{"id":65,"date":"2023-11-07T16:51:47","date_gmt":"2023-11-07T16:51:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/environmentclimate2023\/?p=65"},"modified":"2023-11-07T16:56:33","modified_gmt":"2023-11-07T16:56:33","slug":"publisher-and-cattleman-jordan-hedberg-wrestles-with-westcliffe-discord","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/environmentclimate2023\/2023\/11\/07\/publisher-and-cattleman-jordan-hedberg-wrestles-with-westcliffe-discord\/","title":{"rendered":"Publisher and cattleman Jordan Hedberg wrestles with Westcliffe discord"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
Jordan Hedberg standing outside his office at the Wet Mountain Tribune in Westcliffe.<\/em>
Photo by Konrad Fl\u00e6te Gundersen<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

By: <\/strong>Konrad Fl\u00e6te Gundersen
______________________________________________________________________________<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

WESTCLIFFE \u2014 Grappling with a changing climate \u2013 environmentally and politically \u2013 cattle rancher and newspaperman Jordan Hedberg has committed himself to leaving a positive impact on the place where he grew up. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But as Hedberg walked from his office at the Wet Mountain Tribune through the main street of Westcliffe on a recent afternoon, he confided that he fears a slide into anarchy. It’s gotten to the point where he keeps a gun in his office desk for protection, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sun was shining and the snow dusted Sangre de Cristo mountains loomed just west of the town. A 270-pound former football offensive lineman, Hedberg spoke candidly about problems he has seen intensifying since his return to Westcliffe eight years ago – primarily political turmoil and environmental degradation as mountain snowpack and water flows change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018\u2019I was always convinced I\u2019d stay here forever,\u201d he said. \u201cBut now I\u2019m not so sure.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hedberg is the publisher of the Wet Mountain Tribune, a local newspaper that\u2019s been around since 1883. In addition, he runs cattle on pastures in the Wet Mountain Valley to produce grass-fed beef.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hedberg, 36, grew up on a family-ranch in Westcliffe, before moving to Illinois to attend Monmouth College where he studied history, business and finance. He played on the college football team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He returned to Westcliffe when his father was having health problems and got a job at the Wet Mountain Tribune newspaper as a reporter for $11 an hour. In 2018, Hedberg bought the paper and took over as publisher. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Westcliffe\u2019s political climate has deteriorated since 2013. Hedberg blames a competing newspaper, the Sangre de Cristo Sentinel, which has established itself as a rival voice in town. The Sentinel and its editor George Gramlich have been ”attacking people,” he said. This has led to discord in town, creating a climate where sheriff deputies must be posted in some public meetings, Hedberg said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018\u2019We\u2019re moving towards anarchy,\u2019\u2019 he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gramlich did not respond to queries for this report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hedberg walked by the Sentinel offices. Sentinel employees have posted a \u2018\u2019Trump won\u2019\u2019 lawn sign in front of their office. The mission of the Sangre de Cristo Sentinel, according to its website, is \u2018\u2019to be the sentry for our fellow citizens and patriots, providing truth, awareness and alerts to dangers while protecting our God-given freedoms and our constitutional rights and liberties.\u2019\u2019  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hedberg is unsettled by the injection of Sentinel views.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018\u2019Left versus right isn\u2019t really the question here – it is what do we want our future to look like,\u2019\u2019 he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The town\u2019s increasingly divisive politics amount to mostly \u2018\u2019Republican in-fighting,\u2019\u2019 Hedberg said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As sheriff deputies often must be posted at town meetings and as Sentinel supporters criticize the news accounts presented in the Wet Mountain Tribune, Hedberg no longer feels safe, he said. He raised concerns that he may be assaulted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That’s why, to be safe, he keeps a handgun at the ready in his office at the Wet Mountain Tribune, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018\u2019If it wasn\u2019t for my size, things probably would\u2019ve gone differently,\u2019\u2019 Hedberg said, referring to a recent town meeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u2018\u2019It devolves into: \u2018This is communism!’ and I\u2019m like, we\u2019re talking about sidewalks!\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Westcliffe\u2019s political turmoil reflects an increasingly polarized political scene nationwide.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018\u2019We have a lot of the same issues as the rest of the state, but worse,\u2019\u2019 Hedberg said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Gramlich and his supporters are targeting him because they view him as \u2018\u2019too liberal,\u2019\u2019 Hedberg said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As an example, he cited a commentary written by Gramlich in May 2023, which claimed that Hedberg was arrested for domestic violence for violently attacking his girlfriend two years ago while drinking. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018\u2019That never happened,\u2019\u2019 Hedberg said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the late afternoon as the sun sank lower, he headed to his ranch to check on his cows. This work, he said, provides a much-needed refuge from the newspaper strufe with the Sentinel and the increasingly vitriolic town meetings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Hedberg petting one of his cows, Stewbert.<\/em>
Photo by Konrad Fl\u00e6te Gundersen<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

He drove his bright yellow truck up an icy road and stepped out in a pasture and called to his cows, who quickly approached. One particularly affectionate cow looking to be pet, Cold Cut Combo (named after a Subway sandwich), repeatedly tried to nudge him with his blunt horns. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018\u2019I don\u2019t know if I should be raising animals at all out here,\u2019\u2019 Hedberg said, describing his concern that raising livestock in an already degraded valley might be exacerbating the worsening environmental issues that are creating challenged around the Southwest. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hedberg said he tries to run his ranch sustainably by finding a balance between \u2018\u2019making money\u2019\u2019 and \u2018\u2019destroying the environment.\u2019\u2019  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The land where he runs cattle is protected under a conservation easement designed to help restore healthy environmental conditions. He rotates his cattle weekly to prevent overgrazing and the cows are entirely grass-fed, besides some hay in the wintertime. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hedberg said his rotational grazing mimics how cows would naturally feed in the presence of predators, preventing them from overgrazing which would cause invasive plant species to take over. He said this is beneficial to the ecosystem not only because it protects native flora, but also because it increases the soil\u2019s water retention by causing the grass to grow deeper roots which allow the soil to hold more water. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The grass Hedberg\u2019s cattle feed on is subsurface irrigated, meaning moisture naturally rises through the soil and supplies the grass with water, Hedberg said. Thus, he does not need to supply the grass with any extra water to feed his cows. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many Colorado residents are concerned about water scarcity, as droughts become increasingly common and debilitating across the Southwest. Farmers are amongst those most affected, because agriculture uses 80% of the state\u2019s water. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After generations of ranching, the increasingly variable and delicate conditions create uncertainty, Hedberg said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018\u2019Newspaper, agriculture, it\u2019s not that different,\u2019\u2019 he said. \u2018\u2019It\u2019s about how you deal with uncertainty.\u2019\u2019 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WESTCLIFFE \u2014 Grappling with a changing climate \u2013 environmentally and politically \u2013 cattle rancher and newspaperman Jordan Hedberg has committed himself to leaving a positive impact on the place where he grew up. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1756,"featured_media":66,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-65","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/environmentclimate2023\/files\/2023\/11\/IMG20231030161736-1-scaled.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/environmentclimate2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/environmentclimate2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/environmentclimate2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/environmentclimate2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1756"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/environmentclimate2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/environmentclimate2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70,"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/environmentclimate2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65\/revisions\/70"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/environmentclimate2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/environmentclimate2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/environmentclimate2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/environmentclimate2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}