Alamosa, Colo. - An upbeat, energized Scott McInnis bounded back onto the campaign trail Monday, making his first public appearance since embroiled in a plagiarism scandal last week. The Republican gubernatorial candidate, along with his primary opponent Dan Maes, spoke about illegal immigration, water storage and Pinon Canyon at the Colorado Farm Bureau's mid-summer meeting. None of the roughly 180 people in attendance publicly asked McInnis about last week's troubles, their focus totally on issues facing the agricultural community. McInnis, who canceled a public event Friday and did not appear at a GOP event with Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty Saturday, spoke to the media afterward, re-iterating that he was in the race for the long haul and jump-starting his campaign in southern Colorado. 'Do I look like I'm going anywhere? These boots are made for walking, and I'm ready to fight,' he said to The Denver Post, looking down at his brown cowboy boots. He also addressed again the controversy surrounding articles he submitted to the Hasan Foundation as original works but which included passages that were similar to or copied directly from a 1984 essay by now-Colorado Supreme Court Justice Gregory Hobbs. 'It was an obvious mistake. I stood up, took responsibility and moved on,' McInnis said. McInnis, who said he would repay the $300,000 he received from the foundation, said he spoke to its founder Malik Hasan last week, but declined to discuss the details. McInnis also said he left a message for Hobbs last week but has not spoken to him. Maes, saddled with his own problems ranging from campaign violations to a request from some former donors to return their money if he doesn't come clean about his finances, said he was releasing his tax returns to a conservative Colorado Springs website www.theconstitutionalisttoday.com Monday. He called the request from previous donors 'a publicity stunt to damage me.' Many of those attending the farm bureau's meeting said they had not decided which Republican candidate to support and were split over whether McInnis' plagiarism problems should affect their decision. Dave Whitney, a rancher and former farmer from Logan County, which is on the northeast corner of Colorado, said he is primarily concerned about the water the state is losing because there isn't proper storage. 'It's all just going down to the Gulf of Mexico,' he said. He hasn't decided which candidate to vote for in the primary because he likes both men. The plagiarism stories won't affect his decision one way or another. 'I discount it. I don't know that I know the facts of what happened,' he said. Connie Hass owns a ranch with her husband in Thatcher right across the street from the Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site in southeast Colorado. 'I don't want any more land going to the federal government,' she said about the Army's proposed expansion at the site. She also doesn't know who she will back in the Republican primary, but as a school teacher she has reservations about McInnis. 'It's very difficult to tell my kids at school that you should vote for someone who did that,' she said. Taking questions from the audience, Maes and McInnis agreed on most issues. The two believed there should be a way for ranchers and farmers to use legal, seasonal immigrants. They both backed water storage projects, such as the Northern Integrated Supply Project, which creates new reservoirs near Fort Collins and Ault. And both supported less federally-designated wilderness areas and more mult-uses of forest land. 'Keep you hands off our state,' Maes said, referring to the federal government. There was a division on the issue of Pinon Canyon, however. McInnis does not oppose the expansion, but said he does oppose eminent domain. No private property owner should sell unless he or she wants to, he said. Maes, getting applause from the audience, said he will stand 'firm against expansion if that's what you want me to.' 