Ask Your Representative to Protect Colorado's Wetlands and Waters - Vote YES on HB 24-1379

Speaker Julie McCluskie, with co-sponsors Senator Dylan Roberts and Representative Karen McCormick, has introduced state legislation (HB 24-1379)  that would restore critical protections to Colorado’s at-risk wetlands and waters.  The legislation was drafted in direct response to a U.S. Supreme Court decision last year to impose the biggest rollback of the Clean Water Act since its inception in 1972. The Court’s decision essentially eliminated protections for certain wetlands and other critically important waters, including streams that don’t flow consistently year-round.

Without state-level protections, many of Colorado’s critical wetlands and streams could be polluted, filled in, paved over, and destroyed without abiding by the Clean Water Act pollution control and mitigation requirements that have protected them for the past 50 years. Degradation of these wetlands and waterways can jeopardize fisheries, drinking water supplies, and other ecosystem benefits such as flood mitigation, wildfire resilience, and wildlife habitat.

HB 24-1379 will:

• Restore protection for critical Colorado wetlands and waters undermined by last year’s Supreme Court decision;

• Require impacts to be avoided, and only if they cannot be avoided, to be minimized and mitigated, with clear and consistent guidance for compensatory mitigation to ensure that watershed values and functions are maintained;

• Establish a fair and transparent permitting process, including general permits that can streamline approval for classes of activities (such as restoration) that have no or minimal adverse impacts; and

• Secure clear mechanisms for strong enforcement to protect Colorado wetlands and streams.

Colorado has lost about 50% of its wetlands to development since statehood, so protecting what remains is a necessity. Under the US Supreme Court decision, many of those wetlands could be lost or degraded, along with the approximately 24% of Colorado streams that run seasonally (intermittent) and 45% that flow only in response to rain or snow (ephemeral).

Please take a moment today to contact your State Representative and ask them to support HB 24-1379, and to oppose any amendments that would weaken its protection for Colorado’s wetlands and waters.  You can use the provided email template to send your comments, including editing to incorporate your own personal experiences with Colorado wetlands, headwaters, and feeder streams.

Help Good Samaritans Restore Mine-Impaired Streams

Nationwide there are an estimated 500,000 abandoned mines - mines with no one remaining that is responsible for clean-up – 33,000 of which are known to be causing environmental damage. More than 110,000 miles of streams are listed as impaired for heavy metals and/or acidity, and abandoned mines are a major source of these impairments due to acid-mine drainage with toxic metals, such as mercury, lead and arsenic.  Many willing partners could bring expertise and resources toward restoring these mines sites as Good Samaritan project managers, but are unable to do so because they could become liable for the underlying pollution from those mines - even though they were not responsible for creating the problem, only helping to improve it.

Under current law, Good Sams, including Trout Unlimited, can and do voluntarily undertake projects to clean up “non-point-source” abandoned mine pollution, such as moving contaminated waste rock piles away from streams. However, under the Clean Water Act, groups wanting to take on “point-source” mine cleanups—where toxic drainage is discharging directly from the mine opening —face daunting obstacles, including complicated permitting and long-term legal and financial liability for any remaining mine pollution. This has slowed Good Sam projects for such draining mines to a virtual standstill.

Fortunately, bipartisan leaders in the House of Representatives are working to enable Good Sams to tackle restoration without taking on such perpetual, open-ended liability.  Representatives Maloy (R-UT) and Peltola (D-AK) have introduced bipartisan legislation – HR 7779, the Good Samaritan Remediation of Abandoned Hardrock Mines Act of 2024 – which would establish a pilot program for the Environmental Protection Agency to issue permits to qualified nonprofit groups and other third parties to tackle cleanups of abandoned mine sites, in part by providing targeted, limited liability protection. Permits would make Good Sams responsible for their own actions and for completing cleanup work to the standards in their permits – but shield them from the large and perpetual liability for the mine’s pollution itself. This legislation mirrors a bill in the Senate that has 33 bipartisan cosponsors, including Senators Bennet and Hickenlooper.

The challenge of abandoned mines is very significant for Colorado. A study by the State Division of Reclamation Mining and Safety showed over 250 draining mines in Colorado with 148 likely degrading downstream water quality. The pilot program represents a vital first step in empowering Good Sam partners to help address these sites and improve water quality for the benefit of fish, wildlife, and downstream communities.

Please ask your Representative to support HR7779 and to cosponsor this bipartisan, common-sense legislation to help watersheds in Colorado and across the nation.  You can use our email template to share your comments, and customize your note if you wish by adding reference to specific waters that are important to you.

Protect the Thompson Divide – Speak Out for Trout Today

The Thompson Divide stands – as its name suggests – atop a drainage divide, with streams flowing toward the North Fork Gunnison, Crystal, Roaring Fork, and Colorado Rivers depending on which portion of the Divide you are standing. The area supports some of Colorado’s most pristine trout waters and critical habitat for big game. In his travels in western Colorado, President Theodore Roosevelt described the Thompson Divide as “great, wild country” and today it remains one of the largest expanses of roadless forest in Colorado. Trout Unlimited has been working for years to secure long-term protections for the Thompson Divide.

Today, you can help protect this valuable landscape from the impacts of oil and gas development. The US Forest Service is currently taking public comment through January 8 on its proposal to withdraw the Thompson Divide from mineral extraction for the next twenty years. Please visit the Forest Service’s online public comment page and voice your support for protecting the Thompson Divide.

The Forest Service issued a draft environmental assessment evaluating the proposal and with two identified alternatives:  Alternative A, which would keep existing leases in place but withdraw the area from new mineral entry for the next twenty years, and Alternative B, which would keep the area open to new oil and gas leasing.  The proposed withdrawal (Alternative A) would protect nearly 225,000 acres in the Thompson Divide, encompassing a total of 1,550 stream miles including 83 miles of native cutthroat trout streams, 12 acres of cutthroat lake habitat, and nearly four and a half miles of Gold Medal trout fishing waters along the Roaring Fork. TU supports Alternative A to protect these outstanding fishery resources and their watersheds.

The Forest Service comment page includes a basic form where you can provide your contact information and then enter your comments online.  Some points to consider sharing in your comments include:

·         Urge the Forest Service to adopt Alternative A to ensure protection of the outstanding habitats within the Thompson Divide.

·         Watersheds in the Thompson Divide support vital native trout habitat and feed some of Colorado’s most famed trout rivers including the Crystal, Roaring Fork and Colorado.  These areas not only support important fish habitats but also are a key driver of local economies.

·         The proposed withdrawal strikes an appropriate balance, respecting existing leases while ensuring that new leasing does not occur for the next 20 years and jeopardize the area’s critical habitat values.

·         Consider sharing any personal experiences you have with the Thompson Divide, or with the downstream waters that rely on it as a source of high-quality water.

While permanent protection of this area can only be achieved by an act of Congress, and TU continues to support passage of the CORE Act from Senators Bennet and Hickenlooper and Congressman Neguse, this withdrawal is a vital step in the right direction and will conserve the Thompson Divide for the next 20 years while we continue to work toward permanent protection.

Click below to visit the Forest Service public comment form and add your voice in support of protecting the Thompson Divide.