Update on the Browns Canyon Situation

Marshall · 01-17-2004

Good Morning All,

Marshall here, your Private Boater representative to AHRA CTF with a little update on the situation on the Arkansas River in Browns Canyon. As many of you might be aware of, we have been working toward eliminating the possibility of permitting Browns Canyon to private boaters and Kayakers. There has been a lot of speculation and a few disinformation campaigns since this problem came to light. We have finally come up with what we are calling the Integrated Concept Plan, or as governmental entities are so fond of acronyms, the ICP.

Here is the plan as it stands currently

Integrated Concept Plan

Arkansas Headwaters Recreation Area - 01/16/04

The below noted information consists of an Integrated Concept Plan (ICP) to provide assistance in resolving a number of Private Boat and Special Use Agreement issues that have been brought to the attention of Colorado State Parks and the Bureau of Land Management.

Reduction of Commercial Boat Per Day (bpd) Carrying Capacities

Browns Canyon (Section 2 B) - Reduce Commercial Capacity on weekends & holidays from 450 bpd to 360 bpd

Effective Time Period: 05/15 - 09/07

Parkdale (Section 4 B) - Reduce Commercial Capacity on weekends & holidays from 300 bpd to 240 bpd [60 bpd reduction to be available for commercial use in Section 4 B when the Royal Gorge (Section 5) is under a High Water Advisory from AHRA]

Effective Time Period: 05/15 - 09/07

Adjustment of Commercial Launch Window

Numbers (Section 1 C) - Adjust Commercial Launch Window from 8:30 am - 11:00 am to 8:30 am - 2:00 pm

Effective Time Period: 05/15 - 09/07

Increase in Private Boat Per Day (bpd) Carrying Capacities

Browns Canyon (Section 2 B) - Increase Private Capacity on weekends & holidays from 150 bpd to 240 bpd

Effective Time Period: 05/15 - 09/07

Private Boat Permit System

Work with Private Boat Permit Planning Team to establish a working framework for an AHRA Private Boat Permit System

Minimum Fee

Increase Minimum Fee for Special Use Agreements/Boating from the current $400 per year to $2,500 per year

Increase Minimum Fee for Special Use Agreements/Non-Boating from the current $250 per year to $1,000 per year

Minimum Per Client Fee

Establish Minimum Per Client Fee for Special Use Agreements/Boating - 5.25% of Gross with a minimum of $2.00 Per Client (Equivalent to current AHRA Individual Pass Fee)

Agreement Transfer Incentive

$5,000 Agreement Transfer Fee if Boating Agreement is Transferred

$500 Agreement Transfer Fee if Boating Agreement is Retired (Use Transferred)

$5,000 Agreement Transfer Fee to go to $500 when AHRA reaches 45 or less Boating Agreements

$500 Agreement Transfer Fee if Non-Boating Agreement is Transferred

Minimum Operating Requirement

Establish a 3-year Minimum Operating Requirement prior to transfer of Special Use Agreement/Boating

Agreement retired if Minimum Operating Requirement is not executed

3-year Minimum Operating Requirement to be reviewed when AHRA reaches 45 or less Boating Agreements

Now, we're having scoping meetings where the private boater and private kayaker are encouraged to voice thier opinions. Meetings will be held at these locations from 6 to 8 PM. I highly encourage you to attend and let your voice be heard

For immediate release January 8, 2004

Arkansas Headwaters Recreation Area Integrated Concept Plan Meetings Scheduled

SALIDA--The Arkansas Headwaters Recreation Area (AHRA) will hold four public meetings to discuss the proposals of the Integrated Concept Plan (ICP). This plan was developed to provide assistance in resolving a number of Private Boat and Commercial Special Use Agreement issues that have been brought to the attention of Colorado State Parks and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Adoption of the ICP could lead to modifications of the 2001 Arkansas River Recreation Management Plan.

All meetings will be held from 6 pm until 8 pm on the following dates and locations:

a.. Tuesday, Jan. 20, Annex Meeting Room, Lake County Public Library, 1115 Harrison Avenue, Leadville;
b.. Thursday, Jan. 22, Public Room, Community First Bank, 146 G Street, Salida;
c.. Tuesday, Jan. 27, BLM Field Office Conference Room, 3170 East Main Street (Hwy 50), Canon City;
d.. Monday, Feb. 9, REI Flagship Store, 1416 Platte Street, Denver.
All interested parties are encouraged to attend. For more information, please contact the AHRA office at (719) 539-7289.

Again, please don't let this opportunity to be heard pass you by. Of course as always, you can send me your comments and I will ensure that they are heard. My email address is info@marshallwelding.com

Thanks for your time, hope to see you at the meetings, I will be attending the Leadville and Salida meetings, possibly the one in Canon City as well, but have a conflict with the one in Denver.

Andy H. · 01-17-2004

Hi Marshall,

I appreciate your posting the info and thanks even more for all the other work you've done with this issue.

Doesn't the section from the line "Minimum Fee" down to the "3-year Minimum Operating Requirement" part, apply only to the commercial outfitters?

Its good to see that the private boater allocation on Brown's is actually being increased by 90 boats per day even though we may have to get permits to run the canyon.

It also looks like the AHRA is trying to cut down on the number of outfitters running the Ark and decrease the total number of boater days overall with the commercial reduction on Parkdale but no corresponding private increase.

Other than the expansion of the commercial launch window on the Numbers did the outfitters gain anything from this episode? Also, do you think this will do much to cut down on the crowding?

SYOTR,

--Andy

liziis · 01-17-2004

hope lots of folks can attend the 9 february REI meeting at 6pm. after all the scares of permits, its great to see that all the different parties could find an good alternative.

thanks for your persistent effort!

Marshall · 01-18-2004

Yes, the section from minimum fee down does only concern the commercials, I decided to post the entire plan in it's entirety so all could see the comprehensive nature of the plan.

We are hoping that the increase happens. There are some of the commercial outfitters that aren't on board with this plan, one of the reasons we need to show up at the open house meetings and voice our opinions as private boaters, you can be sure the commercial interests will be there.

The Managment plan has a section in it that says the CTF and AHRA will work toward reducing the total numbers of commercial outfitters on the river to 45. We don't have any way to do this in a fair manner except to do it thru attrition, the transfer fees and such are a vehicle to that end. The reduction in Parkdale is a step in the right direction, however there are some commercials that aren't on board with that either. It's hell trying to get 59 people / companies to agree on anything.

The outfitters DO gain a bit more than just the expansion of the lauinch window. They are hoping to gain what has been called sustainability if thier industry, and reduce crowding on the river corridor. The expansion of the launch window will hopefully spread out the use at the Numbers site too, there won't be everyone trying to get on the river by 11, and it won't realy cut down on the numbers of commercials inthe numbers after 11 anyway as they can launch at Granite at 11 and still be in the numbers at 2 , so effectively we gave up nothing and got a lot in return.

Hope to see some of you at the meetings, I will be attending the leadville and Salida meetings. We really need to make a showing at these meetings and prove we care about what's going on, and where we want the system to go.

Red · 01-21-2004

Marshall,

The CTF agreement looks pretty good as written. Ideally I'd rather see the commercial launch time at the numbers stop earlier than two, but overall it seems like we've gotten a good break.

Someone told me that the AHRA web-site has fine print saying that the rest of the agreement includes an increase to the commercial rafters on the other sections of the river (including the Numbers). I coldn't find any reference to that information and I was curious if it's true?

Marshall · 01-23-2004

Good Morning All,

Ok, re: Red's question, there is nothing tied to the ICP ( Integrated Concept Plan) that has anything about an increase tied to it. The Numbers, Section 1C, has a provision in the managment plan for the commercial BPD numbers to increase at 10 per year, to a current cap of 60 BPD. THis is tied to a regulating system that says the BPD can increase at a rate of 10 per year provided 3 criteria are met. One is no user conflicts ( reported to AHRA) and another is no resource degradation, and I apologize, but I don't have a copy of the RMP here at work so I don't remember the third condition, if anyone wants to know I'll find out for you.

Update on the open houses: I was at both the Leadville and Salida open houses, turnout from the private boater side was great at both open houses, we had 5 outfitters at the Leadville one, and about 20 at the Salida one, some of the same ones that attended Leadville. Overwhelming support for the ICP was the Private mantra, and the comments ran on the commercial side from total disaproval, to attempting to get more use in the Numbers. to, and this is my favorite, "If we all can't agree on the whole thing, everybody walks away from this not agreeing with everything, then we must have done something right"

This thing isn't over yet, we have the meeting at the REI flagship store in Denver and the meeting in Canon City, I strongly urge all of you that possibly can to attend either one of these open houses and show your support for the ICP. If you can't attend, please send your comments to me info@marshallwelding.com and I will ensure that your vioce is heard.

Thanks for your time

Marshall · 02-19-2004

Arkansas Headwaters Recreation Area Integrated
Concept Plan presented to Colorado State Parks Board

DENVER, CoOn Feb. 13 the Colorado State Parks Board met at Cherry Creek State Park to discuss the Arkansas Headwaters Recreation Area (AHRA) Integrated Concept Plan (ICP). The ICP is designed to provide assistance in resolving a number of Private Boat and Special Use Agreement issues that have been brought to the attention of Colorado State Parks and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The plan is a collaborative solution involving Colorado State Parks, the BLM, the AHRA Citizens Task Force, the Arkansas River Outfitters Association, private boater groups and the general outdoor recreation public. Adoption of the ICP could lead to modifications of the 2001 Arkansas River Recreation Management Plan.
Prior to the board meeting, four public meetings were held in Leadville, Salida, Canon City and Denver to discuss the proposals outlined within the ICP. The comments received at these meetings were utilized to draft a revised version of the ICP that was presented to the Colorado State Parks Board. The revised version is available for public comment on the Web at www.parks.state.co.us under the link entitled AHRA Integrated Concept Plan. Public comment on the revised ICP can be sent via email or physical mail until March 5 at 5:00 p.m. Specific email and physical addresses at which comments will be received isare listed on the Web site. Following this comment period the Colorado State Parks Board will consider adoption of the revised ICP at their March 25-26 meeting in Canon City.
The 2001 Arkansas River Recreation Management Plan began in the spring of 1998 as a revision of the original management plan developed in 1989 as part of the establishment of the AHRA. The AHRA stretches 150 miles along the river from its headwaters near Leadville down to Lake Pueblo State Park. Both the 1989 and 2001 plans were products of comprehensive public involvement processes. The complete 2001 plan is available on the Web at www.parks.state.co.us by using the Park Quick Find and selecting Arkansas Headwaters and then selecting Management Plan from the left-hand menu.

Marshall · 03-29-2004

Greetings all,

I wanted to post and let all of you know that after better than 2 years of hard work, letter writing and meetings, the COlorado State Parks board has spoken, unanimously, to approve the use modifications between Browns Canyon and the Numbers. What this means to us, as private boaters, is that for the time being, we will not be subject to permitting on Browns Canyon this year, and hopefully not in the near future.

The Commercial permitees have given us 90 boats per day in Browns, in exchange for us giving them a lengthened launch window in the Numbers and the ability to increase thier use there by 10 boats per year, to a cap of 90, providing 3 conditions are met, no conflicts between user groups, no additional resource degradation, and not overstressing the facilities. A small price to pay on our side, and a big gain. I would like to thank everyone that lent thier support and hard work to this endeavor.

The Parks board did indeed listen to everyone, and made the best decision for all involved. I couldn't have helped make this happen without all of the help and support I got from the private boating community. Again, Thank you ALL..