January 8, 2026
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In 1978, Congress passed and President Carter signed into law the Inspector Generals Act.It created watchdogs within each agency of the Federal Government whose job it was to rout out waste, fraud, and abuse.The Inspector Generals have saved U.S. taxpayers billions of dollars and their respective agencies have become more productive and efficient.They don’t tout their accomplishments in front of the cameras, they just do their job.When Trump took office in January, 2025, he fired 17 Inspector Generals and instead let Elon Musk and DOGE take a chainsaw to the Federal Government, indiscriminately firing experienced senior employees, probationary employees (less than two years) and everyone in between — creating fear, chaos, and confusion.Federal employment is down more than a quarter of a million jobs since January, 2025.As of December 19, 2025, the Treasury Department TODAY reports, compiled by the Brookings Institute, has Federal spending up $453-billion over 2024 spending.So much for the slash and burn approach. Dawn KortmeyerLake City
After more than 150 years in the Lake Fork and Cebolla Valleys, members of the pioneer Youmans family are retracing their ancestors’ route in reverse as they leave Colorado and return to the midwestern U.S.Roughly segmenting their 60-year marriage into 25 years ranching near Cathedral on the upper Cebolla in Hinsdale County, followed by ten years on ranch lands at Ohio Creek in rural Gunnison County and, most recently, another quarter century raising cattle on the old Dick Bailey Wilson Ranch at Powderhorn, Joe and Wilma Youmans are on the move once again as they make a final move, this time to what they describe as more conducive farming and cattle-raising country near the Iowa border in northeastern Missouri.Interviewed last month at their comfortable Powderhorn home in the midst of packing boxes and, outside, equipment flatbed trailers, Joe and Wilma are surrounded by family — son and daughter-in-law, Patrick and Jennifer Youmans, grandchildren Brittany, 33, and Vincent, 26 — as they explain the difficult decision to sell their Powderhorn ranch and move to Missouri, severing ties to both the Lake Fork and Cebolla Valleys which, for their grandchildren, remarkably date back six generations to the arrival of Joe’s mid-western grandparents and great grandparents, Harry Youmans and Francis and Emma Jane Mendenhall, in the 1870s While physically relocating from Colorado to Missouri, the Youmans are adamant — both fondly looking out on ranch lands from windows of their Powderhorn home — that despite the 900-mile distance, “this will always remain our true home.”Sale of the Powderhorn ranch late last year and the move to Missouri was prompted by a variety of reasons, age — for one — as Joe prepares for his 90th birthday in 2026 — together with the complexities and expenses of modern ranch living which includes increasing government regulations impacting their summer grazing allotments and, in general, the transformation they see in the Cebolla Valley from historic agriculture to a seasonal recreation-based economy.The three-generation move to Missouri — Joe and Wilma, Patrick and Jennifer, and offspring — is eased in part by the fact their immediate neighbors in Missouri — just five or six miles down the road — will be their former Powderhorn neighbors, Bailey and Jill Wilson, who have lived near Memphis, Scotland County, Missouri, the past quarter century.During that time, and while Joe and Wilma remained in Powderhorn, Pat Youmans sampled the rural Missouri cattle-raising culture while living near Memphis for a decade before returning to Colorado.Effective November last year, the Youmans have sold their 300-acre Powderhorn ranch to a Pennsylvania farmer, Nate Richards, the sale includes the Youmans’ home and expansive metal equipment barn which Joe erected shortly after buying the property in 2001. The sale also includes another, older residence, long the home of the late Helen (Hufty) Wilson and former location of the Powderhorn Post Office and, interestingly enough, a small gabled calving shed which, prior to being relocated down valley, served as the school at Cathedral, Hinsdale County, where Joe’s mother, Margaret Mendenhall, taught school prior to her marriage to Grant Youmans in 1931.Sale of the ranch to Richards also includes 100-head of cattle, although the Youmans plan to continue cattle ranching at their new, more temperate Baring, Missouri, ranch, together with raising wheat, corn, and soy beans. Located in northeast Missouri Knox County, near 125-population Baring, the Youmans’ new ranch property is situated between the towns of Baring and Memphis (population 1,731), Scotland County — later the home of former Powderhornites Bailey and Jill Wilson. Since marriage in Dumas, Texas, in February, 1966, Joe and Wilma Youmans’ trajectory has included 25 years on the 625-acre Couraud Ranch which was acquired by Joe’s grandfather, Gunnison and Hinsdale County pioneer Harry Youmans (1848-1932). During their time on the upper Cebolla ranch near Cathedral, Joe has happy memories of his multi-term tenure as a member of Hinsdale County School Board, fellow
Hinsdale County will be conducting a series of controlled burnings at the Transfer Station throughout the month of January to mitigate a pile of natural vegetation that has accumulated at the Transfer Station. This completely organic material was brought primarily to the dump by local property and ranch owners clearing their land or yards of potential wildfire fuels and consists of trees, shrubs and grasses. It is important to note that no there are no construction materials or treated wood within this pile of material.Commissioner Greg Levine was able to obtain a permit from the State of Colorado through asmoke management program. Commissioner Levine stated that the permit, which allows the county to burn at the Transfer Station, is a very cost effective and logical solution. The program will be a hybrid strategy alongside the continuation of the existing chipping program, which is, according to Levine, too expensive on it’s own, costing up to $20,000 per year. Thankfully, Hinsdale County has obtained a grant for further chipping activity in 2026 and beyond.The days of the controlled burns will be up to the discretion of Don Menzies, Hinsdale County Road and Bridge Manager, as long as certain weather conditions are present.Levine said, “ideal burning days would be snowy or rainy days without high winds, with lower wildfire conditions.” Levine stressed that these burnings will occur only during the winter, never in the summer.Levine predicts that the amount of material needing to be burned away is small enough that the task should be completed by the end of January, barring any extreme weather conditions.Levine said now that the permit is in hand and the public has been notified, Menzies can begin the burns whenever he chooses.Menzies told WORLD that this natural material will only have a small amount of accelerant added, “to get it going,” such as diesel fuel or kerosene, but that the amount would be miniscule. Menzies also wanted to note that there will be a full water truck on standby on site, as a safety precaution.Anyone with questions or concerns can call Menzies at 970-944-2400 or Hinsdale County Administration Offices at 970-944-2225.