The accused say locals exaggerate the impact they are having on the environment and claim the county is harassing them and arbitrarily changing regulations to drive them off their land.

"We are just modest people trying to lead modest lives," said Manny Feliu. "We would be forced out, and the rich would move in."

Over the past few years, the county has seen a significant increase in the number of people moving in to live off the grid on pieces of land far from the nearest utility hookups.

Land is cheap in the county, where subdivisions are platted but largely unoccupied. The county has almost 40,000 vacant, privately owned lots, the highest number in the state, spread over 500 square miles of the San Luis Valley.

Today, "at least 800 people are living off the grid. And for a county that only had 3,600 residents before, that is significant," said Ben Doon, Costilla's chief administrative officer.