For most of 2025, the Mesa County Sheriff’s Office has been working on removing a number of large encampments from private property in the desert north of 29 Road.

Mesa County Sheriff’s Office Captain Curtis Brammer said this isn’t an issue with ordinary unhoused people. It’s more of an issue with people squatting on private property.

“A lot of these folks are repeated,” Brammer said. “It happens over and over and over again with them. That’s why I say it’s a lifestyle.”

Brammer said the Sheriff’s Office has gotten complaints about the mess and unsightliness of the encampments.

“These folks specifically that we’ve been working with out there have essentially chosen to live a lifestyle that’s different than most of the rest of us,” Brammer said. “It’s unconventional.”

Those people have

See Full Page