When I first glanced at the proposed County Ordinance No. 1-2014 as published in the Journal prohibiting the introduction of non-native species, I was thinking of the harmful effects of Cheat grass, Russian Olive and zebra mussels. But then I picked up a new garden catalog and realized that nothing I was lusting after was indigenous to Montezuma County. I carefully read the proposed ordinance and discovered that I was planning to knowingly introduce non-native species and establish them in protected areas on private land. Fines! Imprisonment!

A few years ago, I was told by the State that I could no longer collect the water, which runs off my roof. Furthermore, the state refuses to compensate me for the damage to my roof caused be the states precipitation falling upon it. I dutifully abandoned generations of tradition and converted my rain barrels to compost bins. Now the county wants to starve me out by prohibiting new fruit trees and a vegetable garden. Enough. I envision myself as part of a mass migration; mattresses a top a pickup truck, my horse tied to the bumper and Woody Guthrie wailing from the cab as we plod slowly toward Cahone. And I wonder if Arizona will send us a thank-you note as our fields revert to rabbit brush and our irrigation canals are choked by native willow.

Loreleigh Porter

Mancos