Larimer County sheriff's publicity-stunt power grab

by: Mucius Scaevola

Fri Apr 08, 2011 at 21:33:20 PM MST

Larimer County Sheriff Justin Smith has unilaterally asserted the authority to put his department in charge of large sections of Rocky Mountain Park in the event of a federal government shutdown.

Fort Collins Coloradoan:

Closing the national park, which could hurt nearby Estes Park business owners who rely on tourism revenue from the park, is tantamount to "the federal bureaucracy trying to strong-arm local citizens," Smith said.

"The reality is, we are at the local level sending the message to Washington: We can take care of things," he said.

He engineered this publicity stunt without even talking to federal officials about it.