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| 5/16/2009 6:00:00 AM | Email this article • Print this article | Southwest Colorado reaps benefits from stimulus spending
Joe Hanel
Journal Denver Bureau
DENVER - The Four Corners will get nearly a third of all the stimulus money the Department of the Interior is sending to Colorado.
The money will pay for a fence around Lake Nighthorse and solar power at Mesa Verde National Park, among many other projects.
Out of $86.2 million the department has budgeted for Colorado, Mesa Verde National Park will get $14.6 million and the Animas-La Plata project will get $12.1 million. The Bureau of Indian Affairs also plans to spend $2.2 million in Colorado from the stimulus bill for road and bridge repair and workforce training, according to the Interior Department.
The Bureau of Land Management is getting $20.2 million for projects in Colorado.
Spokespeople for the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Bureau of Land Management did not return messages Wednesday.
The Animas-La Plata funding includes $4 million for design and construction of the operations center in Durango, plus $720,000 for a fence around Lake Nighthorse.
Also, $7 million will pay to speed up construction on key parts of the Navajo Nation water pipeline that is part of A-LP, said Doug Hendrix, a Bureau of Reclamation spokesman. Bureau of Reclamation officials want to get the money out into the economy as soon as possible, he said.
"If we haven't received the funds yet, we will really soon," Hendrix said. Mesa Verde will pay for eight solar photovoltaic panels to help the park headquarters complex generate electricity, rather than consume it.
"It will allow us to be much greener," said Mesa Verde spokeswoman Tessy Shirakawa. "Visitors can watch the little energy wheels going backwards instead of forwards."
The park's other stimulus bill projects include:
• Replacing two water lines, from the park boundary to Chapin Mesa and at Morefield Village and Campground.
• Buying three alternative-fuel shuttles for Weatherill Mesa.
• Replacing electrical lines at the Navajo Loop of Morefield Campground.
• Improving the Spruce Tree House trail to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
• Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced the Colorado projects in a news release Tuesday.
"After a rigorous process of identifying merit-based projects that truly reflect the longstanding mission and priorities of our bureaus, I am confident these investments meet the highest standards and will accomplish the goals as outlined by President Obama," Salazar said.
President Barack Obama signed the $787 billion stimulus bill in Denver on Feb. 17.
The Interior Department's $86 million is just a small slice of the money from the stimulus bill that Colorado should see. School districts and state and local governments can expect $2.9 billion over the next two years. Individual Coloradans will get $3 billion in federal tax breaks from the stimulus bill, according to the Colorado Fiscal Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank that keeps track of where the stimulus money is going.
Reach Joe Hanel at joeh@cortezjournal.com.
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