Colorado - For several decades, American Whitewater has worked to protect and defend the public's right to float our Nation's rivers and creeks. In the western part of the US, only Colorado has yet to decide if paddlers have a right to float, either through court decisions or state legislation. In recent years, our staff and partners have had to negotiate site-specific resolutions when private property interests and paddler interests conflict.

These ad-hoc resolutions have created new opportunities to safely access whitewater runs on the South Platte, the Uncompahgre, and the Colorado Rivers to name a few. However, these negotiations do not resolve the over-arching need for legal recognition of the general public's rights of navigation on all rivers in the state.

In 2010, while a number of access conflicts continue to fester around Colorado, the Taylor River took center stage in the ongoing struggle.  In an effort to show the general public what is at risk from ongoing efforts by landowners to cut off public acccess to our rivers, we have created this video, with a particular focus on the Taylor River.

Special thanks goes to our sponsors, John Grace and Amongst It Productions, and our partners.

Please take 10 minutes to view the video.