In 1975 the Colorado Department of Highways commenced eminent domain proceedings in order to construct a highway. The owner contests the CDOH's valuation of the premises mat leads to a district court holding in 1985 that awarded compensation and purported to vest the title to the land with the CDOH. The 1985 order does not resolve who is the owner of the mineral estate. In 2000, Gypsum Ranch purchases the owner's interests subject to the condemnation acquisition. In 2006, Gypsum Ranch files mis action against the renamed Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) asserting that CDOT only owns an easement or right of way across its fee simple ownership which includes ownership of the minerals underlying me right of way. CDOT argues that it condemned a fee simple absolute interest in the surface and mineral estate.
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