Breckenridge resident Austin Ezman isn’t sure when will be the last time he’ll slip on his waders and peer over the steep edge in Grand County to his favorite fishing spot on the Blue River.

But Ezman knows that day is coming.

Earlier this month, the Bureau of Land Management announced it is taking another step toward completing a land exchange in Grand and Summit counties that would swap several parcels of public and private land, including that prized fishing spot.

The federal government postponed approval of the land exchange last year as it reviewed more than a dozen protests submitted by citizens and groups, including Ezman. But it has since dismissed those protests, queuing up the final steps required to complete the land exchange.

While the exchange has seen wide support from Colorado officials, who say it will increase public access along the Blue River, some citizens like Ezman are saddened that they will lose access to now-public lands when they become private.

“It’s a really special place,” Ezman said of the fishing spot in Grand County. “It’s just really disappointing to see (the land exchange) approved. I was down there a few weeks ago. Typically the spring is a really good time to fish it.”

The land exchange between the federal government and Blue Valley Ranch, which is owned by billionaire Paul Tudor Jones II, has been decades in the making. It was first proposed in some form in 2001 with the stated purpose of addressing the “checkerboard nature” of ownership in the area.

Blue Valley Ranch has said the public gains more from the land exchange than it loses. As part of the exchange, the ranch has agreed to cover the costs of river restoration work for a three-quarter-mile section of the Blue River near its confluence with the Colorado River, pay for the creation of the Confluence Recreation Area with more than 2 miles of new walking trails and wheel-chair accessible fishing platforms, and provide Summit County with $600,000 for new open space acquisitions.

For those who float the river, a permanent, seasonal takeout and rest stop near the Spring Creek River Bridge will be constructed, with another rest stop 3 miles downstream from the bridge as well. The exchange will also result in more than a mile and a half of hike-in access to the Blue River that is currently inaccessible except by floating.

“The Blue Valley Land Exchange is the result of years of study and negotiation between Blue Valley Ranch and the (Bureau of Land Management) as well as collaboration with interested stakeholders,” Blue Valley Ranch spokesperson Rob Firth said in a statement. “The time and effort put into the exchange by the (Bureau of Land Management) and the ranch ensures it is overwhelmingly in the public interest.”

Firth said he was disappointed that the protests submitted last year delayed construction of the recreation design features included in the exchange. But with the latest decision, he said the hope is to move ahead with closing on the exchange so that work on the improvements can get underway.

Bureau of Land Management Kremmling Field Manager Stephen Leonard said in an email that the next step in finalizing the land exchange is for both parties to sign binding exchange agreements. 

That sets up a 30-day appeal process through the Interior Board of Land Appeals after which, if there is no litigation over the matter, the property deeds will be signed, Leonard said. The soonest the land exchange could be approved would be after that 30-day appeal period, he added.

Leonard added that “none of the submitted protests were found to be substantive, and no modifications to the exchange were made.”

County commissioners in both Grand and Summit counties said in a statement that their communities look forward to the public benefits that the exchange will bring.

“Access to and preservation of our outdoor spaces remains a high priority for Summit County, which is why we continue to be a strong supporter of this exchange,” Summit County Commissioner Tamara Pogue said. “We are anxious to see it get underway so that our citizens and recreationalists may enjoy the many benefits, including river restoration, public open space, and more walk-in access to the Blue River.”

Meanwhile, Bureau of Land Management Colorado State Director Doug Vilsack said in a statement that he has spent many days over the past 20 years enjoying the Blue River in his kayak with a fly rod. The land exchange will increase public access to the river, Vilsack said.

“I am excited that access to this magnificent stretch of river will be improved for people of all abilities who wish to visit the area to enjoy the scenery, boat, fish, hike, or hunt,” Vilsack said. “We coordinated closely with local governments, other agencies, and the public to ensure this land exchange provides benefits for all.”

The Colorado River Headwaters Chapter of Trout Unlimited has supported the land exchange because Blue Valley Ranch has given up so many concessions that are either good for fishing access or for the Colorado and Blue rivers, according to a statement from the nonprofit. 

The nearly 1 mile of river improvement just before the Blue’s confluence with the Colorado River was reportedly the most important concession for the local chapter of Trout Unlimited.

“This puts the headwaters of the Colorado River 1 mile closer to returning to a healthy aquatic ecosystem,” Trout Unlimited Colorado River Headwaters Chapter President Kirk Klancke said in the statement.

While Ezman said he is hopeful that the promised river restoration will create Gold Medal fishing grounds along the Blue River, he also noted that there is no guarantee that the restoration work will be successful, so it will be disappointing to lose access to the fishing spot he has frequented for years.

Colorado Wild Public Lands, a nonprofit focused on public lands management that has been a leading voice in opposition to the land exchange, raised similar concerns when it submitted a 24-page protest to the exchange last year.

“Immensely valuable public lands are to be traded away for restrictive access easements and non-guaranteed infrastructure improvements,” Colorado Wild Public Lands board member Anne Rickenbaugh wrote in the protest.

Among the nonprofit’s chief concerns is that the land exchange was proposed by a wealthy landowner, not by the public or by the Bureau of Land Management itself.

Ezman said that when he stopped by the soon-to-be-off-limits fishing spot in Grand County last month, he reflected on all the hours he’s spent fishing that bend in the Blue River over the years.

“The last time I was down there I was with all of my best friends that I love to fish it with,” Ezman said. “I was definitely reflective of all the time we spent there. We all caught fish. Eating lunch sitting on the bank, it was one of those warm spring days. It felt nice to be down there.”