GUNNISON GORGE — Bob Abbey, director of the federal Bureau of Land Management, jounced down a bone-jarring dirt road for 7 miles in a truck, hiked down a snaking, rocky trail for more than a mile and repeatedly got doused with cold water in a raft tossed about in boulder-mined rapids over a 14-mile stretch of river.
That’s what it takes, Abbey said, to view the challenges and hear firsthand about the problems of balancing the uses of the 264 million acres of public lands he oversees.
“It’s a chance to get out and to see what’s working and what’s not,” Abbey said. “I like to meet people who are directly affected by our decisions.”
Abbey’s recent trip through the Gunnison Gorge Wilderness Area, part of a three-week listening tour of Western states, gave him the chance to home in on an issue challenging local and regional land managers: how best to accommodate people with disabilities in tough-to-reach areas such as the gorge.
“It’s an awesome responsibility to figure out how to make resources like this accessible,” Abbey said of the 17,784 wilderness acres at the heart of a 62,844-acre National Conservation Area stretching downriver from the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park.
Abbey made the trip with two commercial outfitters and a cadre of BLM representatives from all levels of the agency, including Colorado BLM Director Helen Hankins.
Hankins has a unique perspective on the issue because she is legally blind, though she had no trouble picking her way down the Chukar Trail.
“It’s important to do the right thing for all populations,” Hankins said during her first whitewater float trip.
Pressure has been mounting in recent years for more access to rivers from groups and agencies, including the Department of Defense and its Wounded Warrior program; Disabled Sports USA; Colorado Discover Ability, a Grand Junction-based program for the disabled; and Trout Unlimited’s Healing Waters program.
The BLM this year granted access to Westwater Canyon on the Colorado River and agreed to try out pilot programs on several rivers, including the Arkansas, the San Miguel and the Gunnison Gorge.
Commercial outfitters say they can provide trips for the disabled and have the expertise to do it but that not all whitewater stretches of rivers are appropriate.
“It’s certainly rewarding to take people out to an area like this,” said Joe Greiner, owner of the rafting company Wilderness Aware.
But there are huge challenges to just get folks in wheelchairs down a bumpy, steep trail. Advocates for the disabled acknowledged that not all wilderness areas are appropriate now.
“We are not ready for the Gunnison Gorge yet,” said Martin Wiesiolek, a volunteer with Colorado Discover Ability.
But Wiesiolek was encouraged by the fact that Abbey floated the river to see it for himself and that he is talking about the idea of creating more access for more diverse groups.
“It’s very encouraging if he really means it,” he said. “I would like to see it on paper. I would like it to be permanent.”
Nancy Lofholm: 970-256-1957 or nlofholm@denverpost.com
