of Commissioners, and West Otero Timpas Conservation District.
After the April 15, 2008, fire that swept through Crowley County, the NRCS, Crowley County Commissioners, and West Otero Timpas CD partnered on a special initiative cost-share program that was designed to help revegetate abandoned irrigated land in Crowley County. “The 2008 fire burned so hot due to the weed litter on the fields. This situation of such a hot fire would not have been present with a grass stand,” said Dave Miller, NRCS district conservationist in Rocky Ford.
The special initiative cost-share program was part of the agency’s Environmental Quality Incentives Program. In addition to the NRCS EQIP funds, the county also had cost-share funds to help with the work. The purpose of the program was to take each parcel of land and decide on a site-specific method of treatment. The program was made flexible enough that all interested and eligible producers with abandoned irrigated land could qualify for either NRCS or county funds.
Following the tour, lunch will be provided at the Ordway Senior Center, 401 Colorado Avenue, Ordway, Colo. Interested individuals who plan on staying for lunch should RSVP to the Crowley County Commissioners’ Office at (719) 267-5555 ext. 2 by the end of the day, Friday, Sept. 3. For more information call the Commissioners’ Office or the Rocky Ford NRCS office and West Otero Timpas CD office at (719) 254-7672 ext. 3.
