Brandon, thank you for helping get this digital porch set up. I think every healthy community needs more than one good gathering place, and I appreciate the spirit behind this.
My name is Mark Jamison. I own property in the Sangre de Cristo Ranches area, and I have been learning more and more about what it really means to own, plan, build, and care for land in this part of Costilla County.
I also created the Facebook group Sangre de Cristo Ranches (Community) Facebook group for a very similar reason: to give people a place to learn, ask questions, share practical information, and build community without getting lost in the noise, division, or confusion that often comes with social media.
This region is beautiful, but it is also full of realities people do not always understand until they are already in the middle of them: access, road conditions, water, septic, permits, power, off-grid systems, weather, fire mitigation, land expectations, property maintenance, and the difference between what a parcel looks like online and what it actually requires in real life.
My current project is preparing to begin work on my own property while also continuing to build a useful knowledge base for landowners, future residents, visitors, and neighbors. I am especially interested in responsible land stewardship, practical building preparation, road access, water planning, fire awareness, and helping people make informed decisions before they spend money or get overwhelmed.
I believe efforts like this Town Square and community spaces like Sangre de Cristo Ranches (Community) Facebook group can complement each other well. The more people have access to honest, useful, neighbor-to-neighbor information, the stronger the whole community becomes.
Glad to be here, and I look forward to learning from others, sharing what I can, and meeting more of the people who care about this region.