Boulder County long ago decided to preserve more than 25,000 acres of Open Space lands and world class views by leasing most of them to farmers like [Paul] Schlagel. Like his father and now his son, Schlagel tills 1,000 acres of Boulder County Open Space, plus about 500 acres more owned by his family in nearby fields.

County residents opposed to conventional seed engineering and pesticide use had over the years persuaded leaders to outlaw the methods on public land, hoping those acres would become a utopian garden of organic vegetable plots and locally in-demand crops.

Now, after years of debate and voluminous series of reports and public comment, Schlagel and other Boulder County lease farmers can plant what they want. The farmers convinced Boulder County leaders that they couldn’t survive while adhering to prohibition of genetically engineered corn and pesticide coatings using controversial neonicotinoids.

Some Boulder County residents are still angry. They feel a new slate of Boulder County Commissioners sold them out after years of detailed public debate and a consensus to slowly restrict engineered farming methods.

Based on staff recommendations and their own research, the commissioners voted 3 to 0 in December to reverse the scheduled bans and restore choice to the leasing farmers.

“There are alternatives. You don’t have to use those chemicals,” said Rich Andrews, himself a semi-retired farmer in the county.

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