The Colorado Supreme Court will take up a case that pits private landowners against people who want to use rivers that flow through their properties.
The state’s supreme court will review the case, which originated with a fly fisherman on the Arkansas River.
Roger Hill sued two landowners who “aggressively refused” him access to fish on a segment of the river just east of Cotopaxi. The landowners, Mark Warsewa and Linda Joseph, argue that the riverbed is their private property, but Hill argues the stretch of river belongs to the state, and in turn, the public has a right to use it.
Hill’s case was originally dismissed, but an appeals court ruled that part of his case had standing, prompting Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser to ask the Colorado Supreme Court to step in.
The argument goes back to statehood. Under federal doctrine, navigable rivers at the time of statehood were owned by the state, while non-navigable waters could be granted to private landowners.
