Once again another local “constitutionalist” has erroneously claimed that our public lands were stolen from the state of Colorado. Every 20 years or so another sagebrush rebellion rears its ugly head and goes absolutely nowhere. If the claim of the antigovernment goofballs had any legal merit, the extractive industries and state’s rights advocates would have pounced on it 100 years ago.
The Colorado Enabling Act, in Section 4, (please Google) clearly states that as a condition of statehood “the people inhabiting said territory do agree and declare that they forever disclaim all right and title to the unappropriated public lands lying within said territory, and that the same shall be and remain at the sole and entire disposition of the Untied States.”
Our brilliant county commissioners have donated $1,000 of our taxpayer dollars to the American Land Council, which promotes giving states ownership of federal lands. So just what did our $1,000 buy? A little cowboy insurrection kit? Maybe an autographed poster of Cliven Bundy? Who knows?
Anyone familiar with this issue knows that the state could never afford to maintain millions of acres of our public land. Fire fighting costs alone would quickly bankrupt the state, which would then be forced to sell these lands to private interests, as states do when faced with financial crisis.
To those of you who wish to see public lands delivered to private hands, subsequently destroying our outdoor recreational heritage, your argument is morally and intellectually insignificant. So go ahead and groom yourselves with your own wasted money, but keep your hands off mine!
Tom Sykes
Dolores
