Ute Mountain Ute Tribe kicks off reservation cleanup effort

Thursday, January 9, 2014  

The Ute Mountain Ute Tribe of Colorado has started a reservation-wide cleanup campaign.

In just the last two weeks, five vacant buildings were demolished and cleaned up. More projects are planned in the town of Towaoc, where 77 abandoned buildings have been inventoried.

“We’re making room for new development for tribal services and government buildings,” Quinton Jacket, the tribe's brownfields coordinator, told The Durango Herald. "Clearing these old vacant homes and falling-down shops makes room to put up new public housing for the community, and we have done that. The infrastructure is already there.”

The tribe is also looking to clean up an abandoned landfill in the town.

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Ute Mountain Utes tackle environmental issues (The Durango Herald 1/9)