83-year-old Colorado fisherman back in rebellion, seeking arrest and support in fight for freedom to wade the Arkansas River

An 83-year-old Colorado fisherman has renewed his 12-year fight for public freedom and the ability to wade the state’s rivers. In exchange for returning to a contested bend of the Arkansas River, he faces arrest and conflicts with landowners.

Roger Hill walked across federally managed public lands to the river, donned a straw hat and cast his dry fly along that private stretch last weekend without incident. This week, he urged other anglers across the state to follow his civil disobedience and assert the public’s right to fish and float on navigable rivers — a freedom established in other Western states.

It’s the latest twist in a fight that began in the summer of 2012 on the same stretch of the Arkansas River, just upriver from its confluence with Texas Creek near Cotopaxi. A landowner threw baseball-sized rocks at Hill, forcing him to leave. A few years later, her husband fired shots at Hill’s friend. Hill, a retired physicist from Colorado Springs, sued, citing the public’s right to wade in the riverbeds — and won — until the landowners, with the support of Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser, appealed to the Colorado Supreme Court. Supreme Court justices dismissed Hill’s case in June 2023, ruling that he had no legal standing to proactively sue to establish the public’s right to wade in streams and rivers.

The ruling means Hill cannot proceed with his case unless he raises the public access issue as a defense.

Before leaving for a fishing trip last Saturday, he notified the Fremont County sheriff, assuming an arrest or a ticket for trespassing would provide him with the legal basis the state Supreme Court needed to hear the merits of his case.

“I didn’t catch a single fish and I’m pissed I didn’t get arrested,” Hill said. “Someone has to do it… Strength in numbers would help.”

“He needs to stop or face the consequences,” said James Gibson, who owns the property where Hill was fishing. “If he’s not breaking the law, there’s nothing he can do. I hope this gets sorted out.”

Fremont County Sheriff Cpl. Caleb Chase said the county will leave all enforcement to Colorado Parks and Wildlife, a part of the state government. A CPW spokesman said the agency oversees the fish but has no jurisdiction over waters or land adjacent to Colorado streams and rivers.

Colorado Attorney General Weiser declined to comment.

Colorado allows private ownership of riverbeds, while other states, including Montana, New Mexico, and Nevada, treat rivers deemed “navigable” at the time of statehood as public. But recreational activities, including fishing and whitewater rafting, have become increasingly important to the state’s economy and have strained Colorado’s position as an exception. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that states hold ownership of navigable riverbeds in trust for the public. Public access has become a vexing issue as wealthy landowners buy more property along the West’s mountain streams and rivers.

This time, Hill was joined by Don Holmstrom, co-chairman of Colorado Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, on a fishing trip along the Arkansas River, where trappers and railroad companies used the river commercially in the 1870s, transporting pelts and tens of thousands of railroad ties.

“Roger Hill is a hero,” said Holmstrom, who helped lobby Gov. Jared Polis to intervene to designate waterways with public access. The growing acquisition of riverfront properties out West “makes this a fight for the public interest against wealthy landowners who are fighting the public interest,” he said. “These are public trails throughout the state that people should be able to use — to fish, swim, float down the whitewater.”

University of Colorado law professor Mark Squillace, who helped represent Hill, said the state Supreme Court’s dismissal of the case on standing misinterpreted well-established principles. “You don’t have to put yourself in harm’s way to test your rights,” and he criticized state leaders for siding with riverfront landowners.

“People should exercise their right to use navigable streams,” Squillace said. “Unless we can arrest someone or issue a ticket or something like that, we have no way of getting to court.”

Landowners said they were aware of Hill’s rebel fishing last weekend. They assumed the Supreme Court’s dismissal of the case ended the fight.

“We own the river bottom,” said Earl Pfeiffer, a resident since 2010. “Basically, these people are asking for the government to take ownership of the land. If the government wants to take it, we have to find a way to compensate them. I’d rather not give it to the government,” he said.

He and his wife enjoy sitting in their home, just 35 feet above the running water.

“It’s a lot of fun for us to sit on our deck and watch people fish,” Pfeiffer said. “If people want to fish, we’re not going to stop them — unless they’re really loud, making a mess, throwing trash. It would be great if they asked for permission. We’re not here to make life difficult for anyone.”

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Originally published: September 2, 2024 at 7:19 AM