Inner City Outings now has Boulder County focus

Kelsey Wilkinson, For the CameraAugust 6, 2008

One event that the Boulder Inner City Outings program has created, with help from a grant, shows children how to do water sampling along Goose Creek. Trout Unlimited sponsors fly-fishing afterward.

The itinerary is now copied nationally after it became one of the most popular outings in the Boulder program.

The group also offers a one-hour, monthly class after school that teaches skills such as using maps, navigating with a compass, weather forecasting and basic leadership skills.

http://www.dailycamera.com/news/2008/aug/06/inner-city-outings-now-has-boulder-county-focus/

Charlie Meyers on Energy Development

"Do you buy the industry scare tactics over soaring prices at the pump or do you favor some protection for the resource to perpetuate hunting and fishing activities that provide a more enduring boost for the economy?..." http://blogs.denverpost.com/sports/2008/07/22/pump-me-up/#more-2091

State delays ruling on Glade Reservoir in northern Colorado

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/aug/06/state-delays-ruling-on-glade-reservoir-in/

Check Out Coyote Gulch

Coyote Gulch - created by John Orr, who works for Denver's Department of Public works - is a great source of water news. Featured stories from August 5th included one on a $50k donation to the Rio Grande Headwaters Trust and Ducks Unlimited, a 100K grant to the South Metro Water Supply Authority for a regional aquifer,  storage and recovery study, and a water right decree for the Great Sand Dunes National Park. http://radio.weblogs.com/0101170/2008/08/05.html#a12175

Protesters: No Rigs on Roan

Crowd delivers over 1,600 letters opposing BLM lease sales to energy companies

Vail Daily

Pete Fowler Glenwood Springs Correspondent Vail CO, Colorado

...Ken Neubecker, of Colorado Trout Unlimited, said the BLM is contradicting itself by saying the genetically pure Colorado River Cutthroat Trout that inhabit the Roan Plateau are a “sensitive species” while at the same time “throwing trout to the winds” by allowing natural gas development on the Roan Plateau under the BLM’s current plan....

http://www.vaildaily.com/article/20080731/NEWS/726325480/1062

Colorado could go with flow in Utah

[Here we go again! - ed]

By Charlie Meyers The Denver Post

A decision last week by the Utah Supreme Court declaring the public's right to fish streams that flow through private property has set off a tidal wave of celebration among anglers.

Whether the ripples extend to Colorado and other Rocky Mountain states remains to be seen.

http://www.denverpost.com/huntfish/ci_10035915

Proposed Hermosa Creek plan could create mixed population of trout

By DAVE BUCHANANThe Daily Sentinel

Ty Churchwell, president of the Five Rivers Chapter of TU, says the reintroduction will include about five miles of Hermosa Creek’s headwaters, leaving more than 20 miles downstream as a multi-species fishery.

“There still will be plenty of water for people who want to catch brook trout and rainbows,” said Churchwell, standing near the site of the fish barrier. “But when people come in here, they’ll experience the creek like it was 100 to 150 years ago.”

Cutthroat trout reintroductions began in the Hermosa drainage more than 20 years ago but that was before DNA testing could prove a trout’s genetics. This proposal would take DNA-tested fish raised from brood stock at the Pitkin Hatchery and put them in Hermosa Creek.

http://www.gjsentinel.com/hp/content/sports/stories/2008/07/29/073008_OUT_wild_and_scenic_WWW.html

Colorado's roadless forest plan to get fed review

Associated Press By JUDITH KOHLER

"I actually think it will be a lively give and take," Chris Wood, chief operating officer of Trout Unlimited, said of the federal advisory panel's meeting on Colorado's plan.

Wood is a member of the panel appointed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees the Forest Service. Speaking as a Trout Unlimited representative, Wood said he's concerned about some of the exceptions in Colorado's plan.

"I'm anxious to hear the state explain the significant number of exceptions," Wood said.

Under Colorado's plan, temporary roads would also be allowed for cutting trees to reduce wildfire risk and some land around ski areas would be removed from the inventory of roadless areas.

"We are comfortable and confident that we can resolve this in a way that preserves our initial understanding and intent for those areas to be kept roadless," said Dreyer, Ritter's spokesman.

http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2008/07/30/ap5270772.html

Outdoors enthusiats pushing for creation of West Hermosa Creek Wilderness

By DAVE BUCHANANThe Daily Sentinel

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

“This would be the first wilderness area in Colorado specifically pushed by hunters and anglers,”said Chris Hunt of Trout Unlimited’s Public Lands Initiative.

The east boundary would be Hermosa Creek, the west boundary along the ridge of the La Plata Mountains plus a portion of the Bear Creek drainage.

http://www.gjsentinel.com/hp/content/sports/stories/2008/07/29/073008_OUT_hermosa_WWW.html

Rally for the Roan

July 30th, 11 AM - 1 PMGregory Park, Glenwood Springs

We're just weeks away from witnessing a transformation of the Roan Plateau in Western Colorado.

On August 14th the federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will begin leasing the public lands at the base and atop the plateau for oil and gas development. As many of you know, the Roan Plateau is recognized by Coloradans as both a source of local pride and as an irreplaceable haven for wildlife. The Roan lands provide an unparalleled recreational opportunity to west slope communities and the state.

Given the values at risk, Coloradans have spoken -- BLM's plan for the Roan is just not good enough: • Over 75,000 comments were submitted on the draft plan, with more than 98% favoring more restrictions on drilling. • Governor Ritter issued a set of recommendations for the Roan that would expand protection for water and wildlife, including phased leasing on the plateau. • Congressmen Mark Udall and John Salazar and Senator Ken Salazar proposed legislation to enact the Governor's plan and protect Colorado's water and wildlife. Unfortunately, none of these efforts succeeded in convincing the BLM to draft a better plan. Despite promising to craft a "community-supported" plan, the BLM has failed to listen to our concerns.

Next Wednesday, July 30th, citizens from around the Western Slope and Colorado will converge in Glenwood Springs to demonstrate to the BLM that A RUSH TO DRILL on the Roan Plateau is the wrong approach to meeting our nation’s energy needs. Will you join us?

We hope to see you there!

Sincerely,

Bill Dvorak Colorado Public Lands Organizer National Wildlife Federation info@ourpubliclands.org