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.

Utah Railway Could Spell Trouble for Colorado Rivers

A proposed new rail line in Utah would result in up to 10 two-mile-long trains daily of heated rail cars filled with waxy crude traveling along the Colorado River and through some of Colorado’s most vulnerable landscapes.  

 The proposed Uinta Basin Railway would connect oil fields in Utah to the national rail network, specifically the Central Line adjacent to the Colorado River through Grand Junction, Glenwood Springs, Eagle and other small towns, along the Colorado and Fraser Rivers and through Denver before heading south and east to refineries in Oklahoma and the Gulf Coast.

 The project has sparked opposition from more than 70 counties, municipalities, and sanitation districts and dozens of environmental groups. Concerns are many. Eagle County has filed a lawsuit to stop the project, citing the need for further environmental assessment, and the local elected officials have opposed the project, voicing concerns that a derailment could devastate local tourism. Others say the project will more than quadruple the production of the Unita Basin oil fields – an increase of more than 350,000 barrels per day – and cause more than 53 million tons of additional carbon pollution per year. And there are concerns that increased traffic through the Moffat Tunnel would prompt a reopening of the Tennessee Pass rail line, putting the Eagle and Arkansas Rivers at risk.

 Colorado Trout Unlimited has reached out as well to our elected officials, voicing our concern for the environmental devastation that will occur when there is a derailment - and it is a question of when, not if, as the Environmental Impact Statement estimates there will be an average of 0.89 accidents per year involving a loaded train and another 0.89 accidents involving unloaded trains; Table 3.2.2). Waxy crude is solid at room temperature and each of the railcars on these two-mile-long trains is heated to around 110 degrees to keep the substance liquid.

 As they move through Colorado, these heated oil tankers will travel along the river – through the center of Glenwood Springs and on through Glenwood Canyon, Eagle County, through Gore Canyon and Grand County along the headwaters of the Colorado river, then along the Fraser River through Winter Park and the Moffat Tunnel. East of the tunnel the train will rumble through 33 tunnels and navigate horseshoe curves as it makes its way to Denver and beyond.  

 It is all too easy to envision the dangers. Picture what the Colorado River would look like if even one of the tanker cars split open and spilled its load of 29,400 gallons of waxy crude, which solidifies as it flows into the river. The devastation to the river ecosystem would be catastrophic. Picture oil tankers heated to 110 degrees derailing in tinder-dry forests on the West Slope or the bone-dry grasslands of the Front Range. In an era where more and bigger fires are predicted, it’s easy to see another Troublesome Fire on the West Slope or another out-of-control grass fire on the Front Range sparked by one of these heated tankers.

 Colorado Trout Unlimited does not oppose all oil and gas development and indeed has worked with the Colorado Oil and Gas Commission and other stakeholders on rulemakings to manage such development responsibly.  This project, however, poses unacceptable levels of risk – and the impacts to Colorado have largely been ignored in the federal permitting processes to date as they have looked only at the immediate local effects in Utah’s Uinta Basin.  By raising our voices of concern, we hope that Colorado’s elected officials, CTU, and other concerned groups can get the Uinta railway re-considered by federal agencies like the Surface Transportation Board and the US Forest Service.

Colorado River photo credit: Tony Webster, used under Creative Commons license.

Colorado River District Celebrating Partnerships & Innovation

Ballot Measure 7A passed with bi-partisan support in November 2020, and the Community Funding Partnership began. It was great to see voters joining together to support our Western Slope waters and the River District’s vital role in sustaining them. And Trout Unlimited is proud to have been a part of those efforts in building common ground around healthy and productive rivers and watersheds across western Colorado.

Now with $4.2 million in grant money available for Western Slope water projects every year, the Colorado River District has worked hard to identify multi-benefit projects, streamline the application process, and get your tax dollars right back to work in the community. Over $3 million has already been awarded this year to 23 diverse projects! Learn more about the Community Funding Partnership and awarded projects here.

The video above previews a few of the outstanding projects which have been awarded grant funding through the Community Funding Partnership. Stay tuned for more videos in the year to come as the Community Funding Partnership shares project stories that showcase Colorado's beautiful West Slope.

TU supports bills to modernize and improve oil and gas leasing

Image courtesy of Trout Unlimited/Josh Duplechian

Repost from TU.org:

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Trout Unlimited today voiced support for legislation that would help modernize the federal oil and gas leasing system and facilitate responsible energy development on public land.

The Competitive Onshore Mineral Policy via Eliminating Taxpayer-Enabled Speculation Act (COMPETES Act), introduced by U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-CO) and co-sponsored by U.S. Sens. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) and Jacky Rosen (D-NV), would require the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to end the practice of non-competitive leasing.

In the leasing process, lands are offered to oil and gas companies, which bid on them during competitive auctions. Public lands that do not receive bids—often areas with no marketable oil/gas—are offered later at rock-bottom prices, needlessly encumbering public lands. Many of these lands provide important fish and wildlife habitat and are places where public land users hunt, fish, float and hike.

“Here in Colorado where the practice has become commonplace, non-competitive leasing has direct impacts on outdoor recreation and our quality of life,” said Scott Willoughby, Colorado field coordinator for Trout Unlimited. “Agencies like the Bureau of Land Management are already stretched beyond capacity, and increasing that workload for essentially no return needlessly diverts staff resources away from other priorities, like fish and wildlife conservation, outdoor recreation, and managing oil and gas development where it can be done responsibly. We want to thank Senator Hickenlooper for his work on this important legislation and express our support for ending this outdated practice.”

“Non-competitive leasing encourages speculation on public lands at taxpayers’ expense.” Senator Hickenlooper said in a press release. “Westerners lose out when large swaths of land are set aside for speculation instead of conservation or recreation.”

Non-competitive leasing has occurred throughout Colorado, including in North Park adjacent to the Arapaho National Wildlife Refuge, upstream of the famed Gold Medal stretch of the North Platte River. (Learn more about Gold Medal fishing waters at Colorado Gold). Elsewhere throughout the West, non-competitive leasing creates similar conflicts with fish and wildlife, spurring controversy as the public weighs the risk of speculative oil and gas exploration against the values of healthy habitat and outdoor recreation.

“Of the 2.5 million acres offered for lease since 2017 in Nevada, less than 10 percent of the acreage offered has been sold at competitive auction, ” said Pam Harrington, Nevada field coordinator for Trout Unlimited’s Angler Conservation Program. “Anonymous entities nominate thousands of acres, and the agencies must act on these frivolous proposals. Overwhelmed, both the agencies and interested public try to provide productive input, but in the end, the sales are offered and largely nobody bids. A month later, parcels are purchased non-competitively at $1.50 an acre, which creates unnecessary paperwork and ties up our public lands from its multitude of other uses.”

The COMPETES Act would help turn the BLM and Forest Service’s attention away from needless paperwork and lease reviews and toward critical fish, wildlife and recreation needs.

In addition to introducing the COMPETES Act, Senator Hickenlooper has co-sponsored other legislation to modernize public lands energy development, including the Oil and Gas Bonding Reform and Orphaned Well Remediation Act (S.2177) introduced by U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO), and the bipartisan Fair Returns for Public Lands Act (S. 624), sponsored by U.S. Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Jacky Rosen.

“With the introduction of the COMPETES Act and his co-sponsorship of S.624 and S.2177, Senator Hickenlooper is promoting a comprehensive package to modernize oil and gas leasing and promote responsible stewardship of our public lands,” said David Nickum, executive director of Colorado Trout Unlimited. “We fully support his efforts and we look forward to helping advance these proposals through Congress and into law.”

Trout Unlimited is asking its members to tell Congress how important this issue is to anglers and public land users. Learn more at TU.org.

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Trout Unlimited is the nation’s oldest and largest coldwater fisheries conservation organization dedicated to caring for and recovering America’s rivers and streams so our children can experience the joy of wild and native trout and salmon. Across the country, TU brings to bear local, regional, and national grassroots organizing, durable partnerships, science-backed policy muscle, and legal firepower on behalf of trout and salmon fisheries, healthy waters and vibrant communities.

EPA announces reinstatement of Clean Water Act protections for Bristol Bay, Alaska watershed

Following Ninth Circuit ruling in favor of Trout Unlimited, EPA moves to vacate unlawful 2019 decision to withdraw the Proposed Determination for Bristol Bay and reinstate longstanding proposed protections.   

ANCHORAGE, Alaska—Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it would move to vacate its 2019 decision to withdraw proposed protections for Bristol Bay and reinstate the agency’s earlier 2014 Proposed Determination.  These proposed protections would limit the amount of waste water and mine waste discharge that could be released in to Waters of the United States in the Bristol Bay region. The announcement comes in the wake of a lawsuit brought by Trout Unlimited against the withdrawal decision and recent ruling in favor of TU by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. TU looks forward to working with the EPA to finalize these protections, which are critical to protecting Bristol Bay’s world-class fisheries. 

“This is a smart and significant step toward putting more durable safeguards in place for Bristol Bay’s fish, clean water, communities and businesses,” said Nelli Williams, Alaska director for Trout Unlimited. “This is an important layer of protection that makes it much more difficult for the Pebble Partnership, or any other companies in the future, to mine the Pebble ore deposit. Now is the time to get these much-needed protections across the finish line, and we look forward to working with EPA and Congress to get it done. Let’s put the Pebble mine proposal in the review mirror for good so we can focus on a bright, prosperous and fish-filled future for Bristol Bay.” 

“Today’s announcement by the EPA represents a victory for common sense. Blocking industrial-scale mining from Bristol Bay is the right thing to do for the Alaska Native Peoples who have depended on the fishery for millennia,” said Chris Wood, president and CEO of Trout Unlimited. “It is the right thing to do for the 17,000 family wage jobs that the $1.6 billion commercial fishery provides. It is the right thing to for a place that provides half of all of the world’s wild sockeye salmon. Congratulations to the EPA for making the right call and to the thousands of people who fought tirelessly to protect Bristol Bay.” 

In 2019, the EPA under the previous administration moved to withdraw the 2014 Proposed Determination for Bristol Bay—a sudden decision based on politics, not the robust scientific record demonstrating the potential for unacceptable adverse effects. Trout Unlimited sued, challenging the EPA’‘s decision as arbitrary and capricious and contrary to the Clean Water Act’s governing standard. In July 2021, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of TU, finding that the EPA could withdraw a proposed determination only if the discharge of materials would be unlikely to have an “unacceptable adverse effect.” Today’s decision by the EPA recognizes that the agency could not meet, that stringent standard, and fully vindicates TU’s legal challenge. TU looks forward to vigorous engagement in the 404(c) process to ensure that strong and lasting protections are established for Bristol Bay. 

Courtesy of Fly Out Media

In November 2020, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers denied a key federal permit for the proposed Pebble mine, concluding that the project could not comply with Clean Water Act standards and that the mine would be “contrary to public interest.” In the wake of that decision, Bristol Bay Tribes, business owners, sport anglers and hunters, tourism operators, commercial fishermen, and thousands of advocates from across the country have called on the Biden Administration to establish permanent safeguards for the southwest region of Alaska.  

As wild salmon populations decline globally, Bristol Bay’s prolific wild salmon runs and the economies they support make it a place of international importance. This summer, over 65 million sockeye salmon returned to Bristol Bay, making it a record-breaking year for the world’s largest sockeye fishery. Healthy salmon runs underpin the Bristol Bay region’s economic, social, cultural and ecological well-being. More than 30 Alaska Native Tribes in the region depend on salmon to support traditional subsistence ways of life. 

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Trout Unlimited, the nation’s oldest and largest coldwater fisheries conservation organization, is dedicated to caring for and recovering America’s rivers and streams, so our children can experience the joy of wild and native trout and salmon. Across the country, TU brings to bear local, regional, and national grassroots organizing, durable partnerships, science-backed policy muscle, and legal firepower on behalf of trout and salmon fisheries, healthy waters and vibrant communities.  In Alaska, we work with sportsmen and women to ensure the state’s trout and salmon resources remain healthy far into the future through our local chapters and offices in Anchorage and Juneau. 

Contacts:  

• Nelli Williams, Alaska director, Trout Unlimited, (907) 230-7121, nelli.williams@tu.org

• Chris Wood, CEO and president, Trout Unlimited, chris.wood@tu.org

A Big Win for Small Streams

In a decision that restores critical Clean Water Act protections for small headwater streams and wetlands across the country, a federal judge has vacated the 2020 “Navigable Waters Protection Rule” developed by the previous administration. That rule had stripped Clean Water Act protection from ephemeral streams, which are critical tributaries to larger streams.

Responding to a case brought by the Pascua Yaqui Tribe, Tohono O'odham Nation, Quinault Indian Nation, Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin, Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, and the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. U.S. District Judge Rosemary Márquez found that the 2020 rule illegally and unscientifically put these waters at risk of destruction.

“This is a big win for common sense, science, and clean water,” said Chris Wood, president and CEO of Trout Unlimited. “It is especially fitting that six Tribal nations, the representatives of peoples who have relied on clean water for millennia in North America, were the plaintiffs who won this landmark victory.”

Over the past two years, Trout Unlimited scientists have documented how drafters of the rule failed to assess its potentially devastating impacts on “ephemeral” streams, which are critical tributaries to larger streams.

Streams that do not flow year-round, but instead flow seasonally as “intermittent” streams, or in direct response to precipitation events as “ephemeral” streams, are the backbone of every watershed and had largely been protected for decades under the Clean Water Act. The 2020 rule categorically removed Clean Water Act protections for all ephemeral streams, which in Colorado represent greater than 25% of the state’s more than 350,000 miles of streams as mapped by the US Geological Survey.  Those figures are conservative; TU scientists determined that nationally ephemeral streams account for almost 50 percent of stream miles in the lower 48 states when accounting for other ephemeral stream channels not included in USGS maps.

“It seems like basic common sense, but for the Clean Water Act to protect our rivers it needs to prevent pollution and protect watershed health at the source – the many small headwater streams that feed our larger rivers,” said Colorado Trout Unlimited Executive Director David Nickum.

““Pollution and degradation in ephemeral streams will make its way downstream to the rivers that support our fisheries, farmlands, and communities. Thankfully the District Court recognized how the illegal and ill-informed 2020 rule ignored that most basic connection.””

— David Nickum, Colorado Trout Unlimited, Executive Director

The court’s ruling is good news for river conservation, which was already suffering from weakened Clean Water Act protection on the ground. By examining the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Water Act Approved Jurisdictional Determinations (JDs) database, TU determined how many streams and wetlands were no longer receiving Clean Water Act protection.  Of the 14,224 waterbodies evaluated under the 2020 rule between June 22, 2020, and June 9, 2021, TU found that 6,266 wetlands were determined to be no longer covered by the Clean Water Act, along with 3,096 ephemeral stream reaches. Many of these were in watersheds that support trout and salmon.

With large-scale damage to the nation’s waterways now averted by this week’s federal ruling, the EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers can turn to the critical job of developing a new “Waters of the United States” rule that is scientifically sound and durable.  Both Nickum and Montana TU Executive Director David Brooks recently provided comments on that rulemaking effort at EPA/Corps Town Halls, highlighting the importance of protecting headwaters and ephemeral streams.

A Mixed Verdict on Water Quality Rollback

Confluence Park, Denver South Platte River.

Conservation interests enjoyed a partial victory in the Colorado Water Quality Control Commission’s June hearing, in which TU and others opposed a proposal to significantly rollback existing “antidegradation” regulations that restrict the ability of dischargers to degrade existing water quality. The rollback proposal emerged from an unanticipated 2020 decision under which the Commission ignored its own rules and supported designation of portions of the South Platte downstream of Denver as “use protected” – a designation that allows dischargers to degrade water quality that is currently above the floor set by minimum standards. The 2021 proposal would have modified the antidegradation rules that were ignored in 2020, making it easier to adopt other such decisions to weaken protection on other streams across Colorado. While the current standard has generated confusion and is not as strong as TU and others would wish, the proposed rollback would have dramatically weakened it from the existing rule.

The Commission received petitions signed by thousands of people, hundreds of letters, and heard testimony from dozens of members of the public and the two affected local governments – Adams County and Commerce City - pleading to change their June 2020 decision and opposing the proposed rollback of the underlying water quality standards. 

Following two hours of deliberations, the Commission made a preliminary decision last Friday to eliminate the troublesome current antidegradation provision, but not until 2031, to allow for a stakeholder process that will look more closely into antidegradation and make recommended changes to the Commission.  The decision is a partial win for water quality because it keeps the language of the regulation as is in the interim, rather than replacing it with the original proposal which would have significantly rolled back water quality protections.  However, while choosing to keep the existing language as is, the Commission left the door open for more arbitrary decisions over the next 10 years, like its 2020 decision on the South Platte. 

At the heart of the controversy is the antidegradation rule’s existing language, which allows degradation of water quality if the Commission deems a stream to be “substantially polluted” by human activity, but only if there is a showing that the pollution is irreversible.  Many dischargers advocate the elimination of this requirement as it is a hard test to overcome, simply because pollution caused by human activity tends to be reversible. 

Last Friday’s deliberations revealed confusion among some of the Commissioners as to the reason for last year’s South Platte decision, but audio of their deliberations during the June 2020 hearing reveals a belief that antidegradation protection was meant to apply only to “clear mountain streams” and not to urban areas.  That belief that has no basis in fact or in the Clean Water Act.

TU was relieved that the Commission’s decision keeps intact the existing rule, with its requirement that antidegradation protection applies unless human-made pollution is shown to be irreversible, rather than rolling that policy back yet further and enabling greater pollution on more streams like the Denver South Platte.  However, the Commission’s failure to affirm the current requirement and even discuss revisiting the inconsistent 2020 South Platte decision simply ignores the public’s pleas to better protect the urban waterway.

The Commission’s action leaves the door open for it to, once again, disregard the rule and deprive streams of antidegradation protection for human pollution, even if the damage is reversible, as they did to the South Platte in 2020. TU and other conservationists must remain vigilant and oppose such future site-specific efforts to rollback antidegradation protections. The decision is also troublesome because it creates yet another lengthy stakeholder process that has historically favored well-funded industry voices.  Simply put, conservation groups and environmental justice advocates have far fewer resources to engage in such long-term processes, whereas dischargers’ well-paid lawyers and consultants have ample resources to participate.  In creating yet another process, the Commission turned a deaf ear to the conservation groups’ plea to level the playing field.

While dismayed that the Commission failed to take stronger action to support antidegradation including on the Denver South Platte, TU is deeply grateful to the members and partners who spoke out and whose voices were instrumental in helping prevent the existing rule from being weakened. We will continue to seek opportunities to ensure that urban rivers including the South Platte enjoy the stronger protections they and their communities deserve.

3 historic bills to fund outdoor recreation, conservation and backcountry safety

On June 21, 2021, Governor Polis signed bills HB21-1326 General Fund Transfer Support Department Of Natural Resources Programs, SB21-249 Keep Colorado Wild Annual Pass and HB21-1318 Create Outdoor Equity Grant Program to expand recreation access initiatives and increase conservation funds for natural resources in Colorado. These bills will direct significant resources to make our outdoors and public lands more equitable and support broader CPW conservation and recreation initiatives for years to come.

The Keep Colorado Wild pass will:

• Provide access to Colorado’s 42 state parks and other participating public lands;

• Increase the scale and pace of lands and wildlife conservation across Colorado and support key outdoor recreation programs;

• Support locally-driven conservation efforts around the state, including the creation of new state parks;

• Cost no more than $40 (half of a current parks pass), with a goal to achieve a $20 price via high participation reducing financial barriers for people to enjoy the outdoors;

• Ensure that registrants are clearly and transparently given the option to choose not to purchase the pass;

• Be available at a lower price to under-resourced and disproportionately impacted Colorado households; and,

• Provide every Coloradan the opportunity to conserve and support what makes our state so unique.

• Keep Colorado Wild Pass fact sheet

2021 Conservation in the West poll from Colorado College showing broad support of Coloradans for investment in our public land

The Outdoor Equity Fund

The Outdoor Equity Grant Program will bolster community-led organizations, nonprofits, tribal governments, and school and recreational districts with the funding needed to make the outdoors a space that serves ALL of Colorado’s youth and families.

El Programa de Becas para Equidad Afuera apoyara a las organizaciones comunitarias, de fines sin lucro, gobiernos tribales, y distritos escolares y recreacionales con los fondos necesarios para construir un espacio afuera que sirve a TODOS los jóvenes y familias de Colorado. 

General Fund Transfer to Support Department Of Natural Resources Programs

In the 2020-21 state fiscal year, bill HB21-1326 transfers $25 million from the general fund as follows:

• $750,000 to the Colorado avalanche information center fund for use by the Colorado avalanche information center in the department of natural resources (department) to support backcountry avalanche safety programs;

• $3.5 million to the wildlife cash fund for use by CPW to implement its statewide wildlife action plan and the conservation of native species;

• $2.25 million to the search and rescue fund for use by the department of local affairs in consultation with the division to support backcountry search and rescue efforts;

• $1 million to the outdoor equity fund for use by the division to implement the outdoor equity grant program; and

• $17.5 million to the parks and outdoor recreation cash fund for use by the division as follows: $3.5 million for staffing and maintenance projects; and $14 million for infrastructure and state park development projects.

Learn more about these 3 historic bills here.

Good News for Headwater Protection

Anglers received welcome news as the EPA announced it will be repealing the rollback of Clean Water Act protection for ephemeral streams from the previous administration. States including Colorado had challenged the legality of the rollback, and by returning to the Bush-era rule the EPA will restore protection for the feeder streams whose health drives downstream conditions in larger rivers as well. Read TU’s statement below:

EPA to repeal 2020 rule and move to reinstate Clean Water Act protections for small streams 

Contacts:  

• Chris Wood, president and CEO, Trout Unlimited, chris.wood@tu.org

• Steve Moyer, vice president for government affairs, Trout Unlimited, steve.moyer@tu.org

ARLINGTON, Va.—Trout Unlimited welcomes today’s announcement from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that the “Waters of the United States” rule promulgated by the previous administration is illegal and must be redrawn. In moving to repeal and revise the rule, the EPA is listening to the many states, businesses, and conservation groups, like TU, that are working to reinstate federal Clean Water Act protections for the nation’s waters and wetlands. 

Trout Unlimited opposed the 2020 Navigable Waters Protection Rule because it dropped decades-long protections nationwide for “ephemeral” streams, which flow only after rainfall. The 2020 rule made it easier to pollute and degrade these streams, which provide drinking water, flood protection, outdoor recreation opportunities, and fish habitat. 

“These small headwaters constitute more than half the nation’s stream miles, and are the capillaries of the nation’s aquatic systems,” said Chris Wood, president and CEO of Trout Unlimited. “They provide seasonal habitat for fish and wildlife, and protect water quality downstream. The 2020 rule left streams and fisheries across the country unprotected. We applaud EPA Administrator Regan for taking action to safeguard clean water.”  

EPA assessments of more than 1,500 streams in the Southwest determined that they were no longer covered by the Clean Water Act under the 2020 rule. Around the country, some 333 projects that would have required dredge-and-fill permits went ahead without them after the rule took effect.

Regan said the EPA is committed to a meaningful stakeholder engagement process that leads to a more durable “Waters of the U.S.” replacement rule, one that is both scientifically and legally sound, and garners broader stakeholder support. TU will bring to that process deep and longstanding relationships with farmers, ranchers, and foresters, and we will make sure that these partners’ voices are heard and considered by the EPA. 

“We believe that through meaningful stakeholder engagement, the EPA will be able to craft a more durable ‘Waters of the U.S.’ rule that will continue to provide a solid foundation for the Clean Water Act, and maintain protection of our valuable streams and wetlands,” said Steve Moyer, vice president for government affairs at Trout Unlimited. 

With today’s announcement, the agencies will now initiate a repeal of the 2020 rule, after which protections for streams and wetlands would revert to 2008 guidance until a new rule is finalized. That guidance, put in place by the Bush administration EPA, protected most ephemeral streams and many additional wetlands. 

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Trout Unlimited is the nation’s oldest and largest coldwater fisheries conservation organization dedicated to caring for and recovering America’s rivers and streams, so our children can experience the joy of wild and native trout and salmon. Across the country, TU brings to bear local, regional, and national grassroots organizing, durable partnerships, science-backed policy muscle, and legal firepower on behalf of trout and salmon fisheries, healthy waters and vibrant communities.

As Colorado Legislature kicks off, here are bills we’re watching

repost from TU.org, by Kara Armano

Trout Unlimited is known for its rock-rolling work where we are often found wearing waders and making rivers and streams better for trout and salmon, and of course, anglers. But we also spend plenty of time in our finest attire in the halls of state and federal legislative buildings advocating for smart water policies, protecting public lands, and funding allocations to continue our on-the-ground efforts.  

With Colorado’s legislative session about to ramp up, here is a look at some of the bills we are watching in the Centennial State and how we’ll play both offense and defense to advance our goals of conserving, protecting, and restoring our coldwater fisheries and their watersheds.  

Extend Colorado’s Healthy Rivers Fund — This successful funding mechanism is set to expire, but we are looking to extend it for another 10 years. This is financed by the Colorado tax check-off program, which provides taxpayers the opportunity to contribute a portion of their tax refund or to make a donation on their state income tax return. These funds assist Colorado Trout Unlimited and other watershed-based groups in efforts to protect our land and water resources. It is administered through the Colorado Water Conservation Board in association with the Water Quality Control Division and the Colorado Watershed Assembly. Since 2003, this fund has raised over $1.1 million to fund more than 80 local watershed projects.  

The bill will be introduced by Sen. Cleave Simpson and Rep. Donald Valdez. Colorado Trout Unlimited does not want to see this fund expire, so we are asking that it be approved for 10 more years.  

State parks funding — Amidst the many restrictions over the past challenging year, we’ve seen more and more people turn to outdoor recreation as a safe outlet for enjoyment and to benefit their mental and physical health. While a growing appreciation for our outdoors means more allies in its defense, it also means growing pressure on public lands, including our state parks. To rise to that challenge, Colorado Parks and Wildlife is looking to expand its funding base to help support sustainable recreation management and development of new parks and opportunities to serve the growing demand. 

Drawing from an example already in place in Montana with a 75 percent participation rate, legislation will be introduced to fold an annual state parks pass into vehicle registrations in Colorado. Those who don’t want the pass can opt-out, while the proposed fee level will be significantly less than the current annual pass rates for those who do obtain the pass. Parks passes for out-of-state visitors or those who decide to purchase after registering their vehicle will still be available for the current standard fee. While the per-pass revenue will be less, CPW anticipates a significant revenue boost due to a much larger volume of pass sales facilitated by the convenience of having passes folded into annual vehicle registration. CPW’s priorities for the funding include maintenance and expansion of state parks, search and rescue/outdoor education programs, and wildlife management both within and outside of state parks, with an emphasis on non-game species. CTU is supporting this effort as the new dollars will help meet our state’s growing demand for hiking, camping, fishing, and other outdoor recreation at Colorado’s 42 (with more to come!) state parks. 

Recreational in-channel diversion — There will be a bill to streamline the RICD process to avoid the necessity of significant in-river construction for smaller projects and to broaden the definition of whom can apply for these diversions.  

We will be watching this bill and helping our partners determine the best language to ensure a positive outcome for our constituents.  

Budget defense — With the current pandemic, state budgets across the country have been pushed to the brink, and that is certainly no different in Colorado. While creative measures to find funds for imperative state needs must be pursued, CTU will defend against redirecting funds that are specifically dedicated to natural resources, such as those earned under Proposition DD from sports betting to help fund the Colorado Water Plan. Likewise, we will defend against budget cuts and furloughs at important state agencies like Colorado Parks and Wildlife that manage fish, wildlife, and habitat programs critical to our mission. 

Of course, we’ll keep you updated throughout the course of the Colorado’s legislative session. If any of these particular items need assistance in terms of advocacy efforts like calling, emailing or Tweeting your elected official, we’ll be in touch.