The historic town of San Luis in southern Colorado is
shaking again from the rumble of logging trucks. After a halt in
timber cutting due to spring mud, 15-20 trucks a day started
hauling logs in early June from the mountainous Taylor Ranch,
called La Sierra by the predominantly Hispanic residents
below.
The 77,000-acre ranch in the Sangre de
Cristo Mountains has been at the center of a dispute about Mexican
land-grant rights since 1960. Today, fifth- and sixth-generation
farmers fear that early snowmelt due to a lack of tree shade and
erosion from the logging shortens their irrigation season and harms
the high-altitude watershed (HCN, 6/9/97).
Allied
with San Luis residents are volunteers with Ancient Forest Rescue
and Earth First! who blockaded entrances to the ranch last month.
Six people, including one San Luis resident, were arrested for
trespass on June 10.
“We held all three entrances
for 24 hours,” says Heath Hansens, one of the
activists.
Robert Curry, a watershed scientist at
California State University at Monterey, flew over the Taylor Ranch
this spring. He reports that logging has been so extensive and
rapid that he thinks only one year of tree-cutting remains. The
owner of the ranch, Zachary Taylor, is asking $20 million for the
ranch; the state of Colorado will finish its independent assessment
of the ranch’s worth this summer.
*Peter
McBride
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline San Luis heats up again.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
