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House passes rafters' legislation
Bill will allows commercial rafters to go aground.
By PATRICK MALONE
THE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN
February 17, 2010
DENVER — A bill that allows rafters to go
aground on private property passed the House on Tuesday and awaits
the governor's signature to become law.
Sponsored by state Rep. Kathleen Curry,
unaffiliated-Gunnison, HB1188 sparked debate over commercial
rafters' rights to travel public waterways and the rights of
property owners.
In the end, rafters won out, as the bill passed 40-25.
The bill, if approved by Gov. Bill Ritter, would allow
rafters on commercial trips to touch the banks and the riverbed as
they pass through private property. Until now, rafters had been
allowed to pass through private property as long as both of those
steps were avoided.
Opponents of the bill said it strips property owners to
their right of exclusion.
State Rep. Jerry Sonnenberg, R-Sterling, said allowing
rafters portage is akin to setting aside circumstances that allow
trespassing through one's house, yard or car.
"Once you allow government to start saying who can and
cannot come on your property, that's a very dangerous door,"
Sonnenberg said.
Rep. Wes McKinley, D-Walsh, dubbed himself "the king
of trespassers," and noted that trespassing has only been
committed when a property owner says so.
McKinley said a common-sense solution has existed for
years: Folks who wander onto private property should seek the
permission of the property owners to be there. "It's a shame
it's come to this point," McKinley said.
Sonnenberg took that notion a step further and said
commercial rafting companies should have the professional
knowledge of landowners in the areas they travel and should
negotiate use of their property with them.
The bill makes no provision for private rafters or others
to float down the state's rivers, and they are still subject to
prosecution for trespassing.
The impetus for the bill was complaints that a Western
Slope developer had threatened a lawsuit against rafting companies
that traveled his property.
Among the Southern Colorado delegation in the House, Reps.
Buffie McFadyen, D-Pueblo West, Tom Massey, R-Poncha Springs, and
Sal Pace, D-Pueblo, voted for the bill. Reps. Ed Vigil, D-Alamosa,
and McKinley voted against it.
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