U.S. Sen. Wayne Allard brokered a deal Tuesday to allow an 83-year-old widow to remain in her summer home in Rocky Mountain National Park for two years, but his scoutlike effort was panned by a less-than-appreciative “little old lady.”
Betty Dick chastised an agreement between Allard, R-Colo., and National Park Service chief Fran Mainella to allow her to stay in her Kawuneeche Valley home for a “fair-market” lease of an estimated $1,000 a month.
“I wonder if Wayne Allard feels this is a fair solution. Apparently, he does,” she said. “Of course, I wasn’t informed that any of this negotiation was going on. It can’t be interpreted that I was a partner in this.”
Dick lamented that the deal would limit her to two years under a special-use permit, rather than affirming her hope to spend her remaining summers there.
In 1980, her husband, Fred, negotiated a 25-year accord with the Park Service to remain on the property. He has since died.
“I don’t know why they came to the conclusion of two years, unless they think I could die during that time. Of course, I might very well do that with all this going on,” said Dick.
Allard’s arrangement with the Park Service undermines a long-running effort by Rep. Mark Udall, D-Colo., to push a bill that would allow Dick to remain in the house for life by extending the existing agreement.
“For a year and a half, we’ve been trying to work with the Park Service on an administrative solution, and they have told us they didn’t have the authority to do so, and that’s why Congressman Udall introduced a bill. So it’s puzzling now that they’ve found an administrative solution when we were told long ago that it wasn’t possible,” said Lawrence Pacheco, spokesman for Udall.
Sean Conway, Allard’s chief of staff, explained that the senator’s approach intended to avoid setting a potentially harmful legal precedent for people who own property within national boundaries. Allard intends to introduce a bill to address nearly 300 similar situations in 35 different national parks, Conway said.
“How Sen. Allard is able to get this done when other members of the Colorado congressional delegation could not is that Sen. Allard approached this as solving the big picture while at the same time helping Betty Dick. The other attempts were more interested in helping one person’s problems,” Conway said.
Allard’s proposed legislation would allow park superintendents to offer two-year special- use permits to leaseholders in national parks as their terms expire, rather than encouraging a string of bills in Congress.
Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., intends to continue pushing the measure for Dick, said his spokesman, Cody Wertz.
“Betty Dick, like any Coloradan, deserves the simple dignity of knowing that she can live out her life on her property,” he said.
Dick’s agreement with the Park Service was to expire this week. She got an extension until the end of summer and lauded park officials for their flexibility while the matter plays out in Washington, even if it occurs behind her back.
Conway said Allard’s office advised Dick’s attorney of the negotiations last week.
“I’m always the last one to hear,” she said.
Staff writer Steve Lipsher can be reached at 970-513-9495 or slipsher@denverpost.com.
