By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project
Federal land designations, with Otero County as an example
I had a reader share the first link below with me recently. It’s an editorial appearing on the Colorado News Your Way site about a proposed federal land designation, specifically about a Wild & Scenic River designation proposed for the Purgatoire River and Pickett Wire Canyon by the Forest Service as a part of the Cimarron & Comanche National Grasslands revised management plan.
Let’s back up a step and quickly talk about federal land designations. The second link below is to a Congress.gov explainer on the topic. You’re welcome to poke around in there for more detail, but for our purposes, it’s enough to know that federal land designations affect how a land can be used (which would include both recreational and economic uses), as well as what kinds structures (if any) could be put there. National parks are a great example. If a particular region is designated as a national park, there are obvious and often well known restrictions on what can happen there. The specific type of land designation we’re looking at here is one for a wild and scenic river. I copied over that particular row from the congress.gov site as screenshot 1 so you could see the particulars in summary.
If you’re thinking to yourself that a land designation can cut both ways–that it could be good or perhaps abused–you’re reading my mind. You’re also reading the mind of the gentleman who wrote the op ed. Quoting:
“When the federal government is allowed to create another federal government land designation (Wild & Scenic River, Wilderness, National Heritage Area, National Conservation Area), the residents are allowing it to further exploit its power, influence and control over property which affects the surrounding region. They are also mechanisms for nonprofits or nongovernmental organizations to flourish and defraud the taxpayers of the United States.”**
The remainder of the gentleman’s piece is given over to how to fight a federal land designation if you don’t want it, it being clear that he and others do not want the Wild and Scenic River designation that is being proposed in Otero County.
I’ll leave it to you if you want more on that designation, the fight against it, etc. I want to enlarge upon this gentleman’s points by expanding this to something everyone in this state needs to hear. This piece, in addition to a great resource for the river designation, illustrates the importance of paying attention locally and working locally (you’ll see this also in the “Related” content below and today’s second post).
Some non-contiguous quotes flesh this out, even if they do allude to the river designation specifically (you can generalize easily from that):
“In this effort [stopping a land designation] it is necessary to build strong local and political opposition. Secure unified opposition from local governments, landowners, tribes, businesses, and state officials. … Local control and economic development concerns have killed recommendations. Engage your congressional delegation early.”
“Organize a coalition quickly, document local impacts with data, economic studies, contact representatives, and engage agency processes formally (written comments create a record). Success depends heavily on demonstrating broad local consensus against the Wild & Scenic River Designation. National environmental groups often push designations, so counter with organized grassroots efforts.”
“It is also best to act independently of the federal government agency proposing the land designation. Hold public meetings independent of federal sponsors. Do not wait upon the comment period. Opposition must appear well before the comment period. Comments in opposition may never appear, be removed or may be relegated to anonymous remarks by the federal government agency.”
Well put, but you need to remember that all of this is dependent upon knowing what’s coming. You could be the best coalition builder ever, but if you’re asleep at the switch when the train passes, your skills are for naught.
Don’t be asleep at the switch. Read your local public notices (see the third link below) at least once a week. Find your county and/or city’s website and read through meeting agendas. Even if you aren’t the best at building opposition, there’s still plenty you can do with this information. You can share it with someone who is good at organizing. You can contact your local officials and lean on them. You can share it publicly via social media or local bulletin board sites.
Take responsibility for one small corner of your world. A relatively minor sacrifice of time can mean a whole lot (as the op ed illustrates for Otero).
**I am not certain, so this is speculation on my part. The proximity of this land to the Southern Plains Land Trust and that group’s (along with others’) interest in the grasslands almost makes me wonder if the designation is at least partly motivated as a mechanism “…f or nonprofits or nongovernmental organizations to flourish” down there.
https://www.coloradonewsyourway.com/post/defeating-federal-government-land-designations
https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/R45340
https://publicnoticecolorado.com/
Related:
Consider the effort to get the Dolores Canyon on the Western Slope its own land designation, an effort that I don’t have to speculate as to who is driving it.
The many things watching Steve Staeger’s “To Serve and Collect” can teach
Let me start by saying that the 9News piece linked first below is great journalism. I bag on 9News from time to time, and I stand by what I’ve said, but It doesn’t hurt any to turn around and give credit where credit’s due.
Kudos here to Mr. Staeger for some solid reporting. This is what journalism ought to do.
The topic of the piece is an in-depth look at some cities and towns out here just East of the Denver Metro area that are abusing photo radar, along with a law run and passed in this last legislative session to rein them in.**
As with the first post today, I want to enlarge past the topic of Mr. Staeger’s investigation (it’s well-worth a watch), to something more durable and lasting than the news of the day.
Mr. Staeger himself alludes to part of it during his story. He rightly mentions how his coverage, the changes in policy, the new law, and the refunded fines all demonstrate the importance of local news. If you are lucky enough to have some, you should be watching and/or reading it.
What do you do if you don’t have local news where you are? What should you do even if you have local news?
You should be watching. You should be sharing. Become the citizen journalist that your community needs.
Find your city council and county commissioner meeting agendas online and watch. If you have questions about what they’re doing, call them or email them. Better yet, go in person to a meeting and ask.
Share what you find through your networks. If there’s a community bulletin board on social media, put the agendas up there and call people’s attention to what’s going on. If there is no community bulletin board, start one. You needn’t opine on anything if you don’t want to be the center of an argument, it’s plenty to shorten the distance between the people who live around you and their government.
It will be work, yes, but the impact you have on your local community makes it worthwhile.
There’s one last thing that Mr. Staeger’s reporting teaches us. I mentioned it briefly in the footnote below, but it’s important enough to say twice: no matter whether or not you agree politically with those in power, you need to be watching them. All of the communities doing dirty with photo radar are conservative.
This isn’t big-government liberals abusing power, these are conservatives in one of the most conservative parts of Colorado. Do not, at any level of government from local up to state, assume that you don’t need to follow what they’re doing because they might fall under the same ideological label as you do.
READ THE FULL COMMENTARY AT COLORADO ACCOUNTABILITY PROJECT
Editor’s note: Opinions expressed in commentary pieces are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the management of the Rocky Mountain Voice, but even so we support the constitutional right of the author to express those opinions.