Pinon Canyon: The Fight Goes to the Hill

The U.S. Senate is close to approving a $72 billion military construction budget that would effectively prevent the Army from spending any money to expand the Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site for another year. But opponents of the expansion are by no means breathing easy. Read more

Pinon Canyon: Colorado Senator Ken Salazar Feels the Heat

Pressure from grassroots opponents of the U.S. Army’s attempt to seize 420,000 acres of privately-owned land in southeast Colorado is starting to produce some results in Washington. While he’s been a lukewarm supporter of Colorado ranchers in their fight with the Department of Defense as it seeks to expand the Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site, U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar (D-CO) is feeling the heat now that the November elections are less than six weeks away. Read more

Sheikh Mohammed Buys Kentucky’s Stonerside Stable from Houston Texans Owner Bob McNair

The royal family of Dubai expanded its massive holdings in the heart of Kentucky Bluegrass country by 2,000 acres this week when it acquired Stonerside Stable from Bob McNair, owner of the NFL’s Houston Texans. Read more

Fortress Cliffs Ranch Sells

Almost 3,000 pristine acres valued at more than $5 million along the rim of Palo Duro Canyon has been sold to The Trust for Public Land (TPL), a nonprofit land conservation organization. After purchasing the Texas Panhandle property, TPL immediately transferred it to Texas Parks & Wildlife, thus increasing the size of Palo Duro Canyon State Park by nearly 10 percent. Read more

Pinon Canyon: The Opposition

Mack Louden’s most memorable feature isn’t his sunbaked skin or his steely eyes. It’s his determination. The man’s face is optimistically defiant, unbroken yet scarred, and colored by a tinge of melancholy and pessimism. Read more

Adults Only - The New Interior Department Reality Show

The fine folks who gave America the Teapot Dome Scandal are pleased to bring their fellow citizens a sizzling new take on government outreach, including sex, drugs, and lucrative consulting contracts. The lurid scandal, which centers on Interior’s Royalty-in-Kind program, was co-produced by Chevron, Shell, Gary Williams Energy, and Hess Corporation. Right now there are hundreds of articles to browse at Google News, but I recommend this post at Slate, which has hyperlinks to the internal investigations by Interior’s Office of Inspector General.

Steep Drop in Ski Country

Sales of land, ranches, and resort residences in Colorado’s top tier markets are off as much as 50 percent in 2008, according to figures compiled by Telluride Consulting and Land Title Guarantee Company. Read more

Pinon Canyon: A Closer Look

For more than a year The Land Report has been tracking the largest proposed seizure of private property by the federal government in modern history: the Battle for Pinon Canyon. It pits ranchers in southeast Colorado against an opponent that’s not used to losing ground wars: the U.S. Army. 

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Shuttered Texas Silver Mine to Reopen?

First it was ethanol and the price per acre in the Corn Belt. Then oil and gas began propping up land values in mineral-rich areas such as the huge shales found coast to coast. Now other commodities are driving other forgotten or overlooked real estate markets, including an out-of-the-way section in Far West Texas where the state’s richest silver mine is slated to reopen after a seven decades of inactivity, according to this press release. Read more

Investor’s Business Daily

In everyone’s haste to enjoy the Labor Day weekend - to kick off the college football season or get ready for the first day of dove hunting - there’s a better than average chance that few people noticed the front and center reference to the Land Report in Friday’s Investor’s Business Daily. Read more