After years of fighting Boulder County land use codes and regulations, Zia Parker is selling her farm and moving with her husband to Ecuador in hopes that running a permaculture farm will encounter fewer obstacles in the South American country.

Parker’s farm, Willow Way, is a permaculture herb farm and herbal CSA in Niwot. Permaculture is a design method that uses the principles of natural ecosystems to create diversified food production systems anywhere from rural farms to urban apartments — a method that seems like it would fit perfectly in Boulder.

But Parker also intended her farm to be a demonstration farm where people could go to learn about permaculture practices. This demonstration aspect brought trouble in the form of a cringe-worthy saga of public hearings, objecting neighbors and tight restrictions.

“It ended up being a really heavy logistical task, to carry out all the restrictions they placed,” Parker says. “It’s a very cumbersome process to be involved in as a citizen, and farmers don’t have that kind of time. Who does?” Parker recently sold Willow Way to Susan Mitchell and Jay Smith, who talk enthusiastically about owning the farm and say they plan to keep Parker’s permaculture practices intact.

“We’re going to continue the legacy of sustainability and growing herbs, but also look at expanding to include more vegetables and fruits,” Mitchell says.

Mitchell and Smith say they will also retain the educational aspect of Willow Way, though through different methods than Parker.

“I’ve been in the permaculture community for the past 25 years, and I’m a fifth-generation organic farmer,” Smith says. “One of the things I’ve done in my career is permaculture projects onsite for schools, churches, institutions and individuals that just want to have their own organic foods growing in their front yard.”

Smith says they’ll be making use of permaculture’s ability to work in both rural and urban settings and will take the demonstrations from the farm to the sites of those interested in learning about techniques. Because Parker’s problems stemmed largely from concerns about privacy and increased traffic, Smith says she does not anticipate problems with the local government or neighbors.

“We really believe in having open communication with the neighbors,” Mitchell says. “I don’t think we’re going to be doing anything they’ll find objectionable at all.”

When Parker first attempted to start her demonstration farm, her application was sent to a public hearing. The Land Use Department approved the farm, but only under certain conditions.

“The county took this kind of two-faced stance, saying that they would approve the demonstration farm so they could save face,” Parker says. “But then they put all these restrictions on it, to the point that it was impossible to operate as a viable business.”

The county restricted the number of cars that could be at the property to just 10, and limited where cars could park. Though Parker’s application made clear she intended Willow Way to be a demonstration farm, she was told she could only give three tours per year. Finally, the county ruled that her studio would have to incorporate two disability accessible bathrooms.

“With a 600 square foot studio, that would mean we would barely have space for the classroom,” Parker says. Parker proposed putting two disability accessible portable toilets on her farm instead. Her request was denied, however, as portable toilets are not covered in the land use codes, she says.

“The county wasn’t against me. The codes were,” Parker says. “The county did not interpret the codes in favor of sustainability, and they did not use the processes available to them to change the codes to favor this sustainability-based project. In many instances, the codes are absolutely contrary to sustain ability.”

Parker says she believes the county could greatly improve its support of small farmers and sustainable practices by streamlining the process by which land use codes are changed.

“[Officials in the Land Use Department] say that they’re just doing their jobs and that they have to follow the codes,” Parker says. “Well, whose job is it to make the codes, and adapt the codes to the needs of the people and the land? We need to be able to change the codes so that they support sustainable practices.”

Though Mitchell and Smith will continue the sustainable, permaculture practices of the farm, Parker says she believes the root problems with what shut her farm down still need to be resolved.

“The planet is screaming for attention, for common sense, for human beings to be considering her in every decision,” Parker says. “The codes need to be more adapted to the needs of a changing planet. The whole process needs to be more supportive of the Earth.”

Bailey brings municipalization experience to Boulder

by Jefferson Dodge

Heather Bailey is Boulder’s new czar of municipalization, and she knows a thing or two about regulatory agencies and cities running their own electric utilities.

Much has been made about Bailey being paid $250,000 annually during a two-year contract, which will make her the city’s highest-paid employee.

But she says she is not angling for the more permanent utility manager job if Boulder decides to power itself.

Bailey insists that localizing the city’s electrical utility is the question, not the agenda. She says she has not been given marching orders to find in favor of severing Boulder’s ties to Xcel, the company that has been in a bitter feud with the city over the future of Boulder’s electric utility since before last year’s election season. It was November when, despite opposition heavily funded by Xcel, voters approved a measure allowing the city to spend $1.9 million in a utility occupation tax over two years to explore becoming independent from the energy giant.

But the proposition may be costly, considering that Boulder wants more renewable energy, which generally costs more than traditional sources like Xcel’s coal-fired plants.

Bailey has been brought in to take an impartial look at the prospect, and she has extensive experience with municipal and state utilities in Texas.

Bailey, who was born in Japan because her father was in the military, moved to Austin, Texas, when she was 12. She has an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin, and a bachelor’s degree in marketing from Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas.

She worked for the Public Utilities Commission of Texas, setting up its compliance program beginning in 1980, only a few years after that PUC was formed. Then Bailey worked for the city of San Antonio,where electricity was municipalized. She says that city’s utilities department was distinctive because it was overseen by a largely independent board that oversaw the utilities director.

But when Bailey took a job with the city of Austin’s internal audit department, she gained experience with a new model, one in which the city council had more oversight, since the utilities director reported to the city manager.

Bailey says the municipalization approach that Boulder should adopt — if it adopts one at all — depends on the

character of the city’s population and its government.

“You just have to get a feel for the city and how it operates,” she says.

Bailey also gained experience at the state level, working for the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) of Texas, one of the largest power utilities in the country. This is where she spent the majority of her career, working for an entity that former President Lyndon B. Johnson helped found with a dam project built to power rural Texas.

She started as accounting manager and worked her way up to executive manager of corporate services and deputy chief financial officer.

Bailey continued working for the LCRA even after Texas deregulated its wholesale power market and the LCRA became a transmission system, where she held the title of executive manager of transmission services business management and asset development.

She retired in 2006, and decided to take some time off to be with her two sons, who are now in high school. But after about 10 months, she says, she decided that she was “not a good stay-at-home mom,” so she went back to work, for Navigant Consulting, as director of energy practice.

Bailey says she is passionate about preserving the integrity of the community, and when she starts working for the city on June 7, she will initially spend time learning about Boulder’s citizens and government, as well as Colorado’s rules and regulations when it comes to public utilities.

One question, she says, is to what extent the state’s PUC requires equal services to all, and to what extent utilities can discriminate. (Xcel has threatened to begin curtailing solar and wind incentive programs in anticipation of Boulder’s potential municipalization.)

Regardless of the answer to that question, she says the city has taken the correct tack by creating an independent, objective procedure by which to assess whether municipalization is the desired course.

“Y’all have set this up absolutely right,” she says, citing the city’s two-year process for evaluating the situation.

Bailey emphasizes that her goals include “making sure everybody’s voice gets heard” and adhering to the objectives set by the community.

“You have the opportunity to create the utility of the future, if that is the right answer,” she says.

Bailey acknowledges that while it may be tempting for the city, after spending so much money on the inquiry itself, to move forward with municipalization, Boulder must stick to the goals it sets. And the “off-ramps” that

the city has created will force pauses for self-reflection.

“It helps you stop yourself and do a gut-check,” she says.

Bailey adds that while her options are open, she does not have her sights set on being Boulder’s municipal utility manager, because that would introduce an agenda that compromises the independent and objective nature of the municipalization inquiry.

“I don’t want to come in thinking about that possibility,” she says. “I want to get to the right answer. … I’m not going in with any future intention of anything other than the task at hand.”

The $1.9 million in taxpayer money is being spent primarily on her services and the attorneys who will assess the costs of acquiring Xcel’s infrastructure as well as the company’s investments in the Boulder market, and they are expected to perform a due-diligence evaluation.

“That’s why you bring in someone who’s independent,” Bailey says. “That money will be well-spent if you get to a conclusion that is right for the community.”

One of the main issues is whether it is realistic for the city to expect to pay the same electricity rates as it currently pays Xcel — a prerequisite for it to move forward with municipalization — while significantly increasing its renewable energy sources, which generally cost more. On the one hand, Xcel has economies of scale. On the other, Boulder could have lower overhead.

“That is a very good question,” Bailey says when asked about it.

Finding the answer is why she is getting paid the big bucks.

Colorado’s organic farms may soon get a big boost from some faraway customers: members of the European Union.

Beginning June 1, the United States and the EU will be able to trade organic products while avoiding the red tape that was in place in the past. It is the result of an equivalency agreement reached at BioFach 2012, the world’s largest trade show for organic foods, held annually in Germany.

This year’s BioFach was attended by several Colorado organic companies, including Roth Farms of Longmont and representatives of Aurora Organic Dairy and Goddess Garden, both of Boulder.

In the past, both the EU and the U.S. had to meet each other’s organic standards in order to trade, which led to increased expenditures and hassle. However, EU and U.S. organic products will now be accepted as comparable, which clears the way for international trade, says Tim Larsen, the senior international marketing specialist at the Colorado Department of Agriculture.

Stephanie Dybsky, the director of trade and investment for Europe and other regions at the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade, says that equivalent standards are the basic purpose of the agreement.

“The big takeaway that was explained to me after the agreement was that formerly the EU did not recognize the U.S. organic certification.

The USDA national organic standards weren’t formally recognized by the EU,” she says. “Now that’s changed and they’ll consider if it’s officially considered organic in the U.S. then the EU will also recognize it.”

Dybsky says Colorado farms have already started benefiting from the agreement.

“Of our six companies represented there, $115,000 were made in sales on the floor show,” Dybsky says, “which is really great.” Dybsky says those same six companies, including Roth Farms, anticipate making another $750,000 in sales over the coming year.

Colorado may be one of the prime benefactors of the trade agreement because of its large supply of organic millet and wheat, Larsen says. Colorado produces about 60 percent of the U.S. supply of millet, and there is a low amount of organic millet in the EU supply chain. There may also be a larger market in the EU for organic wheat with lower protein content, Larsen says, and Dybsky adds organic lettuce producers to the beneficiaries in Colorado.

“Because of our unique landscape, with the mountainous region in the west and the Eastern Plains and the amount of sunshine Colorado gets,” Dybsky says, “our farmers are poised to really benefit from the agreement and have a strong niche.”

The EU will also benefit from the agreement because of its large supply of organic finished products, such as olive oil, pasta and chocolate. These items will likely not be a threat to Colorado businesses or organic produce, Larsen says.

There are two exceptions to the equivalency agreement, one in the EU and one in the U.S. The EU hoped to introduce organic cheese and other organic dairy products to the U.S. market. However, EU standards for organic dairy cows are not comparably stringent and will therefore require additional certification from the U.S. in order to be allowed. In return, the EU will require additional certification for organic apples from the U.S. because of disease prevention treatments used on them.

Despite past arguments between the EU and the U.S. over organic standards, the equivalency agreement will allow both sides to export organic products under similar labels. Though it is yet unclear whether the organic items will be labeled with their country of origin, they will likely be labeled as organic certified under the USDA in the U.S. or with the organic logo in the EU, Larsen says.

Barbeques, baseball and meditation. That’s right. Congressman Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) meditates for 45 minutes a day and says he thinks meditation needs to become the new American pastime.

He started a serious practice of meditation and mindfulness in November 2008, six years after he was elected to office, and says it’s made a difference in the work he’s been able to do in Congress. He’s less stressed, has more insight, more kindness and is better able to listen to his fellow representatives. Even those whose views he disagrees with.

The congressman is bringing that message to Boulder on April 30 for a talk at Naropa University.

“We have big differences in the country, but I think we can all deal with it without being unkind to the other side,” Ryan says. And while it might help mend the cross-aisle talks, it wasn’t his fellow members of Congress he had in mind when he wrote the book A Mindful Nation. It was his constituents.

“I’ve just been watching my constituents suffer so much over the last 12 years in public office and some of that is obviously economic and inequality and healthcare and all these things, and I really saw mindfulness as a way to bring relief to my constituents in the long term and the short term,” he says. It’s not a fix for those problems, but it’s a way to manage and reduce the stress that accompanies them.

Ryan has already been involved with implementing meditation programs in some Ohio schools.

“I say not so jokingly that that may be the most important thing I do in my life — to bring this to my schools in my community,” he says. The program was granted $1 million a few years ago, and is now implemented in schools.

“Walk into a school and you just see the principals and the teachers say how much the classroom has changed, the school has changed,” he says. “You just can’t help, you get teary eyed because this is giving kids hope again — kids that are in a situation that most people in society would just write them off, and we’re not writing them off, we’re giving them what they need to succeed.”

These are kids from poor, urban neighborhoods with records for violence.

“I think there’s a lot of people in our country that just have thrown up their hands and said, ‘We don’t know what to do. That’s just going to be our segment of our population that’s not going to be able to get out of that situation,’” he says. The mindfulness practice helps these kids calm down, concentrate and develop a feeling of being in control even when they can’t control their environment.

The practice has been implemented in organizations as disparate as Google and NBA teams and the U.S. Marine Corps, and telling those stories and reporting the science behind the practice is the focus of his book.

“The message really — from an Irish-Italian Catholic Congressman from Ohio — is that this is something that needs to be mainstreamed in America,” he says. “It’s important that the average person that may think of that [meditation practice] as something that’s way out there, they may need to think of who’s doing it, who’s studying it and realize it can be helpful in their own lives and lead to a real renaissance in America.”

Just slowing down for a few minutes a day could add calm and a sense of connection to the rest of day, even if the frantic pace continues.

And while Boulder may already have more than its fair share of people who meditate, the message he’s delivering is one that needs to be taken off the meditation cushion.

“If you’re a practitioner of mindfulness there are a lot of seeds that need to get planted in school systems and healthcare systems around the country,” he says. “I hope the talk is about how we move out of the OK, we’re all going to sit on our cushion and feel good phase to OK, a lot of people would find this helpful and we’re going to offer it up to them and try to push it out into society.”

The message can be free from religious affiliation and political party, says James Gimian, publisher at Shamabala Sun Foundation and mindful.org, who helped organize Ryan’s appearance at Naropa.

“He has a very deep confidence in the goodness and creativity of the American people regardless of faith or religion or even political outlook,” Gimian says. “By slowing down, centering on what are really some basic fundamental American values of self reliance and innovation and caring for your neighbors, together we can apply this to these great emerging challenges of our time whether it’s the economy or the environment.”

This coming Earth Day, the Carrotmob will descend upon University Hill at Half Fast Subs in an effort to raise enough money to help the sub shop become more energy-efficient. From 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday, April 22, all revenues from Half Fast will be used to make the outdated restaurant more green.

The Carrotmob is a group geared towards helping businesses become more socially responsible. They help businesses with campaigns to raise money to make energy-efficient and eco-friendly changes, and they often arrive in carrot costumes.

“The name goes back to the old saying ‘There are two ways to make a donkey move forward,’” says Swithin Lui, the head campaigner for the Boulder Carrotmob. “‘You can either hit it in the back with a stick or you can dangle a carrot in front of it.’ We use this because instead of protesting or boycotting a business, we give them incentives like monetary rewards to get them to make socially responsible decisions.”

In celebration of Earth Day, Lui and his team began a bidding war among the restaurants on the Hill for the chance to host a Carrotmob event and use their revenues to update lights, windows and other items throughout their store. The final four contenders — Rush, Abo’s, La’au’s Taco Shop and Half Fast — began the bidding by offering percentages of their revenues from the day for energy efficiency updates.

“Half Fast eventually won by promising to contribute 100 percent of their revenues,” Lui says. “Honestly, we were expecting the final bid to be around 20 percent, so 100 percent was definitely a surprise, but Half Fast winning wasn’t. They said they knew they were going to win from the start.”

Anthony Merino, the general manager of Half Fast, says the sub shop has looked at becoming more environmentally friendly in the past, but the Carrotmob event is a great incentive to finally make the changes.

“It feels good to know that you are trying to improve the way your business functions and make it more environmentally friendly,” Merino says. “It was hard to choose what we wanted to do, whether it be composting, using renewable energy or becoming more energy-efficient. In the end, though, it will be great to be considered a green business, especially in a place like Boulder.”

Energy Smart has also contributed to the event by doing an assessment of Half Fast and determining what areas need improvement. After the assessment, Half Fast was able to establish a set of tiered goals based on the costs of each improvement. If they reach $2,500, Half Fast will change all of the light fixtures to LED lighting. If they make more than that, the shop will also replace the 100-yearold windows with more energy-efficient options. Finally, if the shop earns $5,500, the furnace will be updated as well as the lights, though the windows will be left alone.

In addition to the assessments, Energy Smart, offers assistance in finding contractors and available rebates, all as part of its suite of amenities available to businesses.

Thus far, Energy Smart has worked with 2,522 businesses, 310 of which are in the food industry. They have a little more than a year left of their grant, and by that time they hope to work with 5,300 businesses, says Pam Milmoe, the business sustainability coordinator for Boulder County Public Health.

“We have some big numbers,” Milmoe says. “We have given $923,000 in rebates so far, which are spurring $5 million in energy-efficient investments in both businesses and local utility investments. Through our projects, we are on track to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 6,000 metric tons.”

The work at Half Fast is just one example of many businesses that have taken advantage of the grant given to Energy Smart to make Boulder more environmentally friendly.

Lui was happy to help the movement spread to the Hill. “We figured we were going to try and attract as many students as we could, and by choosing a restaurant on the Hill we will hopefully get a more impassioned clientele,” Lui says. “Plus, the Hill is one of the places that could use a little greening up, especially because it is such a symbolic part of Boulder.”

Merino says he’s happy to see Half Fast be a part of Earth Day and the movement to make businesses in the county more green.

Respond: letters@boulderweekly.com

In Boulder, it isn’t all that surprising to see a girl walking by with her cat sitting on her shoulder or a guy riding a scooter with his golden retriever perched in a backpack behind him. So it seems only natural that the eco-friendly movement would carry over to furry friends.

Though pets have a much smaller carbon footprint than humans, making a few changes in a pet’s diet, shampoo and toys does make a difference in the environment, and the market for environmentally friendly pet products is growing, says Carol Kuzdek, owner of Whole Pets in Boulder.

“Environmentally friendly pet products are becoming more common,” Kuzdek says. “There are hemp and organic cotton toys, soy leashes that are compostable and West Paw beds that are made out of recycled material.”

Changing the food and environment surrounding your pets can also help with their health, Kuzdek says.

“A lot of cancer and diseases are probably genetic, but I think there is a lot that a natural diet can do in terms of promoting health and longevity,” Kuzdek says. “Environmental things that are out there like pesticides and fertilizers also cause a lot of illnesses and disease. Being cautious about where you take your animal is very important.”

Marti Matsch of Eco-Cycle says she agrees with Kuzdek’s beliefs.

“There are so many ways your pet is both affecting the environment and being affected by it,” Matsch says. “They’re closer to the ground than we are, of course, so that means they’re susceptible to toxins like pesticides in the grass and toxins in your carpet and floors. So in addition to just considering things like their shampoos, their food and how to manage pests like fleas, it’s important to consider how you care for the environment around them, since that can have a direct effect on their health.”

A recently published article by Eco-Cycle outlines a few ways you can make your pet more environmentally friendly, including natural alternatives for flea and tick control like flea combs and brewer’s yeast tablets, avoiding toys made from PVC, an unrecyclable plastic, and yes, picking up the poop to prevent water contamination and harmful weed growth.

Environmentally friendly grooming options are also becoming more readily available. Whole Pets and Only Natural Pet Store both offer several natural shampoos and conditioners for dogs and cats, as well as natural flea and tick preventatives and remedies. Green Dog Wash, located in The Village shopping center on Arapahoe and Folsom, offers self-service and full-service grooming with natural products and sells natural treats and toys.

Though changing your pet to a more natural and sustainable regimen may cost more, it is worth it, Kuzdek says.

“Natural toys and food and other things are definitely more expensive, but there are two reasons for doing it,” Kuzdek says. “One is you are helping the environment and your pet’s health, and two, you are helping economically, because a lot of these products are made here in the U.S.”

Food & Garden
Digging in to organic gardening
No lawn? No problem
Urban herbs
Eating your legislation
Recipes on the range

Sustainability
Nice day for a green wedding
Safe spring cleaning
Looking closer at “local”

Business

City, Xcel square off over solar, wind programs
Fiber Problems
Conserving Colorado’s Golden Goose
Women to watch in sustainable business
Just a little loan

Health
Stop sniffling and sneezing ‎
How to make your own kombucha  ‎
To cleanse or not to cleanse  ‎

by Jefferson Dodge

It’s that time of year.
You open your window on a warm day, breathe deep, and all of a sudden the itchy, watery eyes and sneezes set in.
When allergies strike, there are natural alternatives to Claritin and similar over-the-counter drugs.
Boulder herbalist Brigitte Mars suggests reducing the amount of dairy and wheat in one’s diet, because those substances can produce phlegm. Another dietary adjustment involves eating more spicy and pungent foods, like cayenne, ginger and garlic, because those can open up nasal passages.
Mars says temporary lifestyle changes as simple as doing errands outside the home in the morning, when pollen counts are lower, might reduce allergy symptoms. Even avoiding drying clothes outside on a line, where they can collect pollen, can make a difference.
She also recommends taking a homeopathic remedy that actually includes local pollens, like Allergena Zone 6, because it stimulates an immune response similar to taking a flu vaccine.
In addition, Mars advises taking quercetin, a bioflavonoid that is a good vitamin supplement for hayfever, and using a “neti pot,” an Ayurvedic tradition from India that involves flushing out nasal passages with a mixture of water and salt.
But one main question in the war against allergies revolves around whether you are currently in the throes of an attack or are simply wanting to prevent the onset of such symptoms.
Finding the herbs that are key to your relief may be as simple as reading the ingredients listed on the bottles in your local health food store.
Local herbalist Matthew Becker, an instructor at the North American Institute of Medical Herbalism and lead practitioner at the Pharmaca Integrative Pharmacy in North Boulder, says there are herbal remedies for both prevention and treatment.
For those who want to take a proactive approach to heading off common spring allergy symptoms before they begin, Becker recommends preparing the immune system. And preparing does not necessarily mean boosting. Allergic reactions, he explains, are usually caused by the immune system over-reacting to changes in the environment, so one can take an herbal remedy that simply modulates the immune system’s natural defense mechanisms.
Becker recommends a variety of preventative natural cures, especially when Boulder-area trees like poplar and pine are preparing to pollinate. One option is astragalus, and another is nettles, which, taken a week or two before allergy season, can mitigate symptoms, whether imbibed as capsules, tea or a tincture.
Another natural medicine that fights allergies is NAC, or N-acytelcystiene, which stimulates glutathione, a powerful antioxidant that the body naturally produces, he says. It is good for respiratory symptoms and detoxifies the liver, among other things.
“NAC really works on a lot of levels,” Becker says, adding that NAC is used in hospitals for conditions that vary from congestion to Tylenol overdoses.
Becker adds that there are two mushrooms that can be effective for allergies, especially when taken a month to six weeks before the season sets in: Cordyceps and Reishi. When combined, he says, they can lead to a dramatic decrease in allergy symptoms, especially asthma.
When it comes to protecting your kids from allergies, Becker recommends giving children probiotics, at least a month in advance, if possible.
But if it’s too late for prevention — if symptoms have already descended — there is a whole different battery of natural weapons.
For those who have a chronic inflammatory condition that surfaces year after year, Becker recommends bromelain, a digestive enzyme that’s found in pineapples. It is a powerful anti-inflammatory that must be taken on an empty stomach, he says, ideally twice a day.
Xanthium and magnolia flower are other herbs widely used in Chinese medicine for allergies. Becker says there are a variety of formulas that incorporate the two, including Bi Yan Pian and Magnolia Clear Sinus, which he says is particularly effective.
As for Western herbal medicines, he recommends Eyebright, which is found in numerous formulas and is especially good for watery eyes and sinuses.
Becker also suggests the use of osha, which is not only effective, but local. It can be found in Colorado above elevations of 8,000 feet, he says, and has been used for hundreds of years by Mexicans and Native Americans. Put two or three dropperfulls of the tincture in a small amount of water, Becker advises, and it can work quickly, especially if taken every couple of hours.
He also recommends grape seed extract, tablets that can treat upper-respiratory symptoms within minutes when taken four or five at a time.
Like Mars, Becker advises taking quercetin, which he describes as a “broad-spectrum, dramatic, powerful antihistamine” that can be taken throughout allergy season if it proves effective. He recommends taking three tablets three times a day, and adding bromelain into the mix.
Finally, Becker says two widely known remedies, Echinacea tincture and vitamin C, can also deter allergy symptoms, especially when the latter is ingested at least twice a day in a total of one to four grams.

by Tate Zandstra

The conservation of our resources,” former president Theodore Roosevelt once said, “is the fundamental question before this nation.”
The sentiment seems like a modern reaction to a shrinking natural world but, even a century ago, Roosevelt saw an urgent need to protect wild places. He had witnessed the decline and near extinction of the buffalo, decimation of redwood forests and the destruction caused by rampant mining. The world population at that time was about a billion and a half. Now, with 7 billion and counting, President Barack Obama appears set on a conservation plan of his own, one seemingly tailored for the modern world, and it starts in Colorado.
The American Great Outdoors Initiative is a nationwide conservation plan to get more Americans outside, not only to instill in them an appreciation for open and wild places and a desire to protect them, but to create outdoors-related jobs and stimulate tourism. The Great Outdoors Initiative aligns somewhat disparate government agencies like the Departments of Interior (DOI) and Agriculture (USDA) with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Council on Environmental Quality in order to conserve two or more key wilderness areas in each state. Colorado’s Front Range turns out to be the testing grounds for the new plan.
The Rocky Mountain Greenway, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced last May, “will connect the Denver Greenway System to the three National Wildlife Refuges in the Denver metro region and, eventually, to Rocky Mountain National Park.” In his speech, which took place at a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Rocky Mountain Arsenal visitor center, Salazar said the plan would enhance the Denver metro region’s connections to the natural landscapes and counties surrounding it — and result in increased tourism spending.
The Rocky Mountain Greenway is one of three Colorado projects to be constructed under the Great Outdoors Initiative. Connecting three major National Wildlife Refuges — Rocky Flats, Two Ponds and Rocky Mountain Arsenal — with many smaller state parks and recreation areas, the plan creates a large wildlife corridor with 140 miles of unbroken trails in some 40,000 acres of open space. The plan also calls for water quality testing and improvement and eventual extension as far as Rocky Mountain National Park.
Urban areas are beautified with the addition of parks, and citizens benefit from outdoor activity, education and clean water, but there are real monetary benefits, too, according to the Great Outdoors Initiative. The plan cites the successful rehab of Confluence and Commons parks from dumping grounds for garbage and raw sewage in the ’70s to places that enhance the quality of life of Denver’s residents and attract tourists today.
“If there’s a system of trails to link national parks together, it would benefit communities around that trail system, absolutely,” says Maryann Mahoney, executive director of the Boulder Convention and Visitors Bureau. “The National Park Service just released data about total visitor spending in communities in and surrounding national parks, and it’s significant.”
Very significant, in fact. According to EPA figures, U.S. National Parks draw 280 million visitors each year, provide 250,000 related jobs to Americans and generate $12 billion in visitor spending.
“Outdoor recreation contributes $730 billion to the U.S. economy, and Colorado’s active outdoor recreation contributes more than $10 billion annually and supports more than 100,000 jobs,” says Avery Stonich of the Outdoor Industry Association (OIA), an outdoor recreation trade association based in Boulder. OIA estimates as much as $289 billion of economic activity is generated nationally by peripherals like gas, food, taxes, and retail sales and services in a ripple effect dependent on tourism at public lands and largely benefiting small business.
“People come to Boulder and they want an activity,” says Bill Leuchten, who owns Boulder’s Front Range Anglers. “They may go horseback riding, ballooning, hiking, or they may try fishing.”
Leuchten’s concern is with stream quality, and he says he feels that federal money would be best spent improving habitat in rivers like the Platte, which flows through much of the Greenway.
“Stream improvement would bring in revenue, no doubt,” Leuchten says, “Good fisheries bring people from all over the world.”
Leuchten employs six full-time retail employees and dozens of part-time and private contractors as guides. He is one of many business owners whose livelihood depends upon sound conservation measures.
In financially stressful times, any advantage to local economies is precious, but there are skeptics.
“I think bringing people out to see wild animals and nature is pretty much always a good idea, especially if they can’t afford to do it otherwise,” says Kieran Suckling, executive director of the Center for Biological Diversity, but he cautions that the process needs to be managed carefully. “You’re going to have to be smart about it and think about what kind of infrastructure you’re creating to do that, and make sure that you aren’t damaging nature to do it.”
There have been many cases where conservation strategies aimed at protecting environments through stimulating economic gains have backfired, causing greater damage to the environment, he says.
“There’s a limit to how far you can go with the argument that protecting the environment has economic value,” Suckling says. “There certainly is economic value, but ultimately, nature needs to be protected because we have an ethical responsibility to do so, regardless of economic benefits.”
Otherwise, he says, the effect is to reinforce the same self-centered principles which led to degradation in the first place.
“There’s always a balance between conservation and use,” OIA’s Stonich says. “We see it all the time in Boulder when our open space charter specifically sets aside land for conservation with recreation secondary, then people get up in arms when the open space department won’t put a trail there.” Still, she says she believes that money is a necessary component of conservation.
“OIA lobbies in D.C. to make sure there are lands conserved and through that people go make their purchases, contribute to the economy, and enjoy the outdoors and become stewards of the environment,” she says.
“There are a lot of successful projects where resource users are brought into the fold of environmental protection without actually watering down that protection,” Suckling says. “Projects are most successful when they can clearly articulate how the environment is being threatened, and how it is beneficial to our resource users to protect the environment.”
The Great Outdoors Initiative is a necessary risk, Mahoney says. She says she believes that the more people who are allowed to experience the outdoors, whether they come as tourists to support the local economy, or they come from inside Denver and would never normally journey outside the city, the better.
“If you’re an inner-city person who has never been to the Rocky Mountains, which are 30 minutes or an hour away, then your only perspective of your environment is urban,” she says. The experience of getting out of that environment “can be life-changing. It’s important to the overall education of what we have in our state and what we have in the United States.
“It’s what people recognize when they think of Colorado and when they think of Boulder; we’re recognized as a place that has access to hundreds of miles of great hiking trails, 45,000 acres of open space and mountain parks. … That’s part of our brand and it’s very important.”

by Hadley Vandiver

From detoxifying diets to juice fasts, different dietary cleanses abound, claiming to rid your system of toxins and help you lose weight. People who regularly cleanse say they feel better, look thinner and think more clearly after a cleanse. But some dietitians argue that your body does all the cleansing it needs on its own.
So why do people cleanse in the first place? People choose to cleanse for a variety of ailments, says Susan Van Raes, nutritional therapist, life coach and owner of Boulder Nutrition. People cleanse to achieve weight loss goals, to alleviate body pain or inflammation that could be related to autoimmune disease or arthritis, to combat high cholesterol and high blood pressure, to relieve digestive issues, and even when recovering from surgery or chemotherapy, she says.
“I think that, honestly, our cells are just so bogged down with toxins that everything is just not functioning at its optimal rate,” Van Raes says. “It could be mentally, it could be deep in the digestive track, it could be in the colon. There’s many things that toxicity interferes with, and you just need to get all that stuff out of your body.”
The cleanse that Van Raes uses is one she developed that blends a number of different medicinal philosophies. She incorporates some elements of Western clinical nutrition by using a “whole foods-based” diet with nutritional foods, such as oatmeal or nuts, to keep the blood sugar stable. Herbs such as fennel, peppermint, pau d’arco and burdock root, which encourage digestion, and ionic minerals, such as selenium, are used to aid in cellular detoxification, Van Raes says. The cleanse also employs Chinese medicine principles, which means that fruits and vegetables vary seasonally. For example, baby greens, kale, dandelion greens and spinach are encouraged in spring, while squash, apples, carrots, pears and squashes are usually reserved for the fall. Each season focuses on cleansing a different organ, Van Raes says, with liver being the focus of spring and lungs in the fall.
“I cleanse three or four times a year at least,” Van Raes says. “And I find that I have more energy, and I sleep better. The most obvious symptom, to me, is I have this really different sense of mental clarity when I cleanse. I feel like my mind and my thoughts are so clear, and I’m really productive when I’m working and then I can relax better when I’m not working. I just always feel the best that I can feel. I truly stand behind it.”
Dr. John Douillard, owner of the LifeSpa Ayurvedic Retreat Center in Boulder, developed the two-week-long Colorado Cleanse after living in India for eight years and working with Deepak Chopra. The first four days of the Colorado Cleanse are known as the digestive reset, Douillard says. Participants eat no dairy, no nuts, no wheat products and very little fat. Cleansers in this phase are encouraged to eat fresh fruits and vegetables, such as apples, beets and zucchini. These first four days of the cleanse are designed to prepare the digestive channels of the body before the process of detoxification begins.
“If we just go ahead and do a detox, and don’t recognize that there’s a reason why the cells got toxic in the first place, then we just move the toxins from one fat cell to another and never really address the reason why the body got toxic,” Douillard says. “So this cleanse is an ayurvedic, holistic, complete cleanse where we do a real thorough kind of reset of every aspect of digestion, and a reset of the detoxification ability, and then when we do the detox, your body knows what to do with those toxins.”
In the next seven days of the cleanse, participants eat clarified butter, also known as ghee, in the morning, and then eat a “completely no-fat diet for the rest of the day,” Douillard says. This no-fat diet focuses on khichadi, made of split yellow moong dahl beans and white basmati rice.
“Because you have that clarified butter in the morning, your body is forced to go into fat-burning mode,” Douillard says. “And then when you have no fat in your diet, your body has to burn its own fat.”
Participants in Colorado Cleanse eat three full meals a day, they do not end the cleanse starving and wanting to binge, says Douillard, a self-professed ravenous eater.
“The problem is that as a culture, not only do we get toxic, but we have become really lousy fat burners,” Douillard says. “Our culture has become fat, we’ve become overweight, and we’ve started eating lots of sugars and carbs and nibbling every two to three hours. The body has lost its ability to make energy last for many hours because it’s conditioned to eat meals every two to three hours because we’re grazing and snacking all the time.”
By participating in a cleanses throughout the year, Douillard says the body becomes a better fat-burner, allowing a person to keep energy for longer, sleep more soundly and experience fewer issues with blood sugar levels.
Both Douillard and Van Raes say that quick fixes and extreme fasts are not the way to go about losing weight or helping your body become healthier.
“Fasts have been going on in this world for thousands and thousands of years, and they might work for some people, but I don’t think they are a good entry point for someone who is coming off of a mainstream diet,” Van Raes says. “I think that a) they’re going to have way too much resistance, and b) their body’s going to be in shock. Fasting can definitely be dangerous if it’s not done correctly, so being supervised is important.”
Rather than choosing to do a fast or cleanse that might involve days without food, they suggest that more natural, simple cleanses can help reset the body.
By eating a clean and healthy diet of foods such as fruits, vegetables and proteins, like lean meats or nuts, our bodies can usually detoxify themselves well enough on their own, says Cathy Hayes-Daly, certified nutritionist and owner of Nutrition Power in Boulder.
“Your liver needs food, everything needs energy in order to work well,” Hayes-Daly says. “And we have no control over where that energy comes from.”
There is little concrete evidence about whether fasting and cleansing works or doesn’t work, Hayes-Daly says, and it is necessary to be careful and conscious of your own bodily health when looking into drastically changing your diet, even if only for a week.