Anti-Christo ad upsets groups

source: Copyright © 2006 The Cañon City Daily Record

Anti-Christo ad upsets groups

Debbie Bell
The Daily Record

An artist’s rendering of the proposed ‘Over The River’ project, which would cover a portion of the Arkansas River west of Cañon City in 2010 if approved. An ad listing groups opposed to the project upset a few organizations.
Courtesy Wolfgang Volz

If the proposed “Over the River” project was not controversial enough already, an ad placed in the Cañon City Daily Record by a group opposing the plan stirred the pot to create an explosion of heated debate.

Rags Over the Arkansas River, Inc., placed and paid for an advertisement in the Aug. 4 edition that in-cluded a list of organizations it claimed expressed opposition to the project.

ROAR was formed to fight the project by international artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude, who propose to drape fabric over a portion of the Arkansas River west of Cañon City around 2010.

At least two of the organizations listed in the ad have demanded retractions, claiming they have no official position on the project. But the president of ROAR said the groups have gone on public record with opposition to the project, and he can’t understand why they are contesting the ad.

“When somebody says something, then I think they’re going to stand behind it,” said ROAR President Dan Ainsworth. “I’m one of those people who mean what you say and say what you mean.”

Ainsworth said the two groups demanding retraction, Deer Mountain Fire Protection District and Arkansas Valley Audubon Society, are actually on public record as being opposed to the project. He said he and Cathey Young, another ROAR member, have personally viewed letters the organizations sent to the Bureau of Land Management expressing their disapproval of the project.

“The letters listed their concerns,” Ainsworth said. “Now, they’re all backpedaling. They’re not necessarily changing their stance, they’re just trying to claim they never had a stance. That’s really not totally true.”

He also said SeEtta Moss, conservation chairperson for AVAS, attended a meeting with the artists in late spring and was vocally opposed to the project.

“She just went on and on about how she was against this project and it couldn’t be allowed to happen,” Ainsworth said. “She was so adamant about it at that meeting.”

Moss said in a “Letter to the Editor,” the ad “shocked” her because her group has not taken an official position on the proposed project.

“We did file comments with the BLM expressing our specific concerns regarding the impacts that the preliminary plans for the proposed Christo project would have on birds, other wildlife and other natural resources,” Moss said.

She explained the group seeks to promote good conservation practices and therefore is waiting for final information to address the issues.

“It is most unfortunate that our position was inaccurately portrayed in the ad,” Moss said.

The other organization protesting the ad, DMFPD, said they have taken a neutral stand on the Christo project.

“Obviously, they have not told the truth,” said DMFPD board chairman Ron Carter, of ROAR. “I saw the ad in the newspaper and was real surprised because it’s nowhere close to the truth.”

Carter said upon seeing the ad he called the ROAR office to demand a retraction and was told by the woman who answered the phone to write a “Letter to the Editor.” He said he argued for a separate paid ad retracting the claim and was eventually hung up on.

Ainsworth did not counter that statement but said Carter was speaking with the wrong person, Ainsworth’s wife.

“He called my home and talked to my wife,” Ainsworth said. “He started reading her the riot act, but she didn’t have anything to do with the ad. I called him back later that night, and we had a pretty good discus-sion about it.”

Carter said his organization is “working very hard to stay absolutely neutral.”

“We were very shocked and surprised that someone would misrepresent our stance this way and have no idea why they would,” Carter said. “Obviously, we do have concerns just like any responsible agency would, but we are going to work with all the parties concerned to see if we can resolve those concerns.”

Ainsworth took full responsibility for placing the ad, although the general content was approved by the ROAR board.

“We’ve already decided we won’t even use anybody else’s quotes or anybody else’s names from now on,” Ainsworth said. “We’re not going to quote anybody.”

Although further ROAR communications will reflect only the opinions and ideas of its members, Ainsworth still thinks there is an easy answer to the entire conflict.

“I think this whole Christo thing would be put to bed if people came out and said they were against it,” Ainsworth said. “People need to come out and say what they mean. Everybody is worried about being politically correct and not hurting anybody’s feelings or stirring the pot, but they won’t say that.”

Debbie Bell may be reached at dbell@ccdailyrecord.com.