Opposition group plans summer of counter points

source: Copyright © 2007 Arkansas Valley Publishing

Opposition group plans summer of counter points

by Jason Starr
Mail Staff Writer

Rags Over the Arkansas River of Howard, the group opposing the Christo and Jeanne-Claude plan to suspend fabric above portions of the Arkansas River, will increase its public information campaign this summer.

Group representatives said efforts will coincide with two Salida visits the artists have planned in coming weeks.

Christo and Jeanne-Claude will speak at the Steam Plant Theater and Performing Arts Center May 26 as part of the inaugural Colorado Art Ranch Artposium and again June 21 as a fund-raiser for the Steam Plant.

Ken Tiegs, ROAR vice president, said the group will distribute literature and refer people to its web site - www.roarcolorado.org - throughout the summer, not just during the artists' local visits.

ROAR members manned a booth at the recent Cañon City Blossom Festival and plans to have a presence at Arkansas River Cleanup-Greenup this weekend.

Group members will be at FIBArk in June, the weekend before the second Christo and Jeanne-Claude visit to the Steam Plant.

"There will be opportunities for both of us to inform the public," Tiegs said. "Any time Christo and 'Over the River' put out information it may elicit a response from us."

Group board member Ellen Bauder said, "We are developing a public information campaign that will present a fuller picture of the possible impacts of this project,"

ROAR is a non-profit organization with a mission of "preserving and protecting the headwaters of the Arkansas River, Bighorn Sheep Canyon, its inhabitants and the communities that depend upon them."

The May 26 Christo and Jeanne Claude presentation will be open only to artposium participants. Cost of the two-day artposium is $249.

The event will feature several speakers and presentations "exploring the confluence of writing, art, land issues and heritage," according to its Web site - www.coloradoartranch.org.

The Christo and Jeanne Claude presentation will include discussions of the artists' past projects in addition to information about "Over the River," artposium organizer Grant Pound said.

The artists' June 21 presentation will also deal with the "Over the River proposal." Cost is $20. More information is available at the theater, 530-0933.

Tiegs said ROAR members are much more interested in reading a 2,000-page document the artists submitted last month detailing plans for "Over the River" than in attending either local presentation.

Because the document is being reviewed by the Bureau of Land Management - the main permit agency for the project - it isn't available to the public.

The BLM is in the early stages of preparing an environmental impact statement for the project.

"We've asked when we can see the report," Tiegs said. "Our understanding is it's not going to be available to the public until the fall."

Bauder said, "It will take a long time to review, so we would like as much time as possible to read it and analyze it.

"We're anxious to see details of what is proposed, exactly where it will be, what it will involve and the time line. Everything else is just talk."

The project is planned as a two-week summer display affecting as much as 45 miles of the river between Salida and Cañon City. Estimates indicate the project won't be through the permit process until summer 2011 at the earliest.

Comments

[Chuck Bishop]

Living in the affected area, We are strongly
opposed to this rediculas idea and would urge eveyone to say NO!!! to Christo.

[Katie Swift]

Leave the river alone!! Isn't Nature's beauty enough for you? Why would you think that something so artificial and man-made would add anything positive to this spectacular environment? Stay away from the Arkansas and leave Mother Nature's natural beauty alone!

[Cheyne]

Good for people to know.