Washington – Resolving an 83-year-old widow’s long-running battle, Congress decided Tuesday that Betty Dick can continue to use her summer home in Rocky Mountain National Park for the rest of her life.
The Betty Dick Residence Protection Act was approved Tuesday by the House of Representatives and now goes to President Bush, who’s never vetoed a bill. Those involved consider a veto in this case unlikely.
“They all feel that it’s a fait accompli,” Dick said. “It’s a tremendous relief.”
Dick has spent more than 25 summers in the century-old log house in the park’s scenic Kawuneeche Valley. She lives the rest of the year in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Dick couldn’t say enough nice things about Rep. Mark Udall, D-Colo., who took up her cause. He steered the bill past a reluctant National Park Service.
The final bill was sponsored by Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., who Dick also thanked.
“I really have had an entirely different outlook on Congress since this started,” Dick said.
Udall said he was glad to see the situation resolved after numerous procedural delays.
“After a two-year bureaucratic battle, Betty can return to Colorado this spring with the peace of mind that she will be able to keep her home for the rest of her life,” Udall said.
The dispute stems from 1980, when Dick’s late husband, Fred, reluctantly signed a 25-year lease with the Park Service as a settlement to a lawsuit he filed after his first wife sold the property to the park without granting him the chance to buy it first.
The Dicks had negotiated a contract to let them to use the house for the rest of their lives but figured the 25-year term would have the same effect. For Fred Dick, that was true. But the 25-year lease expired in July with Betty Dick still using the cabin.
In the process of working out a deal, the size of Dick’s property was trimmed from 24 acres to 8.
“I still have my home and my buildings, and I’ll be able to be up there and that’s the most important thing,” she said.
Staff writer Mike Soraghan can be reached at 202-662-8730 or msoraghan@denverpost.com.
