Ten years in the making, the Southern Ute Cultural Center and Museum highlights the life and heritage of the different Ute tribes through insightful exhibits within an architectural masterpiece.

Opened to the public in 2011 at Southern Ute tribal headquarters in Ignacio, Colo., it is well worth a visit. “We are very proud; it was a collaborative effort from all members of our community with input from the youngest to our elders,” said Nathan Elk, acting executive director. “It is a home for the Southern Utes and opens the public’s eyes to our history and our culture that is still going strong.”

The current exhibition at the Southern Ute Cultural Center and Museum, “Song of the Basket,” features over 50 baskets from around the country and the world that are either Ute or were influenced by Ute designs. Many are from Ute basket-weavers from White Mesa, Utah, who are considered to be living cultural treasures and represent a long-practiced artistic tradition. In 2002, acknowledging their dwindling numbers and concern that their elegant and complex tradition would vanish, they expressed an urgent request that their work be recorded. Ten years later, their efforts have come to life in this portrait of a relatively inaccessible community. The Temporary Gallery houses changing exhibitions of particular interest to the Southern Ute Indian Tribe.

Visitors will first be impressed by the unique architecture and layout of the 52,000-square-foot museum and grounds, designed to replicate an eagle. Entering the Welcome Gallery, with its natural lighting, massive wooden beams in the shape of a giant wickiup and cathedral-like open space, sets the stage.

“Look up 60 feet to the ‘Circle of Life,’ a series of colored glass sections, each representing different age groups of our people,” Elk explained. “We described what we wanted and the architects did a great job. It is really beautiful.”

Exploring the past

Selections of the museum’s 1,500 artifacts and artwork are displayed in well-organized and explained exhibits. Take time to listen to oral histories told by tribal members.

In the permanent gallery Ute leaders and experts introduce visitors to the culture with recorded creation stories of the Ute people. Listening to stories passed down for thousands of years is mesmerizing and offers a spiritual glimpse into the powerful world ruled by the Utes before the pioneers overtook the West.

The Ute tribe’s control of the Spanish Trail through their territory was undisputed up until 1860, according to the exhibits. Prior to the Mexican-American War (1846-48), all pioneers, Spanish explorers, Mexicans and other tribes required passports to travel through Ute country.

Trade between Ute tribes, Anglos and Mesoamerican cultures was prevalent. But after the war – which ceded much of northern Mexico to the U.S. – control of Ute territory was lost to “intimidation, force and fraud.”

The museum’s message is that understanding Ute culture and history means releasing preconceived notions of Native American tribes. Visitors are encouraged to imagine another era, abandon the historical lens of Catholicism, and view this native society as it was before the often violent European migration to the New World beginning in the 16th century.

Before the West was conquered by outsiders, a vibrant Ute culture thrived in the Rocky mountains and plains here.

“Children were indulged and seldom punished,” reads one panel. “They were taught to live outside and never let the sun catch them in bed. Shelter is only for sleeping.” Babies are shown strapped into cradle boards hung from tree branches or propped up watching the adults work. Examples of a child’s coat with beaded flowers, and the elaborately beaded dress of Cununiputs, “the belle of the tribe,” represent a step back in time.

The resilient Utes then adapted to a flood of refugees and pioneers who tried but ultimately failed to eliminate Native American culture and identity.

The terms “wandering” and “roaming,” sometimes used to describe the Utes, are considered annoyances, states one exhibit. “It sounds like we were lost. It doesn’t say that we lived there and traveled, and that’s what we did.”

Also, the impression that Utes received charity from the U.S. is incorrect, exhibits explain. Rather, cash, services and supplies are provided in exchange for Ute land as part of U.S. treaties with the tribe.

Especially striking are quality black-and- white photos depicting everyday Ute life dating to the early 1800’s. The sharp focus images have been enlarged and expertly transferred to fine tapestries hanging throughout the gallery.

Smithsonian connection

The Southern Ute tribe has undergone a transformation in recent decades. A towering new casino and hotel dominate tribal headquarters, and oil and gas development have boosted tribal revenues, making it one of the wealthiest tribes in the nation.

Investing in the new cultural museum, with a price tag of $35 million, was the next logical step.

“Our old museum was attached to the casino and there were security issues,” Elk said. “Now our collection is safer, better preserved, and more of it is on display now.”

The tribe worked in close collaboration with the Smithsonian Institute, which holds many Ute artifacts in its collections. Elk and other tribal leaders toured museums and met with Smithsonian curators in Washington D.C. to view and categorize Ute items and to negotiate loan agreements.

Climate-controlled exhibits and high-tech security measures at the new museum have allowed the Smithsonian to loan the tribe treasured artifacts for display.

“Before, they would not loan out the items because we did not have the right environmental controls like security and humidity control and monitoring temperatures,” Elk said. “Now they are willing to share and work with us on loaning artifacts.”

One example is the Ute Worship Dress, used by the Paiute prophet Wovoka in the Ghost or Spirit Dance. The ceremony is an expression of hope that symbolizes the pain Utes endured from broken treaties, relocation and violence against their communities.

“It is one of the items on loan from the Smithsonian. This is the first time the Spirit Dress has been displayed in public,” Elk said.

In the temporary exhibit hall, “The Song of the Basket” shows off the stylish basket art of the Ute Mountain Ute tribe. The coiled basket-making trade is mostly centered in White Mesa, Utah, a remote satellite community of the Ute Mountain Utes.

Fifty examples are shown of the shallow baskets with their colorful, circular patterns and trademark exit, symbolizing “a way out.” A demonstration exhibit shows how they are made step by step, and original baskets can be purchased in the museum store.

Repatriating Artifacts

Part of the reasoning for building such a state-of-theart facility is to take advantage of the Native American Graves and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA). The act gives native tribes the opportunity to permanently repatriate their artifacts that over time ended up in museums like the Smithsonian and elsewhere. A key component of the return of cultural artifacts is a proper museum to house them safely.

“That [repatriation] is something that we will start to do,” Elk said. “One of the things we are interested in is Buckskin Charlie’s headdress, but there are mixed feelings among tribal members on whether we should do that.” Currently the headdress of the Southern Utes’ first chief is on display at the Ute Indian Museum in Montrose.

The Southern Ute museum also has a language center, library and archive that is being developed for access by scholars, tribal members and students.

From their ancient beginnings to the thriving culture of today, the Utes continue to succeed. A panel sums it up:

“Indian people live in two worlds. You try to balance both, and you really can’t. But you try anyway. As the Ute saying goes: When forever comes, we will be here.”

Management of federal public lands, always a bone of contention in the region, came up in several aspects at the Nov. 5 meeting of the Montezuma County commissioners. The commissioners are upset over BLM land acquisitions that take private land off county tax rolls.

In an Oct. 24 letter to the BLM, the board wrote that they oppose additional purchases of private land by the BLM. It was reported at the Nov. 5 commission meeting that the loss of property taxes due to the purchases amounts to approximately $35,000 per year.

The letter states: “To date, 11,307 acres of private land have been removed from the Montezuma County tax base. (This) represents a potential loss in the economic diversity within the county relating to a variety of potential agricultural, commercial and residential uses.”

The commissioners discussed whether the federal government should be required to obtain state legislative approval before making purchases of private land.

Excise taxes from offshore drilling are earmarked for the purchase of private land by federal-land agencies.

A related problem is the lack of rangeland management services for grazing on public lands. An overburdened BLM is backlogged on opening up more land for grazing because of lack of staff and money, county officials said, and adding more public land to the mix will make the situation worse.

“The revenue from the excise tax should be used to pay down the national debt, not buy land,” Commissioner Steve Chappell said.

Support for potash

A proposal to prospect for potash in Dolores and San Miguel counties has support from Montezuma County. The material is used as a type of fertilizer.

In an Oct. 31 letter to the Dolores Public Lands Office, the county commissioners stated that “the prospective tax revenues could be very helpful to the two counties this project is located in. This project could also help Montezuma County’s economy. . .”

The letter advises the BLM that “consultation and coordination” with Dolores and San Miguel counties, required under land management law, needs to be better documented in the environmental analysis.

“We remind you again that ‘public participation’ does not equal coordination with local governments. These comments are not meant to berate the BLM but simply to point out a potential source of contention that seems to be continually overlooked.”

Motorized trails

The San Juan Trail Riders are proposing a motorized trail system in the Boggy-Glade area. The group complained its interests were ignored in forest management plans, so it offered a proposal that the San Juan National Forest is considering.

The trail system is made up of current roads, old railroad routes, motorized trails and abandoned roads, and would involve construction of some single-track to link loops. It begins in the Sage Hen area near McPhee Reservoir, travels below the dam and then up into the Glade and Boggy forest areas. The trail system avoids established mountain-bike trails in the Boggy Draw area.

“It’s a well-thought-out proposal that repurposes a lot of existing roads to create recreation loops,” said county federal-lands coordinator James Dietrich.

“They took the initiative to separate motorized use from non-motorized areas.”

The diversity of the Four Corners region showed itself on Nov. 6, as politicians of all viewpoints were elected around the area and counties varied widely in their support for state and national candidates.

The only common thread seemed to be that turnouts were fairly high regionally. In Montezuma County, for instance, 12,285 people cast ballots, about 68 percent of registered voters, according to Clerk Carol Tullis. Turnout across Colorado was about 66 percent.

Montezuma County voted conservative when it came to candidates, going 60 percent for Mitt Romney in the presidential race (in contrast to the state, which went blue with 51 percent for President Barack Obama).

The county also chose the most-conservative of three candidates for county commissioner in District 3 by picking Larry Don Suckla, a popular rancher and auctioneer whose family is well-known in the area. Suckla, an unaffiliated candidate, grabbed 46 percent of the vote in a three-way race. Republican Dewayne Findley, a former oneterm commissioner, got 40 percent and unaffiliated Greg Kemp, a progressive, took 14.

But when it came to school-funding questions, the county showed a generous rather than a staunchly conservative heart, saying yes to three separate measures in three districts.

Measure 3B, which sought approval for a mill-levy increase that would raise approximately $21 million, had been strongly advocated by a broad coalition of local citizens. “Yes on 3B” yard signs sprouted thicker than dandelions across Cortez, and campaigners emphasized the rare opportunity to get a new school “at half price.” The effort paid off, as voters passed the measure by 62 to 38 percent. Its passage will allow School District Re-1 to access a $22.7 million BEST (Building Excellent Schools Today) grant from the state and build a 162,500-squarefoot high school on 35 acres near Walmart.

In Mancos, Measure 3A passed almost as handily with a 60-40 margin. The mill-levy override will mean an additional $276,000 per year to be used to recruit and retain teachers and support educational programs.

In Dolores, supporters of Measure 3C were asking voters for a mill-levy increase to provide $3.47 million over 20 years to access a $2.62 million BEST grant and perform repairs and upgrades to school facilities. Voters said yes by a 64-36 percent margin.

Supporters of the three measures had sweated the outcome Tuesday night, as the questions appeared to be winning easily with all 11 precincts reporting. However, more than half of the county’s ballot were cast by mail, and by law those ballots were tabulated last. Tired supporters finally went home to bed after a balky ballot-counting machine delayed final results until after midnight, but those results reflected the early ones. Other regional results included:

Dolores County, Colo.

Incumbent Commissioner Ernie Williams, D, won with 714 votes (62 percent) to Rodney Johnson’s 442 (38 percent).

La Plata County, Colo.

Two commission races were too close to call as of press time. Democrat Julie Westendorff had 13,821 votes to 13,577 for Republican Harry Baxstrom in District 3, and Gwen Lachelt, D, was up by just 78 votes over Kellie Hotter. But some 1,000 provisional ballots were still uncounted. The county went for Obama 54.5 to 45.5.

San Miguel County, Colo.

Art Goodtimes, the highest-ranking Green Party elected official in the state, won a third term in office with 43 percent of the vote vs. Dan Chancellor, D, 33, and Kevin Kell, R, 24. Incumbent Democrat Elaine Fischer was easily re-elected in the other commission race with a 67-33 margin over Steve Kennedy, R.

San Juan County, Utah

In a contentious three-way race for the county commission, incumbent Republican Bruce Adams came out ahead with 46 percent of the vote. Unaffiliated candidate Gail Johnson, a Tea Party sympathizer, garnered 28 percent, and Democrat Willie Greyeyes 26 percent.

Colorado

In the 58th House District, which includes Montezuma County, incumbent Republican Don Coram walloped Democrat Tammy Theis, 62 to 32 percent, while Libertarian Jeff Downs picked up 6 percent.

However, in the reconfigured 59th District, which now includes much of La Plata County, incumbent Republican J. Paul Brown of Ignacio lost to Durango Democrat Mike McLachlan, 53 to 47 percent. McLachlan’s win helped Democrats retake control of the State House after two years as the minority.

All incumbent congressional representatives were returned to office, including Third District Rep. Scott Tipton, R, Cortez, who defeated Sal Pace 54 to 41 percent, with two other candidates picking up the remaining votes.

The state thumbed its nose at the federal government by passing a groundbreaking measure, Amendment 64, to regulate marijuana like alcohol. The measure won easily, grabbing 55 percent of the vote. The state of Washington also passed a similar measure, setting up a thorny issue for the Obama administration to deal with.

Colorado also overwhelmingly passed a measure calling for campaign finance reform and an amendment to the state constitution to reconfigure the state personnel system.

Arizona

Voters overwhelmingly rejection Proposition 120, which would have asserted state control over federal lands. The measure failed by a 68-32 margin.

Utah

Romney, the first Mormon major-party presidential candidate, captured 73 percent of the state’s vote. In House District 73, Michael Noel, R, defeated independent Ty Markham, 72 to 28 percent.

New Mexico

A slim majority approved constitutional amendments aimed at streamlining the operation of the powerful Public Regulation Commission after a series of scandals.

In the Senate race, New Mexicans elected Rep. Martin Heinrich, D, with 51 percent of the vote, over former Rep. Heather Wilson, R. New Mexicans favored Obama 53-43 over Romney, with former Gov. Gary Johnson grabbing 4 percent as a Libertarian.

An identity crisis is fueling an economic crisis at the Cortez Cultural Center. In October, Director Shawn Collins announced that the iconic center is facing a budgeting shortfall due primarily to a drop in sales in the gift shop.

The Cortez Cultural Center is facing financial difficulties.

Collins said it may be $10,000 to $15,000, but said the center’s directors are facing the reality of it “by requesting additional community contributions and of course, presenting our fundraiser at the end of November.” The Holiday Bazaar, held at the Montezuma County Annex, offers craftspeople an opportunity to sell their products to customers shopping for local Christmas gifts. The application form is up on the center’s web site and the center is hopeful that the vendor turnout will be substantial.

Although crafts fairs have been a dependable source of revenue in the past, the two summer crafts fairs sponsored by the Cultural Center were cancelled in 2012 because of a decreasing numbers of vendors and attendees. Normally held in June and September, they create revenue for the center by charging vendor fees for space at the event. Booth space is $45, and discounted if a vendor needs more than one.

The notice posted on the center’s web site says that the summer craft fairs may continue in 2013 “with your help,” but does not offer further ideas on how to help revamp them.

The projected net income in 2012 is just over $1,000. The center’s general operating budget totals $235,000, much of which is garnered from other fundraisers, which include the Sweetheart Ball, The Annual R.B. Burnham and Company Trading Rug Auction, and Ladies Night, all held at the Elks Club.

Although admissions are not a major source of revenue for the center, the Patsy Brown Art Scholarship is supported by a $5 charge to attend Ladies’ Night. Admission to the center itself – museum, art gallery, gift shop and the Native American dances in summer – is free to the public, including tourists.

The center relies instead on memberships fees, grants, gift shop net income, rental income from the upstairs meeting space and donations to meet its annual budget.

Duplicated services

The gift shop, the most measurable quantifier of interest by tourists and residents, must compete with established single-market enterprises such as the tourist gift shops at Mesa Verde and Notah Dineh, a local trading company respected by Native American people. It is a destination stop with respect among locals as well as tourists.

According to center reports, gift-shop revenues have been steadily falling from what once was a $40,000 income stream five years ago to the low mark this year of just over $9,000 to date.

Grants have also diminished, according to Collins. “We did apply to Colorado Creative Industries with the City of Cortez for a Creative District grant this year,” she said, “but we did not receive the award.”

The Creative Industries Division merged the former Colorado Council on the Arts and Art in Public Places program in 2010 to create a business identity that aligns artists with the Colorado Office of Economic Development & International Trade. Funding for the “Arts District” program is galvanizing the arts statewide in Colorado by providing a granting resource that can fund the creation of a designated arts district in a community.

Collins sees the potential for the cultural center to create such a district and is hopeful they can try again.

Revitalizing Main Street

Meanwhile, directly behind the center building, one-half block away, Cortez’s Main Street is experiencing a revitalization that includes support of the arts, cultural and entertainment industries. Three premier restaurants, a relocated public radio station, and a dance studio share the alleys and parking lots beside the center. All of them showcase top-line local visual artists in their spaces, employing the services of professional space planners, graphic designers and marketing pros to define their businesses. The result is a vitality that is spreading east and west on the thoroughfare. Music events in all genres are commonplace now, increasing in quality, return bookings and attendance.

Facebook is playing a key role in the arts dialogue, too, especially on all the restaurant sites as well as dedicated artists’ pages, like Four Corners Music, which is fueled by active musicians and their fans.

Downtown Cortez Main Street is becoming an arts district out of choice, with or without the Cortez Cultural Center. The only retail spaces that are lacking on Main Street are dedicated art galleries and museums. Therein lies a potential kernel of new vision for the center, an open door for collaboration and inclusion with the profitable, energetic downtown revitalization.

Questions of mission

The cultural center, housed in an historic department store building, has served the community for 25 years. It was formed out of a desire to provide educational programming by its affiliation with the University of Colorado. Originally named the CU Center, it received funding from the university until the affiliation ended. Out of that crisis, the Cortez Cultural Center with a broader mission that included cultural components and the arts, was born.

The shift away from the hallowed halls of academia offered the local center an opportunity to expand the mixture of events to include a bird-watching festival, marathon run, the Hawkins Preserve (an archaeological site south of town) and Native American dancing on the plaza for tourists during the summer months.

Some events have been popular, and break even, but even those are experiencing breaking points. “We have actually taken losses on some of our most important mission-oriented programs, including youth art classes,” Collins lamented, “and the Hawkins Preserve.”

Although attendance at the Indian dancing on the plaza remains steady, dropping revenues in other programs may indicate that the diversity or quality of offerings is not working in the center’s favor these days. Knowing what the center does best and expanding on it could freshen the offerings and give the not-for-profit the self-confidence to compete in a highly competitive expendable money market.

Struggling with vision

The center has struggled over the years with its finances and vision, and critics say it needs to make changes.

John Peters-Campbell, professor of Western art history and a resident of Montezuma County for more than a decade, is one of the only arts professionals invited to sit on the board of directors at the center.

In an email from his new home in Beijing, China, where he is professor of arts at an cultural institute, he said, “The center has struggled for years with its vision. It can’t be all things to all people so its direction has been driven by the people who have the most time to give it. It’s constantly re-created in the image of the people whose avocations have sent them to it.”

To the point, the greeter at the door of building is the gift shop, staffed by volunteers. The gray exhibition space is tucked behind it in the back of the first-floor space. The museum, located in display cases between the gift shop and the exhibition space, houses local personal and family relics that begin to give the visitor a cursory education in the diverse history of the region. A good enough introduction, it encourages a visit to the first-class Anasazi Heritage Center museum, research activities, lecture hall, gift shop and exhibition spaces located on the Escalante archaeological ruin sites 10 miles north of Cortez, above Dolores.

Attracting and keeping visitor dollars at the center has grown problematic. There’s a lot of other offerings to attract the attention of tourists in the community.

But for locals, some of the past magnets included adult art classes. Since a local art school, Whirligigs, closed last year, the center seems to be the only place to offer this activity.

But it is hard to imagine where they are held at the center, or even to get a sense of excitement about the classes, unless a visitor has a reason to walk up the stairs from the alley to the second floor, where a studio class space is available for rent.

“The arts at the center have rattled around through its history. Sometimes the arts found expression in classes, sometimes in an art school, sometimes a crafts camp,” said Peters-Campbell. “There never appeared to be a will, or even a desire, to bring the facilities up to professional American Association of Museums or educational standards.”

On the web site, the schedule of shows on the exhibition walls at the back of the first floor lists public-school art exhibits for six months – a duplication of school facility functions. Only two professional visual-art exhibits were mounted in the space the past year, one artist and one group exhibit from the Aspen Guard Station residency program.

Attendance is small, exhibition sales are minimal, yet out on Main Street, murals are being funded by the city and public perception is growing in Cortez that the arts community is thriving here.

The mural projects are public, large-scale, visible and funded. Yet peculiar to this impression is the fact that even the exhibition space at the center must share space with the gift shop and a museum and does not attract professional artist exhibitions, sales and revenue for the center.

Gift-shop offerings

The web site describes the gift-shop merchandise as “made by local artisans, including Native American – jewelry, pottery, figurines, art, and Southwestern foodstuffs.” The book store highlights children’s and adult books celebrating Southwestern cultures, as well. But the gift shop is not making money. Some critics wonder whether it is possible that it has just grown passé and is keeping the center from evolving into a vibrant collective axis of culture, stifling the creative future of the organization. Templates for small-town cultural centers have transformed basic revenue streams like cozy gift shops into cappuccino and wine bars attached to performance, film and exhibition events.

Collins is willing to listen. She accepts that change is inevitable at the center, but to accept change, to look critically at the competition and the market niche includes making a strong assessment of the facility as well as the programs.

Bill Teetzel, local architectural / spatial designer said, “I went in the cultural center a while back with an author. He had to pull his books out of the shelf himself to show me. The volunteers were sitting around behind the counter and didn’t seem to relate. It felt like a coffee klatch. It felt dim and dusty.”

As a designer, he sees the building as a major component of the issue. A check of events and activities shows that most events are held outside the facility – at the Montezuma County Annex or the Elks Club, suggesting that the facility resource does not fit the events and offerings of the center.

“Much of the renovation work on the building has been piecemeal,” added Peters- Campbell. “The back stairway was legally necessary. The repainting a few years ago was a fine job, but largely cosmetic.”

Over time, repairs to the building may be driven by an earnest cost-saving priority rather than a zealous enthusiasm for what could be happening there. Still, the cultural center is home to one of the most positive architectural spaces in Montezuma County – the outdoor plaza with mature regional landscaping, stonework, public seating, surrounding shade houses and hogan built on the north side of the building.

Peters-Campbell agrees that the center must be credited with that “and Buford Wayt’s fine mural. They are the hallmarks of the place, but the building itself, a former department store, is in rough shape. Work still needs to be done on the foundation, primarily, and then on the structural parts of the second floor that have suffered from unsure footing.”

Addressing design

Fears of closing the center have generated interest in saving it. Options include addressing the facility design and function. Teetzel believes the interest is here and the time is ripe for re-thinking the role of the center, renovating the building to reflect a vital offering of events and activities.

Even as a metaphor his comment strikes hope for the future. “It’s possible to dig down to create height in a building. Dig into the space beneath a building.”

He works with local architects and planners whom he suggests could build a design and campaign in support of a retrofit for the building. But he senses that the board is comprised around a system of nepotism and that the configuration is inbreeding reluctance to change and a lack of creative vision.

“How do we fix the cultural center? Turning it into a community issue is a good place to start; focusing on one thing that the community needs, excelling at that would be a great place to start. As it is now, the center tries to do too much and doesn’t do anything well.”

Collins disagrees. She feels the center is meeting its mission in many programs and remains open to suggestions to improve them.

And, of course, fundraising doesn’t stop. Efforts in 2012 netted more than $50,000, including corporate partners and event sponsorships.”

She is aware of the need to recruit board members who reflect the diversity in the community. “The Indian dances are popular, but I wonder sometimes if it is exploitive without Native American representation on the board and the Hispanic representation as well,” she said. “Both are issues I am addressing. We are currently recruiting board members, especially youth, artists, culturally diverse board members.”

As for qualifications, she said, “Our board is not a vetted board,” which means there are no qualifications. “A person can express interest, or be put forward by a sitting board member, but they must have attended a meeting and contributed to the center in a major way.”

The Indian dancing on the outdoor plaza is an example of a program that attracts commitment from an invested partner. It is funded annually with $23,000 from the local lodgers tax funneled through the Mesa Verde Country organization, a non-profit company marketing the tourist industry. The money is dedicated to stipends paid to the Native American people who perform dancing for the tourists six evenings a week for three months. Although there is no admission charge, the dancers do pass the hat for tips in addition to their stipends.

Collins doesn’t think the stipend amounts to a living wage for the dancers, and is looking for ways to add value to their work.

“They drive from Gallup to Cortez in an RV because of the costumes and staging for their performance,” she added, saying, “I am looking for collaboration in the community that will help with lodging for their RV.”

Other Native American dances and cultural programs cannot be found regularly within 60 miles of the center, she explained. On the surface it looks like a fine program, but ask a hard question as she did, like, “Is it exploitive?” and the answer from a Native American point of view may be, “Possibly.”

Cultural education includes more than entertainment., critics say It includes a commitment to education on tough subjects driven by the participation of Native American people in authority positions.

Real cultural education could include exhibitions on colonization, reservation relocation issues, language, natural resources, political arts, adornment and cultural awareness that can be found in the lectures and writings of local Native American academics and experts, and in the college faculties nearby.

Opening up mission priorities could change funding resources and expand revenue. Grant opportunities could grow. Recognizing that talent is a valuable commodity for any business district can infuse a community with new life from local resources.

A study by the National Endowment for the Arts found that Colorado ranks fifth among all states for concentration of artists. It categorizes creative industries into six sub-groups: design, film and media, heritage, literary and publishing, performing arts, and visual arts and crafts. Colorado’s strengths are design, literary and publishing, and film and media, which represent 73 percent of all creative industry jobs.

“Placemaking,” is the funding buzz word these days. Collins is aware of the term and related Colorado projects. She said, “We can’t afford to stay isolated. We need to build partnerships and collaborate.”

If the Cortez Cultural Center board of directors accepts that mandate, then, according to Teetzel, “We’re in a position to take destiny into our own hands. We’ve got the talent, the vision and the will to work on the issue. It could change the economic profile of the county. We really could become a major destination for arts in the Southwest.”

Concerns about the treatment of Native Americans in Cortez and the broader Four Corners area were aired at two hearings of the Colorado Civil Rights Commission in Montezuma County on Oct. 27.

The seven-member commission, Director Steven Chavez, two commission lawyers, and a field representative from Grand Junction lined the front of the packed room around the dais at the day’s first hearing, which took place in Cortez at the First National Bank Building.

Citizens listen as the Colorado Civil Rights Commission conducts a hearing in Cortez on Oct. 27.

John Dulles, retired regional director of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights in Denver, recognized the many dignitaries and elected officials in the room. They included County Commissioner Larrie Rule; City Council member Karen Sheek; former Cortez Mayor Orly Lucero; Ed Singer, certified Navajo court interpreter and president of Cameron Chapter in the Navajo Nation; Montelores Human Rights Commission members Bill Jobin and Gene Peck; Police Chief Roy Lane; Cortez City Manager Shane Hale; Troy Ralstin, director of the Ute Mountain Housing and Urban Development office; and Navajo Nation Human Rights Commission Director Leonard Gorman.

The role of the civil-rights group includes conducting hearings involving illegal discriminatory practices; advising the governor and General Assembly on policies and legislation that address illegal discrimination; and reviewing appeals of cases investigated and dismissed by the division; and adopt and amend rules and regulations to be followed in the enforcement of the state’s statutes prohibiting discrimination.

In his opening remarks, Chavez explained that in Colorado, the civil-rights commission can address civil issues throughout the state, but jurisdiction ends at the boundaries of the tribal Ute Mountain Ute and Southern Ute land.

“In other words, if a complaint is filed against a business or government procedure on Ute land we have no jurisdiction, but if the complaint is made by a member of the Ute tribe, or any other tribe, on a business or activity outside of the Ute tribal land and on Colorado state land, then the commission has jurisdiction.”

“Just to clarify the jurisdiction issue,’ interjected Commission Chair Diann Rice, “the commission never ever wants to set up barriers to a person wanting to make a complaint. We are able to direct people to the correct jurisdiction if it doesn’t fall under ours.”

Circuit rider

Jobin, of the Montelores Human Rights Commission, asked if the state commission could create a “circuit rider” and a scheduled stop in the county.

“There is a big gap in the interfacing between your commission in Denver and our concerns. Every meeting, people come to us with complaints,” said Jobin. “We need a working model to help them and so I am asking again for a process of support that can help the local group be more efficient.”

Commissioner Katina Banks, representing the Denver region, said “Yes, this is an opportunity to learn and dialogue about what we can and can’t do, and I see no reason why that can’t happen.”

Last year the commission settled a complaint against Southwest Memorial Hospital regarding discrimination against Native American people who were turned away from the emergency room there. Jobin asked for an update on the compliance agreed to by the hospital.

Chavez explained that the hospital is in compliance with the request to revamp hospital cultural policies and conduct annual staff cultural training. He assured Jobin that the commission monitors the case.

Jobin asked the commission if they could look into the gag order imposed in the case of Dolores resident Luther Hampson, charged with murdering fellow Dolores resident Jonathan Hayes in Dolores on Jan. 14. His body was discovered by hikers near the town.

“It is a growing concern that the murder of a young man may be a hate crime, and that the judge has placed a gag order on the case so severe that even the parents of the victim cannot get information about the case,” Jobin said.

Chavez explained that a murder is a criminal matter and complaints about it must be filed with the U.S. Attorney General and the U.S. Department of Justice, not the Civil Rights Commission.

Local citizen Alec Lukens asked if the commission’s findings are published and was told they are posted in the governor’s annual report, where they can be found by region. The report would be available by the end of October on-line.

Shane Hale, Cortez city manager, said after the Cortez hearing that he’d expected to hear complaints about the town, but didn’t. “I was pleased to hear the compliments for our police department.”

He added, “We treat people with respect in Cortez and it is apparent in a hearing such as this.”

School concerns

The Cortez hearing was followed by a hearing in Towaoc, which drew a crowd of more than 40. Noting that the hearing location is out of state jurisdiction, the commission explained that the hearing was scheduled on tribal land to make it more convenient for some people to testify.

A number of citizens spoke from the audience. A Navajo woman from Dennehotso, Ariz., described harassment she alleges happened at Peabody Coal, where she works as a truck driver. She told how she felt picked on and emotionally tortured and said for her to drive to Albuquerque to file a complaint was more than she could do.

NNHRC Director Gorman asked to respond to her complaint. He explained the process for filing employment complaints through EEOC and said that the jurisdictional boundaries for the Colorado commission do not cover her complaint.

Another woman, a member of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, had a specific complaint about a housing incident which left her homeless. The commission suggested that she begin at the Housing and Urban Development office in Towaoc, as the Ute Mountain Tribe would be the correct and most efficient place for her to start with the complaint. Alleged discrimination in local schools was brought up by a mother of a junior-high-age child. She said is a well-known fact among Utes that the Cortez school system allows discrimination and harassment of the Ute students.

She described an alleged discriminatory behavior by a teacher, adding, “This is a reason Ute parents take their children out of the Cortez schools system after junior high school and send them to boarding schools away from here, where they will not suffer. Cortez is asking us to vote on a school-bond issue to build a new school, and I ask for what, more discrimination? No, thanks.”

Director Chavez thanked the woman for her testimony and described the nature of a class-action suit that could be brought against a school system on behalf of the students. Part of the problem, he said, is getting people over the worry about local retribution.

“I understand the fear in a small community when it is a collective suit,” he said. “But people have to come forward. There are limitations on what we can do if no people will come forward.”

Art Neskahi of Southwest Intertribal Voice and the Montelores Human Rights Commission speaks at the Towaoc meeting of the Colorado Civil Rights Commission Oct. 27.

Art Neskahai, founder of the Southwest Intertribal Voice, a civil-rights watchdog organization in Cortez, spoke about the death of his son earlier in the year. “When I was attending to the burial details at the Cortez cemetery, I asked if we could orient his grave to the north/south because it is my Navajo tradition. All the graves in the cemetery orient east/west. I asked if we could change that for my son and was told it couldn’t be done. To me, it seemed something that that could easily be addressed, but it wasn’t.”

Seeking reciprocity

Following Neskahai, Gorman discussed the economic impact of Native peoples. The Navajo people spend million in the 20 border towns surrounding the reservation every year, Gorman said. Cortez may rank in the top five to seven, “yet where do we see the reciprocity? Positions of authority on community boards, high-ranking promotions in businesses and public councils are not filled with Native people.”

According to a spokesperson for the Navajo Nation, the Navajo government spends approximately $64.4 million annually on goods and services to off-reservation businesses. The aggregated personal income on the Navajo Nation is approximately $1.63 billion. An estimated 70 percent of every Navajo dollar or $1.14 billion is spent in border towns annually.

“It is a fundamental truth that the City of Cortez attracts over a hundred million dollars of economic benefit from a greater community which includes places like Red Mesa, Teec Nos Pos, Dennehotso in Arizona, Aneth, Montezuma Creek, Mexican Hat and Blanding in Utah, even as far away as Crownpoint in New Mexico,” Gorman said.

Gorman said the first issue to address in a border town so heavily populated with Navajo people is interpretation and language.

“I am glad to see a certified Navajo language court interpreter in the hearing here. Where is the Ute interpreter? The use of English language in this information is a cover-up. My office tries to break this down, but the reality is we don’t read this material. We meet with the people and say to them, ‘Let me explain to you in Navajo what this means.’”

The third point Gorman made described the impossibility of class action when language is a barrier.

“It is better to communicate in the native language, because more people will testify. There is a strong need for classaction human- and civil-rights suits, but the tight time constraints prevent people who may need to travel long distances on poor roads from following through. Coupled with language, the time frames are a barrier to the process. Who is better to make that point than you?” he asked the commission.

Gorman said if he could do three things to improve the lives of his people, “it would be to educate, educate, educate about the United Nations recognition that all people have basic human rights including clean water, food and sleep – even if they are inebriated.

“My advice to people is to take ownership of your complaint and keep going back. The commissions need your help.”

Parks and rec

Hale did not attend the Towaoc hearing, but later told the Free Press that the city does offer some benefits that help reciprocate for the large economic impact of Navajo revenue. He cited Cortez parks and the recreation center as an example of inclusive reciprocity.

“Providing these public places for people who live in or are visiting in Cortez,” he said, “is something we do without question. For four dollars, any person can use the rec center for the day. It costs more than $4 per use to operate the center, yet the city wants to keep the doors open to anyone wanting to come.

“The parks are the same. The water, infrastructure maintenance and grooming is an investment we are glad to share with the general pubic.”

More information on the Colorado Civil Rights Commission and complaint processes and forms can be found at www.dora.state. co.us/civil-rights or at 800-262-4845. The web site, in Spanish and English, provides complaint forms that can be printed, filled out and mailed to the Denver or regional offices.

Even while voicing some personal distaste for zoning, the Montezuma County commissioners on Oct. 29 gave unanimous approval to land-use recommendations that move the county closer to having clear zoning designations on all private parcels.

The package of recommendations passed by the board rezoned 3,599 of the formerly “unzoned” tracts in the county, along with some tracts within recently created commercial- industrial “overlay” areas where such business development is encouraged.

“I’m not saying that zoning’s the answer to everything, because it’s not,” said Commissioner Gerald Koppenhafer. “Zoning should put compatible uses together. It’s not supposed to restrict development. It’s just to try to keep compatible uses together, and I’m not against that.”

The public hearing, which drew about 30 people, was the culmination of a long effort to establish a master zoning plan and eliminate confusion about the many “unzoned” parcels that still existed in the county well over a decade after the adoption of the county’s land-use code on July 20, 1998.

When the plan was passed, it contained a unique zoning scheme called Landowner- Initiated Zoning, soon known as “LIZ.” Property owners were given a certain time frame in which they were supposed to choose a zone for their land, according to its size and current or expected future uses. The theory was that then neighborhoods would come to take shape with compatible uses.

Two problems

But two problems occurred. Many people who thought they’d signed up for a zone – because they’d sent in a letter saying they wanted this or that type of zoning – actually never were zoned. This was because anyone who picked a zone that involved commercial uses or subdividing also needed to go through a public hearing.

The other unforeseen thing was that many people – more than half the county, in fact – decided just to stay unzoned.

However, contrary to what many of them thought, remaining in that category did not mean the landowner was outside the system and could do whatever he or she pleased.

“Quite the opposite,” said Planning Director Susan Carver. “In 1998, when the county adopted LIZ, the entire county was zoned [in that process]. So all property owners that did not choose a zoning category that fit their parcel – they were put in the ‘unzoned’ category, which people had a misconception about. It was zoning.”

In fact, it was fairly restrictive zoning, because those landowners could only continue doing what they had been doing at the time of the land-use code’s adoption. If the owners of a 20-acre unzoned parcel wanted to subdivide, or start running a bed-and-breakfast, for instance, they had to come to the county for approval first.

“Since people were confused, and have been confused for 14 years, we thought it would lessen confusion if we changed the name of the category from ‘unzoned’ to ‘historic use’,” Carver said.

That was done earlier on May 7 of this year, but it didn’t clear things up.

“Some folks said, ‘I want to stay in that category because I have historic things on my property’,” said Carver.

Opening a door

Meanwhile, the county was moving forward with a “master zoning process” that had begun some three years ago. One of its goals was to persuade the many unzoned/historic use landowners to choose a better category, based on their parcel size and planned uses. As incentive, unzoned landowners were given a chance to choose an appropriate zone and have it formally approved during a blanket public hearing without paying the usual $500 fee for rezoning.

Another incentive was that each agricultural/ residential zone carries a number of “uses by right” for the landowners – things they can do without seeking county approval. Such uses include ag-related home occupations, agritourism, on-site timber harvesting, non-commercial feedlots, and nurseries and greenhouses for ag zones. For residential zones, uses by right include a state-licensed group home for up to eight people, a bedand- breakfast, and home occupations.

“It opens up a bigger door,” Carver said.

The county planning staff and planning commission held eight community-outreach meetings and spoke to dozens of groups to inform people about the proposal.

‘Overwhelming acceptance’

On Oct. 29, Dennis Atwater, a member of the county Planning and Zoning Commission, said the landowners’ response was “overwhelming acceptance of the plan.”

Of 3,771 landowners that were in the unzoned/historic-use zone, Atwater said, only 172 (5 percent) chose to remain there. “There was 95 percent acceptance of rezoning from ‘historic’ to an appropriate zone,” he said.

Only 11 landowners requested a zoning designation that was not approved, he said.

“For those who have become non-compliant over the past years [by engaging in unapproved activities on their property], approval of these recommendations will bring them into compliance,” Atwater said.

Another change adopted as part of the package Oct. 29 was rezoning tracts in commercial/ industrial “overlay” areas. These are areas where such development is encouraged – although such types of business may also be approved in other areas.

Carver said when the “overlay” districts were created, 1,018 landowners were notified that they sat within them and if they had a historic commercial or industrial use on their property they could request appropriate zoning and have it approved at the blanket public hearing. Approximately 130 landowners asked for commercial or industrial zoning.

She said their main question was how this would affect their property taxes, and Assessor Mark Vanderpool sent them a letter explaining that zoning designation is not considered by the assessor’s office when doing assessments.

She said the planning staff inventoried every commercial or industrial use known in the county, even driving around to spot them, and listed every such use they could find. They came up with about 580 tracts that have some type of commercial or industrial activity on them. Some existed prior to July 20, 1998, and those are “grandfathered,” meaning they can continue uninterrupted until terminated by the landowner without having to seek commercial or industrial zoning.

At the Oct. 29 public hearing, several citizens came forward with questions or concerns. Allen Maez of Lewis (Road 21) asked for the approval to be delayed until landowners had more time to study it.

Rob Pope of Cortez demanded, “Who gives you the authority?” to change his zone without his consent. But when told by Atwater that the county could not change him to a commercial zone without him requesting that, Pope was somewhat mollified.

Others spoke in favor of the proposal. Gala Pock, a new member of the planning commission, said, “I support zoning totally. Without some sort of a plan, [this] great place could be ruined for all of us, so we do need some control on how we develop. I think this is a reasonable and well-thoughtout plan.”

Greg Kemp of Mancos commended Carver and the planning commissioners and staff for their hard work and said the commercial/ industrial overlay areas would help support development.

Planning-commission member Bob Clayton said he supports the master zoning plan because “it’s going to be good for the county.”

‘Montezuma County failed you’

Commissioner Koppenhafer said the board had struggled with the issue.

“We spent a lot of nights talking about this whole deal, and we didn’t want to make people zone their property other than what they wanted to do. . . but we felt like it would give everybody an opportunity to sign their property up,” Koppenhafer said.

He spoke about how many people had thought they were zoned, but weren’t. “People think they’ve been zoned all these years because they turned in a letter… I think Montezuma County failed you at that time because we should have carried through on that process. Right now we feel like we ought to let people have that chance again.”

Koppenhafer also described the difficulty in balancing land-use planning with property rights. “If you end up with something across the road from your house that’s going to keep you up all night, you don’t want that,” he said. “But we also have to have growth and some industry and business in this county because every time somebody proposes something like that, this room fills up.

“People who should actually have the say are the ones who actually zoned their place.”

He added, “We either need it [zoning] or it needs to go away totally.”

But in 1994, under pressure from economic- development and homebuilding groups, the county commissioners agreed to put a question on the November ballot asking whether the county should “prepare a comprehensive county plan resolution which shall include a land use plan, a method for public involvement and comment in land use decisions, and a mechanism to ensure a reasonable relationship and compatibility among and between adjoining land uses” by July 1, 1996.

The resolution, which was non-binding but was a way of gauging public opinion, passed 56 to 44 percent. The commissioners then appointed 12 citizens to come up with a land-use plan; Koppenhafer was one of them.

The 1994 resolution wasn’t the only time the commissioners have “polled” the citizenry through a non-binding question. In 2006 a non-binding question asked whether a mandatory residential building code should be adopted county-wide; it failed by a 57-43 margin.

Commission Chair Steve Chappell said he was one of those who voted against having the ballot question in 1994. “I didn’t like the idea of neighbors being notified and complaining about what I’m doing,” he said. However, he added, “Sometimes zoning can help an area because it keeps things organized and compatible.”

Commissioner Larrie Rule said he is “not really in favor of zoning, but I have come to see the other way after being up here eight years.” He said zoning protects people’s rights. Commission attorney Bob Slough said the land-use code “is a work in progress and it always will be.”

At the end of the discussion, Bud Garner of Cortez gave a speech objecting to the idea of the county granting “uses by right.” He said that rights are given by God, not the government, and that the commissioners were, in effect, saying, ‘I guess we’ll have to get used to tyranny.’” He said, “This is nothing but tyranny in its inception and its ongoing carrying-out.”

Garner also noted that the land-use code was not developed by 1996 as called for in the ballot question, and added, “Since when is a vote of the people not binding?”

But the board voted 3-0 to accept the listed rezoning recommendations.

Carver acknowledged that some people are still confused about aspects of the zoning plan and said she understands.

“Until we get that information out there, I don’t think everyone will understand that entire story – that ‘unzoned’ is regulatory, ‘historic use’ is regulatory.”

Carver said the landowners who chose to stay in the historic- use zone can still change their minds and seek a different zone.

“Rezoning can always be done. Nobody is stuck in any zoning category,” she said. However, the “historic-use” zone is no longer available as an option for landowners to choose if they are changing from another zone.

The blanket approval of the rezoning recommendations on Oct. 29 was the end of the fee-free period for rezoning, she explained. However, Carver said landowners do have the option to join with other landowners in requesting a blanket hearing to rezone several parcels at once, and they could split the $500 fee.

Likewise, an individual landowner with numerous different parcels he wants to rezone can seek approval all at once and pay just a single fee.

For people in a commercial and industrial overlay area, they can come forward later and request rezoning and the fee would be waived, but they will have to go through a public hearing, she said.

Carver noted that the master zoning process started more than three years ago and involved an enormous amount of work on the part of the Planning and Zoning Commission. She thanked the current members – Atwater, Pock, Clayton, Drew Gordanier, Dennis Pottorff, and Tim Hunter – as well as former members Jonathan Callender, Guy Drew and Andy Logan for their efforts. She also praised the help of county staff members James Dietrich, Loretta Murphy, and Doug Roth.

Area paper recyclers are still reeling from the closure of a regional paper mill that paid a premium for old newsprint and office paper, and made paper recycling economical, even profitable.

In the wake of the closure – and in view of bigger-picture market pressures – not everyone is optimistic that it’s still worth it to recycle paper. But so far, local waste managers are still willing to try.

In operation for the past 60 years, the Snowflake, Ariz., paper-recycling mill was a boon to the region. It accepted and used about 30,000 tons of waste paper each month, including large quantities of newspaper from across Colorado.

The Montezuma County Landfill by itself shipped 116 tons of paper in 2011, alongside 47 tons from the Cortez-based Four Corners Recycling Initiative, said Deb Barton, the landfill manager. So far this year, the landfill shipped 68 tons and the city shipped 88.

The Snowflake plant was good while it lasted, Barton said. “It did pay for processing costs. It paid its way; it became sustainable.”

But the thing that made the mill so popular – its ability to accept waste that contributors didn’t have to separate at home – was part of its undoing.

Because the waste wasn’t separated, it often arrived at the plant in unsavory form – mixed not just with other recyclables, like plastics, but with food waste and other contaminants. Besides complicating the cleaning process, such contamination also led to an inferior paper product.

“Reduced quality of old newsprint as municipalities moved to singlestream waste recovery, combined with oldnewsprint price volatility driven by export markets, were obstacles on the input side,” said Kevin Clarke, president and CEO of Catalyst Paper, the Canadian company that owned the Snowflake mill, when the closure was announced. “Added to these challenges are the protracted demand decline for recycled newsprint and other printing papers.”

The market for recycled newsprint is down partly because of a shrunken newspaper industry nationally – which took a bite out of the mill’s supply as well as the market for its product. But the problem has a wider reach.

“If China doesn’t want paper or products, we may not have a market globally any more,” observed Montezuma County’s Barton. She pointed to the recent announcement that Newsweek magazine is stopping its print publication and going digital, and said she sees it as part of an ongoing trend that will keep paper markets depressed.

Digital overload

“The paradigm is shifting to electronic reading; the need for paper is changing,” Barton said. And that presents a whole new challenge for facilities like hers: “Personally, my biggest concern now is electronic waste.”

Barton says electronic waste – castaway televisions and cell phones, for example – is far more dangerous when it gets to the landfill because of hazardous constituents, such as mercury. Colorado has had a law since 2002 banning commercial electronics from being tossed into landfills, and it’s recently enacted a similar ban for residential electronic waste. That will go into effect next year.

Soon, consumers will have to bring their old TVs, computers and phones to a semiannual electronic-waste-collection event, just like businesses do. And it will all get shipped to specialized handlers like the one Montezuma County is currently using called Natural Evolutions – a Native American-owned firm in Tusla, Okla., that has done the tedious work of acquiring all three available certifications for handling electronic waste. There are only 16 such facilities in the country.

From Barton’s perspective, if electronic waste is indeed going to take up space in the waste stream formerly occupied by paper, it’s not a welcome shift: “My guys could get sicker from handling it,” she said.

Cheaper to bury

As for paper, the closure of the Snowflake mill has left the Montezuma County Landfill’s broker hunting for a place to send it – and so far, good deals appear scarce.

It takes $46 a ton to process waste paper before it can be shipped to a recycler like the Snowflake plant, Barton says – and that doesn’t include the cost to collect it. The last quote the landfill received from an outlet seeking to replace the Snowflake mill was $45 a ton – not enough to make the effort worthwhile.

Barton says somewhere around $70 a ton is sustainable, allowing some savings for periodic equipment costs and repairs.

With the market the way it is, and without a viable outlet, “it costs us more to recycle the material than to bury it,” Barton says.

Saving landfill space isn’t an incentive to recycle, she says – the landfill has 250 years of life left, even if no recycling were to take place. And burying paper doesn’t present an environmental issue; the ingredients are generally benign. But taking paper from the recycling bins and putting it in the ground presents a social dilemma.

“There’s a feeling of betrayal,” she pointed out, if people are making the effort to recycle and it just goes into the landfill anyway. Then again, she says, “if it’s going to cost them an arm and a leg … we could have the money for law enforcement.” Landfill staff have been working on another option – composting. They’re submitting a proposal to allow for a change in their permit to allow them to divert some paper and yard waste into composting materials.

Durango refuses to give up

The perspective is a little different at the city of Durango, where sustainability coordinator Mary Beth Miles insists there are plenty of reasons to continue recycling paper, even when the markets are down – and there’s always hope for a rebound.

Miles said the city’s waste paper is now going, along with cardboard, to an Albuquerque- based mill called Bio Papel. They’re paying only $30 a ton for the product – much less than what Snowflake was paying – but Miles said the math works out when you consider the prices the city is getting for its metal, plastic and glass.

Miles and her staff are gearing up to launch a major overhaul to the city’s curbside- recycling program, after the first of the year. People can call 970-375-5004 or sign up on the city’s website to participate in the expanded program, which will feature larger, rolling curbside bins and an expanded array of acceptable wastes including plastics numbered 1 through 7, newsprint and paper, and cardboard-like materials such as juice cartons and cereal boxes.

The program treads a fine line between convenience for consumers and the risk of contaminating the waste stream so that recycling becomes more difficult, as it did in Snowflake. Miles expects the convenience will boost participation in the city’s recycling program by 30 percent – and she’s hoping a major public-education campaign will help to deter the likelihood of contamination.

First and foremost, she said, glass should be kept out of the recycling bins, because the broken shards render paper unusable. She also hopes people will remember to remove lids from and rinse out containers destined for the recycle bins, and pay attention to what doesn’t belong, like Styrofoam.

To help with the transition, the city will employ “recycling ambassadors” to ride along on the collection trucks, letting people know if they’re including materials that don’t belong.

“I know that the issue of the Snowflake closure is something we are going to have to deal with,” said Lisa Roche, with the Four Corners Recycling Initiative.

“However, I don’t think that is going to change our desire to continue to recycle paper.

“The tonnage that is recycled is large and I know that where I work, the school system in Cortez, they are committed to it. It really passes on the importance of recycling to the kids.”