Support Sustainable Funding for Colorado's Fish and Wildlife

The Colorado General Assembly is taking up legislation – HB 17-1321 – to authorize the Parks and Wildlife Commission to have the power to set its own fee rates, up to a specified cap, instead of the Colorado Legislature setting all fees. This action would enable them to increase fishing and hunting license fees in order to provide needed funds to maintain fish and wildlife management and to meet growing demands for habitat conservation and for hunting and fishing access. While the bill provides a needed financial boost to Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW), it does include limitations on using these funds for fee title land and water purchases – limiting an important tool in CPW’s tool box for protecting habitat, improving stream flows, and securing access. You can help by contacting your state Representative – today – and letting them know that you support increasing CPW funding, and that you believe CPW should retain authority to purchase land and water to benefit fish and wildlife.  The most effective way to make your voice heard it to call your Representative directly – using your address, you can look up your Representative and their contact information here.  Or you can quickly comment using our email template by clicking here. 

Colorado TU’s Board of Directors has voted to support HB 1321.  Since 2009, CPW has cut or defunded fifty staff positions and sliced $40 million from the wildlife budget. Without new revenue, more painful cuts are inevitable.This bill gives the Parks and Wildlife Commission authority to set fees, within a cap set at a 50% increase from current levels.  Importantly, it allows future license fees to be adjusted gradually over time to keep up with inflation rather than needing the legislature to approve larger increases every few years. The bill would also allow out-of-state fishing license fees for Colorado to be increased to bring Colorado’s pricing in line with peer states like Montana, Wyoming, and Utah. A senior fishing license (not more than half the regular price) would also be re-instituted.  The bill also would add a new sticker and fee program for boats, to help finance inspections for aquatic nuisance species.  You can read more about the bill here.

While the bill provides much-needed financial support for CPW, it also includes language limiting the agency’s purchase of fee title land and water. While such permanent purchases of land and water are not frequent, they are important – for example for expanding or establishing new state parks, obtaining water rights to benefit fisheries, or protecting key wildlife habitat if a landowner wishes to sell their property rather than putting under conservation easement.

Please tell your Representative to support HB 1321’s enhanced funding for CPW, and also to support CPW’s ability to use purchase land and water to benefit fish, wildlife and recreation in Colorado.

Antiquities Act and why should outdoorsmen care?

By Corey Fisher, Pulib Lands Policy Director What are national monuments and why should hunters and anglers care?

National monuments and the Antiquities Act have been in the news lately, with members of Congress pushing the Trump Administration to repeal some national monuments, and a renewed call in the halls of Congress to dismantle the act.

These discussions are usually somewhat abstract and exactly what a national monument is leaves many of us scratching our heads. But for sportsmen and women, there are a few things to know about national monuments and the act used to establish them:

1. National monuments are created when a presidential issues a proclamation designating a national monument out of existing public lands. Signed into law by Theodore Roosevelt in 1906, sixteen U.S. presidents – eight Democrats and eight Republicans – have used the Antiquities Act to protect some of the nation’s best public land hunting and fishing opportunities. National monuments are not a “land grab” as some opponents erroneously claim; these lands are already owned American public.

2. The Antiquities Act helps keep our public land like it is, preventing changes that would negatively impact our hunting and fishing heritage. Importantly, each proclamation designating a national monument is different, and each one identifies the values that are to be protected for that specific area, including fish, wildlife, and hunting and angling. For instance, the 2015 proclamation designating Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument in California listed trout, salmon, steelhead, elk and mule deer as monument features and noted that the area is important for “recreation opportunities, including hunting, fishing”. In doing so, by law these values will be conserved.

3. National Monuments protect quality hunting and fishing opportunities on public lands. Many monuments allow traditional uses to continue, including hunting and fishing; here’s a list. In short, uses that were allowed before a monument is created are typically allowed after a monument is created, while future activities would degrade fish and wildlife habitat – such as mining or oil and gas development – are not allowed except where there are already valid existing rights.

4. The Antiquities Act is needed more today than ever. In today’s Congress, even widely supported, bi-partisan proposals can get wrapped up in unrelated political fights, but the Antiquities Act offers a path forward to see conservation initiatives through when Congress won’t act. For instance, Browns Canyon National Monuments in Colorado was designated in 2015 after over two decades of unsuccessful legislative proposals from both Republican and Democratic members of Colorado’s Congressional delegation. If the authority for a president to designate a monument were taken away, legislation to conserve Browns’ Canyon would still be languishing in Congress.

5. In the West, national monuments are usually managed by a multiple use public land management agency, commonly the Forest Service or BLM. A designation typically doesn’t change who manages public lands, only what features will be conserved, such as fish and wildlife habitat. Importantly, modern monument proclamations explicitly state that fish and wildlife management authority will be retained by fish and wildlife management agencies, just as it was prior to designation.

6. Monuments ensure the public has a voice in the management of their public lands. When developing a management plan, agencies are required to involve the public, including consultation with tribal, state, and local governments. The process for developing monument management plans is the same process used to create management plans for other public lands, with public input at the beginning of the process and a draft plan that is made available for review and comment before a final decision is made.

7. Today, Congress is trying to dismantle this important tool. Congress has shown a renewed interest in repealing the act outright, or creating hurdles to monument designation that would render the act useless. One such bill in the Senate, S. 437, places a higher bar for the approval of monuments than Wilderness, even though national monuments are a far less restrictive designation.

8. You can help. Theodore Roosevelt was the father of the Antiquities Act and it is critical that hunters and anglers speak up in support of this important tool for conservation – take action today and tell Congress don’t mess with Teddy’s law.

Headwaters Chapter on Fraser Flats

On March 11, Colorado Headwaters Chapter President, Kirk Klancke, and chapter board member, Anna Drexler-Dreis, joined Good Morning Grand County to talk about water. Klancke was joined by Grand County Water and Sanitation District Manager, Bruce Hutchins, Klancke and Hutchins talk about the issues facing the water supply in Grand County and how the Learning by Doing initiative will help protect stream flows and temperatures of the Fraser River.

Klancke also speaks about the Fraser Flats River Enhancement project. Part of this project will include revegetation along the Fraser as well as stream channeling. Stream channeling will create a smaller river bed within the natural river bed to keep water consolidated during the low flow periods. This will keep the water moving faster, colder, and provide holding areas for trout.

Part of the project will also include a half mile of the river being open to the public for fishing. "We can improve the stream sections of the Fraser and its tributaries to the point where it will be healthier now than it was when I started fishing there 46 years ago," said Klancke.

Drexler-Dreis talked more about the Fraser Flats project, the first Learning by Doing project since its inception. The first step in the Fraser Flats project will entail planting willows along the Fraser River for just under a mile in an area that was heavily overgrazed. With willows in place, the river will experience more stable conditions and improve the stream banks to provide more trout habitat. Volunteers will help with the harvesting and planting of these willows.

The segments below were from the Good Morning Grand County episode on March 11, 2017. If you wish to view the whole episode, you can check out their YouTube channel!

CPW Needs Help from Anglers

Colorado Parks and Wildlife Press Release DURANGO, Colo. – Interested in catching a 20-inch rainbow trout? Thought so.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife is asking for help from anglers to learn about the “catchability” of different strains of rainbow trout that are stocked in reservoirs.  Aquatic biologists have stocked Pastorius Reservoir with 800 of a new strain of rainbow trout as part of a special project. To increase angler interest and participation in the project, CPW is also stocking 100 rainbow trout “broodstock” which are in the 16-20”-plus  inch range.

To determine how the fish respond to bait, lures and flies, CPW has “marked” the 800 fish by clipping the small adipose fin that is located on the backs of the fish. Starting March 29 anglers at Pastorius are being asked to record the number of fish they catch that are marked (no adipose fin) and unmarked (adipose fin present) and to answer a five-question on-line survey.  The survey is expected to run about two weeks.  Clipping the fin causes no harm to the fish.

CPW has posted signs at the reservoir with a QR code and web link anglers can use to access the survey with their smart phones as soon as they get done fishing for the day.  Anglers are asked to record their catch, including fish they released, after each day of fishing. Those fishing can take the survey more than once.  The survey should only take a couple of minutes to complete.  A CPW volunteer will also be at the reservoir to answer questions.

“We rely on anglers to help us manage fisheries,” said Jim White, CPW’s aquatic biologist in Durango. “This information will be valuable for our hatchery and stocking programs. Plus, we’re giving folks a chance to land some big fish.”

The cell phone service at Pastorious Reservoir is good, so anglers with cell phones can record information on the spot. The survey can also be completed at home. No personal information will be collected through the survey.

The daily bag limit at Pastorius Reservoir is four trout, and the possession limit is eight fish. The reservoir is locate south of Durango on La Plata County Road 304

Anglers are reminded that they need a new fishing license for the year starting April 1.

Take a Moment to P.A.U.S.E

Photo provided by Troutfin Studio at www.markajessop.com By: Peter Stitcher of Ascent Fly Fishing

Exhale... You've done it.  You've successfully escaped the office.  You've tunneled under the suburb's privacy fences, and the incessant drone cell phones and email notifications are fading into the distance behind you.  In front of you lies a day without obligation and a river full of potential and the promise of hungry trout.  Before you run down the trail and lose yourself on the water, slow down and PAUSE for a moment.  Mother Nature has something to tell you, and listening will prove the difference between a day spent  staring at the water or one punctuated with tight lines and wet hands as you release fish back into the river.

This message is a story about which bugs are hatching, what the trout are eating, and which fly patterns will give you the greatest chance of success on this water, on this day.  The lines of this tale surround the river; it is recorded among the willows, whispered on the wind, and chiseled along the bed of the river.  Guided by the acronym PAUSE, the fly fisher can interpret nature's cues, tie on the perfect combination of flies, and be ready for an epic day on the water.

Parking lot to the River - Matching the hatch starts when you park the truck and continue on your way to the water's edge.  While not the most appetizing script to read, plastered to your windshield and the grill of your car is a record of the bugs that were flying and hopping along the lake or river that you are planning to fish.   The fragile wings of mayflies and sturdy grasshopper legs act like braille to the astute angler and are the first clues as to what flies they might fish that day.  As you leave the parking lot and work your way down to the water, observe what is hopping and flying around you.  Grasshoppers frantically leaping off the trail ahead of you, the wayward beetle landing on your shoulder, and the shrilling of the cicada, and caddis flies stirring into flight as you push through streamside trees are all indicators of food that might be falling or landing on the water.

Above the Water- Swallows flying and swooping over the water are going to be your first indicator that bugs are hatching from the water and dry flies might be on the menu!  As you reach the water's edge, watch for swarms of invertebrates over the water and streamside vegetation.  Even at a distance, the chaotic flight of the caddis, the purposeful straightforward flight of the stonefly, and the orderly wave-like motion of the mayfly will be evident, and will help to direct you to the most likely dry flies in your fly box.

Under the Water - It is beneath the surface of the water that trout do 75% of their feeding,  and that's where the angler's most important information will be found.  Using an Invertebrate Seine along the streambed and pulling rocks from the current to observe what is holding onto their surface will give you a detailed menu of which bugs are most abundant, as well as their size and color so that you can lay your fly box alongside and choose the closest match.

Spider Webs - Spiders are Mother Nature's PhD level Entomologists and are the most efficient samplers of insects along the river.  If it has been hatching or hopping along the water where you are fishing, the spiders will have caught them.  Look for spider webs in the bushes and snags along the river and hold your fly box up to their latest catch to match the hatch.

Eddies -  Like the Bermuda Triangle of Trout, swirling currents and backwaters along the edge of the river provide a catalog of the most active bugs in and on the water.  Spinning on top of the rotating current will be a sample of spent invertebrate cases, crippled insects, and expired post-spawn adults.  Beneath the surface of the water, the same currents that trapped the adults in their dizzying spin also  act to deliver aquatic insects to these collection points where they can be easily observed and matched by the angler.

Success never comes easily for the fly fisherman.  There is no such thing as a lucky fly that will produce every trip to the river, and there are no infallible guides equipped with crystal balls through which to foresee the next hatch.  However, for the fly fisher who takes a moment to PAUSE and observe, the rewards will be immediate, the fish will be more frequent, and the experience on the water will be that much richer!

Peter Stitcher is an Aquatic Biologist and the Chief Fly Geek at Ascent Fly Fishing.  At Ascent we don't guess what the fish are biting on, we know!  With our Biologist Crafted Fly Selections you can tell us where you are fishing, when you are fishing, your budget, and skill level, and we will match down to the life cycle to the fly what the fish will be eating when you are on the water! You can see our full spread of flies and gear, and read our Sci-Fly Fishing Blog at: WWW.ASCENTFLYFISHING.COM

Ascent Fly Fishing is also a proud Trout Unlimited Business partner, and have provided free TU memberships to more than 1000 of our clients in the last two years. 

Keep Grass Green while Conserving Water

Who doesn't love standing barefoot on cool, green grass during the summer? Sure, standing in a river wetting a line is by far the way to spend your days, but many people enjoy the look and feel of a healthy lawn- especially after a summer's day on the water. Xeriscaping is an awesome trend to conserve water while keeping your home's landscape appealing. But it's a common misconception that having green grass and being an effective steward of our water supply don't go hand in hand. Of course using little or no water on landscapes is the best way, but there are ways to keep your grass green while keeping our rivers and trout healthy.

• Rely on the Mother Nature: Sure, this one is obvious but it should go with saying that grass is more resilient than one may think. Grass lawns can tolerate up to two months in hot, dry conditions and still come back when there is water available. Kentucky bluegrass, a common grass along the Front Range, is very drought resilient. "During hot, dry spells, you can let your lawn naturally turn brown and go dormant... Grass will bounce back when rainfall and cooler temperatures return," according to Scotts.
• Use a rain barrel: Staring last year, it is now legal to use a rain barrel to collect up to 110 gallons of water in Colorado. According to Conservation Colorado, using rain barrels could conserve up to 1,200 gallons of water each year per household. A study by the state of Colorado found that in just Douglas County alone, 97 percent of rain water was lost to evaporation and vegetation. Using these barrels, the rain will be collected in a covered unit to reduce the amount of evaporation. The water collected can be used to water the grass or other vegetation without having to turn on the sprinklers or hose.
• Recycle water: Use the waste water from daily household usage like showering or washing dishes for use on your lawn. Collect the waste water by plugging the drain to then scoop the water with a bucket and water trees, shrubs, or portions of the grass that need more attention- most likely the portions in direct and intense heat. (Bonus Tip: Planting water efficient or native trees can help keep grass shaded and covered from the heat).
• Mow Smart: When cutting the grass, keep the lawn blade sharp and the setting high. With a taller height- 3 to 4 inches is the recommended setting- the grass will keep the soil shaded and protected from the sun and increase the ability to retain moisture. Instead of throwing away the clippings, spread them around the lawn. If the grass is cut high and the clippings are small, they will break down quicker and return nutrients to the soil as well as offer more shade for the soil. TrueGreen says, "Don't throw away those clippings when you mow. Be sure to spread them around your lawn to give it an extra source of organic nutrients. Mulch also has the same effect of helping the area retain moisture."
• Water at the right time: Running the sprinklers or watering the grass in the morning or at night is ideal as less water is lost due to evaporation from the heat. It is also not necessary to water every day. About one inch of water every week is needed for healthy grass. Switching to water efficient sprinklers and using a timer is a great way to ensure you are not over watering.

Overlap Season

By: Jack Bombardier, Confluence Casting In many mountain towns, there is said to be a fifth season, in addition to the usual four, called Mud Season. That’s true in much of Colorado, but the Centennial State can also claim to have a sixth season, one I like to call Overlap Season.  This occurs when you can fish, ski or golf within the same period of time.  Overlap Season usually begins sometime in March, or can be as late as April, but this year it began in February.  The snow is still deep, the fish are biting, and the fairways are greening up.  Although I’m not a golfer, I do try to make the most of the skiing and fishing opportunities that I can. It’s an awesome time of year to live in Colorado, and makes me glad that thirty-one years ago to this very month, I made it my home.

The Lower Upper Colorado River looks just gorgeous right now, low and clear and as olive as Al Pacino’s cheeks.  Water temps are up to fifty degrees, and from what I’ve seen “fifty” is the magic number in the springtime.  Fifty makes trout very, very happy.

But then your gaze rises above the water’s liquid allure, and up towards the mountains, where the pristine white blaze of perfect, pristine show shines like chrome.  That snow beckons surely as does the river, but there’s the knowledge that the window to enjoy those perfect slopes is closing fast.  To try and fool a fish?, or go carve through some aspen trees at Beaver Creek?  Hope to hold a crimson striped, spawning rainbow trout I I your hand, or hop off a cornice at A-Basin and carve a turn into some wind-deposited powder?  So many choices, and so short an Overlap Season to take advantage of!

How long the river will stay as perfect as it is now, on March 15^{th 2017}, is difficult to say.   With the deep snowpack we have, one would expect the water managers to start releasing water fairly soon to make room for the Big Melt.  But it’s been a weird winter, one which has flipped the pattern of the past few years.  For the past several winters now, we’ve had a lot of snow early in the season, and a lot in the spring, with the middle stretch of January and early February being dry and cold, without much snow.  This season, it was awful early, with Vail and Beaver Creek opening late and the World Cup races at the Beav being cancelled due to lack of snow (and overnight temperatures to warm to make it). But then the snow finally came, and by the end of February we were looking at snowpack numbers we haven’t had since the epic year of 2011.

Now it’s the middle of the March, and not only has the snow pipeline shut off, but the short-term prognosis is for more warm, dry weather. What that means for fishing is that as long as the water in the reservoirs stays up there, the fishing should be great!  This might be the best spring fishing since we had in the drought year of 2012, with one big difference. 2012 was a drought year and though it fished great back then, the Lower Upper was dominated by brown trout.  Low water conditions that fall led to the release of 30,000 catchable-size rainbows into the river, and those rainbows and their offspring are going to be spawning this year. This spring the river has fished well, and should get even better once the bugs start moving.  So if you want to make the most of Colorado’s Sixth Season, get up here soon and make sure you pack your skis and fishing gear.  You can even put a golf bag in the back if you still have room! So please give me a reason to leave my old Volant Chubbs in the back of the Saab, and come fishing!

TU on Clean Water Act Executive Order

Feb. 28, 2017 President Trump signed an executive order today that will begin to unravel protections included in the Clean Water Rule.

In response to the order, Trout Unlimited released the following statements from Colorado TU executive director David Nickum and from TU CEO/President Chris Wood.

David Nickum, executive director, Colorado Trout Unlimited

“The President promised to drain the swamp; instead, this shortsighted decision opens the door to drain our wetlands.  Colorado’s incredible outdoors quality of life depends on healthy, clean watersheds, and anglers know that starts at the source: the small, unassuming streams, headwaters and wetlands that the administration’s order has now put at risk. Even streams that don’t run year-round – which represent about 75 percent of Colorado’s stream miles – directly impact the health of the downstream rivers that we depend on for drinking water, irrigation, and our recreation economy. If we degrade and pollute those headwaters, it is only a matter of time until the next snowmelt or rainstorm sends those impacts down into our larger rivers and water supplies.

The Executive Order disregards the rule of law by proposing a standard that was rejected by a majority of the U.S. Supreme Court, and it disregards the laws of nature by pretending that downstream rivers can be protected without protecting their upstream sources.

As EPA and the Corps begin to apply this Executive Order, you can expect Colorado sportsmen and women to be aggressively involved, fighting for the headwater streams and wetlands that are essential for healthy fish and wildlife habitat.”

Chris Wood, President and CEO of Trout Unlimited

“Today, President Trump signed an executive order that begins to unravel the protections of the Clean Water Act for small headwater streams.

The Clean Water Rule was finalized in 2015 after more than one million public comments and extensive scientific review. It provides protection to streams and rivers including 60 percent of the stream miles in the U.S. that flow seasonally. Protecting these headwaters is important not only to anglers, but also to the one in three Americans whose drinking water comes from small seasonal streams.

The Executive Order directs the Army Corps of Engineers and the EPA to rescind and revise the Clean Water Rule. It also directs the agencies to use former Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia’s minority opinion that said seasonal streams do not merit protection, as a basis for the revision. If Justice Scalia’s direction is followed, 60 percent of U.S. streams and 20 million acres of wetlands would lose protection of the Clean Water Act; an unmitigated disaster for fish and wildlife, hunting and fishing, and clean water.

Sportsmen and women have a simple question for the President and EPA Administrator Pruitt: are we going forward or backward on clean water? Today’s announcement is a big step back. Legally, scientifically, and logically a reliance on Justice Scalia’s opinion is wrong-headed—but there’s still time, working through the new rulemaking process, to make it right.

When the new Administration replaces the Clean Water Rule, it must listen to the voices of tens of millions of sportsmen and women who want more clean water, more fish and wildlife habitat, and more hunting and angling opportunities. The Trump Administration can change direction on this Rule but they can’t change the fact that clean water is not a political issue. It is a basic right of every American.

Gravity works cheap, and it never takes a day off. The Administration cannot stop water flowing downhill—and 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. The Administration’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.”

For more information, go to http://standup.tu.org/stand-up-for-clean-water/

Contact:

David Nickum, dnickum@tu.org, (720) 581-8589

Randy Scholfield, Southwest Region Communications Director, rscholfield@tu.org, (720) 375-3961

Trout Unlimited’s mission is to conserve, protect and restore North America’s coldwater fisheries and their watersheds. www.tu.org

A Climate Plan on the Dolores

By: Randy Scholfield, communications director for TU's southwest region. Like many rivers across the West, the Dolores River in southwestern Colorado is on the front lines of climate change impacts. As the climate warms, the river will face lower flows, higher temperatures, and increasing stresses on fish and aquatic life.

How can we more effectively address these changes on a watershed scale? That’s the question driving a recent study by Trout Unlimited and other groups of the Dolores River basin.

“We know there will be change. The question the study addresses is what kind of change can we expect, the approximate timing and what are the impacts,” Duncan Rose of the Dolores River Anglers chapter of Trout Unlimited told the Durango Herald in a recent article.

To find those answers, the TU study—conducted in partnership with Mountain Studies Institute of Silverton—looked at climate models and trends between 1949 and 2012 that showed wetter periods of higher temperatures followed by longer periods of intense drought.

In projecting those trends into the future, some sobering results emerged: based on worst-case drought scenarios, the 46 trout streams in the Dolores Basin could lose some 44 percent of their flows in the next 50 to 70 years. Some streams, especially at lower elevations, might be lost causes to fish habitat, becoming intermittent or vanishing entirely.

But the study found that other middle- and higher-elevation streams could be made more “resilient” against the worst impacts of climate change through adaptive strategies such as habitat restoration, including improving in-stream structure such as boulders and pools to create cooler refuge areas for trout, and restoring streamside vegetation to provide more shade.

As important, the study field-tested an analytical model to determine which stream miles would best lend themselves to these efforts and provide the most “bang for the buck” for conservation outcomes.

“This is a framework that can be used across the West,” says Garrett Hanks, TU's Southwest Colorado field coordinator. “The issues in the Dolores are similar to many of our coldwater fisheries, and if we're going to be active in managing our coldwater watersheds into the future, this framework can inform many levels of TU’s strategy, such as how to identify and prioritize our protect, reconnect and restoration work.”

TU’s stream resilience work gives hope that many of our best trout waters can survive the worst impacts of climate change. The Dolores study could give TU another science-based tool for deciding where and how to dial in this adaptation work in watersheds across the West.

Why Planning 2.0 matters

By Tyler Baskfield, TU Colorado sportsmen’s coordinator South Park is a sportsmen’s paradise of elk herds, dream trout streams like the South Platte, and endless recreation possibilities. For Colorado Front Range residents like me, South Park is a vast backyard playground, just a short hour and a half drive from Denver. It’s one of the crown jewels of public lands in Colorado.

Unfortunately, it’s also currently in the crosshairs of shortsighted partisan politics.

Sportsmen everywhere should be alarmed by an effort afoot in Congress to roll back the public’s say in managing South Park and other public lands.  Now is the time to speak up if we want to protect these special places.

A critical vote is expected in the Senate in coming weeks that may eliminate the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Planning 2.0 initiative through the Congressional Review Act. The House has already voted to repeal the BLM planning rule.

This misguided move to repeal Planning 2.0 is a thumb in the eye of sportsmen and others who believe local residents and governments should have more of a say in how public lands are managed. The BLM developed Planning 2.0 in response to concerns about the lack of transparency in public lands management and the planning process being unduly influenced by special interest stakeholders. Planning 2.0 gives sportsmen, local governments, landowners and residents more input early on in the planning process—and this “smart from the start” approach helps to avoid conflict by bringing stakeholders together to settle thorny land use issues, such as where to site oil and gas development and how best to allow multiple uses of the land while ensuring the health of wildlife, rivers and other natural resources.

South Park is one of the places where BLM is piloting Planning 2.0, and so far the majority of stakeholders have embraced the new planning process. Members of the oil and gas industry, Front Range water providers, sportsmen, environmentalists, Republican Park County commissioners, business owners, agency personnel, ranchers—all praise the increased opportunities for input and believe Planning 2.0 will help protect natural resources while sustaining the local economy.

Sen. Cory Gardner rightly called outdoor recreation “a cornerstone of our economy in Colorado” after the Outdoor Recreation Jobs and Impact Act of 2015 that he authored recently passed the Senate. He clearly understands the importance of outdoor recreation, public lands and wildlife resources to local economies and residents. Outdoor recreation accounts for more than $13 billion in economic activity in Colorado and supports some 125,000 jobs, according to the Boulder-based Outdoor Industry Association.

The foundation of that booming outdoor sector is the health of places like South Park.

Colorado sportsmen and outdoor enthusiasts call on Sen. Gardner and other lawmakers to continue to lead and advocate for the state’s important recreation economy and public lands heritage by resisting this reckless stampede to scrap Planning 2.0.

The current administration has a great deal of latitude to implement, or if necessary revise, the rule to ensure that it works for all stakeholders, including public land users, state and local governments and the BLM itself. Using the Congressional Review Act does not help to solve public land management challenges; it will only make it more difficult for the BLM to be good land stewards. The House of Representatives erred when it passed its resolution disapproving of the Planning 2.0, but the Senate doesn’t have to make the same mistake.

Sportsmen everywhere need to raise their voices for public lands. Please take a few minutes to contact your Senators and urge them to oppose efforts to do away with Planning 2.0 and ensure that the public has a voice in public land management.