Sunday, June 16, 2013

River Wars

The river below our house is controlled by an elite fly fishing club for the uber rich. Before I learned of it, I had plans to fish hang out and enjoy the stream. I had no idea a river could be owned.
Luckily, I checked the National Forest boundary On Arc View GIS and found one strip of public land that crosses the river. We plan on fishing from that strip which crosses the river on a nice little island. The fishing club also tries to keep kayakers off the river. We've seen several "poaching " the stream during high water. Their is a highly coveted stretch of white water just down stream from or house. We root for the kayakers!
Here's some more reading on river usage of South Boulder Creek between Rollinsville and Pinecliffe if you're interested and a link to the NFS boundaries map:
http://www.mountainbuzz.com/forums/f14/new-owners-on-upper-south-boulder-creek-40516.html
http://www.arcgis.com/home/webmap/viewer.html?useExisting=1
To view the National Forest boundaries, choose a base map of "imagery" and search "surface ownership." Then choose "US Forest Service Surface Ownership." You have to work pretty hard to learn what's yours in this case. My understanding is that the fishing club owns the riverbed and banks but not that particular strip which links FS land on both sides of the river. Please do your own research and don't hold it against me if they bully you anyway. 

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