Clean Water Rule Unraveled

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officially proposed today to rescind the so-called Clean Water Rule, established under President Obama in 2015. This action begins a process of unraveling years of work to protect some of the most critical streams and wetlands in our country. The agency is giving Americans only 30 days to weigh in on a rule that took years to craft. The Clean Water Rule was a scientifically sound set of regulations that made clear America’s headwater streams would be protected for water quality under the federal Clean Water Act. The rule also would have reaffirmed exemptions in existing law for landowners and agricultural operations. It was strongly supported by the vast majority of Americans who commented on it during its multi-year development process..

In contrast, today's action to rescind the rule jeopardizes 60 percent of stream miles in the U.S., those small tributaries (sometimes ephemeral) to larger rivers which provide important habitat for fish and wildlife and deliver clean water to some of our most treasured fishing grounds.

[STAND UP FOR CLEAN WATER]

But fishing isn't the only thing at stake. This move impacts the sources of drinking water for 117 million people. That's one in three Americans whose drinking water originates in a stream that may no longer be protected.

Our access to clean water in this country is one of the things that sets us apart from many nations in the world. And it is up to protect the places that supply high quality water.

There's no doubt the Clean Water Rule has created much division. Trout Unlimited has seen that first-hand in working with many of our partners in agriculture. We understand and agree with the importance of getting this rule right, and support the exemptions granted to the ag community.

[STAND UP FOR CLEAN WATER]

But as an organization that works daily to fix polluted streams and rivers -- and the fisheries such pollution has degraded or ruined -- we know too well how hard and expensive it is to fix something rather than protect it in the first place.

"Clean water is not a political issue," said Chris Wood, President and CEO of Trout Unlimited. "It is a basic right of every American. Water runs downhill and gravity works cheap, and never takes a day off. We all live downstream. To be effective, the Clean Water Act must be able to control pollution at its source, upstream in the headwaters and wetlands that flow downstream through communities to our major lakes, rivers, and bays. EPA’s action places the health of 60 percent of the stream miles in the U.S. at risk. Trout Unlimited intends to work with our hundreds of thousands of members and supporters to reverse course on this misguided direction."

The Clean Water Rule is a foundational American law, one meant to protect the health of our nation's citizens. It also helps ensure that our remaining cold water habitat can provide good habitat and fishing opportunity. Time is short: Let's get to work.

[STAND UP FOR CLEAN WATER]

Trout Unlimited Recipient of WaterSMART Watershed Management Projects

The Bureau of Reclamation has awarded $664,754 to seven entities to implement watershed management projects in five states. Trout Unlimited received funds for three different projects including two in Colorado. In cooperation with the Five Rivers Chapter of Trout Unlimited, the Animas Watershed Partnership will receive $83,137 for a total project cost of $167,169 to conduct stream restoration projects in the lower Animas River near Farmington, New Mexico. Others providing contributions to this project are the Ranchmans-Terrell Ditch Association, San Juan Soil and Water Conservation District, and Basin Hydrology Inc.

The Eagle River Watershed Council, Inc., will receive $90,000 for a total project cost of $1,363,500 to improve instream flows in Abrams Creek, southwest of Eagle, Colorado. This project is being completed in conjunction with Trout Unlimited, Colorado Parks and Wildlife and Buckhorn Valley Metropolitan District.

In Idaho, Trout Unlimited also partnered with the Boise River Enhancement Network which will receive $100,000 for a total project cost of $398,845 will expose the lower 440 feet of Cottonwood Creek that flows through downtown Boise. The City of Boise, Land Trust of Treasure Valley, Intermountain Bird Observatory and the Ada County Highway District are contributing to the non-federal cost share.

The funding will be used for projects that enhance water conservation, improve water quality and ecological resilience, reduce water conflicts, and advance goals related to water quality and quantity. The entities that received the funds are also contributing funds to complete these projects.

"Cooperative watershed groups bring together diverse partners to address water management needs in their local communities," Bureau of Reclamation Acting Commissioner, Alan Mikkelsen, said. "The projects announced today will help restore watersheds and reduce water conflicts that were collaboratively developed within their communities."

Read about the other project recipients here.

WaterSMART is the U.S. Department of the Interior’s sustainable water initiative that uses the best available science to improve water conservation and help water resource managers identify strategies to narrow the gap between supply and demand. To learn more about WaterSMART, please visit https://www.usbr.gov/watersmart.

2017 Youth Camp Recap

Over the week of June 11 to June 16, campers from all over the state joined at the Bar N I Ranch in Stonewall, CO for the 2017 Colorado TU River Conservation and Fly Fishing Youth Camp. For the entire week, 15 campers between the ages of 14-18, joined Colorado TU staff, volunteers and camp counselors for a week of camping, learning, and fishing- for some of the kids, it was their first time ever fishing. The kids took part in various activities teaching them all about river conservation, native trout species, Western water issues, and of course, all things fly fishing.

The students arrived on Sunday, June 11 and right away the fun started. After the campers got their tents set up, the camp staff and counselors went over basic information about the camp, rules, and an overview of what to expect. After the orientation, the kids then got a chance to know one another. Finally, they learned about some basic fly fishing techniques including how to tie knots and when to use them and the basics to casting. The first day also covered some of the current river and water issues in Colorado.

Monday was the first full day of camp and after waking up, the kids went to the stream and pond at the ranch to learn about the entomology of the watershed. The kids took bug samples to learn about what the fish would be eating in the area and took water samples to determine the health of the stream and pond. After the sampling, students ate lunch and headed to nearby North Lake to fish for the afternoon. It wasn't long before kids started hooking into fish and in the first day over half of the kids had landed their first fish of the camp and for some, their first fish ever.

On Tuesday, June 13, the campers and camp staff headed to Alamosa to visit the Sand Dunes National Park. While at the Sand Dunes, the campers visited with National Park staff and Trout Unlimited's Kevin Terry to learn about the Rio Grande Cutthroat Trout and how climate change is affecting the habitat of this species. During the trip to Alamosa, students also visited the Native Aquatic Species Hatchery, a facility based around the restoration of Colorado’s native species. Here, campers were exposed to the science behind genetics, and were able to see what it takes to bring back a species from endangerment. Tuesday wrapped up with a lesson on western water law and the issues affecting the region's most valuable resource.

Over the first few days the kids had free time to tie flies and practice their fly fishing skills and on Wednesday they had a chance to hone in those skills and use the flies they have tied. The day started off by traveling to North Lake for the morning. While at North Lake kids were catching fish left and right and by halfway through the morning, everyone had caught a fish. After returning to the camp, the kids ate lunch and broke up into teams of three for some additional fishing. One group headed to some beaver ponds, another group fished the stream, and the third group fished a lake on the ranch property.

Thursday, the last full day of the camp, consisted of a lesson from Colorado Parks and Wildlife on aquatic nuisance species and how anglers can do their part to protect our watersheds from these invasive species. Colorado Parks and Wildlife also lead a trout dissection for campers to learn about the biology of trout. Later in the afternoon, the National Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) brought a soil trailer to demonstrate watershed issues on a smaller scale. The students were able to see how issues of erosion, wildfires, and flooding can affect an entire watershed. After dinner on Thursday the campers watched the 2017 Fly Fishing Film Tour at the local Pinion Valley Lodge.

On the last morning of the camp, the campers helped pick up the fly tying and fishing material and break down their camps. Soon, parents were arriving for the closing ceremony. Campers, staff, and parents had a chance to comment on their experiences with the camp.

When the 15 campers arrived on June 11, there were nervous faces and uneasy feelings about what to expect for the upcoming week. But just a few days later on June 16 the campers had a hard time leaving one another. The friendships formed, the lessons learned, and the memories made will carry on forever and many students mentioned coming back in 2018.

Colorado TU wants to thank the campers, parents, volunteers, chapters, and all of the guests who helped make this camp a great success. The camp could not have been done without your support and we look forward to working with you all next year! CTU also wants to thank the Bar N I Ranch for their hospitality during the course of the week!

We hope to see many new and old faces at the camp in 2018!

Greenback Recovery Working Group

The greenback cutthroat is one of last three remaining species of cutthroat trout that is native to Colorado. Their populations were decimated during the initial settling of the west, and for a period of time this species was thought to have become extinct. Later, greenback cutthroats were believed to have been rediscovered, but this proved to be case of mistaken identity. Genetic testing later provided evidence that this “old Strain” of greenback cutthroats were in fact Colorado Cutthroats, an entirely different subspecies of cutthroat trout. It wasn’t until later that a small population of true native greenback cutthroat were discovered in Bear Creek near Colorado Springs. Since this discovery there has been a significant effort to capture the genetic pool of these true greenback cutthroats, breed them in controlled environments, and repopulate native waters with these trout. Much of this work is thanks to the Greenback Recovery working group, currently lead by Colorado TU Grassroots Coordinator, Dan Omasta. This working group is a collaborative effort; including organizations such as Trout Unlimited, the Division of Fish and Wildlife, the Forest Service, and front range CTU chapters. This partnership forms a unified front to work as a single point of contact. The Greenback Recovery Working Group has been effective because they are able to provide much needed volunteers, address funding needs, enhance communications, and work on grant writing across chapters as a single entity.

One of the most significant ongoing projects is the reintroduction of native greenback cutthroat trout to Zimmerman Lake. This lake serves as a spawning ground for these cutthroat, where fertilized eggs are then collected and brought to the Leadville hatchery. The resulting fry are then reintroduced to other native streams.

Another substantial project conducted by the Greenback Recovery Working Group in partnership with Western Native Trout Initiative entails installing 30 temperature loggers into local streams. This project will help Colorado Trout Unlimited collect data in order to evaluate streams for reintroduction, monitor progress, and over time measure the impacts of climate change. There are many other ongoing and upcoming projects that the Greenback Recovery Working Group is tirelessly working on in order to successfully reintroduce native greenback cutthroat trout.

Soon under the Endangered Species Act, the Department of Fish and Wildlife will be forced to review the status of greenback cutthroats. Currently greenback cutthroat trout are listed as a threatened species, but if they are downgraded to an Endangered species there could be significant consequences. It would take significantly more time and money to acquire permitting and conduct environmental impact assessments.  Additionally, if this species becomes endangered, it may no longer be targeted by anglers. This may provide disincentives to protecting this native cutthroat species and limit fishing areas across Colorado. This would hinder one of the most substantial trout recovery efforts even undertaken in Colorado, but with proper funding and volunteers the Greenback Recovery Working Group should continue to successfully reintroduce this cutthroat species thought to have been lost.

To get involved or volunteer please contact Dan Omasta, DOmasta@tu.org, to learn about various opportunities!

A Native Odyssey: A conservation road trip of a lifetime

"The beauty and charm of the wilderness are his for the asking, for the edges of the wilderness lie close beside the beaten roads of the present travel."

—Theodore Roosevelt

President Theodore Roosevelt was a visionary, having set aside 230 million acres during his presidency for the American public to enjoy. In doing so, he was responsible for founding the U.S. Forest Service, and laying the ground work for the Department of the Interior and the National Park Service.

Fast forward a little more than a century. The U.S. government now manages 640 million acres of public land in trust for all Americans, a vast swath of shared real estate representing 28 percent of the American land mass. This large plot of public land in large part supports the $887 billion dollar outdoor recreation economy.

Today, our public land is under threat, with President Trump ordering the review of national monuments, and congress in tow with a push to transfer federal land to states governments that cannot afford it.

For two months this summer, five students from the TU Costa 5 Rivers Outreach Program will embark on a once-in-a-lifetime journey in pursuit of 16 native trout species, all on their public land. With support from the U.S. Forest Service, Costa Sunglasses, Simms Fishing Products, Fishpond and Post Fly Box, these students will tell the stories of our native trout, the places they live, and the local economies they fuel.

These students will be chiming in on Trout Unlimited’s and Trout Unlimited Costa 5 Rivers’ social media accounts to document the adventure. They will fish and explore our public lands around the country, unearthing challenges facing our native trout species. In addition to pursuing each species on fly, they will be interviewing local stakeholders, including ranchers, TU Volunteers, TU and U.S. Forest Service staff. They hope to reveal a diverse set of perspectives on what public lands, native species, and clean water means to each region the students visit.

The students will be in Colorado on June 18-24. They will be working with the Pikes Peak Chapter of TU on June 19 learning about the Greenback Cutthroat trout story, tour the Henderson Mine in Empire, CO on June 20 as part of the TU Abandoned Mines program, fish for Cutthroats in Rocky Mountain National Park with the Greenbacks of Colorado TU on June 21-23.

This week we will be introducing this year’s Odyssey participants. Each of these students comes from a unique background, having shaped their conservation viewpoints from their respective fisheries from around the country. Stay tuned to the blog to meet the participants.

To stay up to date with the Odyssey, follow @Troutunlimited, @TUCosta5rivers, @USForestservice, @simmsfishing @Fishpondusa to discover the story of our native trout, public lands, and what you can do at home to keep your lands in public hands.

For additional opportunities to get involved with protecting public lands, please visit standup.tu.org.

Adam Beede wins Dr. Behnke Award

Adam Beede, the 2017 Youth Camp Director, was rewarded as the recipient of the Dr. Robert Behnke Award from the Pennsylvania Rivers Conservation and Fly Fishing Youth Camp. The Behnke award recognizes an individual who is a graduate of a TU Conservation Youth Camp, someone who has gone on to continue their river/conservation/fishery studies in college or a career in the field, and has contributed with a leadership role with a state Youth Camp.

The award was established by the Pennsylvania Rivers Conservation and Fly Fishing Youth Camp to honor Dr. Behnke for his years of volunteering his time and his talents in teaching at the Pennsylvania camp as well as his educating and mentoring thousands of students during his career as a professor of Fisheries Conservation and Wildlife Biology at Colorado State University.  He was the author of more than 200 articles and papers regarding fish and fisheries and had served on numerous advisory boards for state and federal agencies.  He was the author of several books, including the seminal Trout and Salmon of North America (2002).  Bob began writing the quarterly column About Trout for Trout magazine in 1983.  Dr. Behnke passed away in September, 2013.

Adam is an alumnus of the 2011 Colorado Trout Unlimited River Conservation and Fly-fishing Youth Camp, served as a youth counselor for the camp three additional years, and is volunteering at the 2017 as Youth Camp Director. He is the youngest person to take on this role for the Youth Camp.

"I am honored and extremely excited to receive the selection for the Dr. Robert Behnke Award this year!" said Adam. "Attending the 2011 Colorado Trout Unlimited Youth Camp inspired me to start the Gunnison Sockeyes River Conservation Club and also to serve as Director for this year's youth camp."

This Spring, he graduated from Western State University in Gunnison majoring in Chemistry with an emphasis in Biochemistry. But he's leaving behind an incredible legacy of coldwater conservation leadership. In 2013, Adam founded The Gunnison Sockeyes, the first TU Costa Five Rivers collegiate club in the nation to found their club based on conservation rather than fly fishing. The club boasts over 160 members and has logged in excess of 220 man hours of service work in the Gunnison Watershed in the fields of Lake Trout Removal, Kokanee Salmon Spawning, Electroshocking, Stonefly Reintroduction and River Clean Ups.

"The Sockeyes logged 568 man hours of community service in the few years I went to Western State and I believe they will continue to put river conservation equal to, or ahead of, fly fishing in an effort to inspire the conservation of our rivers while having a blast in the Gunnison watershed," said Beede.

Adam has been head guide for Harmel's Ranch Resort the past three years sharing his passion for fly fishing and conservation with multitudes of ranch clients.

Colorado TU is extremely proud of Adam Beede for this incredible accomplishment and recognition. The work and leadership he has provided to the Colorado TU youth programs has helped instill the passion of fly fishing and conservation into other groups of kids. CTU is honored to have Adam be part of the Youth Camp team this year.

Adam will be presented the award at the Pennsylvania Fly Fishing Rivers Conservation Camp graduation on June 23, 2017 at Messiah College in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. In addition, his name will be added to the plaque at the Pennsylvania Fly Fishing Museum's Rivers Conservation Camp exhibit and will receive a certificate, a hand-carved trout pin, and a custom made pen to record his efforts in cold water conservation.

Behind the Fin: Wil Huett

How long have you been a TU member? Hard to answer. In the late 1970's-early 80's I was attending meetings of the Northern Colorado Anglers which eventually became the Rocky Mountain Flycasters (chapter #010). The chapter was chartered in 1983, so I was at least unofficially some kind of 'member' before there was a chapter!  A few years later I had a career change which created an unavoidable conflict with chapter meeting dates and so was relatively inactive for a long time. When I was able to become active again I became a life member - and was surprised when my new life-membership card arrived and bore an expiration date! I thought, how do they know when I am going to expire?

Why did you become a member and what chapter are you involved with?

My initial interest was the 'fishing club' hook which brings so many members into TU. I wanted to learn more about the mythical art of catching trout on a flyrod. I grew up on the banks of the mighty Mississippi and had used a friend's flyrod to catch a few bass in farm ponds. A career change took me to NW Nebraska where I caught my first trout - on another friend's flyrod. I picked up a little more experience in the nearby Black Hills, but when I moved to Colorado and within a few blocks of the Cache la Poudre I was in 'real' trout territory and needed to know more.

What made you want to become involved with TU?

Growing up on the banks of the Mississippi and experiencing its periodic floods gave me no background for understanding the water scarcity issues of the west. When the mighty Miss and its tributaries flooded they used to let us older boys out of school and permit trustee crews from the state prison to help sandbag. It was usually a problem of too much water, so I was fascinated by the complexity of water law created by the scarcity of water and the mission of TU to conserve and correct the mistakes of the past just seemed to me to make manifest sense.

What is your favorite activity or project that you have done with TU?

I love to get involved with our youth activities, and field work. The RMF annual Youth Conservation and Fly Fishing Day Camp is one of the highlights of my year. It is such a terrific program I truthfully tell people that in my first year as a mentor in the camp I learned things I hadn't learned in the previous 40 years of fishing, The info these students are presented is that good! (or maybe I was just that slow a learner?)

One of my favorite field work projects was installing plunge pools on the Michigan River near Gould many years ago, with fellow RMF members including "Dr Trout", the late Robert J Behnke, PhD, himself. It was a two day project so we camped out and got rained on overnight. Dr Behnke had not brought a tent so he just rolled his sleeping bag under my jacked-up pickup truck to stay dry. He truly was a man with one foot firmly planted in the field and the other in the academic world!

I am also looking forward to our chapter cooperating with the Alpine Anglers in Estes Park to rebuild the fishing access pier up the Big Thompson, I helped build the original (in '89' or '90') and would love to have a hand in seeing it rebuilt to give the mobillity impaired a better chance to fish the "Big T"

I know you won’t tell me your top spot, so what is your second favorite fishing spot or favorite fishing story?

My favorite fishing spot is any spot I happen to be in which harbors fish. I advocate carrying a flyrod in every vehicle because you never know when you will run into a fishing emergency! Although exotic locales beckon to many I have trouble getting too far away from my home rivers - and ponds. I flyrod a lot of local natural area ponds for warmwater species too. Also take a trip to Canada each June with a couple of RMF's founding fathers, but home waters are the preferred locales since they are close.

One of my favorite memories occurred one week to the day before the 2013 flood devastated the lower Big Thompson and its North Fork. I was fishing the North Fork and saw a rise just inside a culvert under the county road. I watched long enough to see the fish was rising regularly in roughly the same spot, but it was going to be a tough, horizontal, back-handed cast, low enough to get into the culvert and into the feeding lane. I tried and missed. The fish kept rising. I tried again and missed. The fish paused but then resumed. I tried once more and got it just right...and Fish On! It dove into the pool just out of the culvert and bulldogged me. I know it was a big fish for that small stream, but had no idea for a few minutes that it was an 18 inch brown trout! Out of that tiny stream! I have no proof because my camera-bearer had gone back to the truck to escape a light rain and proceeded to fall asleep. So I released the fish and a week later as the flood swept the canyon had to hope he or she could survive somewhere in Nebraska. Once North Fork restoration work is done, some of it by RMF volunteers including me, I hope to find a similar fish hiding in a similarly deceptive spot. And then have to hope I'll be able to reproduce that tricky cast again.

What does being a part of TU mean to you?

TU membership means I am leaving a legacy, giving a gift to the future.

What else do you do in your spare time or for work

It seems spare time is so scarce in retirement I wonder how I had time to work! But I did: 40 years in the broadcast business and then 15 years with the American Red Cross before retiring. I volunteer with Rocky Mountain Flycasters, currently serve in the Trustee slot of Immediate Past President and fill the Community/Media Outreach chair. I think I have about 240 RMF volunteer hours thus far in this fiscal year. Also volunteer occasionally with a couple of other conservation organizations, read voraciously, do handyman fix-up projects on my near 100 year old home, and am finally trying to learn to tie a fly that doesn't look like an insect scraped off a windshield.

Thank you for Celebrating Colorado Public Lands Day!

On May 20 Colorado celebrated the first ever Public Lands Day. As part of this celebration we called on Colorado Trout Unlimited members and supporters, anglers and sportsmen, and overall supporters of our public lands to help celebrate these great places Colorado has to offer. And did you all deliver!

On Colorado Public Lands Day there were over 450 Instagram posts with #CoPublicLands, over 265 tweets, and we received various emails with photos showing your love for public lands.

We tasked our supporters to share public lands fish photos with Senators Cory Gardner and Michael Bennet. There were some awesome photos of fish caught on public lands and some of our favorites can be seen below. There were also photos of people celebrating by hiking, camping, biking, and hunting. These outdoor recreation opportunities through public lands help drive Colorado's economy by generating 313,000 jobs and $34 billion in revenue for the state.

While there is still some uncertainty regarding the future of our public lands in the United States, our voices have been heard before and they will continue to be heard. Both Senators posted statements regarding Colorado Public Lands Day and showed their support to Colorado's 24 million acres of public lands. Senator Bennet's statement can be read here. Senator Gardner's statement can be read here.

Thank you to everyone who helped show their support of these lands! Remember, that it doesn't have to be a special day to show your support for our public lands. You can always share your photos and testimonies with Colorado TU's social media accounts or email! You can also visit standup.tu.org or contact Tyler Baskfield, Tbaskfield@tu.org

2016 Annual Report

The 2016 Colorado TU Annual Report is now available! This year we broke it down basin-by-basin to show that no matter where you fish, Colorado TU is on-the-ground working to make the watershed healthier, protect the lands and streams, and ensure that the fish habitat is sustainable for future generations.

In the South Platte basin, Colorado TU and chapters worked to engage young, inner city, girls through the great outdoors by introducing them to fly fishing and conservation; CTU worked with Colorado Parks and Wildlife to reintroduce the Colorado state fish, Greenback Cutthroat Trout, to it's native watershed along the Front Range; Trout Unlimited tackled abandoned mine issues, and various chapters worked to repair their homewater streams from the devastating floods of 2013.

The Arkansas River basin is home to Bear Creek where the last wild population of Greenback Cutthroat trout were found. The Annual Report discusses how CTU and the local chapter worked to connect this rare fish with the community. The Arkansas River basin also included the Colorado TU Youth Camp where 15 students ages 14-18 were introduced to the basics of conservation and fly fishing.

The San Juan, Animas, and Dolores basins included work on restoring the trout habitat and cutthroat trout populations into Hermosa Creek, rerouting the San Miguel river through the Telluride Valley Floor, and protecting the southwest rivers and streams from hardrock mining issues.

In the Colorado River basin, TU helped secure protections for the Roan Plateau and Thompson Divide from harmful oil and gas development, worked with local ranchers and farmers to improve the health of the Upper Colorado while enhancing agriculture water usage. TU also helped lead the Learning by Doing initiative that, among other things, secured $8 million in funds to protect and restore the Upper Colorado River.

Along the Yampa, Trout Unlimited's Brian Hodge was rewarded the U.S. Forest Service’s Rise to the Future Award for his work restoring miles of streams and trout habitat in the Routt National Forest. The local chapter also worked to engage youth in the basin by connecting them to their local watershed and introducing them to the issues present.

The Gunnison River basin included engaging youth through the Adopt-a-Trout program in Tomichi Creek where students, in collaboration with local agencies, tagged wild trout to study the movements of fish in the creek. TU also worked with local farmers and ranchers to improve agriculture processes and trout habitat in the Gunnison valley.

In the Rio Grande basin, Trout Unlimited worked to protect the Great Sand Dunes Cutthroat from potential changes in the environment. The Rocky Mountain Flyathlon came to Saguache for the annual race and fishing events that help raise money for Colorado TU's work in protecting native trout and their habitats. The local chapter and Trout Unlimited also worked to repair sections of the Conejos and ensure that winter flows were hospitable for trout.

The work we accomplished last year could not have been done without the generous support of our donors and partners listed on page 23 of the Annual Report. All donations to Colorado TU are leveraged through corporate partnerships, volunteer sweat equity, and matching grants to make your dollars go even further!

There are many more stories in each basin and projects from around the state that you can read in the 2016 Annual Report. You can view the report here or make sure you check it out in the Spring edition of High Country Angler!

Celebrate Colorado's First Ever Public Lands Day

Residents will have the opportunity to celebrate Colorado’s  inaugural  Public Lands Day on May 20. Made official in 2016, Colorado Public Lands Day will be held on the third Saturday of May each year to recognize the contribution of public lands to our state’s economy and its residents’ quality of life. Colorado has 24 million of acres of public lands, nearly one third of the state’s landscape, that allow hunters and anglers to have access to some of the best fish and game habitat in the world. These federal public lands are responsible for boosting Colorado’s economy by $722 million every year and provide 45,000 jobs to the state. Colorado Public Lands Day is an opportunity to publicize how important these lands are to our State and our heritage as sportsmen.

There is a small but dangerous movement brewing in this country that would transfer ownership of federal public lands to the states. TU and many other sportsmen’s organizations have been working to defend public lands from this catastrophic concept. On May 20, Coloradans now have a chance to make our voices heard and show the country how much we care about our public lands in the Centennial State. It's our chance to show legislators and the rest of the country that the majority of sportsmen and residents of Colorado strongly believe public lands need to remain public.

As part of your Colorado Public Lands Day celebration, we ask that you join us in tweeting or emailing a photo of a fish caught on public lands to Sen. Gardner and Sen. Bennet with the hash tag #CoPublicLandsDay and a message reminding them how important federal public lands are to Colorado’s residents. Also, send the photo to Colorado TU's Facebook and Twitter so we can keep track of the impact you have as a member of TU. CTU will be sending out an Action Alert with more instructions to come.  We all enjoy the opportunity to boast over a photo of a fish we have caught, now we can enjoy our accomplishment and help protect the places we love while we are doing it.

For more information on other Colorado Public lands Day event please visit: www.copubliclandsday.com.