MARSTON

FROM PAGE 8 e mile-wide slide was threepronged and closed Highway 133 between Paonia and the town of Carbondale for four months.

County Road and Bridge acted quickly to begin repairs, with June 9 as the expected date of completion, said Sheri Murdie.

CDOT put the road-rebuilding job near Paonia out for an emergency bid in early May, and Ralph L. Wadsworth Construction, with an o ce in Frederick, Colorado, was awarded the contract May 16. at’s when the company began engineering work on what will be a temporary bridge, said CDOT’s atcher.

Physical construction began Tuesday, May 30, almost a full month after the roadway collapsed. atcher said work should be completed well before the end of June.

Judging from comments on social media, many local residents think the state moved far too slowly to x and reopen the highway.

“ ey could have dropped in a new culvert and back lled the roadway with gravel,” said Somerset Water Superintendent John Mlakar. As the Colorado Transportation Department will tell you, however, they have to proceed in a deliberate way.

Townsfolks are saying no one has seen road damage like this since the massive East Muddy Slide of 1986.

Repairs progressed slowly as the landslides — which attracted geologists from all over the world — owed downhill, initially at one foot

GUEST COLUMN

Laura Swain of nectar — attracting both butter ies and occasional hummingbirds. As an added bonus, the foliage is said to have the aroma of chocolate. As things wind down in the fall, leave the last crop of ower stalks to enjoy the intricate cup-shaped seed heads, which are both beautiful and a functional food source for birds.

Ten-petal blazing star (Mentzelia decapetala) per hour, then slowing before grinding to a stop 216 days later. e highway’s temporary repair — as the slide area is still considered active — involved lifting the road up 40 feet and dumping the sliding material into Muddy Creek. at xed the problem but reduced the capacity of Paonia Reservoir, which sits downstream of the slide. It was meant to hold 20,950 acre-feet, but the reservoir today holds roughly 16,000 acre-feet.

A native, night-blooming, fragrant, drought-tolerant, pollinator magnet? Say no more! Ten-petal blazing star is a sta favorite around here — and for good reason. Although it is a biennial or short-lived perennial, once this plant is established in the garden, it will persist from seed for years to come. Sow seed directly into the garden and keep moist. It also germinates readily in pots, but transplant it into the garden early as it does develop a taproot.Mentzelia will quickly become a favorite as the striking white owers open each night, smelling sweetly of honey, only to close again before morning.

KANNAH CREEK Buckwheat (Eriogonum umbellatum var.

Meanwhile, Paonia, with a population of about 1,500, lacks bustle from visitors to wineries, restaurants, organic farms and shops. Julie Bennett, owner of Root and Vine Market and Qutori Wines on Highway 133, said visitors are down 50%.

A problem for nearby Somerset, population 100, has been sparse but fast-moving tra c. Mlakar said that vans transporting coal miners around the washout to the West Elk Mine were ignoring his town’s 25-mile-per-hour limit, tearing by at 50 mph.

Local law enforcement is problematic, due to the resignation of a Gunnison County deputy. Until a replacement arrives, Delta and Pitkin County sheri ’s departments are helping out.

With road damage blocking two roads in Gunnison County and personnel changes to boot, Sheri Murdie admitted, “It’s been a heckuva time.” aureum)

Dave Marston is the publisher of Writers on the Range, writersontherange.org, an independent nonpro t dedicated to spurring conversation about the West. He lives in Durango, Colorado.

We love this little groundcover. Best suited for well-drained sites with little to no irrigation, sulphur ower buckwheat is incredibly durable, long-lived and great for weed suppression. In early spring, the lush mat of green foliage is topped with chartreuse pom poms that mature to deep orange. Flower stalks can be sheared after ower for a tidier appearance, or left through winter and sheared in March. In fall, the foliage ages to a deep burgundy and persists through the winter season. Not sure how to add these to the landscape? Try pairing them with some of our native grasses like blue gramma (Bouteloua gracilis) and little bluestem (Schizachryum scoparium). Using groundcovers and grasses reduces the need for maintenance like weeding and mulching each season.