A county-commissioned wildlife review is shining a harsh spotlight on the tall, barbed-wire-topped fence that cuts across the 83,368-acre Cielo Vista Ranch in the San Luis Valley, finding that the barrier is blocking animal movement and threatening key habitat. The report, released this month, urges removing or retrofitting segments in the valley’s most important wildlife corridors so animals can once again reach food, water, and safe winter range.
According to The Denver Post, Costilla County released the review on June 16 and found that finished fence sections totaling about 26 miles, including runs longer than three miles and stretches above 10,000 feet, are impeding migrations. The county report, produced under a court-mandated settlement, concluded that the fence design and the bulldozed access paths are altering water flows, increasing erosion risk, and fragmenting habitat for a suite of species.
What the review recommends
The review calls for removing or modifying fencing in “highly important” wildlife areas and spells out wildlife-friendly retrofits such as a large-animal jump at least every 1,000 feet and ground openings for small mammals every 500 feet, as reported by KSPK. The Colorado Sun also documented that sections of the fence taper to roughly 3–3.5-inch openings at the base, a configuration the study says prevents many birds and mid-sized mammals from passing and worsens erosion where dozer cuts channel runoff.
Locals push for fixes
Descendants of the San Luis Valley’s original settlers and the La Sierra Environmental Guardians Committee have opposed the barrier for years, and committee members say they would likely accept the study if the ranch owner carried out the recommended changes and abandoned plans for more fencing, according to the Alamosa Citizen. Residents say the fence has already cut families off from long-used grazing and wood-collecting areas and that disturbed slopes are sending sediment into local ditches and creeks.
Owner’s position and regulatory pressure
William Harrison, the Texas heir who owns Cielo Vista, has defended the barrier as necessary to keep a small bison herd contained and to deter trespassers, the public record shows. The ranch’s own site lists a $150 permit for guided climbs to Culebra Peak, a revenue source that the operation emphasizes for visitors, and state regulators last year issued an order over stormwater and erosion controls that carries potential fines for noncompliance. See the ranch booking page at Cielo Vista Ranch and reporting on state action by Colorado Politics.
Legal and procedural next steps
The wildlife review was produced under a mediated settlement that requires Cielo Vista and Costilla County to each hire experts; the settlement calls for the ranch to cover the county’s expert and for the pair to deliver a joint mitigation proposal within 90 days, according to the county’s settlement document. County court records, including a 2023 preliminary-injunction order, show judges have already intervened to halt some construction and left aspects of the dispute to the Board of Adjustment and commissioners for further proceedings; those filings are available in the county record.
Whatever the outcome, the public files and the new review give residents, regulators, and the ranch a clear, technical checklist to work from and a schedule for upcoming hearings, as outlined in local reporting. County officials say they will weigh the experts’ recommendations at public meetings before the Board of Adjustment and the board of commissioners as the litigation and regulatory reviews continue, per The Colorado Sun.
