by Norman Kincaide, Ph.D.

A Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request was filed with the Pike National Forest and Cimarron and Comanche National Grassland in reference to the revised Management Plan and Draft Assessment on September 2, 2025 by Norman Kincaide of Rocky Ford, CO. In follow up communication with Gregory Berquist, Forest Service, this request was approved with a fee waiver, since the product of this request will be made available to the public free of charge through the Western Region Property Rights Coalition Facebook page and website. A conference call with Berquist and Beth Davis, Forest Service, on September 29, 2025, further clarified the reach of the FOIA to include pre-assessment documentation from October 2023 forward to when the request was made.

The request in nine segments includes all documents and materials of any kind whatsoever, including, but not limited to, notes, correspondence, electronic-mail, voicemail, memoranda, reports, photographs, videography, contracts, and memoranda of understanding (MOUs) related to Draft Assessment Cimarron and Comanche National Grasslands Revised Land Management Plan, Baca, Las Animas, and Otero Counties, Colorado, Morton and Stevens Counties, Kansas,  including the names of any and all for profit and nonprofit private organizations, public organizations, nongovernmental organizations, and federal, state, and local governmental agencies involved in such proposal and/or plan.

Also requested are documents and materials of any kind whatsoever related to the relationship between the United States Department of Agriculture, the Forest Service and The Nature Conservancy, Southern Plains Land Trust, and any and all other for profit and nonprofit private organizations, public organizations, nongovernmental organizations, and federal, state, and local governmental agencies detailing, describing, or enumerating the manner in which and the timing relating the Draft Assessment Cimarron and Comanche National Grasslands Revised Land Management Plan.

Ryan Nehl and Beth Davis, Forest Service, attended a Timpas Grazing Association board meeting at the Comanche Grassland Forest Service office in La Junta, September 24, 2025. Retired Otero County Commissioner, Kevin Karney, reiterated to them what the citizens of southeastern Colorado have had to contend with concerning federal government influence in the region in the last forty years: Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site established through eminent domain in 1984; Pinon Canyon expansion to cover all of southeastern Colorado, halted in 2013; Canyons & Plains National Heritage Area to cover the same area, halted in 2014 and now this Revised Management Plan for the Cimarron and Comanche Grasslands to further encumber those who live and work in the region.

What is the covetous nature and interest of the federal government to project ever more power over southeastern Colorado through the United States Army, National Park Service and Forest Service? Isn’t there enough to administer in the rest of Colorado that is already occupied, controlled, and regulated by the state and federal government? It is curious that these controlling efforts arise from time to time to trouble yet again the residents who cherish and nurture this land.

Hopefully, the documents from this FOIA will further clarify the origin and necessity for this revised management plan, while naming the contractors, partners, and stakeholders who may benefit from this process and who may be encumbered.