Owners of vacant land meet locals removing fences

Five members of the Free Land Holders Committee meet with locals while removing fences

On Friday, October 11, five members of the Free Land Holder Committee went to the site where locals were dismantling their fence in Chicken Creek.

Members of the group were unarmed and brought only documents they described as “evidence” proving their ownership of the land “under contract law and land patent law,” they said in an email The diary.

“We hope to help our neighbors understand that we were willing to take the risk to show that this is not an insurrection, an insurrection or a rebellion,” they said. “We were unarmed, at peace and in deference to our neighbors.”

“They had a lot of papers and land descriptions, but no deed in their name,” said County Commissioner Gerald Koppenhafer, who met with Free Land Holders at the fence Friday.

“Until they have this (act), they have no more right here than any of us,” he said. “The Forest Service is pathetic and I think our sheriff is too.”

Many people who removed the fence that morning walked away, fearing the confrontation would escalate into violence, said Danette Dillon, whose family settled in the Mancos Valley around 1865.

On Saturday October 12th all fences were removed from the forest.

Dillon, like many others, was surprised at how much fencing the group had erected in such a short time. She calculated that the group spent about $21,000 on fence posts alone, at $3 each.

Bill Vaughn, a Mancos resident who regularly visits Chicken Creek to walk his dog, said when he finished removing the fence Thursday, it was a 30-minute walk back to his parking spot.

“I couldn’t believe how far it went,” Vaughn said.

On Friday, Vaughn helped remove more fencing, wearing thicker gloves than the day before. He said the fence punctured the rubber bullets he was carrying Thursday.

“Look how bad this stuff is,” Vaughn said, showing off the barbed wire.

Two women, who did not want to be named, walked along the fence and picked up plastic ribbons and other trash scattered in trees on the forest floor.

That morning the two picked up a bucketload of trash.

“They cut down trees, they drove motorized vehicles where they weren’t supposed to go,” one of the women said.

“They have no right to destroy grazing rights and land,” Koppenhafer said.

The Free Land Holder Committee dismissed rumors that they had built more fences.

“We have given our word to the sheriff and the Forest Service that we will pause the fence for the time being during this escalation of public concern,” they said in an email. “So since our break on Wednesday October 8th there has actually been no new progress in completing our fence.”

The Free Land Owners Committee said that while meeting with locals, some were more receptive to what they shared.

“Although many of the people on the fence line were armed and appeared nervous by our presence, once conversations began they could tell that we were friendly and respectful and were not there to discuss the fence issue. We have simply presented evidence in the hope of gaining greater understanding,” the group said.

“Since the sheriff has resigned and the Forest Service has not shown up to intervene, file a report or arrest either side, the solution is left to the Free Land Holder Committee and the good people of the Mancos region,” the group said.

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