ON JUNE FIFTH, the seven members of Colorado’s court of last resort unanimously ruled that 81-year-old flyfisherman Roger Hill “lacks standing” to continue his decade-long legal battle for public access along the Arkansas River (Hill v. Warsewa).
Put another way, the Colorado Supreme Court unanimously ruled that its justices lack the resolve or the readiness to pursue a rational clarification of the state’s river-access laws.
It’s hard to blame the judges. Their reluctance is likely due in part to State Attorney General Phil Weiser not the clarification pursued—not by the judiciary, anyway. But let’s not pretend that the state Supreme Court couldn’t have granted Hill the
