A cost-cutting package fast-tracked through Congress is poised to decimate a system that has supported public TV and radio stations for nearly six decades.

While public TV and radio stations in much of rural America don’t depend on federal funding as heavily as their Alaska counterparts, the cuts would hit many of them hard. In Colorado’s Four Corners region, KSUT gets 20 percent of its funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

After Congress voted to eliminate $1.1 billion in funding for public broadcasting, local public media stations are facing serious budget issues.