Washington, DC – United States Senator Michael Bennet, a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, released the following statement in response to USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack’s decision to issue a secretarial disaster designation for Chaffee County:
“Secretary Vilsack is right to heed Governor Ritter’s disaster designation request for Chaffee County,” said Senator Bennet. “Farmers and ranchers in the area have encountered severe losses in the face of harsh and unforgiving weather conditions. For them, the Secretary’s decision to move forward with this designation couldn’t have come a moment too soon.”
In addition to Chaffee County, six neighboring counties were also named contiguous disaster counties by the USDA: Fremont, Gunnison, Lake, Park, Pitkin and Saguache.