Stakeholder Process & Events

More about the Wild & Scenic Feasibility Collaborative

A collaborative stakeholder process is bringing our community together around shared values and a desire to protect the Crystal River.

In response to our community’s shared love of the Crystal River and Valley and desire to ensure it is protected, Gunnison County, Pitkin County, the Town of Marble, and the River District initiated and are co-chairing a public stakeholder process to identify shared values and principles for protection of the Crystal. This shared visioning and learning opportunity will provide a forum for all community members to have their voices heard and understand what protections could look like for the Crystal.

The Crystal River Wild and Scenic Collaborative (“Collaborative”) was formed in 2022 as a scoping group to discuss the creation of a facilitated process. An initial community summit held in Marble in April 2023 drew strong participation from a large group of community members with diverse interests – all of whom are passionate about the Crystal.

A steering committee was formed to represent a cross-section of the communities up and down the Crystal, and has started to meet monthly. The committee is developing a shared vision for the future of the Crystal River based on input from the community summit and the constituencies they represent. Committee members came to agreement around a set of shared values that should be included in an “ideal state” for the Crystal River including:

• an unrestricted, free-flowing Crystal River
• ecological health of the river and ecosystem including aquatic, riparian and wildlife habitat
• respect for existing water rights and property rights
• local control
• an informed public

The committee plans to develop an educational process where our entire community can learn together about both the existing conditions and different options for river protection, including a Wild and Scenic designation. Our community will get a chance to look at how these options could best fit the community’s needs and how best to protect the shared values identified in the ideal state. Stay tuned for ways you can get involved – like participating in a community summit this fall, providing feedback to the Steering Committee, writing letters, attending advocacy meetings or contacting steering committee members.

While some opinions may differ among committee members, we are bound together by a mutual respect, and the shared vision of a free-flowing Crystal River.