And if you lived near the Arkansas River…?

July 29, 2010 · Posted in Environment · Comments Off 

High Country News’ Ed Quillen lives relatively close to where Christo’s “Over the River” installation would be placed over the Arkansas River. We already posted on that subject, but here’s his handy summary:

Since this involves federal land, an Environmental Impact Statement is required (paid for by Christo), The Bureau of Land Management is the lead agency. About two weeks ago, the BLM released a draft environmental statement; the Pueblo Chieftain ran a pretty good summary, and all thousand-plus pages are available on-line, with a comment deadline of Aug. 30 before the final EIS is prepared.

So where does a guy who lives near there fall on the art vs. river debate? He says he’s “agnostic.”

Artist Christo wants to drape fabric over Arkansas River

BY P. SOLOMON BANDA, Associated Press Writer

DENVER (AP) — Federal land managers say artist Christo’s plan to drape fabric over several miles of the Arkansas River in Colorado would have a significant impact on recreation and traffic, with an estimated 350,000 people expected to flock to the area to view it.

This artist's drawing provided by Christo shows an image of a proposed art project by artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude that would suspend 5.9 miles of silvery, translucent fabric above parts of the Arkansas River in southern Colorado. (AP Photo/Christo and Jeanne-Claude)

The Bureau of Land Management released its draft environmental study Friday on Christo’s “Over the River” project, adding that the “unprecedented” effort could have a moderate to significant impact on bighorn sheep and historical sites.

Steve Coffin, a Denver-based spokesman for the project, said any impact would be temporary.

Christo wants to use a system of anchors, frames and cables to suspend 5.9 miles of fabric across eight spots along a 42-mile stretch of the river. The BLM studied seven versions of the project, including a scaled-down effort.

Coffin said the alternatives were not developed in consultation with Christo and that the artist would push for the full project. He said Christo has already comprised and scaled down what originally was seen as a 10.4-mile project. Read more