TELLER COUNTY, Colo. (KOAA) — On Forest Service land in Teller County’s backcountry, a rise in what the sheriff called “unlawful and reckless behavior” prompted his agency to crack down on federal territory.
The activity, Sheriff Jason Mikesell said, includes illegal and improper shooting, dangerous Off-Highway Vehicle (OHV) driving, speeding down narrow dirt roads, drinking, intimidation, and alleged threats toward Teller County backcountry recreationists.
The “unlawful and reckless” behavior does indeed appear to be happening in abundance. Comments on the Teller County Sheriff’s Office (TCSO) Facebook page largely applaud and confirm the activities. The post has received over 500 comments.
Watch KOAA5's Brett Forrest's full report in the video player below.
Andrea and Tim Connolly, Teller County residents and hunters, showed KOAA the damage to natural habitat caused by off-roading from OHVs and excessive trash left behind on remote Forest Service land.
“We've definitely witnessed that, driving super fast, really recklessly, not following protocols,” said Andrea Connolly.
The Connollys, who are often with their two-year-old child, said they’re usually far from help and have been concerned when encountering these large groups.
The TCSO crackdown on this backcountry activity, which has been dubbed the Forest Service Zero Tolerance Enforcement 2026 Operation, began earlier this month and it's being welcomed by residents.
But Teller County Sheriff Jason Mikesell is also making other claims about who is perpetrating these crimes and this behavior, which cannot be independently verified at the time of this report.
In the initial May 7 Facebook post, the TCSO wrote the Forest Service isn’t helping enforce law within its boundaries due to an “unwillingness to become involved in situations with illegal aliens engaged in criminal activities.”
The TCSO social media post named a Captain Dunfee, of the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) Law Enforcement and Investigations Region 2, and said he cited fears that USFS Law Enforcement might be “perceived to be cooperating or on parity” with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
“When I talk to ICE and I find out that the U.S. Forest Service is telling them that they're not going to work with them and give them that information up here, that's a major problem,” said Sheriff Mikesell in an interview.
KOAA sent a detailed list of questions to the Forest Service about these claims, but the agency largely ignored the direct questions about comments made by Sheriff Mikesell and did not respond to the claims about the alleged fears of conducting immigration enforcement.
USFS said in a statement that their primary law enforcement focus is centered on public safety and natural resource protection, “while agencies such as ICE focus on the illegal immigration mission.” The statement said they work closely with TCSO and other federal, state, and local partners.
“We have an excellent working relationship with ICE and support their mission as we support all of our federal law enforcement partners,” said USFS.
The statement also said their two law enforcement positions for the region are staffed, and there is one vacancy for an adjacent area. “That said, we would welcome the Sheriff providing additional resources to support patrol activities by increasing law enforcement visibility in the area,” said the USFS.
In an interview with KOAA, when asked how Sheriff Mikesell knew the perpetrators of the illegal backcountry activity were immigrants without legal status, he pointed to a conversation he said he held with the USFS.
“Here's the thing. As we're sitting with the Forest Service, we're asking them if they're working with ICE on this, and they tell us, ‘Well, we've had contacts with illegal aliens,’” said Mikesell. “And I asked, ‘Well, how did you deal with that?’ ‘Well, we let them go and we notify ICE.’ ‘So you let them go. You didn't charge them with anything, even though they did something you had to have a contact with. Why is that?’ ‘Well, we don't want to be looked at as being ICE.’ So there's clue number one.”
After the first weekend of the operation, the sheriff’s office said their deputies are enforcing violations of state laws and county ordinances, and they “are not specifically targeting illegal immigrants at TCSO.”
The sheriff also said a lot of citizens have called and said they’ve seen ATVs flying Mexican and Venezuelan flags and holding signs that say “F*** ICE.” The Teller County Sheriff's Office provided KOAA News5 TikTok videos of what they call evidence of the reckless activity. There is an instance of someone holding a “F*** ICE” sign.
But the sheriff conceded he doesn’t know if those seen in the videos or by residents are actually people in the US illegally.
“We have a lot of citizens calling and saying, ‘Hey, these are illegal aliens up here.’ Now, how do I know that's the case? I don't know, right? We haven't contacted them, but is it something that maybe ICE needs to be aware of because this is federal property and that they should be dealing with something on federal property if there's a crime,” said Sheriff Mikesell.
Still, the presence of flags from another country, signs disparaging ICE, or secondhand information from the Forest Service doesn’t constitute immigrants in the country without legal status are perpetrating the crimes.
The Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition, an immigration and refugee advocacy group, took umbrage with the sheriff’s claims and lack of hard evidence.
“The Teller County Sheriff's claim that immigrants without legal status are systematically destroying national forest land is false and appears designed to stoke fear, not solve any actual public safety problem,” said Annette Leyva, South Regional Organizer with the coalition.
“There is no data or evidence to support the idea that immigrants are responsible for uncontrolled OHV use, reckless shooting, or fire hazards,” said Leyva. “Scapegoating a vulnerable population for routine land management issues is irresponsible. We urge the Sheriff to focus on evidence-based enforcement of actual behavior—not on racial or immigration-status profiling.”
Sheriff Mikesell did acknowledge that those committing the reckless and illegal activity on Forest Service lands include people from across Colorado and “all walks of life.”
Regardless, the sheriff said he wants increased federal support during his backcountry operation and called for ICE agents to come into his county. Mikesell has previously sought to work with ICE in what’s called a 287(g) agreement, which has been allowed with provisions following an ACLU lawsuit.
Similar to the Forest Service, ICE said in a statement that they are “committed to working with our local and federal partners to ensure the safety of those who recreate in the beautiful state of Colorado.”
But an ICE spokesperson declined to comment on whether they planned to support Sheriff Mikesell’s enforcement operation.
“For operational security purposes, ICE does not disclose information pertaining to operations, including law enforcement plans, tactics, or strategies,” the spokesperson said.
There will be a media briefing this Friday with Teller County elected officials, Forest Service personnel, and Teller County leaders. It’s unclear what will be announced or discussed, but it is in relation to this backcountry operation against the illegal activity on federal lands.
NOTE: The broadcast version of this report aired on KOAA on May 17
Email Senior Reporter Brett Forrest at brett.forrest@koaa.com. Follow or message @brettforrestTV on X and Brett Forrest News on Facebook.
Brett can also communicate via encrypted apps like Signal. Due to the sensitive nature of ongoing reporting from federal actions, he is willing to take steps to protect identities.
Teller County Forest Land Enforcement
Allegations of illegal immigrants causing destruction and violating forest service laws come into question. With more updates from the sheriff's office ahead.
