It’s also a slap in the face to those traditional river users who have used this stretch of river as a sanctuary away from the crowds of boaters that fill the river through town. This corridor has been used historically by kayakers, canoeists, and paddleboarders who paddle upstream from 33rd Street and back down through this placid stretch of river. This is a one-of-a-kind corridor that will be destroyed by the city’s proposal to develop Oxbow Park into a free-for-all to anything that floats – including the often-problematic tubers who notoriously have been using this part of the river for drinking and loud partying.

It’s part of the city’s attempt to commercialize this limited resource, the Animas River, without restraint. Yet the city refuses to put limits on commercial raft trips like most governing agencies do. With the proposed development of Oxbow, the city intends to expand this congestion outside the city limits and outside the city’s jurisdiction. Further, the city refuses to take responsibility to properly manage the corridor or provide on-river law enforcement. The city indeed is selling off Durango’s River of Lost Souls for commercialism. When is enough enough?

Tim Wolf

Durango