spectr17
10-23-2003, 01:15 PM
October 23, 2003
Colo. river law could snag fishing guides' customers
Landowners up in arms over trespassing anglers
By Nancy Lofholm, Denver Post Western Slope Bureau
GUNNISON - When Don Menk stormed down to the riverbank of his property several weeks ago with a .22 rifle in hand to confront anglers casting in his trout-filled eddies, it was the latest in a growing list of skirmishes over Colorado's confusing river-access laws.
The state has long struggled with clashes between property holders, who have rights to the rivers that run through their land, and recreational rafters and anglers, who float through that land and flout those property rights.
The current interpretation of state law says rafters can drift through private property and anglers can even cast for fish as they cross private land - but they can't get out of their boats nor can they touch bottom because property lines extend to the middle of rivers.
"The law is basic. The interpretation is complicated," Gunnison County Undersheriff Rick Besecker said.
Because Menk said he saw the anglers out of their rafts in his part of the Gunnison River, the Menk case threatened to add another layer of complication: Besecker took the unprecedented step of asking prosecutors to look at filing trespassing charges against the fishing guides' clients as well as the guides themselves.
Irate landowners have been charged with menacing or assault in the past. Fishing guides and private boaters have been charged with trespassing, but their paying customers have remained untouched.
"That's a new and novel twist on things. It's a reaction to the fact that we don't yet have resolution on river-access issues," said Jay Kenney, past president of American Whitewater and access director of the Colorado Whitewater Association.
In the end, prosecutors didn't charge the anglers involved in the Menk incident - but only, prosecutors said, because they thought there was not enough proof that they had gotten out of their rafts.
"I wouldn't rule out the possibility of charging people (guided anglers) in the future," said 7th Judicial District Attorney Thomas Raynes, who considered the case.
Ken Lane, a spokesman for Colorado Attorney General Ken Salazar, agreed that gray areas in Colorado's river-access laws are opening the possibility for more prosecution at a new level. He said that when one of these trespassing cases is eventually filed against anglers on guided trips, it could prompt a call for changing state law.
"We could very well see a criminal filing some day that could very well bring action on legislation, or a referendum," Lane said.
Guided anglers, who are aligned with the $125million-a-year Colorado recreational rafting industry, have so far avoided charges because they count on guides to tell them when they are on private property and when they are not.
In the incident on Menk's property, two rafts of anglers with two guides from Three Rivers Resort & Outfitting had allegedly trespassed on his property one morning. Menk called the Gunnison County Sheriff's Office after he said he saw the first anglers standing out of the boat and heard the guide tell one of the fishermen to break off the fish he had just caught and get back in the boat.
Menk said that before the sheriff could respond, clients in the second Three Rivers raft were also out of the raft, casting for the lunkers that Menk stocked in his section of the river five years ago. A no-trespassing sign is posted at the property's edge.
Neither the guides involved in the incident nor Three Rivers owner Mark Schumacher responded to requests for comment.
Misdemeanor trespassing charges would carry only a small fine, but could set precedent for other river disputes and send a message to Colorado's fishing industry.
"We don't want to close all this down. It's a huge industry in Colorado," said Todd Price, a fishing guide with Scenic River Tours in Gunnison.
He said if all fishing guides simply kept proper etiquette in mind, many of the access disputes would go away. But he said the bigger tips that guides get when clients catch the bigger fish are too tempting for some.
"Good Lord, if everybody just used their manners, we wouldn't even need all these laws and courts and all that," Price said.
Price said he is on friendly waving terms with Menk when he floats through his property. Menk confirmed that out of seven fishing-guide companies around Gunnison, he has had trouble only with Three Rivers. The battles go back at least five years.
Menk said that when he and his wife, Pauline, bought their 2 acres of riverfront property in 1997 and the following year did $43,000 worth of fish habitat work and rainbow stocking, they like many Colorado newcomers didn't know the stretch of river was a superhighway for rafters.
Unlike some landowners who have had disputes with rafters and tried to block their passage along the Gunnison, Menk said he doesn't mind those who just float through his property. In fact, he and Pauline sit on a rustic swing they have set up along the river to watch the parade in the busy summer months.
He said they also enjoy the big rainbows they consider pets. They feed them fish-food pellets, have named many of them and can recognize them by their markings.
"It's like a giant aquarium," Menk said.
But Menk now says he wishes he had not purchased his "little slice of peaceful Western paradise."
"It's created such havoc for my wife and I," he said.
Menk could face the most serious charge - felony menacing - in this latest river-access skirmish. If Menk is charged with felony menacing, he could face jail time and a large fine.
He admits he walked to the river with the gun in hand because he had been sighting it by firing at a stump on his property. He said he lost his temper, but he said he never pointed the gun at the fishermen. He did admit saying to fishing guide Jason Booth, "I'm so mad at you, I could drop you in your tracks."
"It was horrible mistake. I shouldn't have done it," the retired engineer said.
But Menk said it has turned into a matter of principle and precedent.
"This one is a political hot potato now," he said.
http://media.mnginteractive.com/media/paper36/1023gunnisong.gif
Colo. river law could snag fishing guides' customers
Landowners up in arms over trespassing anglers
By Nancy Lofholm, Denver Post Western Slope Bureau
GUNNISON - When Don Menk stormed down to the riverbank of his property several weeks ago with a .22 rifle in hand to confront anglers casting in his trout-filled eddies, it was the latest in a growing list of skirmishes over Colorado's confusing river-access laws.
The state has long struggled with clashes between property holders, who have rights to the rivers that run through their land, and recreational rafters and anglers, who float through that land and flout those property rights.
The current interpretation of state law says rafters can drift through private property and anglers can even cast for fish as they cross private land - but they can't get out of their boats nor can they touch bottom because property lines extend to the middle of rivers.
"The law is basic. The interpretation is complicated," Gunnison County Undersheriff Rick Besecker said.
Because Menk said he saw the anglers out of their rafts in his part of the Gunnison River, the Menk case threatened to add another layer of complication: Besecker took the unprecedented step of asking prosecutors to look at filing trespassing charges against the fishing guides' clients as well as the guides themselves.
Irate landowners have been charged with menacing or assault in the past. Fishing guides and private boaters have been charged with trespassing, but their paying customers have remained untouched.
"That's a new and novel twist on things. It's a reaction to the fact that we don't yet have resolution on river-access issues," said Jay Kenney, past president of American Whitewater and access director of the Colorado Whitewater Association.
In the end, prosecutors didn't charge the anglers involved in the Menk incident - but only, prosecutors said, because they thought there was not enough proof that they had gotten out of their rafts.
"I wouldn't rule out the possibility of charging people (guided anglers) in the future," said 7th Judicial District Attorney Thomas Raynes, who considered the case.
Ken Lane, a spokesman for Colorado Attorney General Ken Salazar, agreed that gray areas in Colorado's river-access laws are opening the possibility for more prosecution at a new level. He said that when one of these trespassing cases is eventually filed against anglers on guided trips, it could prompt a call for changing state law.
"We could very well see a criminal filing some day that could very well bring action on legislation, or a referendum," Lane said.
Guided anglers, who are aligned with the $125million-a-year Colorado recreational rafting industry, have so far avoided charges because they count on guides to tell them when they are on private property and when they are not.
In the incident on Menk's property, two rafts of anglers with two guides from Three Rivers Resort & Outfitting had allegedly trespassed on his property one morning. Menk called the Gunnison County Sheriff's Office after he said he saw the first anglers standing out of the boat and heard the guide tell one of the fishermen to break off the fish he had just caught and get back in the boat.
Menk said that before the sheriff could respond, clients in the second Three Rivers raft were also out of the raft, casting for the lunkers that Menk stocked in his section of the river five years ago. A no-trespassing sign is posted at the property's edge.
Neither the guides involved in the incident nor Three Rivers owner Mark Schumacher responded to requests for comment.
Misdemeanor trespassing charges would carry only a small fine, but could set precedent for other river disputes and send a message to Colorado's fishing industry.
"We don't want to close all this down. It's a huge industry in Colorado," said Todd Price, a fishing guide with Scenic River Tours in Gunnison.
He said if all fishing guides simply kept proper etiquette in mind, many of the access disputes would go away. But he said the bigger tips that guides get when clients catch the bigger fish are too tempting for some.
"Good Lord, if everybody just used their manners, we wouldn't even need all these laws and courts and all that," Price said.
Price said he is on friendly waving terms with Menk when he floats through his property. Menk confirmed that out of seven fishing-guide companies around Gunnison, he has had trouble only with Three Rivers. The battles go back at least five years.
Menk said that when he and his wife, Pauline, bought their 2 acres of riverfront property in 1997 and the following year did $43,000 worth of fish habitat work and rainbow stocking, they like many Colorado newcomers didn't know the stretch of river was a superhighway for rafters.
Unlike some landowners who have had disputes with rafters and tried to block their passage along the Gunnison, Menk said he doesn't mind those who just float through his property. In fact, he and Pauline sit on a rustic swing they have set up along the river to watch the parade in the busy summer months.
He said they also enjoy the big rainbows they consider pets. They feed them fish-food pellets, have named many of them and can recognize them by their markings.
"It's like a giant aquarium," Menk said.
But Menk now says he wishes he had not purchased his "little slice of peaceful Western paradise."
"It's created such havoc for my wife and I," he said.
Menk could face the most serious charge - felony menacing - in this latest river-access skirmish. If Menk is charged with felony menacing, he could face jail time and a large fine.
He admits he walked to the river with the gun in hand because he had been sighting it by firing at a stump on his property. He said he lost his temper, but he said he never pointed the gun at the fishermen. He did admit saying to fishing guide Jason Booth, "I'm so mad at you, I could drop you in your tracks."
"It was horrible mistake. I shouldn't have done it," the retired engineer said.
But Menk said it has turned into a matter of principle and precedent.
"This one is a political hot potato now," he said.
http://media.mnginteractive.com/media/paper36/1023gunnisong.gif