| 4/20/2010 10:03:00 AM | Email this article • Print this article | 'Over The River' draft EIS to be released by July
Audrey Gilpin - Mail Staff Writer
The draft environmental impact statement for the Christo and Jeanne-Claude project "Over The River," should be available at the end of June or first of July.
Vince Hooper, Bureau of Land Management project manager for "Over the River" offered a project update to Arkansas Headwaters Recreation Area Citizen Task Force members Thursday.
Hooper said bureau officials are evaluating alternatives and environmental impacts "internally with a consultant in Fort Collins."
After the statement is made public, Hooper said, a 45-day public review and comment process will begin.
Hooper mentioned a remark at a previous meeting from a local commercial outfitter who said, "We've been commenting for years."
Years worth of comments, Hooper noted, are being considered in developing alternatives and drafting the statement.
Although specific dates, locations and times are not final, Hooper said the draft statement will be available at public places including the Arkansas Headwaters Recreation Area office and Salida Regional Library.
After the statement is released this summer, four public meetings will be held in Salida, Cotopaxi, Cañon City and Denver within a 45-day period.
Hooper said although attendance at the meetings will be important, providing written comments to the bureau will be best.
"We don't want river outfitters and the public saying, 'I didn't know that was in there.'
"Please don't wait until the last minute to read the statement," Hooper requested.
Bureau officials are analyzing alternatives, Hooper said, including saying 'no' to the project, reducing the number of panels or altering display time, among others.
Hooper said the final environmental impact statement and a decision about the project should be released by early 2011. A record of decision period will be held from March through May 2011.
The application for the "Over the River" project notes eight distinct areas of fabric panels would be installed along a stretch of the Arkansas River between Salida and Cañon City.
The areas would vary in length from .3 to 2.5 miles and would be suspended 8 to 25 feet above the river, depending upon height of the banks.
The eight areas would cover a total of 5.9 miles in a 40 mile stretch of river, Hooper said.
Installation would take about two years, Hooper said, and the artwork would be displayed for two weeks.
Jeanne-Claude died in November, but Christo continues to work on the project and keep its name - Christo and Jeanne-Claude's "Over The River."
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