Message from border: ‘We got problems here’

Several hundred ranchers gathered at a small-town high school in the Bootheel on Thursday to rally against what they described as a broken border.

Ranchers here have been steaming over the reported kidnapping of a ranch hand in December, when drug runners allegedly hijacked the man’s vehicle, loaded it with narcotics and drove him to Arizona. He came home “roughed up,”

Concerns about border security have simmered for years for those who live among the region’s sprawling ranches and rugged mountain ranges. Sometimes, fears boil over, such as after the unsolved 2010 murder of southern Arizona rancher Robert Krentz..

Representatives of the Border Patrol, National Guard and sheriffs from New Mexico and Arizona said they had come to hear the public’s concerns.

“My takeaway is that the people along the border recognize a grave threat to themselves and their communities, and the National Guard is ready to respond to help secure the border,” Brig. Gen. Andrew Salas said.

“The increase in the number of people in the area that are smuggling people and drugs seems to be increasing,” said Lawrence Hurt, whose Hurt Cattle Co. ranch runs nearly 30 miles along the Mexican border. “We see a lot less of the people who are looking for a job. We have a need for the Border Patrol in our area.”

“The border isn’t secure,” said Bill McDonald, co-founder and executive director of the Malpai Borderlands Group, which manages a working cattle ranch and conservation effort on nearly 1 million acres of the Bootheel. “It’s like a balloon. When they tamp down in one area, (drug traffickers) move somewhere else. "

As to the closure of Skeleton Canyon Road this is from the minutes of the Cochise County Board of Supervisor’s meeting where that was determined. If I were you DesertRhino I would be careful claiming the ranchers involved did it because of corruption unless you have actual proof of that. I know if someone accused me of corruption/being paid off by smugglers I would sue them in a heartbeat. So which of these families is bought off? All of them? You have made some serious claims.

Closure of Skeleton Canyon Road

ITEM 11—DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ADOPTION OF RESOLUTION 04-116, AUTHORIZING A CHANGE TO THE COCHISE COUNTY MAINTAINED ROAD SYSTEM MAP, SPECIFICALLY REGARDING SKELETON CANYON ROAD.—Mr. Allon Owen, Director of the Highway & Floodplain Department, presented some background for this item. He cited the Cave Creek Decision to illustrate the legal issues involved. In this decision, there was a public road, used and maintained by the public that was, in fact, owned by a private citizen because the right-of-way had never been properly conveyed to the public. The owner gated the road and the City took him to court to reopen the road. This case went all the way to the Supreme Court and the property owner prevailed and the road remained gated. There is a similar situation with Skeleton Canyon Road. Skeleton Canyon Road has a low traffic count (23 in 1992) and runs mostly through private property. The road does cross a bit of State Land between private properties and ends approximately one half mile from the Forest Service Boundary. The half mile segment south of the maintained road is best suited to four-wheel drive vehicles and gets even rougher to the road’s termination, about a mile or two south of the end of the maintained portion of the road. There are no Forest Service improvements or campgrounds accessed by this road. The private owners, the Snure and Kimble families, alarmed by ever increasing smuggling, theft and violence along the road, have informed the county of their intent to close and limit access to the road. The Board has complete authority to open the road by declaring it a County Highway. Should that be the decision of the Board, Mr. Owen recommended condemning right up to the Forest Service Boundary. The total cost for the survey, the construction and the acquisition of the right-of-way, would be $63,253.00 and could go as high as $95,000.00. This year the County has spent $3,200 maintaining this road. Due to the sobering cost of opening the road, the Department recommends dropping this road from the County Maintained Road System Map. Mr. Owen speculated that the road may have become part of the maintained system because school buses used the road to pick up the children of the four original families on that road but there are no written records. There was discussion about other access to the Forest Service Land, including dirt roads running north off of Geronimo Trail. Geronimo Trail also offers access into the southern portion of the Forest Service Land.

Mr. Don Kimble spoke on behalf of the Kimble and Snure families explaining the dangers and difficulties that led to the closing of the road. He said that both families would consider giving limited access across their land if they could find a way to do it without incurring liability. Mr. Kimble stated that neither his family nor the Snure family is interested in giving an easement or a right-of-way. He confirmed that Fish and Game had talked to the Snures about buying the right-of-way but reiterated that neither family is interested in selling, only granting limited access across their deeded land for a fee that as yet has not been determined. Chairman Call opened the hearing to the public and called Ms. Wendy Glenn of Geronimo Trail Road to the podium. Ms. Glenn stated that the money offered to the Snures and Kimbles by Fish and Game wasn’t worth 1/10th of the value of the destroyed and stolen property and that she understands why they want to control access onto their property. She recommended taking the money for the right-of-way and improving Geronimo Trail to use as an access. She also stated that poaching is rampant in the National Forest and that fences are being cut and habitat ruined by people using vehicles where there are no roads. She implored the Supervisors to honor the families’ request. Mr. Frank Adams, 5376 North Highway 191, asked the Supervisors to consider respecting the families’ rights to do what they can legally do and to honor their request. Ms. Susan Krentz, 9795 N. Tex Canyon Road, stated that her ranch has sustained about 5.2 million dollars in damages to her water lines from the presence of illegals on her property. She also stressed the positive impact of having the road closed because it forces traffic to slow down for the school just before the gate. As no one else expressed a desire to speak to this item, the Public Hearing was closed.

Supervisor Thompson indicated that he had some questions for Mr. Owen. He asked about alternate access to the forest, and about the plan to pave Geronimo Trail. He also asked how many miles of road the County maintains for which it does not have right-of way. Mr. Owen recalled the plan to pave Geronimo Trail and recounted the circumstances. About four years ago, when Geronimo Trail was scheduled to be paved, the State made a major mistake in the allocation of Highway User Revenue Funds (HURF). Even though the County was not responsible for the mistake, several million dollars had to be paid back to the State in a short amount of time, impacting the county’s plan for paving several roads, one of which was Geronimo Trail. HURF has stabilized but the cost of paving keeps going up. The County has completed paving all of the county roads with 300 or more vehicles a day and most roads with 200 or more vehicles per day. Geronimo Trail has about 150 vehicles per day as far as Slaughter Ranch and considerably fewer after Slaughter Ranch. Still, the paving of Geronimo Trail, at least as far as Slaughter Ranch is an important concern. In the rain, the road becomes very slick and muddy. Mr. Owen also concurred that there is access into the Forest from the New Mexico side. The County maintains 1,475 miles of road. We don’t have or don’t know if we have right-of-way for about 40% of those miles. Research on right-of-way is ongoing and funds are set aside each budget year to acquire missing rights-of-way. Chairman Call reminded the Board that the Resolution before them was simply to take the road off of the County Maintained Road System. He urged the other Supervisors to make the motion and get a second and if there was more discussion, it could be heard after the second. Supervisor Thompson made a motion, seconded by Chairman Call, to adopt Resolution 04-116, authorizing the deletion of Skeleton Canyon Road from the Cochise County Maintained Road Systems maps as described therein. Supervisor Newman expressed disappointment that no one from the Forest Service had come forward during the Call to the Public. Chairman Call then recognized Douglas Hardy, District Ranger for the Douglas Ranger District, who apologized for being unfamiliar with the county’s process for public input. The Skeleton Canyon Road situation is just one example of private property limiting access to public land. Mr. Hardy also pointed out that there is not designated vehicular access to Skeleton Canyon from Geronimo Trail. The history of access to National Forests was determined by topography and ease of access. As private lands were developed, access to public lands should have been created by preservation of the public means. While the Forest Service recognizes the rights and prerogatives of private landowners, it is concerned with the responsibility of Federal, State and local authorities to provide reasonable access to public lands and requested the County’s assistance in this endeavor. Chairman Call then recognized Matthew Walton from Arizona Fish and Game. Mr. Walton discussed a letter sent by Fish and Game stating the economic impact to the County should this road stay closed. Arizona Fish and Game had a conversation with Mr. Snure about purchasing permanent legal access but Mr. Snure was not interested in selling an easement or a right-of-way, only the possibility of allowing some type of limited access. Mr. Walton also stated that the access in New Mexico is now guarded by a locked gate and that his agency is very interested in working cooperatively with the County and other agencies. Fish and Game has money and equipment to put into the project. However, Fish and Game cannot provide money if a condemnation is necessary, although they could help build a new road. There was discussion about building a new road well away from the families’ ranch houses. Mr. Newman suggested that a working group be formed to look into this idea. Chairman Call suggested that if a working group did find a solution that the road could be put back onto the County Maintained Road System. Mr. Owen concurred and stressed that the only way the road could remain on the current Maintained Road System was if the County had the right-of-way. Result of the Vote: Chairman Call - YES; Supervisor Newman - YES; Supervisor Thompson - YES

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