10-25-2013, 05:44 PM
The National Organization for Rivers is excited to announce you can now download (for free) the Colorado poster and handout and print it in two different sizes. There has never been anything like this: A basic summary of your rights on rivers in Colorado that you can easily share! The poster and handout do not repeat the usual claims of lawyers for riverfront landowners, to the effect that public rights on rivers would have to be decided by state courts or state legislatures. Instead, they cite numerous U.S. Supreme Court decisions and Acts of Congress to show that rivers that people typically use for raft, kayak, or canoe trips are navigable for Commerce Clause purposes under federal law. These rivers are subject to the federal navigational easement, including public rights to scout rapids from shore, portage around rapids, and fish from the gravel bars and banks along these rivers.
Of course, some riverfront landowners, their lawyers, and their supporters in local and state government will disagree with the message in the posters and handouts, but that’s the point: To give river users tools to use for dialog with local and state government agencies, in order to reconfirm public rights on rivers in places where they are doubted or denied.
October is a great time to post and distribute these materials, so that people will see them during the holiday season, and will have time to review and discuss them during the colder months when there is less river activity. If you live or travel in one of the mountain towns of western Colorado, now is a good time to hang up the poster on bulletin boards in outdoor stores, fly fishing shops, community centers, supermarkets, public parks, town squares, college campuses, and other public locations. It’s also a good time to give a copy to county sheriffs and other law enforcement officials. There is no need to ask for responses from sheriffs and officials at this point—just let them study the poster on their own time.
The handouts and posters can be printed, or e-mailed to the directors of kayak clubs, college outdoor programs, government agencies, and reporters for local newspapers and other media.
You can see the posters and handouts now by going to this link http://www.nationalrivers.org/river-law-handouts.html
Enjoy! Thanks for supporting the cause for our rivers to be "forever free!"[fishon]
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Of course, some riverfront landowners, their lawyers, and their supporters in local and state government will disagree with the message in the posters and handouts, but that’s the point: To give river users tools to use for dialog with local and state government agencies, in order to reconfirm public rights on rivers in places where they are doubted or denied.
October is a great time to post and distribute these materials, so that people will see them during the holiday season, and will have time to review and discuss them during the colder months when there is less river activity. If you live or travel in one of the mountain towns of western Colorado, now is a good time to hang up the poster on bulletin boards in outdoor stores, fly fishing shops, community centers, supermarkets, public parks, town squares, college campuses, and other public locations. It’s also a good time to give a copy to county sheriffs and other law enforcement officials. There is no need to ask for responses from sheriffs and officials at this point—just let them study the poster on their own time.
The handouts and posters can be printed, or e-mailed to the directors of kayak clubs, college outdoor programs, government agencies, and reporters for local newspapers and other media.
You can see the posters and handouts now by going to this link http://www.nationalrivers.org/river-law-handouts.html
Enjoy! Thanks for supporting the cause for our rivers to be "forever free!"[fishon]
[signature]