March opens splendidly with temperatures staying below the 60s and not too much wind in the forecast, Thursday afternoon looking the windiest. The migratory Sandhill cranes are on their stopover and tourists will flock in this week for the annual Monte Vista Crane Festival. The clocks spring forward on Sunday, March 8. More below:
1. Warming Februarys
Credit: The Citizen and Dennis Schoenfelder
Went back to 1948 with National Weather Service data to learn that February 2025 and 2026 are the only two Februarys on record where the maximum daily temperature exceeded 50 degrees on average for the month or 10 degrees above what is normal. The overnight lows also stayed in the double digits for the third straight February. “I don’t think it’s good for the farm ground,” says our buddy and rancher Greg Higel. It’s not just ranchers and farmers who should be paying attention. Oh, by the way, March 1 established a new record high at 64 degrees, breaking the old record of 62 degrees set in 2025.
2. Rio Grande Headwaters Restoration Project acknowledges fish kill
The Rio Grande Headwaters Restoration Project is an organization that has made it its mission to create river restoration and aquatic habitat improvements along the Rio Grande and Conejos River. Imagine its horror then when a canal and headgate improvement project it has underway near Del Norte killed more fishery than Colorado Parks & Wildlife could collect. “The Rio Grande Headwaters Restoration Project (RGHRP) and San Luis Valley Irrigation District (SLVID) are deeply saddened by the fish mortality that occurred during construction of the project,” said Daniel Boyes, executive director of the Rio Grande Headwaters Restoration Project. He explains more on what happened with the Farmers Union Canal Diversion and Headgate project.
3. Alamosa’s highway businesses bristle
How do you change the interstate highways that run through Alamosa to make them safer? For the Colorado Department of Transportation, the answers lie in developing a “highway access control plan” that follows the state highway access code book. It’s a process that has small businesses along Highways 160 and 285 up in arms and calling for stronger local representation.
4. Confirmed lobo spotting at wildlife refuge
Yes, that was a gray wolf spotted moving through the Monte Vista Wildlife Refuge on the weekend of Feb. 21-22. “We did confirm the sighting of a lone female wolf that was photographed on the Monte Vista refuge,” said Colorado Parks and Wildlife southwest public information officer John Livingston. “That individual has since moved on and is no longer in the immediate area.” Local photographer Rick Dunnahoo created the buzz when he photographed el lobo on the move.
5. Hurd supports Iran strike
The first American deaths were confirmed Sunday as the U.S.-Israel strikes on Iran divided Colorado’s elected leadership. Third Congressional District Rep. Jeff Hurd is backing the strikes, saying in a prepared statement that “a nuclear armed Iran is not an option.” “Preventing that outcome is a clear national security imperative for the United States,” said Hurd, whose district includes the San Luis Valley. U.S. Sens. John Hickenlooper and Michael Bennet want Congress involved and said the nation’s unilateral strike on Iran is a danger for America.
“As a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, I have seen no new intelligence or information suggesting that Iran’s pursuit of a nuclear weapon had become more imminent, as the Administration suggested,” said Bennet.
Keep up with all the latest on the candidates and issues in the 2026 midterms with our Election 2026 page
6. The Valley Pod: Marty Jones
Marty Jones is a Kansas transplant, a retired Adams State chemistry professor and community volunteer extraordinaire, the voice of The Outdoor Citizen podcast hosted by Alamosa Citizen, and now the face of National Public Radio. We talk about it in this episode of The Valley Pod.
7. Adams State’s weekend of sports
Adams State qualified its women’s and men’s basketball teams for the eight-team Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference tournaments, which begin this Tuesday, March 3. On the women’s side, Adams State will host a first-round game against Metro State, with tipoff scheduled for 6 p.m. at Plachy Hall. The men’s team travels to Fort Lewis for its first-round game, which is at 6 p.m. in Durango. Semifinal round games in both tournaments are slated for Friday, March 6, and the championship games on Saturday, March 7. . .
At the NCAA DII Super Regional VI tournament held in Golden, Adams State wrestlers won individual titles with Isaiah Gamez at 125 pounds, Jakob Romero at 133 pounds and Aaden Valdez at 157 pounds. The Grizzlies finished runner-up as a team to Nebraska-Kearney. Adams State’s Kieran Thompson at 141 pounds and Angel Flores at 149 pounds also advanced to their respective title matches to qualify for the NCAA DII National Championships. Those will be held in Sioux Falls, S.D., beginning March 13. . .
Adams State also sent a limited squad to the RMAC Indoor Track and Field Championships held at the Western State Field House in Gunnison. Sam Dirkes won the RMAC men’s shot put crown with a throw of 18.61 meters and Adams State had the top 5 finishers in the men’s 3,000 meters, with Felix Perrier winning the conference title in 8 minutes, 21.44 seconds. Maggie McClesky won the RMAC women’s indoor mile in 4 minutes, 54.63 seconds, with teammate Ava O’Connor runnerup in 4:55.22.