MONTROSE — Two residents of a scenic acre of mining claim-turned- pricey real estate down valley from Telluride have fought for more than a quarter of a century to clear up disputes over ownership of the land.
But federal land managers have finally determined that they are trespassers and must go — or pay dearly to stay.
“We are just flabbergasted,” said Sally Siegel, a preschool teacher in Telluride. “To a rational person, this decision the BLM has come to makes no sense.”
Siegel and husband David Mattner have been living in a modest cabin up Fall Creek Road since the 1980s — before multimillion-dollar homes started popping up in the heavily wooded area.
Siegel and Mattner entered into a rent-to-own contract with a previous owner before the property became theirs, for $40,600, in 1993. But that “owner” and a string of “owners” going back to 1954 never had a legal right to the property, according to the Bureau of Land Management.
“Quite frankly, this is not a win- win situation for anyone,” said Barbara Sharrow, Uncompahgre Field Office manager for the BLM. “But they have no legal standing to be there.”
It took attorneys for the BLM several years of research into stacks of historical documents and new land surveys to make a decision on what has been a murky matter for more than 50 years.
The saga began when a former Telluride resident filed for a mining claim on the property under the 1872 General Mining Law. The claim was found to be invalid: There was little to no actual mining done on the property. But the original claimant conveyed part of the property to a couple who built the cabin and surrounded it with flower beds and a strawberry patch. That couple used a new tactic to hold onto the land: the Mining Claims Occupancy Act.
The problem was that act specified property needed to be lived on prior to 1955. Eventually, that couple, who had moved there in 1963, quit-claimed the property to another person who then sold it to Siegel and Mattner.
The BLM questioned the legality of the claim all along but took no action. The agency also did not do a formal survey for more than 15 years even though several in the string of purported owners requested a survey to clear up the dispute.
Local BLM officials are well aware that the belated decision will not sit well with either the residents or their many friends and supporters around Telluride. The couple had received help and support from some local officials and from U.S. Rep. John Salazar’s office.
“After all they’ve done in the community — Sally is a crucial element in the community — I’ve been willing to see if I can’t find some out-of-the-box solution,” said San Miguel County Commissioner Art Goodtimes.
To soften the impact on Siegel and Mattner, a carpenter, the BLM is offering them a three-year permit to stay in their home while they work on finding land of equal value that they could swap with the BLM or to enter into a fair-market lifetime lease, along with back rent for the past 25 years.
Goodtimes said he is floating an idea to have a local governmental entity get involved in funding a land trade, with the idea that the land would eventually revert to the entity for an affordable housing site. He conceded it would be a very complicated and not easy-to-sell option.
Siegel said she and Mattner will appeal the BLM decision.
Sharrow said her agency is on solid legal grounds and her hands are tied.
“What’s fair to the American public?” she asked. “I didn’t feel like I had any options. I feel like I’m being incredibly generous, frankly.”
Nancy Lofholm: 970-256-1957 or nlofholm@denverpost.com
