Durango: "Dandelion Debate"

"On a quiet back road near Turtle Lake, a metaphorical battle is being waged between neighbors Katrina Blair and Scott Sallee. The two fight over city contracts, but the differences are philosophical, ecological and – for Blair, at least – almost religious.

Blair, who lives in a rough-hewn log cabin with a solar-paneled roof on the north side of County Road 205, has been pushing Durango city officials for chemical- and pesticide-free parks since 2007. Sallee, who lives on the south side of the road in a neat stucco house surrounded by a moat of lush green grass, owns Scott’s Pro Lawn Service, which has held the $15,583 contract to spray the city’s parks since about 1996.

Each has their own view of what defines a healthy park, be it the level of weed-proliferation or the nutrient level in the soil. But this time of year, both are exhausted by what appears to be a losing battle.

The wonder weed"

Melissa Castro reports for the Durango Herald May 7, 2011.