In 1992, during a location-scouting trip, landscape artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude fell in love with the section of the Arkansas River that winds from Cañon City to Salida, Colorado. They imagined a series of large translucent canopies suspended over nearly six miles of a 42-mile stretch of the river. The project, called Over the River, would treat visitors on the water or on foot to shimmery views of the sky and surrounding peaks, while drivers on adjacent Highway 50 could view the panels from above.
Nearly 20 years, numerous local meetings, and $11 million later, the now-widowed Christo is still in love. He’s just waiting on a final decision from the Bureau of Land Management regarding a land-use permit he needs to begin the project. If he gets approval and collects a few other permits, the canopies will be built over a nearly two-and-a-half-year period and would remain up for viewing during two weeks in August of 2014.
Not everyone is enamored with the idea. Many local residents vehemently oppose the project, saying it will distrub the wildlife and create a traffic nightmare. They've formed a protest group named Rags Over the Arkansas River (ROAR).
"You can call it an art project, we don't care one way or another," says Dan Ainsworth, ROAR’s president. "But it can't be done here."
It's normal for Christo and Jeanne-Claude's projects to cause a stir in the host location. It's part of the process, says Christo. But what's not normal—and is, in fact, unprecedented—is to perform an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) in order to get clearance for an art installation on public land. The BLM required the EIS because of the project’s complexity and the potential for impact on public safety and environmental degradation, says Gregory Shoop, district manager of the BLM’s Front Range District Office in Cañon City. Christo expressed eagerness to have the study conducted without prompting from the government. The EIS took two and a half years of work from a great number of engineers, biologists, and other consultants.
As the 1,600-plus-page EIS makes clear, installation of the project would be a Herculean effort. Four drill rigs, with integrated mufflers and vacuums to dampen noise and reduce dust, would be used to help install more than 1,275 steel cables and 9,100 anchors into the riverbanks to support the panels. Special crews hired for safety, security, and biological monitoring would limit stalled traffic on Highway 50 for no more than three minutes per car during construction and prevent construction and dismantling activities from hampering wildlife habits. Christo would also make a $550,000 payment to the Colorado State Parks to cover administrative costs, environmental impacts on park lands, and income lost from fishing and boating through highway congestion and river-access restriction during construction.
Christo’s team estimates the attraction would float more than $111 million into the local economy. They said it will add $3.4 million to the already vibrant rafting industry, create 620 temporary regional jobs, and bring more than 415,000 tourists to the area.
Ainsworth says that’s a pittance compared with the nearly $800 million spent in Colorado each year by hunters and anglers. He says fellow locals are wrong to think the project would be a windfall and that the negatives will far outweigh the positives. "This will impact people's lives and livelihood," he says. "There will be people put out of business."
Comments
Art has in important role in the world, it's a unique view into the best parts of ourselves, but it shouldn't be used en masse to change a vibrant natural landscape. There are very few improvements you can make to an area that has been established as natural beauty for over one thousand years. After Mount St. Helens blew out and looked like a wasteland, it would have been a perfect way to use the land. Create a diversion from the ugliness that could raise awareness and money for improving what existed. Don't mess with something that doesn't need improvement.
Flag ThisThanks for the mention, and please visit friendsofthearkansasriver.org to learn more about our efforts.
Flag ThisTo hear my story about Christo & Over The River check out Public Radio International's Living on Earth: http://www.loe.org/shows/segments.html?programID=11-P13-00040&segmentID=7
Flag ThisMy OpEd piece appeared in the Denver Post two weeks ago. Dozens of comments and emails came my way in support of this slightly different opinion including former Colorado Governor, Dick Lamm. http://www.denverpost.com/opinion/ci_19133555
Flag ThisI find references to "our natural river" amusing since, for most of its length between Parkdale and the Big "S", the river is channelized by a highway and a railroad, neither of which are particularly natural! And Christo has already accomplished something the Fremont County Commissioners couldn't: gotten most of those unsightly (and "natural") railroad cars moved out the canyon.
Flag ThisAs an artist, environmental attorney and former rafting guide, I think this project would be incredible. Maybe it would even inspire more people, including kids, to spend time outside in lieu of being glued to mind-numbing televisions or playstations. Maybe those kids would even become outdoors enthusiasts by virtue of this installation - or even environmental artists, possibly eventually changing the way the environment is conceptualized. More editorial prowess might reveal an age-old story of weekend warriors finally moving from the big city and protecting "their" new found backyard. End of Roaders: they already have all the money they need and can afford to cry "environment" when many others who are less fortunate need to cry "economy" to make ends meet. This project would give some needed economic stimulus to the local economy, and the environment is likely to end up in a better position than it was found. It is unfortunate to see Outside pandering to its End of Roader reader demographic when there are so many much more important environmental issues to be addressed in the State of Colorado - uranium mill tailings sites, nuclear waste, and oil and gas industry pollution in groundwater to name a few.
Flag ThisWhy must we continue to exploit the environment for economic profit? Is there no other land in the area that will suffice that is not near the river? 85% of wildlife need riparian habitat, yet only 1% of rivers are riparian. Therefore it is our duty to protect that land. Art is amazing and deserves to be seen. I think Christo's work is phenomenal and should be recognized, but somewhere other than a precious ecosystem. I live in the Roaring Fork Valley, but I would assume we have some similar species that rely on the lush riparian habitat. Any type of excavating makes the land more erodible. Therefore it is not only an environmental threat, but an economic one eventually as well. Give the environment a break, rather than creating more obstacles!
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