Tomorrow, I’m headed to the home of longtime friends Mike and Sue Sibson, cattle ranchers from western Miner County. They have asked me to come view their operation and help tell their story. The Sibsons were one of several South Dakota families to sign on to a lawsuit last year trying to prevent TransCanada from using eminent domain to seize easements from landowners along the proposed Keystone pipeline route.

A South Dakota political blog, Madville Times, did a feature on the Sibson’s struggles. Here is an excerpt…

The Sibsons refer to their land, now sliced in half by the Keystone Pipeline, as their “homestead” of 30-some years. “Homestead” is a powerful word. It recalls where our people came from: traveling across wild land, picking one spot out of a million possibilities, staking survival—financial and physical—on their best guess that this patch of land might produce a good crop. Our ancestors came in response to a simple promise from the government: build a house, grow crops, tough it out, and the land is yours.

The Sibsons thought the land they worked for was theirs. They chose a spot twelve miles out of town, built a home, paid the bills with corn, wheat, and cattle. By sweat and wits, they earned their farm. They figured it was theirs, plain and simple…until last year, when a foreign corporation said, “No, actually, we can claim your land anytime we want,” and the government to which the Sibsons pay their taxes replied, “Yup, sure can.”

“I’m one of the only guys who can say he had a 2000-mile pipeline shoved up his ***,” says Mike Sibson.

This got me to thinking about the big subject of eminent domain and how it has an impact on land owners. From your experiences, what’s your take? What are your thoughts? Do you know someone who has been touched by eminent domain? I will report back with the full story later on. Thanks for your thoughts…