Crested Butte Town Council not ready to jump in the raft

A serious issue that inflames passions

The Crested Butte Town Council members are ready to at least dip their toes in the swirling waters of a local rafting controversy, but how deep they want to jump into the river remains a question.

All the council members agree that people should be able to run the rivers in the area, even through private property, but they aren’t yet ready to write a letter of support for state representative Kathleen Curry’s bill in the legislature allowing commercial rafters to have navigation rights. So, two letters will be drafted for consideration at the next council meeting on February 16.
The issue came up at the last meeting when Three Rivers Resort owner Mark Schumacher asked the town to write a letter of support for the bill. The bill basically would prohibit outfitters from being sued for civil trespassing if they make accidental contact with private property they are floating through, or if they portage around hazards that would put their passengers at risk. It does not apply to private boaters.
The issue came to a head when the new owners of a ranch with a portion of the Taylor River running through it decided to prohibit boaters from floating the property. Commercial outfitters, Three Rivers along with Scenic River Tours have utilized that stretch of river for more than two decades.
Marcus Lock, an attorney for the landowner Jackson Shaw, told the council Monday that this is “quite a serious issue that inflames passions. But it involves complex legal issues that have been unresolved for 30 years. It pits two constituent groups, private fishermen and commercial rafters, against each other. It is making its way through the Colorado legislature, but if it is decided through that avenue it becomes an unconstitutional taking of private property and just compensation would have to be paid. It ignores private property rights. It is a complicated issue and I would say it is premature for the council to take a position. Both sides of the issue are in a box.”
Matt Brown of Scenic River Tours said he couldn’t argue the constitutionality of the proposed legislation, but noted, “The river business is a big business in our tourist-based economy. It keeps people here another day-and-a-half. It employs hundreds of guides and this bill just allows us to continue what we’ve been able to do under federal law for 25 years. This is not a perfect bill. But the federal courts have repeatedly upheld the public’s right to float.”
Local guide Jason White seconded that opinion. “It is important for recreation and for jobs,” he said. “There really haven’t been any conflicts between fishermen and rafters. We work well together.”
Councilperson Phoebe Wilson pointed out when the Colorado Supreme Court last spoke on the issue in 1979, the state was geared more toward ranching and that could have been the context of the current state of law.
Landowner’s lawyer Lock agreed, but said the law was the law. “In an ideal world the two parties would get together and come to some sort of agreement,” Lock said. “But that hasn’t happened and the two rafting companies have been informed they won’t be able to raft through that private property. The dispute is between two private parties and it should be settled in court, not through the legislature.”
Mayor Leah Williams said it was a big issue and more information should be gathered before the council takes a stand.
Councilperson Dan Escalante suggested the council write a letter not necessarily in support of the bill but stating general philosophies of the council as it applied to the situation. “I think we all agree that the rivers should be available to the people.”
“We don’t want to cause unforeseen hazards by writing this letter,” said councilperson John Wirsing. “Will a letter upset the local ranching community? I think we need to learn more before taking a stand.”
Councilperson Reed Betz agreed. “The idea of rivers not being allowed to be accessed seems to me to be pathetic,” he said, “but I’d like more information.”
Councilperson Jim Schmidt said the bill didn’t go far enough. “It should open it up to the general public. The water is public.”
Councilperson Roland Mason has worked as a local raft guide and he said he supported the bill. “We should do what we can to keep the public waters public. Hopefully this bill would make the laws governing this issue more black and white.”
Williams said she didn’t want to jump too fast. “We’ve gotten in trouble before by moving too fast,” she said. “But we are a tourist-based economy and it seems we are all in support of access. To see how far we can go, let’s take two more weeks and gather some more information.”
The town staff, with the help of the council, will draft two letters. One will be philosophical in nature, while a second will be more technical and supportive of the specific bill. The council will consider which action to take at the next meeting.