Two nonprofits to receive free solar
Solarize La Plata, sponsored by the Four Corners Office for Resource Efficiency, has met the 50 System Challenge posed by Shaw Solar. As a result, two area nonprofits, Boys & Girls Club of La Plata County and Women’s Resource Center, will receive free solar energy.
Fifty Solarize La Plata participants have confirmed their commitment to install solar by signing contracts with local contractors. A total of 381 people signed up for Solarize La Plata, and five solar contractors have distributed 178 solar system proposals. The program’s goal is 100 systems installed by summer of 2014. Three systems have been installed and powered up. Ten more installations are underway.
For more information, visit www.fourcore.org or call 259-1916.
Garden Project seeks grant, needs votes
Garden Project of Southwest Colorado, based in Durango, has entered the Seeds of Change Grant Program for an opportunity to receive one of two $20,000 or one of 15 $10,000 grants to support the Needham Elementary School Garden.
The grants will be awarded to organizations that help support and develop sustainable, community-based gardening and farming programs that focus on teaching people where their food comes from and the ways it can be eaten. The grant program works to enhance the environmental, economic and social well-being of gardens, farms, farmers and communities. The grant would provide for a garden manager to expand Needham Elementary School Garden’s education program.
The Garden Project is asking the community for support through the public voting phase on Facebook.com/seedsofchange and at www.seedsofchangegrant.com. Through April 21, visitors will have an opportunity to vote once per day. After voting closes, the top 50 organizations with the most votes will move on to a final judging phase. Grant recipients will be announced on or about May 5.
American AgCredit distributes dividends
American AgCredit, a farmer-owned financial cooperative, announced annual net income of $111 million for the 2013 calendar year along with a cash dividend distribution of $37 million to its shareholders.
This compares with a net income of $107 million in 2012. With the $37 million in cash dividends paid out to shareholders, this brings the amount of net income distributed since 2005 to $215 million.
For more information, visit www.AgLoan.com or call (800) 800-4865.
Ignacio man joins Angus Association
David Etzler of Ignacio is a new member of the American Angus Association.
The association, with more than 24,000 active adult and junior members, is the largest beef-breed association in the world. Its records include detailed information about more than 17 million registered Angus cattle.
The association records ancestral information, keeps production records about individual animals and develops industry-leading selection tools for its members. These programs and services help members select and mate the best animals in their herds to produce quality genetics for the beef-cattle industry and quality beef for consumers.
Acting ranger arrives for Columbine District
Anthony Madrid, Jicarilla District ranger for the Carson National Forest in New Mexico, will arrive for service Monday in the San Juan National Forest to assume duties as acting Columbine District ranger.
Madrid will fill in until mid-summer, while Matt Janowiak is in California serving as acting deputy forest supervisor in the Los Padres National Forest.
Madrid began his Forest Service career in 1999 on a Santa Fe National Forest engine crew. He went on to work as a soil conservationist for the Natural Resource Conservation Service and as range-management specialist for the Lincoln National Forest.
In 2007, Madrid became first range staff member, then Canjilon District ranger in 2011 for the Carson National Forest. Since 2012, he has been Jicarilla District ranger, managing a unit that includes complex range and gas-and-oil programs, as well as the Jicarilla Wild Horse Territory on the Carson National Forest.
Herald Staff
