Estes students check water quality in River Watch program

By Juley Harvey [Estes park] Trail-Gazette

"River Watch is a wonderful way to get many people interested in protecting our rivers and streams," they said. "Anyone from the community could become involved, if they would like to make a change in the world. River Watch is extremely enjoyable for people ages 12 and up, because you get to work, hands-on, collecting your own data and know that you are working for a great cause....We learned information that will help us become both local and global stewards of our streams and planet."

Read more.

Maybe it`s something in the water....

By Juley Harvey Trail-Gazette The Supreme Court`s rulings in 2001 and 2006 narrowed protection to only "navigable waters," leaving wetlands, ponds waterfowl habitats and the intermittent creeks and streams that run throughout Colorado`s mountains open to the jeopardy of pollution. Wildlife organizations say that more than 76,000 miles of Colorado streams (73 percent of the state`s waterways) are at risk because of the looser law.

"Headwater streams, especially the intermittent and ephemeral streams that are dry for parts of the year, are the 'Rodney Dangerfields` of the water resource world: they don`t get enough respect," Steve Moyer, vice president for government affairs for Trout Unlimited, said. "Yet the best science we have tells us how extremely valuable headwater streams are for drinking water, water quality and fish and wildlife habitat. If the Clean Water Act`s visionary goals are ever to be achieved, Congress must restore protection for these critical resources."

http://www.eptrail.com/ci_13570100

Udall bill would help clean up mines

By MATT HILDNERTHE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN

Elizabeth Russell, who works on Kerber Creek and other mine cleanup projects for Trout Unlimited, said the legislation also would likely free up funding from government agencies and other organizations who might have shied away from doing so because of the liability concern.

"We're keeping our fingers crossed," she said.

The bill, titled the "Good Samaritan Cleanup of Abandoned Hardrock Mines Act" is in the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works.

http://www.chieftain.com/articles/2009/10/15/news/local/doc4ad6b2e50a4a6906261873.txt

Bill by Sen. Mark Udall facilitates cleanup of old mines by citizen groups

By Michael Riley The Denver Post

Udall's bill would streamline the permitting process for groups who otherwise would have to obtain a permit under the Clean Water Act to clean up an old mine — a process that can sometimes take years — while also shielding those groups from liability for not completing the job to exacting federal standards.

While the idea is supported by groups such as Trout Unlimited, it is opposed by some major environmental groups that believe it would make the Clean Water Act a target for lawmakers who want to weaken the landmark legislation.

"There are some groups that are of the opinion that we can't touch the Clean Water Act because if we do, by God, it will be eviscerated in the Congress. I think that is a playing-not-to- lose offense," according to Chris Wood, chief operating officer of Trout Unlimited.

http://www.denverpost.com/headlines/ci_13564381

Udall introduces new ‘Good Samaritan’ water clean-up legislation

Colorado Independent

By Katie Redding

Calling past opposition a “spirited debate in the environmental community about the best way forward,” Udall pointed to two environmental groups who have already agreed to support the new bill: Trout Unlimited and Earthworks. Trout Unlimited Chief Operating Officer Chris Wood released a statement in support of the bill, pointing to EPA data indicating that abandoned hardrock mines contaminate 40 percent of Western streams.

http://coloradoindependent.com/40122/udall-introduces-new-good-samaritan-water-clean-up-legislation

Udall Sponsors Plan To Clean Up Old Mines

CBS4Denver

By Judith Kohler, AP Writer

Chris Wood, Trout Unlimited's chief operating officer, said in a prepared statement that cleaning up abandoned mines "is one of the single most important, least addressed environmental challenges in the nation." Wood said Trout Unlimited is cleaning up fisheries and water affected by abandoned mines in Utah, Idaho, Montana, Colorado and Nevada.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has had to negotiate deals and issue administrative orders to protect the conservation group from lawsuits.

http://cbs4denver.com/local/Senator.sponsors.bill.2.1248421.html

Neubecker to speak to Alpine Anglers on water diversions

Special to the Trail-Gazette

Ken Neubecker, president of Colorado Trout Unlimited, will speak Thursday on the impact of water diversions from the upper Colorado River."More than half of the water of the upper Colorado is already diverted to the Front Range for agricultural and municipal use," said Neubecker. "Now two new projects could take almost half of what remains."

But as conservation, government and business interests in Grand County geared up for a protracted fight, water developers Denver Water and Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District agreed to work with local agencies to find ways to meet the water needs of the Front Range while minimizing the impact on wildlife and recreation on the Colorado and Fraser Rivers.

Neubecker will speak about the situation at the Alpine Anglers` monthly meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 15 in the Hondius Room of the Estes Park Public Library. The public is invited.

http://www.eptrail.com/ci_13552219

‘Good Samaritan’ legal battle pits greens against greens

  Colorado Independent

By Katie Redding

Elizabeth Russell at nonprofit Trout Unlimited, which is currently working on several acid mine drainage clean-up projects in Colorado, worries that expecting government to clean up the countless draining mines on private property isn’t feasible.

“The government is just not going to do it,” she said. “They don’t want the liability either.”

http://coloradoindependent.com/39698/%E2%80%98good-samaritan%E2%80%99-legal-battle-pits-greens-against-greens

Cutthroat competition

Durango Herald op-ed from Paul Sheppard, president of the Five Rivers Chapter of Trout Unlimited in Durango: As part of the recent land swap discussion, we should consider values that do not equate well to dollars, as they are priceless.

The U.S. Forest Service recognizes articles identified in the Wild & Scenic Rivers Acts as "outstandingly remarkable values" or ORVs. These are features in the forest of such high value, the Forest Service is directed to manage them so as to retain their character. In order for the people to make more informed decisions about the proposed land swap, I feel it important to share these values.

http://durangoherald.com/sections/Opinion/2009/09/27/Cutthroat__competition/

Thanks to Coyote Gulch for the link!

More fodder for FRAC Act backers as Pa. officials shut down fracking ops

The Colorado Independent - By David O. Williams

The problems in Pennsylvania could supply lawmakers even more ammunition in the ever-intensifying national campaign to strip a Safe Drinking Water Act exemption for the process that was granted during the Bush administration. Colorado Congresswoman Diana DeGette is leading the charge on that front with her so-called FRAC Act – a measure hotly debated in and around the gas fields of Colorado’s Western Slope. Read more