Recreation Land Preservation

C.R.S. tit. 25, art. 13

in effect

C.R.S. § 25-13-101 Short title

25-13-101. Short title. This article shall be known and may be cited as the "Recreation Land Preservation Act of 1971".

C.R.S. § 25-13-102 Legislative declaration

25-13-102. Legislative declaration. The purpose of this article is to establish minimum controls to prohibit the pollution of the air, water, and land, to prevent the degradation of the natural environment of recreational and mountain areas in this state in order to preserve and maintain the ecology and environment in its natural condition, to facilitate the enjoyment of the state and its ecology, nature, and scenery by the inhabitants and visitors of the state, and to protect their health, safety, and welfare.

C.R.S. § 25-13-103 Definitions

25-13-103. Definitions. As used in this article, unless the context otherwise requires: (1) "Board" means the state board of health. (2) "Campsite" means any specific area within organized campgrounds or other recreation areas which is used for overnight stays by an individual, a single camping family, a group, or any other similar entity. (3) "Department" means the department of public health and environment. (4) "Operator" means the person responsible for managing the organized campground or recreation area. (5) "Organized campgrounds" means all federal, state, municipal, and county owned and designated roadside parks and campgrounds and privately owned campgrounds which are made available, either with or without a fee, to the public. (6) "Person" means any private or public institution, corporation, individual, partnership, firm, association, or other entity. (7) "Public accommodation facilities" means all motels, hotels, dude ranches, youth camps, and other similar facilities rented out to the public in areas used predominantly for recreation. (8) "Recreation areas" means all public lands and surface waters of the state, other than organized campgrounds, used for picnicking, camping, and other recreational activities. (9) "Refuse" means all combustible or noncombustible solid waste, garbage, rubbish, debris, and litter. (10) "Sewage" means any liquid or solid waste material which contains human excreta. (11) "Surface of ground" means any portion of the ground from the surface to a depth of six inches. (12) "Waters of the state" means all streams, lakes, rivers, ponds, wells, impounding reservoirs, watercourses, springs, drainage systems, and irrigation systems; all sources of water such as snow, ice, and glaciers; and all other bodies or accumulations of water, surface and underground, natural or artificial, public or private, located wholly or partly within or bordering upon this state and within the jurisdiction of this state.

C.R.S. § 25-13-104 Administration

25-13-104. Administration. (1) Except as provided in section 25-13-111, the department shall administer the provisions of this article. (2) The board shall promulgate reasonable rules and regulations to carry out the purposes of this article. (3) The department shall furnish consulting services to county commissioners, municipalities, other governmental agencies, and private landowners regarding toilet facilities and procedures for refuse collection and disposal.

C.R.S. § 25-13-105 Unlawful acts

25-13-105. Unlawful acts. (1) Except as otherwise provided in this article, it is unlawful for any person: (a) Within the recreation areas of the state to discharge untreated sewage upon the surface of the ground or in any waters of the state; (b) To deposit or bury refuse on the public lands or waters within this state, except within areas or receptacles designated by the operator for this purpose; (c) To deposit refuse on private or public land in such a way that said refuse may be blown, carried, or otherwise transported from its point of deposit; (d) To willfully mar, mutilate, deface, disfigure, or injure beyond normal use any rocks, trees, shrubbery, wild flowers, or other features of the natural environment in recreation areas of the state; (e) To willfully cut down, uproot, break, or otherwise destroy any living trees, shrubbery, wild flowers, or natural flora in recreation areas of the state; (f) To build fires unless in compliance with rules and regulations of the board, to abandon or to leave fires unattended, or to store flammable liquids in a container which is not of a type approved by the department in an organized campground or other recreation area subject to this article; (g) In organized campgrounds or recreation areas to use any cleansing agents, whether organic or inorganic in nature, in waters of the state for any purpose, including but not limited to bathing, clothes washing, and similar activities, or to dispose of any water containing such agents on the surface of the ground within fifty feet of any waters of the state. Such water shall be disposed of in facilities provided by the operator or in the manner specified by the operator.

C.R.S. § 25-13-106 Sewage disposal

25-13-106. Sewage disposal. (1) In organized campgrounds, all sewage shall be disposed of in facilities provided by the campground operator. The operator shall maintain such facilities in the manner prescribed by rules and regulations of the board. (2) Sewage in recreation areas may be disposed of by burial at a depth greater than six inches at a distance of more than one hundred feet from any surface waters. Adequate precautions shall be taken to prevent the intrusion of such sewage and wastewater upon the environment in a manner which is unhealthful, injurious to the environment, or otherwise degrading to the environment. (3) Public accommodation sewage and wastewater disposal facilities shall conform to such reasonable rules and regulations as may be promulgated by the board.

C.R.S. § 25-13-107 Refuse disposal

25-13-107. Refuse disposal. (1) All persons shall dispose of refuse in containers which shall be provided for that purpose by operators of organized campgrounds. Organized campground operators shall keep the grounds free of uncontained refuse and shall provide a sufficient number of secure waterproof containers, preferably metal, with flyproof tops for the disposal of refuse. The containers shall be emptied as often as necessary to maintain the organized campground free of uncontained refuse. The presence of uncontained refuse in excess of the capacity of the containers provided shall be prima facie proof that the numbers of containers or frequency of container emptying is inadequate and that the operator is in violation of this subsection (1). (2) Whenever containers for refuse are filled or are not available in campgrounds or recreation areas, all persons shall dispose of refuse in compliance with rules and regulations adopted by the board or operator or remove the refuse from the area for disposal in a manner not in violation of this article. (3) Refuse in public accommodation facilities shall be disposed in the manner specified in such reasonable rules and regulations as may be promulgated by the board. (4) Food wastes normally edible to human beings may be deposited on the surface of the ground if the quantity of such wastes does not result in an unhealthful or unpleasant aesthetic appearance by virtue of an unreasonable time required for decay of the waste or consumption of the waste by fauna of the area.

C.R.S. § 25-13-108 Water supplies

25-13-108. Water supplies. All water supplied to the public in an organized campground shall conform to the requirements of standards adopted by the board, rules and regulations adopted by the board, or any higher local standards.

C.R.S. § 25-13-109 Group gatherings

25-13-109. Group gatherings. Any group of twenty-five or more persons assembled for a meeting, festival, social gathering, or other similar purpose in an organized campground or recreation area for a period which reasonably could have been anticipated to exceed ten hours shall make provision for sewage, wastewater, and refuse disposal in accordance with rules and regulations of the board. The organizers of and performers at any gathering in violation of this section shall be punished as provided in section 25-13-114.

C.R.S. § 25-13-110 Camping duration

25-13-110. Camping duration. No person may camp in a campsite within recreation areas for a period exceeding two weeks. Any campsite may be closed by the department or other lawful authority for an indefinite period to permit recovery of the campsite to its natural state following excessive use and resulting environmental deterioration.

C.R.S. § 25-13-111 Enforcement

25-13-111. Enforcement. This article shall be enforced by the department, the division of parks and wildlife, all county, district, and municipal public health agencies and boards of health, and any peace officer in this state.

C.R.S. § 25-13-112 Citizen's complaint

25-13-112. Citizen's complaint. Any person may initiate an action under the provisions of this article by signing a complaint, in accordance with the applicable rules of judicial procedure, that he has observed a violation of this article.

C.R.S. § 25-13-113 Construction

25-13-113. Construction. No provisions of this article shall be construed to repeal or in any way invalidate more stringent actions, orders, rules, regulations, ordinances, resolutions, or quality standards established by any governmental entity or agency.

C.R.S. § 25-13-114 Penalty for violation

25-13-114. Penalty for violation. Any person who violates any of the provisions of this article 13 commits a civil infraction.

Source: Open US Law by Vaquill AI (CC BY 4.0)URL: https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/images/olls/crs2024-title-25.docxFetched: 10/6/2026