ALAMOSA — State Representative Matt Martinez (D-62) and state Senator Cleave Simpson (R-6) introduced legislation last week in support of a group of Costilla County residents who are engaged in battle with a billionaire landowner over an issue common in Western history: the construction of a fence.
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ALAMOSA — State Representative Matt Martinez (D-62) and state Senator Cleave Simpson (R-6) introduced legislation last week in support of a group of Costilla County residents who are engaged in battle with a billionaire landowner over an issue common in Western history: the construction of a fence.
The bill, HB25-1023, is aptly named “Local Government Review of Fencing Projects”.
This conflict between ranch owner and residents is not new. For decades, there has been ongoing tension in the area between a sequence of billionaires who have owned an 83,000-acre property called “Cielo Vista Ranch”, also known among locals as “La Sierra”.
Many of the residents have roots that go back generations, including people whose ancestors were given land grants to a section of what is now ranch property almost 200 years ago. As affirmed by the courts, possession of land grants provides legal rights to access the land to graze their cattle and collect firewood.
But this fence, built by billionaire William R. Harrison, is not a typical fence. It is over eight-foot tall, topped with barbed wire and runs along the ranch's eastern border for an estimated 20 miles.
The fence is immediately problematic because, residents assert, it damages wildlife habitats and completely disrupts migration corridors, trapping wildlife on the property and putting them at greater risk. In the past, representatives for Harrison have responded by saying the fence is necessary to contain bison that graze on the property and to prevent trespassing.
The bulldozing of miles of fence road has also caused severe erosion, especially in steep terrain where water has coursed down the mountainside, flooding adjoining land, gardens, and roads.
Local officials have allegedly communicated with the ranch owner about the negative impact of the fence, telling them to stop further construction until the issue could be resolved.
That communication has largely gone unanswered. Instead, Harrison has hired a team of lawyers to sue the county, stretching already scarce resources in a county that ranks among the poorest in the state.
Last week, in response to the situation, Rep. Martinez and Sen. Simpson introduced HB25-1023 “Local Government Review of Fencing Projects”. The bill is very narrow in scope, only pertaining to the fence on the Land Grant lands in the Sangre de Cristos.
If successful, the bill empowers local officials to require landowners to first submit an application to the county government if planning to install a contiguous fence that is at least five feet high and one mile long. It is then up to local officials to consider if the fence is justified and what is the potential impact to the community, the well-being of wildlife and land. Also, any project involving construction of a fence must include required accommodations for wildlife to cross the fence.
Local officials are then authorized to accept or reject the application based upon those considerations or, if so desired, pass an ordinance to opt out of the requirements all together.
Martinez and Simpson have both garnered reputations for being especially responsive to concerns presented by constituents, and the fence in Costilla County is no exception.
“I heard about La Sierra and the ongoing land dispute,” Martinez told the Valley Courier. “So, I went and looked at the area. There was a lot of environmental destruction.
“This act gives the county more authority to deny a project and requires submission of additional information and initial permitting to be granted before it gets approved. It adds reinforcement for Costilla County.”
Separate from Rep. Martinez, Sen. Simpson also toured the site.
“I recognized the damage to private property and some county property where water flooded across the road,” Simpson told the Valley Courier. “I’ve never engaged with the landowner, but it’s my perspective that he wasn’t very strategic and thoughtful about trying to build a fence, and it’s impacted the community negatively.”
When asked if he thinks the bill has a good chance of passing, Martinez said, “There’s a lot of discussion in the building about it and a lot of support to hold bad actors accountable. I think if this was a normal fence, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. But it’s not a normal fence and it’s causing damage in the area. That’s coupled with the fact that the county has already told them no, repeatedly, and there’s just a disregard for local authority. I wanted to get on board, give them some help and do what’s right for our people.”
In terms of getting support from fellow legislators, Martinez said that Sen. Julie Gonzales, who is from Denver and part of the Latino Caucus, wanted to get on board and lend her support. She is now listed as one of the sponsors.
Martinez is also hoping to arrange another tour in the near future for other legislators to see the situation firsthand.