Comanche National Grassland Need to Change Workshop

~By Norman Kincaide, Ph. D.  

The United States Forest Service Pike and San Isabel National Forest and Cimarron and Comanche National Grasslands office held a Need to Change workshop at Otero College Banquet Room, La Junta, Colorado and City Hall, Elkhart, Kansas, March 11, 2026 from 4 to 7:30 P.M. At Otero College twenty participants and twelve Forest Service employees engaged in workshop activities. Heather Stokes moderated the overall workshop via zoom from Montana. James Pitts, Forest Service, was liaison between Otero College and Stokes, while Ryan Nehl, Forest Service, was in Elkhart, Kansas. Among allotment owners from Timpas Grazing District were Dave Donnell, Cody and Tammy Ridennoure, Barb, Zane and Andee Leininger and Harold Unwin, Kim Grazing Association. Otero County Commissioners, Rob Oquist and Tim Knabenshuhe were in attendance.

Initially, there were four discussion groups, but were consolidated into three since some individuals had to leave early. Two Forest Service employees sat at each table, one to moderate the discussion while the other took notes on a laptop. There were three timed segments, each addressing, what is working in the grasslands, what is not working, and what the attendees thought needed more discussion.

Forest Service Discussion Tables at Otero College Banquet Room, Need to Change Workshop, March 11, 2026

Heather Stokes laid out the format of the workshop, attempting to direct and channel the discussions in an effort to have the participants adhere to the workshop format. Stokes wanted the attendees to view this process as they would a municipal or county comprehensive plan process, while emphasizing the concept of sustainability on the national grasslands. A significant amount of time was taken up with “housekeeping” issues that cut into discussion time.

Kelsy Price, Forest Service, La Junta office, the daughter of Cody and Tammy Ridennoure, moderated one table where Dave Donnell and Harold Unwin represented decades of ranching experience stretching back in their families for over a hundred years. As discussion brought up what is working or not working in the grasslands, these were written down on large poster size sheets, to be summarized later by the Forest Service. Participants and those who could not attend were to turn in their personal worksheets to the Forest Service in the Pueblo office.

Unwin and Donnell believed the current liaison between local forest service employees and allotment owners was very positive. There were times in the past when individual Forest Service employees were not so accommodating to allotment owners’ issues. What had not worked so well in the past was coordinating fire fighting operations between local and forest service departments. Due to the fragmented nature of private ownership and grassland allotments, coordination between fire departments is essential if efficient application of fire fighting resources is to be achieved.

Unwin and Donnell emphasized that not all allotments are the same. Allotments cover varied topography, short grass prairie, rolling hills, mesas, and canyons. One management plan for all does not take into account variation in terrain and availability of water.

Controlling prairie dogs was another issue that has not been adequately addressed in the grasslands. Although, not as pressured by population density as the Pawnee Grasslands in Weld County, Colorado, Donnell, and Unwin had issues with the small number of visitors to the grasslands who do not respect the land and the increased use of all terrain vehicles which can damage the prairie landscape. Overall, most visitors are respectful during their visits to Pickett Wire and Vogel Canyons.

The most visible issue with the revised management plan process is the great divide between the allotment owners and the Forest Service. The allotment owners represent   continuity of presence and management, maintenance and nurturing the Comanche Grasslands. Forest Service employees are an ever-changing aspect with employee turnover. The last attempt to create a revised management plan was in 2006-2007. Most of the allotment owners are the same. Conversely, how many Forest Service employees from twenty years ago would still be in the Pueblo or La Junta offices?

A process that is initiated every twenty to forty years must be learned by both allotment owners and Forest Service employees. Harold Unwin helped write the 1984 Management Plan. Barb Leininger was involved with the 2006-2007 attempt at a revised management plan. Forest Service currently involved in the process are exploring an undiscovered country. How many have been involved in other management plan processes? Changes in legislation and regulation in the last twenty years have also altered the nature of plan management revision.

Allotment owners are governed by what they have to do by their own best practices to maintain working ranches, raising cattle, and bringing them to market. Theirs is the practical aspect of activity on the grasslands. The Forest Service is governed by regulation and statute, the 2012 Planning Rule, National Forest Planning Act and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The Forest Service initiates a process in which they may not be well practiced or experienced. As federal employees, they are constrained by internal processes to not act outside their particular functions. They were not to discuss or answer questions outside of their assigned roles at the Need to Change workshop.  

As the workshop concluded, Dave Donnell said: “At least they are reaching out to us.” Those attending the Need to Change workshop hoped their input would be reflected in the management plan. The discussions held in La Junta, Colorado and Elkhart, Kansas were informal and not considered official comment for the management plan. It may be understandable that this process may be uncomfortable for allotment owners and Forest Service employees since it is only undertaken every twenty to forty years. This learning process is complicated by the myriad number of state and federal statutes that intertwine to create an imperfect working structure for a revised management plan for the Cimarron and Comanche National Grasslands.

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