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“Freedom to wade”: 80-year-old Colorado fisherman notches win for public access to rivers
Public should have legal access to wade in “navigable” rivers, retired physicist Roger Hill contends
By Bruce Finley | bfinley@denverpost.com | The Denver Post
PUBLISHED: February 3, 2022 at 5:59 a.m. | UPDATED: February 4, 2022 at 10:16 a.m.
Colorado’s Court of Appeals has cleared the way for 80-year-old fisherman Roger Hill to fight for his right to fish in peace on his favorite stretch of the Arkansas River as it flows down from snow-packed mountains.
This court ruling also means any other Colorado resident who has been forced off a river, from the Animas to the Yampa, can go to court to protect public access. A three-judge panel unanimously rejected the position of Colorado’s government, which sided with landowners against Hill. Colorado allows private ownership of riverbeds while all other states treat rivers deemed “navigable” as public.
“I just like to get out on a clear stream and I enjoy watching the fish,” Hill said from his home in Colorado Springs, delighted at the decision in what he describes as a decade-long life mission...
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