Does the forest service have the right to water rights at ski areas?
The ski industry is suing the feds over a regulation that would let the Forest Service "take back" private water rights.
Read the Vail Daily article by Lauren Glendenning
Upper CO: Do More, Damage Less
Good advice for proponents of Chimney Hollow Reservoir
"Wildlife mitigation plans proposed by Northern Water and sanctioned by the state’s Division of Parks and Wildlife do not adequately address the issues," he [Drew Peternell, Director of TU's Colorado Water Project] said. “What we have currently is not enough,” he said. “We believe they can do more to make this a less-damaging project.""Substantial springtime flows should be guaranteed," he said, "to improve the health of the [upper Colorado] river. Diverting the river around Windy Gap Reservoir should also be considered."
Read: Effects of Chimney Hollow Reservoir would ripple far and wide by Kevin Duggan on Coloradoan.com
CTU applauds new EPA rules for mercury and air toxics
Colorado currently has 22 waterbodies under Fish Consumption Advisories due to high mercury levels - where the fish themselves are literally too toxic to be safely consumed. These include important fishing waters from Navajo Reservoir to Lake Granby to Horsetooth Reservoir and Carter Lake. For an organization that has long championed catch-and-release fishing, supporting regulations to make fish consumption safer may seem a bit unusual. But not only can reductions in mercury and other air toxics help protect the health of anglers and their families that eat some of the fish they catch, it is also good news for the fish themselves. When a fish is too toxic to be eaten safely, it is a pretty strong indicator that the health of the fish and its habitat are also impacted. Indeed, research has shown that elevated mercury levels impact trout's olfactory response - which in turn can harm their ability to feed, navigate, and reproduce. Fortunately, the Environmental Protection Agency has issued new rules that will restrict emissions of air toxics including mercury from power plants. Not only will these changes help reduce air toxics, but they will also contribute to reductions in sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides - key pollutants that contribute to acid rain, another threat to fish habitat. That is why Colorado TU Executive Director David Nickum joined physicians, state and federal officials, and business interests at a press conference at Children's Hospital on January 10, to voice support for EPA's new rules. "We thank EPA for its efforts to protect the health of fish, the health of habitat, and the health of anglers," Nickum said.
Parks & Wildlife OKs Drilling
Here's an update from an industry release. Parks and Wildlife Commission has given unanimous approval for drilling at the Garfield Creek State Wildlife Area. With names like Dejour and Kokopelli, doesn't it sound more like a bistro than an oil and gas operation? Hey, it's only ten acres. And it's in the "rural" section of a state wildlife area. So what's the problem?
At its monthly meeting Thursday, the 14-member commission could authorize Colorado Parks and Wildlife director Rick Cables to negotiate a surface rights agreement to allow for energy development from a 10-acre well pad in a rural section of the park, with stipulations to protect the environment and visitors' experiences. Any drilling likely wouldn't occur until 2013.
DOW Merger deadline looms
Your last chance to comment on the proposed DOW-Colorado State Parks merger is January 16.
There are several options: You can submit comments by regular mail or email, by completing an online survey, or by attending the January 13 meeting of the Parks and Wildlife Commission at 6060 Broadway.
A second draft of the (lengthy) Merger Implementation Plan has been completed and is also available online. Click here, then follow the link to the Draft Merger Implementation Plan at the bottom of the page.
To provide feedback by completing the online survey, click here.
To email comments, click here.
For information on the January 13 meeting of the Parks and Wildlife Commission, click here.
To submit comments by regular mail:
Department of Natural Resources CPW Transition Team 1313 Sherman Street, Room 718 Denver, CO 80203
Update: The Sand Creek Leak
There's good news and bad news about oil seepage into the South Platte at Sand Creek.
In a report for The Drake Magazine, Will Rice gives an update from the scene of the slime. Read the article.
Prez Profiled
The fly fishing blog Chi Wulff recently interviewed Colorado TU President Sinjin Eberle for its People of Fly Fishing feature. In a wide-ranging, two-part interview Sinjin touches on subjects from the Upper Colorado to mine drainage cleanup and roadless area regulations.
ISE 2012
As a partner of the 2012 International Sportsmen's Expo, we'd like to invite you to stop by the Trout Unlimited booth for special youth activities and a chance to win a Gunnison Gorge float trip with Dvorak Expeditions. Click here to purchase tickets or learn more about the International Sportsmen's Expo, or click here to sign up for a $2 off coupon on admission.
If you're interested in volunteering at the TU booth, please email estock@tu.org. A limited number of free tickets will be available to those who volunteer 2-3 hours at the show.
Show Information
FREE PARKING & SHUTTLES at Coors Field--ISE's thanks to everyone for a generation of support! Ready to shop, have fun, compete, learn, and pass on the outdoors tradition to family or friends? ISE Denver is the place to do all of those things, and more!
500 companies will exhibit in a single 290,000-sq.-ft. hall, offering you a staggering selection of outdoor goods and services, including:
- Fishing & hunting outfitters & guides
- Fishing tackle & gear
- Hunting products & gear
- Fly-fishing retailers
- Travel, vacations, lodges & resorts
- Boats, kayaks & marine accessories
- RVs, campers
- Outdoor gear
- Apparel & optics
- ATVs, motorcycles & personal watercraft
- Mountain-home furnishings
- Outdoor clubs, groups & organizations
- Trucks, trailers & aftermarket accessories
Plus special features are spread throughout the entire show, including:
- NEW: RMEF Great Elk Tour
- NEW: Eastmans’ Trophy Deer Display
- NEW: Wild Justice TV--War in the Woods presentation
- NEW: Stay the Trail & Wildlife Experience Museum Adventure Trail
- 30,000-sq.-ft. Discover Fly Fishing Pavilion
- Orvis Fly Fishing 101 Program
- Fly-Casting Ponds & Free Lessons
- Accuracy Casting Contest
- DockDogs Pond & Contest
- Sporting-Dog Arena
- Game-Calling Contest
- RMEF Ultimate Rifle Raffle
- World Fishing Network Aquarium Demonstration Tank
- 3D Pop-Up Archery Range & Contest
- Adventure, and Fly-Fishing Theaters
- Colorado Parks & Wildlife Youth Outdoor Fair
A Look Back at 2011
It has been an eventful year for Colorado Trout Unlimited and our 23 chapters. We’ve seen a growth in capacity thanks to new full-time volunteers and additional National TU staff, conducted on-the-ground projects to improve habitat and restore native trout, extended our advocacy on behalf of rivers, and created new partnerships to strengthen our ability to conserve, protect and restore Colorado’s rivers and watersheds. All of these efforts were made possible through the involvement and support of our members, donors, and partners – and we deeply appreciate each and every one of you. Looking back at the past year, here are a few of the highlights from 2011:
- Yampa Valley Fly Fishers – long time leaders in conservation projects in the Steamboat Springs area – become the 23rd active chapter of Trout Unlimited in Colorado.
- Colorado TU and the Colorado Water Project expand efforts to educate and engage the public in protecting the Colorado headwaters, launching a new Defend the Colorado website featuring the “Faces of the Fraser” – local residents from an Olympic skier to a logger who share their connections with the river.
- Colorado TU brings on two new OSM/VISTAs – full time volunteers funded with support from the Office of Surface Mining and Americorps – to strengthen our efforts with youth education and RiverWatch water quality monitoring programs.
- Denver Water and west slope interests announce an agreement to provide additional water and funds to benefit the Colorado River headwaters. The agreement does not address the impacts of proposed new projects, but is a good start in collaboration to benefit the Colorado, Fraser, and Williams Fork.
- Upslope Brewing Company unveils its new craft lager with a “1% For Rivers” program where a portion of all sales of the new beer benefit Colorado TU.
- Our new ColoradoTU.org website launches with an enhanced design, pages on TU activities in basins across the state, and an improved set of tools for visitors to engage with TU in river conservation.
- Grand Valley Anglers and Colorado TU volunteers plant more than 200 willows along Trapper Creek on the Roan Plateau, helping improve riparian habitat for a key native Colorado River cutthroat trout stream. Grand Valley Anglers also assists federal agencies with reconstruction of a reservoir atop Battlement Mesa as a refuge habitat for native cutthroat trout.
- TU and a coalition of agency and private sector partners – with volunteer support from the Collegiate Peaks Anglers chapter – complete award-winning mine restoration work along Kerber Creek in the historic Bonanza mining district.
- After years of advocacy and volunteer monitoring, TU and the Evergreen Chapter successfully get Bear Creek listed as an “impaired water” for temperature under the Clean Water Act – triggering a state regulatory process to identify the sources of the problem and develop projects to address them..
- The West Denver Chapter completes work on the Canyon Reach project, improving fish habitat and angling accessibility on Clear Creek.
- Colorado TU holds its first “Golf Classic,” engaging more than 120 participating golfers and raising funds for conservation and education.
- Denver TU provides seed money to launch development of a master plan for river restoration in the south Denver metro area; the plan wins unanimous approval from the South Suburban Parks & Recreation District and City of Littleton opening the door to a new “golden age” for the South Platte.
This is a long list, but still far from complete. And with your help, we will work to make 2012 an even better year for Colorado’s rivers and watersheds. Thank you – and happy new year to you all!
Congress Boosts Land and Water Funds
Not exactly front-page news to the mainstream media, but it's pretty big news to us. Congress recently approved increased funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund. Revenues for program, created in 1965, come from offshore oil and gas leases. LWCF benefits are far-reaching. According to Will Rogers, President of the Trust for Public Lands. “This program protects lands and jobs across the nation, from local parks and trails to Civil War battlefields and local forestry jobs in New England and Montana, to the Sierra Nevada in California.”
In a news release announcing the funding increase, the Land and Water Conservation Fund Coalition (TU is a member), pointed out that outdoor recreation, conservation and historic preservation contribute $1.06 trillion annually to the U.S. economy, and support 9.4 million – or 1 out of every 15 - American jobs. The coalition lauded the efforts of a number of members of Congress, including Colorado Senator Mark Udall and Representative Scott Tipton (3rd District) of Cortez.
This year’s LWCF appropriation will increase to a shade under 323 million. If there’s a down-side, it’s that more than $900 million in offshore royalties are deposited into a special trust fund each year, so there’s still room for improvement. You can learn more about the LWCF at lwcfcoalition.org.
