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<br />001967 <br /> <br />-7- <br /> <br />None of the claimants have been awarded a court decree for any claims. <br />The water rights will remain unadjudicated pending a final decree.of <br />the State Water Court or of decisions of the Colorado or U.S. Supreme <br />court, when and if anticipated appeals are filed. The time is ripe for <br />the federal government to designate the Piney under P.L. 90-542 . i~~w~ <br />before it's too late. The State water rights situation on the Piney , ~~~ <br />is not as far gone as it is Qn the South Fork in the upper White River <br />drainage area above Meeker. There, several large power-storage diversion <br />projects have long since attain~d the status of conditional decrees. <br />Nonetheless, Senators Peter Dominick and Floyd Haskell, Representative <br />Jim Johnson and others are presently sponsoring a Wilderness Act proposal, <br />the boundaries of which would include the construction sites of these <br />decreed water development projects, thereby precluding the building <br />of these projects, subject to p~esidential permission. Wilderness <br />protection is also urged for the Piney Lake area. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />Another consideration is the Denver Water Board's additional <br />court claims to divert out Piney water way below the Piney Basin, thereby <br />leaving the Piney alone and in an undisturbed state. If Denver's <br />need for Piney water ever becomes a proven fact, then we urge that Denver <br />be required to implement its transmountain diversion scheme downstream <br />from the Piney, rather than being allowed under a Forest Service Special <br />Use Permit to destroy the natural beauty of the Piney and its surrounding <br />environs. <br /> <br />Access to the Piney River <br /> <br />Public access to the river is fairly good considering its remote <br />and mountainous location. Automobile access occurs off Interstate 70 <br />via a ten mile drive from the town of vail up an old Forest Service <br />Road along Red Sandstone Creek or off Colorado Highway 131 between the <br />little towns of Wolcott and State Bridge (near the Colorado River <br />confluence), where several unimproved dirt or gravel roads approach <br />thr river. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />A majority of the river's twenty-five mile length is on public <br />domain and paralleled by a fair to good foot or horse trail. Private <br />owners control 5.8 miles of the river. These areas are accessible with <br />the owner's permission. <br /> <br />Land OWnership <br /> <br />A majority of the land areas along the Piney are publicly owned <br />and managed. The following is a table showing the current status of <br />lands adjacent to the Piney. This information is also plotted on the <br />topographical map submitted with this proposal. <br /> <br />-- <br />