- Montezuma County Commission decides not to raise pay rates for county officials.
- Mesa Verde National Park continues to deal with invasive livestock issues.
No pay increase for elected county officials. That was the decision of the Montezuma County commissioners Monday. The Colorado Legislature had given county commissions the thankless task of deciding whether to boost salaries for elected positions in their counties by up to 30 percent. However, any increase had to be applied across the board to all officials, including the commissioners themselves. After a lengthy discussion Monday, the board voted 2 to 1 for no raise. They noted that the state recently decided to start giving a cost of living increase to elected officials beginning in 2017.
Mesa Verde National Park is once again trying to deal with the problem of invasive livestock. An estimated 80 horses and 12 head of cattle are currently roaming the 52,000-acre park, having crossed over from adjoining lands. The National Park Service is seeking comments on a proposal to remove such “trespass livestock” and how best to do it. The problem of feral horses is a sticky one for the park. In the summer of 2014 several protesters picketed Mesa Verde after a half-dozen horses died there, apparently of dehydration. The protesters wanted the park to provide water for the animals.
