ALAMOSA— District Attorney Anne Kelly requested the commissioners approve a resolution honoring the assistance her office received from the Boulder DA's office in prosecuting the Los Sauces case, involving Adre Baroz, his brother Julian and Francisco Ramirez at the meeting of the San Luis Valley Commissioners Association on Monday.
Kelly said, "Little did they know that the web of the investigation was going to get so large that we were able to charge four different individuals with heinous and evil crimes, when I came down here that was the first thing I heard about." The commissioners unanimously approved the resolution.
Kelly also introduced new Assistant District Attorney Wesley Stafford.
Larry Brown with CSU Extension and JC Carrica with Valley-Wide Health discussed the partnership between the two organizations in preventing suicide among ag producers called "The Coffee Break Project." Earlier that morning, Brown, Carrica, Bruce Fickenscher with CSU Extension, and others held a brainstorming session on the project and other issues at the extension service office in Monte Vista.
During the commissioner meeting, Carrica said, "We are trying to get people to start having the tough conversations and work through the stigma of suicide prevention, and not just on prevention, but on well-being. How do we check on each other?"
Brown has said previously the motto of the group is, "Do you look after your neighbors as close as your crop or herd?"
Fickenscher added, "People forget this is agriculture, it is a culture just like anything else. You have to be accepted into it. What is nice about our group is we are already part of the culture, we know the culture, and we know you guys. We are already involved and that is where we make the connection."
Later during the meeting, Joshua Lowenstein, a resident of Conejos County, briefed commissioners on his opposition to a proposal of the San Luis Valley Ecosystem Council to create a federally designated National Conservation Area (NCA) on Bureau of Land Management land.
Lowenstein offered, "There is no Conejos County grassroots support," and "opposition to the proposal grows at each meeting." Lowenstein said some proponents of a conservation area also mentioned the possibility of creating a national monument.
According to the Bureau of Land Management, it manages 19 national conservation areas and 30 national monuments nationwide. In Colorado, the Bureau manages three conservation areas and two national monuments. Under federal law, a National Conservation Area is created by an act of Congress. National monuments are created by presidential executive authority under the provisions of the Antiquities Act of 1906.
Anna Lee Vargas with the San Luis Valley Ecosystem Council told the commissioners, "This is premature, we have been having public meetings in Conejos County since June just to get the feelings of the community and how they feel about protection along the Rio Grande Corridor."
Although the Ecosystem Council is proposing the federally designated area, there is no legislation pending to create the area.
Stephanie Sales with the South Central Seniors briefed the group as did Sarah Stoeber with the San Luis Valley Development Resources Group. There was a discussion regarding elections and no action was taken.
