An activist group claims a deal to swap land between the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and Blue Valley Ranch (BVR), a private group, will cause the public to lose access to the Blue River.
Ski-Hi News reported that the BLM and BVR agreed to swap nine parcels of land in Grand and Summit Counties privately owned by BVR. According to Colorado Wild Public Lands (COWPL), the swap would privatize the last three public parcels along the Blue River, a gold medal trout stream
“The reason for the exchange appears to be that the non-federal party, Blue Valley Ranch would like to obtain additional property along the Blue River for purposes of controlling the river, doing instream improvements, creating private fishing opportunities, limiting public access and generally obtaining greater privacy,” Franz Froelicher wrote in a letter on behalf of the Colorado Wild Public Lands' Board of Directors.
A former general manager of Blue Valley Ranch said the exchange addressed the checkerboard nature of the parcels and that some parcels were inaccessible to the public because they were surrounded by private lands, Sky-Hi News reported.
“These are very important parcels of land that give the public who may be rafting the river attempts to get off and get onto land,” Suzanne Jackson of the COWPL said in an Aug. 25 Facebook post.
Established in 2014, Colorado Wild Public Lands is a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving and ensuring public access to natural landscapes.
