133, Dangerous as Designed : Jaywalking Pt. III By Age-Friendly Carbondale
A wild gray dapple and buckskin at the Little Book Cliffs. Photo by Barbara Sophia
A call to action: Little Book Cliffs roundup OPINION BY BARBARA SOPHIA
Hiking through the Little Book Cliffs outside of Grand Junction, one is sometimes rewarded with viewing magnificent wild horses. They are strong, sure-footed, healthy and well-camouflaged by the rocks and landscape they call home. It’s early morning, barely raining as a light fog hangs over the valley. Beads of dew coat the sage, shimmering as the sun crests over the bluffs. I follow a stream looking for hoofprints. In the distance a whinny is faintly audible. Pausing, I wait to hear it resound and head in that direction. Tucked into the rocks, I patiently wait. A small herd appears, hardly noticeable through all of the brush. They call to each other and stop to graze. While hiking miles for days, I saw fewer than a dozen horses on 31,110 acres. Here they must endure the drones of motor vehicles making noise and tearing up the landscape. It is hard to imagine that 140 from a herd of approximately 200 are to be
inhumanely rounded up by helicopters. Diminishing the herd by this much — as well as darting the mares with infertility drugs and castrating the stallions — is a recipe for elimination. On May 20, 2023, Governor Polis signed SB23-275, a bill meant to protect wild horses during a ceremony held, ironically, at the Little Book Cliffs. He is quoted as saying, “We can ensure that our wild horse herds have a humane and sustainable future in Western Colorado. We also want to highlight that this will set a national example.” We have wild horses in holding facilities with their fates unknown; many may end up in the slaughterhouse pipeline. This year, numerous roundups are slated across the West. As of now, 20,939 wild horses are to be removed (periodically the numbers change). It would have been incredible to have Colorado stand behind its word to be a national example. Some herds are being zeroed out or becoming genetically compromised, and it’s all funded by our federal tax dollars — $154.8 million proposed for this year. Research by the Wild Horse Fire Brigade of California supports the idea that these herbivores help mitigate fire, distribute vital seeds and nourish our soil. With a warming planet, fires are burning longer, more intensely and more frequently. These animals provide an important balance within our ecosystem and should remain on the land where they were born. Don’t let the saying become, “Once upon a time, there were wild horses.”
alone every elementary-aged child at the According to Safe Kids Worldwide, school to walk out of their way to cross half of all school zones in the U.S. have at signalized crosswalks at Snowmass speed limits above 20 miles per hour Drive or Hendrick Drive is not realistic). Additionally, the school — 30% lack marked zone speed limit here is OPINION crosswalks. Couple 35 mph! That’s the same these ingredients with speed limit at both adjacent segments a considerable number of vehicles, of 133. Without the addition of a signalpedestrians and cyclists near schools ized crossing at Weant and 133, and/or during student drop-off and pick-up a decreased speed limit, I fear it is only a times, and you have a recipe for disaster. matter of time before we have an otherWe have it in spades at Ross Monteswise avoidable accident. ” sori School. It abuts a state highway. A person living on the west-side told The nearest signalized crosswalk is over us, “People know that Jaywalking is one-third of a mile away. It’s across the dangerous. A sign may read, ‘no crosshighway from residences, the library, ing, ’ but it is too far from the lights, so downtown, the Rec Center, Third Street people just cross without crosswalks. ” Center and three public schools — A cyclist remarked, “I look for breaks in all places where children go after the school day ends. The speed limit is the traffic to cross from Keator Road to an almost unbelievable 35 mph, even Seventh Street because it is the quickest and most convenient access to during arrival and departure times. In April 2019, outdoor educator and downtown.” A concerned parent said, former chair of the Bike Pedestrian and “I witness kids running across 133 from Trails Commission Darryl Fuller, expressed Montessori because it’s too far to cross at his concerns in a letter to CDOT that he Snowmass or Sopris to get to the Third shared with Garfield County commission- Street Center.” We know that when the nearest ers and Carbondale trustees. crossing is over 300 to 600 feet away, “On the subject of safe mobility people will Jaywalk (www.tinyurl.com/ for young people, is perhaps an even JayWalk133). We knew it eight years ago. greater concern regarding Safe Routes Why did we build a K-8 school alongside to Schools at 133 and Weant Boulevard a fast-moving highway with after-school across from Ross Montessori school. attractions directly across from it and put To my mind, this is a tragedy waiting to the nearest signalized crossing 1,700 feet happen and completely irresponsible. away? We’ve been lucky for eight years. Not only do we see students dartWill we rectify this mistake before some ing across the road at the school (why child’s luck runs out? wouldn’t they? Expecting anyone, let
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Public comments regarding the Little Book Cliffs roundup can be submitted to the Bureau of Land Management through June 15. Visit www.tinyurl. com/LittleBookCliffs A grey dapple from the Little Book Cliffs herd. Photo by Barbara Sophia
To find out more about Barbara Sophia’s efforts to protect wild horses, visit www. bio.site/rewildthewild
24 THE SOPRIS SUN | soprissun.com | June 13-19, 2024
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