A bill introduced in the state legislature is taking aim at the fence surrounding the Cielo Vista Ranch and billionaire owner William Harrison. The bill, introduced by State Sens. Cleave Simpson, Mike Weismann, and Julie Gonzales and State Rep. Matthew Martinez, requires local governments to approve large fencing projects and would halt further construction of the fence surrounding the 88,000-acre ranch.
“The general assembly finds, determines, and declares that this act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety or for appropriations for the support and maintenance of the departments of the state and state institutions,” the bill reads.
If passed, the bill would require landowners to submit applications with local governments for any large fence repair or construction. The local government may either then approve or reject the application based on certain criteria.
Landowners with fence projects over five feet tall and over a contiguous mile long would have to apply. The bill will take effect in July if passed.
Despite the criteria, a local government may approve an application if the benefits of the fencing project outweigh the harms. Also, a local government may pass an ordinance or resolution opting out of these requirements.
Even though it could set a statewide precedent, the bill is specific to Costilla County. “It’s a situation unlike any other,” Shirley Romero-Otero, member of the La Sierra Environmental Guardians Committee, told Alamosa Citizen.
Romero-Otero has been fighting for decades to uphold historic land use access that she and many others are historically guaranteed through the Sangre de Cristo Land Grant dating back 150 years. Access was guaranteed by the Colorado Supreme Court and upheld by the Supreme Court of the United States.
When Harrison, who primarily lives out of state, purchased the property in 2017 he knew that it came with more than 50 years of legal battles and the historic access granted to the people. Now, he’s constructed an eight-foot-tall fence that has raised environmental issues and divided himself from the community.
“When he bought that property, he knew that the lawsuit went with it,” Romero-Otero said. “He also knew … that those rights had already been decided. So he was well aware of that.”
Costilla County is one of the poorest counties in Colorado. It was identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a county “in persistent poverty.”
“The Sangre De Cristo Land Grant lands are at risk of landowners undertaking irrational and environmentally damaging fencing projects without oversight or intervention by a local government,” the bill states.
There are roughly 20 miles of fence already constructed. The fence is eight-feet-tall and fashioned with a wire grid that tapers down to smaller and smaller grids.
“We’ve been left to deal with the damages from that fence,” Romero-Otero said.
Erosion on steep slopes warranted an inspection and subsequent order for remediation from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment’s Water Quality Control Division.
Local eye witnesses have reported small animals such as turkeys and rabbits pacing back and forth along the fence, unable to pass through. They have also viewed herds of deer and elk constrained by the fence, unable to pass as easily as they once could.
“Our concerns with that fence have always been, not so much that we don’t have access to use our rights, but the erosion that has happened with the building of the fence, the diversion of rainwaters, the sediments in the acequias and to the watersheds. And more important, or just as important, is the containment of wildlife trapped behind that fence,” she said.
Access holders, the La Sierra Environmental Guardians Committee, and Costilla County have tried to mitigate issues through a variety of ways. A district court judge stepped in and halted fence construction and a subsequent moratorium was put into place. The community was successful in stopping construction temporarily.
This legislation is another layer of protection that the people of Costilla County will employ, if it is passed in the Colorado General Assembly. “We, the citizens, the access holders, the heirs to that land grant have tried to do whatever we could to stop this fence,” she said.
Though she is waiting to see if the legislation is a step in the right direction, she wants the greater public and state legislators to know how unique the problem is. Even though the ranch has been under private property ownership since the 1960s when infamous timber baron Jack Taylor purchased it, the land use holders have a historic precedent to use the land.
“They’re set in stone for future generations,” she said.
Rep. Martinez told The Citizen that he viewed the fence during a half-day visit with the La Sierra Environmental Guardians Committee and that he is encouraging other legislators to make the trip themselves. He said Democratic assistant house majority leader Jennifer Bacon and a few other legislators will be making the trip in the next few weeks.
“It wasn’t until I went out and saw this for myself and just realized how enormous this project is and really how detrimental this is to Costilla County as well as to the San Luis Valley,” Martinez said.
Though this piece of legislation may look small compared to other bills, Martinez said, “This project [the fence] is influential and detrimental to our area and to Colorado as a whole. We need to be able to take measures to protect our people that have been here and being able to recognize why this is an important issue for the state.”
He says the issue falls within his goal of introducing the metro area to rural Colorado’s issues and showing how they impact the state as a whole.
The bill will be heard by the state legislature’s Agriculture, Water, and Natural Resources Committee.
Romero-Otero wanted to emphasize that this isn’t just a group of people going after a private property owner. Although Harrison, a billionaire, does have rights as a private property owner, he has shown an unwillingness to be a good neighbor, she said. There is a level of disparity that was identified by Judge Kenneth Plotz and a clear imbalance of power between the representatives of the ranch and the people of Costilla County.
Rep. Martinez saw a situation that needs attention and sees a person who is not adhering to local governments.
Harrison, for his part, has ended construction for now and has followed the injunction and moratorium set against him and his property. He continues to state the fence is to keep the herd of buffalo in and trespassers out.
“I just think that state legislators really need to be educated on this issue and understand the historic and the legal history of what led to this law being written so they can vote accordingly,” said Romero-Otero.