First, the public continues to express a strong desire to see the specifics of the EMP’s that are being developed. These plans will include operational details that address the many traffic, safety and other issues that have been raised. Typically, this level of detail is not included in an EIS but is usually in an EMP that is developed after a ROD has been issued. That is the process we are following, but the EMP’s for the initial installation phases won’t be fully developed for some months. This leaves little time between completion of each phase of the EMP and the onset of each phase of installation. Christo believes that the public may not have sufficient time to understand this detailed information before installation begins.

Second, the thoroughness of the BLM’s environmental review process resulted in the ROD being issued several months later than originally planned. As a result, the BLM’s Final EIS authorized 28 months for installation, but only 24 months remained. This timeframe also included many months where work was prohibited in certain areas or otherwise restricted because of mitigation measures designed to avoid sensitive wildlife and recreation seasons. The planning activities since the issuance of the ROD made it increasingly apparent that the remaining installation schedule of 24 months did not allow room for unpredictable events such as severe weather.

For these reasons, Christo has decided to shift the Over The River exhibition date from early August 2014 to early August 2015. This adjustment will allow the EMP’s for the initial project phases to be developed before installation begins so that the public will have time to better understand how traffic, safety and other issues will be addressed. It will also reinstate the full 28 month installation schedule, as included in the Final EIS.

All other aspects of Over The River remain unchanged. The number of installation days remains the same and the comprehensive set of more than 100 mitigation measures will remain in place. The Fremont County, Chaffee County, Colorado Department of Transportation and Colorado State Patrol permitting processes will continue as planned.

Christo understands that this news may be disappointing to thousands of local residents and many thousands of art enthusiasts around the world who are looking forward to experiencing Over The River. Nonetheless, this change will result in a better informed public and an improved installation schedule.

An overview of the permitting, installation, exhibition and removal schedule is available on the Over The River website.

New York. Miami. Paris. Berlin. Cañon City.

The prison-heavy Fremont County seat will get a once-in-a-lifetime chance to play in the big leagues of tourism if final approval is granted for artist Christo’s plan to drape the Arkansas River just upstream from the Royal Gorge.

For most towns, rising even briefly to the level of international destinations like Miami, Berlin, New York City or Paris — all locales where Christo has displayed his large-scale draping art — takes decades of planning, building and delivering. For Cañon City, it could take a mere two weeks in August 2014.

“It’s like winning the lottery,” said Doug Shane, executive director of the Cañon City Chamber of Commerce and board member of the Fremont County Tourism Council. “This takes us to a whole other level.”

Read the complete article on The Denver Post website.

Hundreds of you took the time to write supportive letters and participate in the public process. It was an absolute pleasure to hear so many of you articulate the cultural and community benefits associated with Over The River. Christo and the team greatly enjoyed listening to you share your personal experiences and connections to this temporary work of art and the beautiful Arkansas River Valley landscape.

At the hearing on Feb. 2, Fremont County extended the public comment period until this Thursday, Feb. 9. This means you still have time to express your support and urge Fremont County to approve the Over The River permit via email (planning@fremontco.com) or U.S. mail (Fremont County Planning and Zoning Department, 615 Macon Avenue, Room 210, Cañon City, CO 81212). If you need ideas about what to include in your comment, click here.

Your support is deeply appreciated by Christo and the entire OTR team. We will continue to keep you informed as the Over The River permitting process moves forward. Thank you!

The analysis conducted by the BLM over the past three years has been exhaustive and comprehensive. The EIS considered extensive expert analysis on dozens of issues and thousands of public comments before federal approval was issued. The Record of Decision includes a comprehensive mitigation plan with more than 100 measures to avoid or minimize impacts on traffic, safety and wildlife as a result of the project.

For all these reasons, Christo and the OTR team are confident that the BLM’s thorough EIS analysis will withstand legal scrutiny. It is important to note that these legal proceedings allow work on the project to move forward and the team continues work to obtain the remaining permits so that installation can begin this summer. For a summary of the administrative appeal and two lawsuits, click here.

We thought you might also be interested in the following editorial from The Colorado Springs Gazette:

February 01, 2012

TOWN HALL: DU students try to stop Christo

The Gazette
WAYNE LAUGESEN

FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD
A group of student lawyers at the University of Denver’s Sturm College of Law are suing on behalf of a group called “Rags Over the Arkansas River,” in an effort to stop world-renowned artist Christo from stretching fabric over parts of the Arkansas to create a fabulous, temporary art display that will go down in history. Plaintiffs claim the U.S. Bureau of Land Management violated federal environmental laws when it issued a decision last year allowing Christo’s “Over the River” project.

The lawsuit, a project of the law school’s Environmental Law Clinic, ought to be withdrawn or laughed out of court. The student lawyers of record are Mason Brown and Justine Shepherd, overseen by professor Michael Harris.

The $50 million project, funded by Christo, will span 5.9 miles of the 42-mile Bighorn Sheep Canyon. Materials used for the project will be recycled. BLM approval came after the drafting and re-drafting of a painstaking and lengthy environmental impact statement. Other hurdles involve pending approvals from two counties, the Colorado State Patrol and the Colorado Department of Transportation. Construction is expected to begin this year, with the final work on display for two weeks in August 2014.

It will bring attention and money to Colorado, as people travel here from around the world to see it. Art is good. It enriches humanity and gives glory to God’s creation. Art celebrates humanity’s role in nature.

The only thing more creative than Christo’s proposed display are the mostly absurd obstacles opponents have contrived to throw in his path. …

Read the complete editorial on The Gazette website.

February 1, 2012
Fremont County Administration Building
9am to 12pm, break for lunch and continuing from 1:30pm to 3:30pm
615 Macon Avenue, Cañon City

February 2, 2012
Cotopaxi School
5pm to 8:30pm
345 County Road 12, Cotopaxi

The Fremont Center for the Arts and Christo are hosting a gathering of supporters before the public meeting on February 1st. Please join us as we distribute free OTR t-shirts, stickers and provide a few words of encouragement before heading over to the meeting.

Pre-Meeting Supporter Rally
February 1, 2012
Fremont Center for the Arts (FCA)
8am to 8:45am
505 Macon Avenue, Cañon City

At 8:45am we’ll head over to the public hearing, one block away. If you can’t attend the morning rally, the FCA will be open and staff will be distributing shirts, stickers and public hearing info all day. Friends of Over The River will be providing shirts, stickers and info outside the main doors of the Cotopaxi School on February 2nd at 4:45pm, before the public hearing starts at 5pm.

If you’re unable to make it to a meeting, you can submit a comment to Fremont County via email (planning@fremontco.com) or U.S. mail (Fremont County Planning and Zoning Department, 615 Macon Avenue, Room 210, Cañon City, CO 81212).

If you need ideas about what to include in your comment, you can review some key points on the Over The River website. However, the only way to get a free OTR t-shirt and sticker is by coming to Fremont County this week! It’s important for the Fremont County Commissioners to hear you voice your support – please try to join us!

Christo is looking forward to seeing many supporters this week at the public meetings in Fremont County. We’ll see you there!

Christo is returning to Colorado to participate in these critical public hearings. Now is the time for Over The River supporters to roll up their sleeves and seize this once in a lifetime opportunity. So, put on your OTR shirt and join Christo for a supporter rally before the upcoming hearings.

Don’t have an OTR shirt? Christo will provide free t-shirts and stickers at a pre-hearing supporter rally!

Wednesday, February 1, at the Fremont Center for the Arts (FCA)
8am – 8:45am, 505 Macon Avenue, Cañon City
The public hearing in Cañon City starts at 9am at the Fremont County Administration Building, one block away. The FCA will be open and staff will be distributing shirts, stickers and public hearing info all day on Feb. 1.

Supporters unable to attend the Cañon City rally, can pick-up a free OTR t-shirt and stickers from Friends of Over The River (FOR) before the February 2nd public hearing in Cotopaxi:

Thursday, February 2: Outside the main doors of the Cotopaxi School at 4:45pm (the Fremont County public hearing starts at 5pm at the Cotopaxi School)

Public comments will influence Fremont County’s decision on Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s Over The River. Supporters should submit comments in their own words. To help you get started, the project website has everything you need to submit an effective comment.

Submit your comments by email (planning@fremontco.com and cc: bocc@fremontco.com) or by US Mail (Fremont County Planning and Zoning Department, 615 Macon Ave., Rm. 210, Cañon City, CO 81212).

Remember, all supportive comments are helpful — especially those from Fremont County residents — so don’t forget to include your name, address, city and state. Better yet, join Christo at the public hearings on February 1st or 2nd and take advantage of this important opportunity to voice your enthusiasm for Over The River!

As many of you know, on November 7, 2011, Over The River reached the most significant milestone to date with the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Record of Decision. This action gave Federal approval to Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s original artistic vision for Over The River.

The next step in moving forward with this temporary work of art is to secure permits from Fremont and Chaffee counties. Over The River has applied for a Fremont County Temporary Use Permit and the process for Chaffee County is anticipated to begin in early 2012.

Public hearings for the Fremont County permit will be held during the first week of February and comments are now being accepted. Christo encourages all Over The River supporters to submit comments and feedback from Fremont County residents will be critically important to the commissioners as they make their decision.

To learn more about the county permitting process and how you can help, click here.

The application to Fremont County incorporates the more than 100 mitigation measures already identified in the BLM’s Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). These measures avoid or minimize the potential impacts related to the project and would be applied to the county permit, if granted. Fremont and Chaffee counties worked closely with the BLM, as cooperating agencies, to develop this comprehensive set of EIS solutions for Over The River. The complete Fremont County permit application can be reviewed online.

The Over The River team will continue to keep you informed as the county permitting process moves forward.

In a celebratory visit to the Upper Arkansas Valley last week, Christo thanked supporters for their help in obtaining environmental impact statement approval from the U.S. Bureau of Land Management for “Over the River.”

At the same time he noted that the focus is now on getting special use permits for the project from Fremont and Chaffee counties. … Considering the state’s economic woes, and with both Fremont and Chaffee county governments struggling economically, and with no relief in sight, commissioners would be well advised to grant the necessary permits.

“Over the River” will be a major economic driver to Colorado, to Chaffee and Fremont counties and to nearby counties. This is not some government bailout or handout. Rather it is a project driven by private enterprise.

Read the full editorial on The Mountain Mail website

THE BUREAU of Land Management has given the go-ahead to artist Christo’s Over the River project along the Arkansas River west of Canon City. He wants to suspend 5.9 miles of translucent fabric above the river in eight different segments of a 42-mile stretch. Christo and Jeanne-Claude, his late wife of 51 years, worked diligently since the early 1990s to make the project a reality.

Yes, there will be inconveniences on U.S. 50. But there also will be multiple benefits. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar says he believes any detrimental effects of the project can be mitigated. …

… In today’s economy, it’s good to see the hope that Over the River generates. We’re eager to view it ourselves.

Read the complete editorial on The Pueblo Chieftain website

There has been an exciting new development regarding Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s Over The River. The Bureau of Land Management has issued the Record of Decision (ROD) approving the artists’ original vision for this proposed temporary work of art along the Arkansas River in Colorado.

This is the first time that a work of art has undergone the comprehensive Environmental Impact Statement review process. The following news releases from Christo and the Department of the Interior announce this historic decision.

BLM Issues Record of Decision for Over The River
Comprehensive Federal Environmental Review now Complete

OTR News Release — November 7, 2011

DENVER – The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) today issued the Record of Decision (ROD) on Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s proposed temporary work of art, Over The River, following the earlier issuance of the Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) in July.  The ROD gives final approval to the artists’ original vision to suspend 5.9 miles of fabric panels in eight separate areas along a 42-mile stretch of the Arkansas River in southern Colorado.  It also identifies over 100 measures to mitigate impacts identified in the EIS, including traffic, safety, wildlife and others.  The ROD is the final step in the comprehensive environmental review process that the BLM began in February of 2009.

“This is the most significant milestone yet in completing Over The River,” said Christo, “and we can now get to work applying for the few remaining permits that we still need.  We are much closer to finally realizing this work of art that Jeanne-Claude and I first envisioned many years ago.  Although our team is still reviewing the ROD, I am confident that we can now move forward so we begin construction in the summer of 2012.”

Click here to read the complete Over The River news release / Downloadable images available in the Over The River Press Room

Salazar Announces Final Approval for Christo’s Over The River Art Installation in Colorado
Bureau of Land Management Issues Record of Decision

Department of the Interior News Release — November 7, 2011

WASHINGTON – The Department of the Interior today announced that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Royal Gorge Field Office has released the Record of Decision (ROD) approving the Over The River ^TM (OTR) temporary art installation. The project, proposed by the artist Christo, will include suspending eight fabric panel segments totaling 5.9 miles within a 42-mile stretch of the Arkansas River in Colorado.

“After careful consideration of the potential impact to the Arkansas River and the wildlife and plants that inhabit this beautiful area, we believe that steps have been taken to mitigate the environmental effects of this one-of-a-kind project,” said Secretary Salazar. “Drawing visitors to Colorado to see this work will support jobs in the tourism industry and bring attention to the tremendous outdoor recreation opportunities in this area.”

Click here to read the complete Department of the Interior news release