|
|
|||
|
|
|
Cowboys, Soldiers and Colorado’s Pinon Canyon
June 2, 2006 Opinion Editorial By Jessica Peck Corry, Tamara Louden America, a nation born through war, loves its cowboys and sticks by its soldiers. In the Twenty-First Century, however, it may have to choose between the two as ranchers in southern Colorados Las Animas County face the prospect of being asked to sacrifice their landand potentially their entire way of lifein the name of national security.Officials at Colorado Springs Fort Carson Army Base recently learned that military planners will allocate $100 million to expand training grounds for the bases soldiers. Leaders say the expansion is necessary to meet the demands of an anticipated 10,000 additional troops who will call the base home in the near future. In a time of war, it seems like a reasonable request. A closer examination, however, presents a more complicated situation. Published reports indicate that to complete this expansion, planners are seeking 418,000 added acres surrounding Ft. Carsons current training range at Pinon Canyon, located two hours south of the base in rural Las Animas County. An additional plan, leaked to the La Junta Tribune Democrat in April, shows that 418,000 acres is just part of a larger 20-year plan to acquire 2.3 million total acres. The Army says the larger expansion plan is not under current consideration. Ranchers and farmers remain uneasy, remembering vivid assurances made two decades ago when Pinon Canyon was first converted from ranchland into a facility for military training exercises. At that point, the ranchers say, they were told there would be no future expansions. In an effort to help calm the fears of local residents, U.S. Sen Wayne Allard recently introduced legislation to prohibit the Defense Department from using eminent domainor the forced taking of private property for the public goodas a strategy to ease expansion. Increasing the size of the training site is going to go forward only if landowners in the area are willing to sell to the Army at fair-market prices, Allard told The Denver Post last month. Property owners can only hope that Allards forecast holds true. During the past six months, Army officials have repeatedly assured the public that condemnation will not be used under any circumstances. Theyve said that only land from willing sellers would be acquired. During the past few weeks, however, the story has changed, with officials informing U.S. Rep. John Salazar that they would not rule out condemnation of private land. The question for many of these property owners now becomes this: Are you a willing seller if your only other alternative is condemnation? According to Lon Robertson, a Las Animas County rancher, some of his fellow ranchers will sell, others will try not to, and everyone would prefer to have it not happen at all. Our economy in this area is too fragile to withstand much, said Robertson. The Divide and Conquer approach will undoubtedly weaken even the strongest of wills. Robinson says he knows this because hes seen how the process works before. He talks about his friend, Jack Crowder, who lost his ranch in Kim to the Pinon Canyons initial development in the 1980s. According to Robertson, Crowders ranch was ultimately taken for the site; Crowder sold just before his case would have gone to condemnation proceedings. He said he could see the writing on the wall and felt he needed to take the last offer or there likely wouldnt be such an offer available, Robertson added. Another friend, Bob Hall, held out and fought to the bitter end losing his ranch to condemnation at about $20 an acre. According to Robertson, the loss forced him to file for bankruptcy soon after his ranch was taken. Robertson, a talented organizer and a patient advocate for those scared of losing their ranches, ponders his own fate. To say I would never (sell) obviously flirts with disaster. I would rather be a Jack Crowder and live to fight another day in the agricultural industry rather than losing everything. The value of his ranch, he says, is the history and beauty of it all. The love we have for the land cannot be replaced by a few dollars. Their love of ranching is matched only by their love of country. As the government contemplates expanding Pinon Canyon for military training, Colorados ranching community is at risk of becoming just a fading memory. As our soldiers fight for freedom abroad, ranchers in our own backyard want their basic freedoms protected. There is nothing more American than the cowboy and, as history demonstrates, he never goes down without a good fight. Jessica Peck Corry (Jessica@i2i.org) is the director of the Independence Institutes Property Rights Project. To learn more visit www.PropertyRightsProject.org. Tamara Louden is a fifth generation member of a Las Animas County ranching family. |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
  |
| home
| about us
| publications
| events
| contribute
| multimedia
| rss feeds
| policy centers
| © Copyright Independence Institute 2010. All Rights Reserved. 13952 Denver West Pkwy. Suite 400 Golden, CO 80401 | (303)279-6536 |
 |
Send this Article to a Friend
Printable page
