Colo. Ranchers Dangerous When Cornered----Brakes Slammed on Army Grabbing More Colo. Land
Baxter Black - Quay County Sun
On the edge of common sense
related: Judge Says No to Environmental Review of Army's Expansion Plan
September 9, 2009
By Baxter Black
Quay County Sun
How do you put your mind around oppression for the common good and eminent domain? The explanation most times is “follow the money.”
I lived in Colorado for many years. I have watched it grow from 2.9 million people to 5.1 million people, most of it on the suburban front range. Colorado has unparalleled beauty, an eco-sensitive majority and an under-the-radar abundant productive agricultural industry.
Photo: In southeastern Colorado the last intact shortgrass prairie in America’s Great Plains rolls into juniper woodland landscapes and breathtaking red-rock canyons hundreds of feet deep. This unique combination of canyonlands, forested mesas and grasslands supports a highly diverse range of flora and fauna numbering in the thousands. The hard won environmental equilibrium of these interconnected bioregions – which stretch well into northern New Mexico – cannot be replaced if destroyed.
Yet this ecologically and historically rich landscape is now under threat from a huge and unwarranted land grab by the Pentagon. The existing 238,000-acre Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site (PCMS) between Trinidad and La Junta was created in 1983, largely through the use of eminent domain, and came with promises of no further expansion and no live fire. (Sierra Club)
The clash between country vs. city grows with each new tourist who comes to visit and stays. What used to be a principled debate between “conservationists” and ranchers and farmers has become a crass, closed-door battle between The Government-Conservation-Realtor-Construction Complex and isolated bands of native defenders of private property rights.
To wit, southeastern Colorado ranching communities vow to allow “Not one more acre!” to be condemned, co-opted, coerced, seized or bamboozled by the government to expand Fort Carson Military base’s Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site at the expense of their homes and livelihood.
We’ve all watched family residences condemned to allow shopping malls to be built. We’ve seen towns nationwide moved wholesale by dam construction or highways. Not to mention feedlots or dairies sued by cities that grew out around them.
Colorado, our grand Colorado, has become the poster child for blatant efforts to beg, buy or steal water rights and land to supply the Front Range’s voracious growth.
What are these not-one-more-acre ranchers’ chances of succeeding? If they were Eskimos or baby seals being routed from their habitat, I’d say a good chance. If they were snail darters, spotted owls, or dolphins there would be a hue and cry in their defense.
It is ironic there are probably fewer ranchers than there are blue whales. Why not “Save the ranchers!?” They are the truly endangered species.
But to understand what is at stake you must put yourself in their position. Imagine you are a painter and the government decrees you must offer up all your life’s work to be destroyed.
Photo: Cathy Mullins lives on some land that could be in conflict with a plan by Fort Carson to expand. (Lyn Alweis / The Denver Post)
“Don’t worry, Mr. Russell,” they say. “Here’s some money. You can paint more.”
How can they do that, you ask? “I’m sorry,” says the general, the politician, the real estate developer, the dozer driver, the lawyer, the wheeler dealer and the executioner.
“It’s the way it is. It’s not personal.”
It’s not personal. Somehow they must think that absolves their conscience for taking their Judas 10%.
But that may be the reason the ranchers will win. Because for them it’s all personal.
Their lives and livelihood and those of their children, their neighbors and their communities are in unexaggerated grave danger.
Their determination should not be taken lightly. Someone once learned the hard way that if you back a mama bear in the corner, you better have your ducks in a row. And I don’t hear a lot of quacking.
Baxter Black is a self-described cowboy poet, ex-veterinarian and sorry team roper. He can be contacted at 1-800-654-2550 or by e-mail at: headcowboy@baxterblack.com
http://www.qcsunonline.com/opinion/oppression-7575-eminent-around.html
www.standeyo.com/NEWS/09_USA/090910.Co.ranchers.dangerous.html
*ORIGINAL CAPTION: In Southeastern Colorado, under uninterrupted blue skies, the Pinon Canyon area includes scenic buttes, river valleys, family ranches and historic and archeological sites that span 11,500 years. The area is threatened by the U.S. Army's plans to expand its Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site by as much as 408,000 acres, a move that could lead to forced condemnation of private lands and damage or destroy historic Santa Fe Trail monuments, ranches, and historic and prehistoric archeological sites. The Santa Fe Trail, in continual use for 60 years starting in 1821, was America's first great international commercial highway and a prominent route of exploration and western expansion. The Trail winds 1,200 miles across five states from Missouri to New Mexico. In western Kansas the Santa Fe Trail splits into two routes, with the northerly Mountain Route following the Arkansas River Valley into Colorado. In addition, this rugged and scenic area contains historic and prehistoric archeological sites, most of which have remained almost completely undisturbed. The excellent preservation and high density of sites-with features such as domestic architecture, rock art, discarded tools and food refuse items-make this an ideal area for future research. Rancher Steve Wooten stands near Pinon Canyon, Colorado.
www.standeyo.com/NEWS/09_Pics_of_Day/090910.pic.of.day.html