Green Lake lawsuit sent back to district court for clarification

Gunnison County, USFS, JW Smith and Lake Irwin Coalition involved

By Katherine Nettles

While it appeared that a four-year legal dispute over public access to Green Lake Road above Lake Irwin was heading for trial early next year in United States District Court in Denver, a new development this month has likely sidetracked it again. The case, which started in 2019 based on a gate closure on the road, has been stuck in a quagmire involving dueling motions for summary judgement, factual disputes and questions over historical records for more than a year. The question of whether a gate is allowed on the road will not be resolved this summer. 

Green Lake Road passes through both public and private land leading to Green Lake between Ruby and Owen peaks in the Ruby Range of the southwestern Elk Mountains. It also passes through a parcel owned by Jonathan Whitacre (J.W.) Smith. Smith erected a gate in 2016 to close off a portion of the road that crosses part of his property, and alleged that he installed the gate due to frustration with hikers trespassing on his property from the road and along the Scarp Ridge hiking trail. Public access to the public trails beyond has been blocked ever since. 

The road was formerly open to the public, and various historical records within court documents indicate that might have been the case for more than a century. A group of nearby landowners, named the John Biro et al and Lake Irwin Coalition, sued Smith over his placing of the gate. Gunnison County, also a plaintiff in the case, last year asked for a court ruling that the road is U.S. Forest Service (USFS) property, and that the USFS should protect public access to public property that cannot be blocked by a private landowner. The USFS has agreed that it is a public road but denied it as USFS jurisdiction. 

Smith also filed a third-party complaint against the Lake Irwin Coalition’s president, David Gottorff, for trespassing and inducing others to trespass on private property. Smith moved for summary judgment against the plaintiffs.

Judge Christine M. Arguello denied both motions last year citing “genuine factual disputes.” Late last month the court filed a notice for a 10-day bench trial set to begin January 29, 2024, in U.S. District Court before Judge Arguello.

However, Gunnison County attorney Matthew Hoyt confirmed that on June 12, the federal court issued an order returning, or “remanding,” the case back to state court, where it began which will be Gunnison County District Court. The effect of that order and potential trial date remains to be seen, however it appears the previously scheduled trial for January is moot. The Gunnison court is expected to take some time to sort things out and schedule a trial at another date.