Eagle County (Vail, Colorado) tries to put pilot out of business!

Here's an interesting situation - and I am not quite sure if I have a valid claim or not! ;-)

I have been an FAA Certified Commercial Pilot since 1983, and fly tourists in hot air balloons as a full time living.

Since December 7th of 2007, I have been prohibited by Eagle County Colorado from taking off and flying in and around the airport in my manned hot air balloons. I was "categorically denied permission for (unspecified) safety reasons". What's really going on here is they don't want me getting in the way of their filthy rich customers in their Lear jets - even though hot air balloons have complete right of way over all other aircraft - except those in distress.

I have recently received letters from the Federal Aviation Administration - which were also sent to Eagle County - stating that they CANNOT prohibit me from taking off, landing and flying in and around the airport in hot air balloons. Eagle County has no jurisdiction when it comes to FAA regulations, even though they manage the airport.

My question is simple: Can I now sue Eagle County for damages and/or (not sure if this is the correct term) "restraint of trade" or similar? In addition the Eagle County Attorney has publicly stated in the media that "hot air ballooning is an inherently dangerous activity". That's news to me since I've flown over 6000 hours in balloons without any incidents or accidents!

I have had losses of over $2,000.00 per day due to their illegal actions, the total amount is approaching $180,000.00 in lost revenue to date.

Thank you in advance for your advice!

Regards,

Ron