“The Forest Service is deeply committed to maintaining access by the public to all lands on the San Juan National Forest,” said San Juan National Forest Supervisor Dave Neely. "We are actively working with the appropriate law enforcement agencies and the community to resolve this matter."
The individuals who constructed the fence and own lands adjacent to the San Juan National Forest identify themselves as “Free Land Holders” and assert that they have ownership or jurisdiction of approximately 1,400 acres of Forest Service-managed lands within the constructed fence line. Forest Service and Montezuma County records indicate that ownership of the subject land has been with the United States as part of the National Forest System since 1927.
These lands support long-standing livestock grazing for local ranchers and the area is popular for recreation including hiking, mountain biking, and cross-country skiing. It is within the Brunot Treaty area which assures hunting access for the Southern Ute Indian Tribe, Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, and Ute Indian Tribe.
San Juan National Forest leadership is keenly aware of community concerns and questions and takes this matter very seriously. The Forest Service is actively addressing the dispute according to legal and administrative procedures and will promptly provide additional information as circumstances warrant.
According to the Denver Post:
The Free Land Holders’ argument essentially comes down to whether or not the word “the” is capitalized when preceding “United States” on various historic documents. Pipkin believes the Founding Fathers established the country as “The United States of America” when they wrote the Articles of Confederation in 1777, which created a republic that he now belongs to.
But somewhere along the way, he said, the king of England tricked the new country into signing documents as “the United States of America” — lowercase T — creating a separate entity from the original republic.
“It’s not the same name,” Pipkin said during an interview on his property last week. “Totally different. That’s why the sheriff has no jurisdiction. That’s why the Forest Service has no jurisdiction. They work for the small ‘t,’ which is the king today. King Charles.”
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2 comments:
I personally think the Forest Service should have immediately removed the fence. It's pretty bold of these nuts to think the U.S. forest service works for the king of England because it's "the United States". If this reasoning was true every nutjob could fence off a portion of any national park and say it's theirs. Hopefully, they can get these people off of the land that belongs to "The United States"!
Yes, it would definitely create a horrible precedent if they were ever to win in court.
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