CPW Seeks Public Comment on State Wildlife Areas

Over the last several years State Wildlife Area (SWA) use has dramatically increased, causing a corresponding rise in negative impacts on fish and wildlife and related recreation.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) staff including Area Wildlife Managers began analyzing what negative impacts were occurring and coming up with ideas and solutions to these problems. SWAs are areas purchased with money from the sale of hunting and fishing licenses and equipment. The primary focus for SWAs is to conserve fish and wildlife and their habitat. A secondary benefit is providing areas for wildlife-related recreation (hunting, fishing, and wildlife watching). When not in conflict with the prior purposes, SWAs can also provide opportunities for other forms of recreation.

As use has intensified, CPW is looking at how it may need to adjust management of specific properties and of SWAs in general to ensure that their primary and secondary purposes are not harmed by other types of recreation.  New proposed rules are currently out for public comment through May 24th.  You can review the proposals and offer your comments on general SWA regulation by clicking here.  You can review and comment on proposals specific to individual SWAs – which may be either more restrictive or more permissive than statewide default regulations – by clicking here.

If you are a regular user of SWAs, please take a moment to share your thoughts and speak up for sound and balanced fish and wildlife conservation on these important properties.  Thank you!

Watered-Down Version of Stream Restoration Bill Passes

First, the good news:  the Colorado General Assembly passed Colorado TU’s top priority bill for 2023, SB23-270, “Projects to Restore Natural Stream Systems”.  The not-so-good news:  the bill was significantly weakened from the version introduced before it was passed.  The net result is a positive step forward, but one that doesn’t yet address some critical issues for river restoration projects and potential water rights administration.

Healthy rivers and watersheds provide broad-based benefits to all Coloradans – providing habitat for fish and wildlife; supporting our State’s robust recreation economy; improving wildfire resilience, drought mitigation, and flood safety; and promoting water quality for all those who rely on it from fish to farms to cities and towns statewide. But over the last 200 years, more than half of Colorado’s 105,000 stream miles and river corridors have been significantly degraded.

As introduced, SB23-270 would have clarified where stream restoration could occur without water right enforcement actions. Minor restoration projects such as bank stabilization, channel narrowing, or emergency post-fire recovery work would not face water rights administration, while larger projects to restore stream, floodplain, and watershed health – such as beaver dam analogs, fish barriers for native species recovery, and floodplain reconnection efforts – would have been given a rebuttable presumption of not causing injury to downstream water uses so long as they did not expand water surface area along a given river by more than a specified amount. The bill would have provided a solution to the lack of clarity and consistency across the state on how stream restoration may impact water rights and hence may or may not need administration. With the bipartisan infrastructure law offering significant federal funding in the coming years, it also would have positioned Colorado for a once-in-a-generation opportunity to support watershed and river health through those federal dollars. 

Ultimately, legislators were uncomfortable advancing the complete package of SB23-270 and instead narrowed its scope substantially. The bill passed by the General Assembly and sent to Gov. Polis will address the minor stream restoration projects and those that have taken place or received their permits before August 1 of this summer. That is a positive and important step but leaves the question of how to enable future restoration projects in 2024 and beyond.

Colorado TU looks forward to working with legislators in the coming months to tackle that remaining need with legislation for 2024.  Among the projects that we hope can be accommodated are “process-based” restoration efforts such as beaver dam analogs that help improve riparian health and sustain water tables and thus stream flows. We additionally would like to see fish barriers – used to isolate native fish restoration areas from downstream populations of non-native fish – and replanting of native willows and cottonwoods incorporated as restoration activities that presumably should not trigger water rights administration.

Aspen Journalism has an excellent story outlining the issues surrounding SB23-270, which you can read here.

A big thanks to the TU volunteers who reached out to their State Senators in support of this bill.  We made one crucial first step with this bill as passed – and Colorado TU remains committed to fishing the job with further legislation in 2024.

Ask Your Senator to Support SB23-270 for Stream Restoration in Colorado - Take Action!

Healthy, functioning river corridors for fish and people need your help now.

Healthy rivers and watersheds provide broad-based benefits to all Coloradans – providing habitat for fish and wildlife; supporting our State’s robust recreation economy; improving wildfire resilience, drought mitigation, and flood safety; and promoting water quality for all those who rely on it from fish to farms to cities and towns statewide. But over the last 200 years, more than half of Colorado’s 105,000 stream miles and river corridors have been significantly degraded.  That's why TU has been involved in restoration projects - from recovering front range streams damaged in the 2013 floods, to improving low-flow habitats in critical rivers like the Fraser, to reconnecting waters for trout at road crossings that currently fragment their habitat.

Such projects are now facing an uncertain future due to questions and inconsistencies on if and when such efforts may require water rights. Fortunately, the Colorado legislature is currently considering SB23-270: Projects to Restore Natural Stream Systems, a bill that clarifies where stream restoration could occur without water right enforcement actions. With the bipartisan infrastructure law offering major federal funding in the coming years, the bill also positions Colorado for once-in-a-generation opportunity to support watershed and river health through those federal dollars. 

Without continued stream restoration, Colorado’s trout and their habitat will face an uncertain future. You can help by asking your Senator to support passage of SB23-270, enabling stream restoration projects to continue in Colorado and provide broad benefits to our environment and communities.

TU Report Shows Risks of Speculative Leasing for Oil & Gas - Take Action!

In collaboration with the National Wildlife Federation and Rocky Mountain Wild, Trout Unlimited has released a new report highlighting the Bureau of Land Management’s wasteful and detrimental practice of selling oil and gas leases on land with little or no potential for oil development.

Known as speculative leasing, this process not only diverts agency resources and taxpayer dollars away from other public lands priorities, but it also prevents these lands from being adequately managed for the more valuable resources they offer – important coldwater fish and wildlife habitat.

The new report identifies the following issues with the way the BLM administers these leases and urges Director Tracy Stone-Manning to update the agency’s leasing practices.

Imbalanced priorities on millions of acres

From 2012 to 2020, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) leased five million acres – roughly the twice the size of Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks combined – that had little potential for energy development but overlapped valuable fish and wildlife habitat. Specifically, since 2012:

• 55 percent of federal oil and gas leases were on lands with little to no potential for oil and gas development

• 60 percent of leases on public lands with limited potential were sold for the minimum bid of $2 per acre

• 66 percent of leases on lands with little to no development potential were sold non-competitively

Critical habitat and tourism destinations at-risk

Currently, 5.1 million acres of greater sage grouse habitat, 1.8 million acres of sensitive big game habitat, and more than 1 million acres of native trout watersheds are tied up in federal oil and gas leases on lands with limited development potential. What’s equally concerning is the number of popular destinations across the West impacted by these leases. These include Colorado’s own North Park, with its Gold-Medal quality fisheries and high-value wildlife habitats (see map below).

You can help

With growing pressure on fish and wildlife habitat throughout Colorado and nationwide, we must do better. Please take a moment to encourage BLM and Director Tracy Stone-Manning to revise regulations governing public lands oil and gas leasing and development, to better balance responsible energy development with the conservation of our cherished public lands, waters, and wildlife.

Help Stop Water Raid on the San Luis Valley!

Water is Colorado’s lifeblood, and that is certainly the case for the San Luis Valley. From the region’s vibrant agricultural community to its natural and recreational treasures like the Rio Grande River and the Great Sand Dunes, water has been essential to the Valley. Unfortunately, demands for water in the Valley already outstrip supplies and changing climate will only make the challenges even greater. Valley residents have been collaborating - including through water sharing partnerships facilitated by Trout Unlimited - to bring ground and surface water use back into balance.

Now those collaborative efforts are in jeopardy, as the misleadingly named “Renewable Water Resources” (RWR) proposal seeks to pump groundwater out of the San Luis Valley and export it to Colorado’s southern Front Range. RWR sponsors have now asked Douglas County to provide $20 million in Covid relief funds to promote the project. The San Luis Valley’s environment and communities - not to mention Douglas County taxpayers - stand to lose with this damaging boondoggle of a project.

You can help by contacting Douglas County’s commissioners and asking them to reject RWR’s request and to instead invest in other water solutions working with willing communities and in environmentally sound ways.

Support Restoring and Reconnecting the Upper Colorado River!

The Windy Gap Reservoir was placed on the mainstem of the Upper Colorado River in 1984, blocking the passage of fish and aquatic insects, reducing water quality and habitat, and blocking natural river maintenance processes. Now, Trout Unlimited is working with Grand County and Northern Water to reconnect the Colorado at Windy Gap and create positive changes to the river’s health and the entire ecosystem. These efforts will improve downstream fisheries, enhance riparian condition, and create a new mile of public fishing access on the re-establshed river channel.

The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) has issued a Draft Plan and Environmental Assessment for the project and is accepting public comment through March 10. If the project is approved, work can begin this May and be completed by November 2023.

You can support restoration and reconnection of the Colorado River at Windy Gap by submitting supportive comments to the NRCS through our simple online action center.

Your Voice Matters for Colorado's Rivers!

As leaders across the state in nine "Basin Roundtables" work to update their local water and river management plans, or "Basin Implementation Plans (BIPs)", they're taking public comment from community members. It’s time to make your voice heard: What do you think needs to happen in your local watershed for the health of your local rivers, the environment, and water supply? To help you do this, Water for Colorado is collecting comments, which will then be submitted on your behalf to your local Basin Roundtable once the public comment period ends on Nov. 15.

WATER FOR COLORADO HAS COMPILED SIX KEY RECOMMENDATIONS YOU CAN USE IN YOUR COMMENTS:

• Ensure healthy, flowing rivers

• Prioritize resilient watersheds

• Center equity

• Support for irrigated agriculture

• Include water conservation and efficiency

• Plan for sustainable Funding

Learn more about these recommendations here.

Get to your your river basin here.

Take action to protect trout fisheries and watersheds from the impacts of climate change

Photo courtesy of Trout Unlimited/Josh Duplechian

We are at a critical moment. Congress is now considering major infrastructure and spending bills that would have far-reaching impacts on America’s rivers and streams, wild and native trout and salmon, and all of us who care about them.

Trout Unlimited is asking you to take action today by contacting your elected officials and urging them to responsibly address the risks posed by a changing climate. Legislation under discussion this month could shape how our country responds to the threat facing rivers, communities, and fish and wildlife. Please urge your lawmakers to prioritize policies that address the root causes of climate change, as well as legislation that funds projects to help our lands and waters adapt to warmer temperatures and more frequent drought, wildfire, and floods.

In Colorado and throughout the west we’ve seen these impacts first hand, from the ongoing serious Colorado River basin drought to last year’s record wildfire season in Colorado. Now is the time to act, and targeted investments in watershed stewardship and promoting clean energy can help secure a future for our imperiled fisheries.

Trout Unlimited has set up a page where you can learn more and take action at tu.org/climate. Please take a moment to visit the site and use the action alert to reach out and convey your interests to your members of Congress.

Thank you for engaging on this vital issue, and for all you do for Trout Unlimited!

Submit your opposition to the Zephyr gold mine near Grape Creek

DEADLINE: Wednesday, September 1, 2021

To learn more about the proposed gold mine please read The Colorado Sun article.

For the latest information on this issue please visit https://www.savefremontcounty.org/. That is the website for the main group opposing the application for a new gold mine near Grape Creek, by Canon City. Our chapter has filed an opposition letter with the Fremont County Commissioners and also with the DRMS.

Sample letter:

I am writing to voice my opposition to the Zephyr Minerals application for a gold mine near the Grape Creek wilderness. I am concerned that this proposed mine poses too high of a risk to the neighboring creek and river. As an avid angler, I fish the Arkansas river below the Grape Creek confluence, and am worried about any possible water contamination and pollution. A few of my particular concerns:

WATER: The mine site, at 6,500 feet elevation, is 1,000 feet higher elevation than Grape Creek and the Arkansas river. It is upstream from the water plant intake for Fremont County. Any discharge from mining operations will find its way to the aquifers underground and/or the water flows. The mining operation would use approximately 65 million gallons of water per year and an unspecified amount of chemicals. With the site just 1,000 feet above the Grape Creek and Arkansas River area, this creates the potential for pollution of the water for present and future generations. The demand on underground aquifers has been estimated in the permit as “insignificant” but there is no monitoring or measures to be sure that the demand is having an “insignificant” impact.

FIRE RISK: Zephyr claims: “Not a single forest fire in the USA has been traced back to or been attributed to a modern mining operation.” and “The mine operation will manage process water and storm water. The mill process water will flow through a closed recycling system with very little discharge if any.” How many unexpected disasters have resulted from mining? It is certainly possible that the proposed Dawson Gold Mine could be yet another disaster in the making.

The permit is non-specific in the amount of water reserved for fire mitigation. It states “sufficient.” There is no Fire Protection plan associated with the current application. How could government entities approve the permit without an assurance of being able to mitigate a fire before it becomes a wildfire? The mine location is in a juniper forest, semi-arid climate which is essentially a tinder box. There would be “approximately 13,000 pounds of explosives onsite for up to a week of blasting activity… replenished weekly”. Adding explosives to an area already a tinder box for a wildfire could create a wildfire that wipes out the entire region particularly without an established fire protection plan. Why incur this risk?

RECLAMATION FUNDS: Only $261,813 has been reserved for reclamation of the “affected area” when the mine shuts down. For 82 acres? With no inflation factored into the figures? Even without structures, concrete pads, holding ponds, etc., 82 acres could not be professionally landscaped for $261,813. The reclamation allocation is too small and is not adjusted for inflation.

EMERGENCY FUNDS: There is no allocation funds to address an unexpected fire, explosion, pollution leakage, or power outage. Zephyr has to seek additional funding to operate a mine or sell off to a larger concern. Without a requirement for a “problem reserve”, where would money come from to mitigate a significant problem?

The application does not have sufficient assurances that a long-term disaster will not happen or that short term significant problems can be resolved. I am strongly opposed to it. I respectfully request that you deny this application.

To submit the letter, you’ll need to follow these steps:

1. Go to the DRMS website: https://dnrlaserfiche.state.co.us/Forms/DRMS_Comment

2. set “Contact Type” to “Individual”

3. enter your name in “Persons Represented” field

4. enter your name, address, email, phone number in the appropriate fields

5. set “Connection to Operation” to “Concerned Citizen”

6. In the “Comment/Objection Narrative” enter the sample text above and edit as desired.

7. “Permit Number” is M2021046

8. “County” is “Fremont”

9. “Site Name” is “Dawson Gold Mine”

10. Permittee/Operator Name” is “Zephyr Gold USA Ltd”

11. Select “Objection”

That’s it — click “Submit” and you should receive an email confirmation that your object was submitted.

It should look like this:

Action Alert: Support Colorado State Parks!