Teller Sheriff Office Ramps Up Law Enforcement on National Forest Lands
Trevor Phipps
Over the past few months, Teller County residents have voiced a surge of complaints about unruly behavior occurring inside the county’s national forest areas.
Local law enforcement agencies have received these concerns regarding hazardous and unlawful activities loud and clear, particularly those spreading across social media platforms. Law enforcement leaders have now said, ‘enough is enough,’ and have taken aggressive action in ramping up enforcement against so-called recreation-goers. Moreover, they have opted to take matters into their own hands if they can’t get any help from federal authorities.
During a short visit to the area last winter, U.S. Senator John Hickenlooper was informed about this issue. But again, the county’s plea for more federal assistance went unanswered.
Since most of the illegal activity being reported has taken place on national forest lands, the Teller County Sheriff’s office notified the U.S. Forest Service Law Enforcement and Investigations about the illegal activity.
Prior to the onset of the summer season, their office received notification that the federal law enforcement agency responsible for overseeing these lands would neither fill any law enforcement positions in our region nor increase patrols.
The sheriff’s office then decided to take matters into their own hands. According to Teller County Sheriff Commander Kevin Tedesco, the local law enforcement agency has experienced an uptick in illegal behavior ever since the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020.
Part of this trend is a byproduct of the recreation boom invading our area, a problem that Teller County Commissioner Dan Williams attempted to outline to U.S. Senator Hickenlooper recently. Williams pleaded for help in telling Hickenlooper that Teller law officers needed help monitoring problem behavior on federal property.
Each year, the complaints have escalated. And then once the sheriff’s office heard that the National Forest law enforcement wasn’t willing to increase their patrol efforts, the Teller County Sheriff’s Office officially launched the “Forest Service Zero Tolerance Enforcement 2026 Operation” on May 8.
“We have seen a large spike in groups coming into the forests and acting irresponsibly, unlawfully and recklessly,” said Commander Tedesco, who is currently running unopposed for sheriff. “And they are using these high-performance side-by-sides.”
But the unsafe and destructive behavior from those individuals with all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) hasn’t been the only issue. “We have seen a large amount of reckless, dangerous and irresponsible use of firearms,” Tedesco said. “There has been trash, litter and destruction of the forest itself.”
Some of the culprits have even been harassing locals in the areas, noted Tedesco. “There has been a lot of retaliatory and hostile treatment where they have been threatening and taking away people’s abilities to safely and comfortably recreate among them in the forest,” the commander said.
Politics of Little Enforcement on National Forest Lands
To add to the issues, local law enforcements agents are receiving little help from their federal law enforcement partners in handling an explosion of problem cases. Not only do forest service agents say they are unable to fill vacant positions in the region, but they are also turning their back when the problems have anything to do with illegal immigration.
Tedesco said that the sheriff’s office has “cause and a reason to believe” that some of the groups associated with the illegal activity taking place are illegal immigrants who have committed crimes in the past. Now they are continuing to commit unlawful acts inside Teller County’s national forests.
“We were told by Captain Dunfee (of the U.S. Forest Service Law Enforcement and Investigations Region 2) that the leadership of this region’s law enforcement was unwilling to effectively collaborate with ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) when that was needed,” Tedesco explained. “They articulated a fear of doing so here. We believe the fear is that the general public is going to be unaccepting of them doing that. And that the general public is going to demonstrate against them.”
The sheriff’s office then realized that they wouldn’t be able to rely on their federal partners to effectively patrol the county’s approximate 200 square-mile area of national forest lands. The local law enforcement agency then allocated resources to step up enforcement inside the forest itself, without reducing their ability to provide law enforcement in other parts of Teller County.
Bracing for a Memorial Day Weekend Invasion
Starting on the weekend of May 8-11, the sheriff’s office launched their “Zero Tolerance” campaign. The sheriff’s office increased the number of patrols during the peak times when they received the highest volume of complaints in the national forest sections of the county.
During the first weekend of the operation, the Teller County Sheriff’s deputies contacted 102 people. They also conducted 45 inspections of off-highway vehicles (OHVs).
Deputies also issued many citations along with multiple warnings. Most of the citations issued had to do with the unlawful use of OHVs and violations of the county’s current Stage 2 fire restrictions.
“We are not giving warnings for fire regulation violations,” Tedesco said. “And we are not giving warnings for unlawful use of OHVs. And we are not going to give warnings for serious or significant crimes affecting the health, safety and welfare of our lawful recreation use.”
Instead, their agency is taking a no-nonsense approach to these offenses, resulting in definite citations and possibly stern prosecution action.
For the most part, local reaction to this campaign has been quite positive, based on social media accounts. The illegal use of firearms in part of the forest has definitely sparked much concern among residents, along with the rude behavior of many visitors to the region.
As Memorial Day weekend arrives this week, Teller County has retained its Stage 2 fire restrictions, despite receiving a bout of recent moisture. This means that no fires of any kind are allowed outside, including the use of propane fire pits.
Propane grills are allowed for cooking, as long as they are placed at least 10 feet away from all combustible materials. Smoking outside and outdoor welding and torching activities are also banned. And, according to Tedesco, the U.S. National Forest currently has a fire ban in place that outlaws recreational shooting inside the forest lands.
