EcoFlight received a $35,160 grant from the Pitkin County Healthy Rivers and Streams board in September for their continued overflights of the Crystal River and leadership of the Wild and Scenic Subcommittee.
The subcommittee will continue to work toward a Wild and Scenic designation of the Crystal River — one of the last free-flowing rivers in Colorado. A free-flowing river is a river that is largely unaffected by human-made changes to its flow and connectivity, according to the World Wildlife Fund.
“I think that has become even more timely and important in light of recent events, including the election … a Wild and Scenic designation of the Crystal is only more important than ever,” said EcoFlight Conservation Policy Director Lea Linse-Hirro.
“The Crystal is one of the last free flowing rivers in Colorado, and as drought conditions only worsen across the West and climate change becomes a bigger factor, protecting these last free flowing rivers is important for our community’s ecosystems for climate and for everyone who relies on these rivers,” she added.
EcoFlight has used flyovers to advocate for a Wild and Scenic designation on the Crystal River since the organization was founded in 2002. These flights are used as a strategy to permanently protect the Crystal River from dams and out-of-basin diversions.
In the past two years, it has provided targeted educational and advocacy-focused flights to an average of nearly 150 stakeholders, press, students, elected officials, and advocates. And from August 2023 to August 2024, EcoFlight flew 134 passengers on 31 Wild and Scenic targeted flights.
During Tuesday’s presentation to Pitkin County commissioners, Linse-Hirro said that she has been an active participant and leader in the ongoing stakeholder process and has sat on the Crystal River Wild and Scenic and Other Alternatives Feasibility Steering Committee since its inception.
The steering committee entered a new phase in spring 2024, breaking into subcommittees — including the Wild and Scenic Subcommittee whose charter is “to create a draft Wild and Scenic legislative proposal” and “include additional research as needed, continue outreach to local landowners and stakeholders, and an effort to learn from others,” the presentation stated.
The 28 members subcommittee has started the process of identifying shared values that must be included in a draft Wild and Scenic proposal and potential roadblocks that could thwart a Wild and Scenic designation if not discussed and addressed.
Linse-Hirro and Healthy Rivers’ Lisa Tasker said that there has been some push back from stakeholders and state senators recently with the effort to secure the Crystal a Wild and Scenic designation.
“I just don’t see that any more meetings are going to get you guys anywhere,” said Pitkin County Commissioner Francie Jacober. “I think it’s time to write something and bring it forward.”
Jacober, who was just re-elected for her second term and has long been a supporter of conserving land, said that she was alarmed to see the comments from some Healthy Rivers board members at their last Sept. 19 meeting when the EcoFlight grant was initially introduced. She was not surprised, however, to read Healthy Rivers board members Bill Jochems and Andre Wille’s comments.
During votes, Healthy Rivers creates a scoresheet for members to fill out. Jochems gave the EcoFlight grant nine out of 25 points, and Wille gave the grant 22 out of 25 points.
“We (BOCC and Healthy Rivers) want Wild and Scenic River designation of the upper Crystal. Ecoflight, and the other members of the triumvirate of non‐profits moderating the wild and scenic sub‐committee, do not share our goal. They are not willing to say they support Wild and Scenic designation, and they are unwilling to take a stand against the vigorous opponents of designation,” Jochems said.
“Unless the BOCC steps in and makes drastic changes, this sub‐committee will not produce a proposed Wild and Scenic Bill or make other progress toward designation. Ecoflight has a long‐standing, good reputation, and I reluctantly voted for $35,000 to Ecoflight, on top of the $300,000 already spent, but now wish I could change my vote,” he added.
Wille said he is not sure how long the county and Healthy Rivers should continue to support EcoFlight’s grant requests.
“For now, however, the Wild and Scenic effort continues. State and national politics continue to evolve,” he said. “We need to stay the course. EcoFlight has been a great partner and valuable resource in the efforts. Flights engage the perspective of residents beyond normal experience.”
Jacober wonders who else is feeling this way — including Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet — because the last time she talked to him, he said he was discouraged there might not be another land use bill in front of Congress for a while.
As the commissioner board chair on the Healthy Rivers board, Commissioner Kelly McNicholas Kury said she is also feeling discouraged on a local and national level. Her conversations with senators recently have not been positive, as they are concerned about the opposition.
“Sometimes it feels like Pitkin County is who is out in the lead on this, and it’s a short bench behind us,” she said. “I think the conversations have swayed in favor of the opposition and the forever ‘no’ voices in the room. I’m supportive of the advocacy that EcoFlight does in private on the planes, but I think our broader coalition is fragmented. We are not shoring up the dissent with all the positives the Wild and Scenic goals have … But the political landscape has completely changed.”
Despite the concerns from commissioners and Healthy Rivers board members, Linse-Hirro reminded the group that there were two Wild and Scenic bills introduced under the last Trump administration, one in Montana and one in Utah.
“The Crystal River remains one of the most spectacular places we have flown … this river has been near and dear to me since I was a child. I grew up in Carbondale on the banks of the Crystal, and that was the first place I learned to love rivers and wilderness and all of those wonderful things,” she said “So, you know, I have said, and we’ll say every day, this river deserves nothing less than a gold standard protection, and that is what a Wild and Scenic river designation does.”
A broader discussion will be held during the BOCC and Healthy Rivers joint meeting in 2025.
Regan Mertz can be reached at 970-429-9153 or rmertz@aspentimes.com.