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Bessemer Ditch farms I The Pueblo Chieftain 8/4/16,7:01 PM <br /> Bessemer Ditch farms <br /> CHIEFTAIN EDITORIAL <br /> BESSEMER DITCH farmers have adopted a eery worthy cause in actively promoting policies and regulations that recognize the <br /> paramount importance of irrigated farming all along the ditch. <br /> Spurred by a proposed gravel mining operation in the Avondale area,25 farmers said enough is enough.They recently wrote a letter to <br /> the Pueblo County commissioners asking for a moratorium on such commercial enterprises that would threaten agriculture along or <br /> near the Bessemer Ditch. <br /> Of immediate concern is the proposed Fremont Paring gravel pit that would mine 1,50o acres in an area south of Olson Road and east <br /> Of 4oth Lane.Neighbors of the area known as Badger Hills have filed letters of opposition with the state Mined Land Reclamation <br /> Board,which oversees mining applications.We hope the neighbors succeed in getting the state board to reject the application. <br /> Of far broader importance is the efforts of the 25 Bessemer Ditch farmers to persuade Pueblo County to stop development that <br /> ultimately could do permanent harm to the historically and economically important business of agriculture. <br /> "A lot of us are tired of having to fight to protect our land,"said Dan Hobbs,speaking for the 25 farmers who ask the commissioners for <br /> a moratorium on commercial enterprises affecting the Bessemer Ditch."It seems like an ongoing challenge.It's really the culmination of <br /> 15 years of tnzng to defend our interests." <br /> Tom Rusler,a fourth-generation Avondale farmer,said,"This is the third shot at building a gravel pit in the same area and we've had <br /> enough.We're farmers out here and this is like an invasion." <br /> Rusler said other threats to the ecosystem have included Pueblo Chemical Depot contamination of groundwater and a proposed nuclear <br /> power plant that was subsequently rejected by the county commissioners. <br /> i w farmers want time to develop changes to Pueblo County's comprehensive land-use plan that would protect farmland. <br /> With help from the Rocky Mountain Farmers Union and Palmer Land Trust,the farmers plan an agricultural a"r:,. _ ; f analysis for the <br /> county. <br /> We applaud these farmers'crusade to save Bessemer Ditch farmland,considered some of the best in the Western United States.It's a <br /> worthy cause. <br /> http://www.chieftain.com/opinion/editorials/4998473-120/farmers-ditch-bessemer-county Page 1 of 1 <br />