Musgrave intervenes in Crystal Lakes, Forest Service dispute

By Cherry Sokoloski
North Forty News

Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (R-Colo.) has introduced legislation to aid Crystal Lakes residents caught in the middle of a boundary dispute with the U.S. Forest Service. H.R. 3299 would convey the property in question, which encroaches on Forest Service land, to Crystal Lake property owners who thought they already owned the land. If Musgrave's bill makes it through Congress, the property owners will not have to pay for the land again.

Musgrave's bill, which is very specific to property at Crystal Lakes, has been referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources. No action has been taken to date because Congress is in recess until after Labor Day. Meanwhile, officials with the Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forest are continuing to meet with affected landowners, according to Deputy Forest Supervisor Jacqueline Parks. One such meeting was scheduled for Aug. 28.

Several property owners in the Crystal Lakes Ninth Filing were notified last year about the boundary problem, caused by errors in a private survey dating to 1975. The errors were discovered when the Bureau of Land Management resurveyed the area as part of a fuels management program.

Land adjustment bills like Musgrave's have been used to solve similar problems on other forests, according to public affairs specialist Reghan Cloudman of the Canyon Lakes Ranger District where the disputed property lies.

However, Cloudman noted, officials with the Arapaho/Roosevelt Forest have relied primarily on the 1983 Small Tracts Act to resolve encroachment problems. The act stipulates that landowners must pay current, fair-market value for property they thought they owned but which actually belongs to the federal government.

In a press release, Musgrave said H.R. 3299 would "protect homeowners and convey the land they contractually knew to be theirs in the first place. These private property owners deserve to keep what they paid for 30 years ago. It is astonishing to me that the federal government asserts possession of this small portion of land after 30 years of negligence on their part."

Boundary discrepancies such as those at Crystal Lakes are "not an uncommon occurrence," Parks said. In fact, between 1996 and 2005, 37 boundary issues were resolved on the Arapaho/Roosevelt Forest alone, using the Small Tracts Act. Parks said she has worked on three different forests, and discrepancies occurred on all of them.

"Each case is very, very different," Parks pointed out.

In all, about seven acres are involved in the Crystal Lakes case. Four parcels are affected substantially, and another 15 parcels have insignificant impacts. Three parcels have homes situated completely or partially on the encroachments.

Property owners such as Lou Anne and Pete Garno of Loveland, whose vacation home was found to be sitting on Forest Service land, are happy to have Musgrave on their side.

"We have owned property in Crystal Lakes for over 30 years and we bought the property in good faith," said Lou Anne Garno. "Now we are being told by the government that our only option is to buy back our property. This is not right, and I am thrilled that Congresswoman Musgrave has decided to fight for us."