Announcements Late July

Lake Isabelle. Photo by Brianna Federico. 7/12/2021

Lake Isabelle. Photo by Brianna Federico. 7/12/2021

Wildlife officials ask anglers not to fish the Dolores River for the first time ever as rain fails to dent Western Slope drought. Click HERE to read more.

Over the busy holiday weekend while you are out enjoying your favorite parts of Colorado, you will see extra officers on your roadways and waterways. Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) and Colorado State Patrol (CSP) have teamed up to curb intoxicated driving and boating. Click HERE to read the full article.

Learn more about Colorado Water Trust’s Poudre Flows project and how the instream flow augmentation plan works to restore flows to the Poudre River from our staff attorney Alyson Meyer Gould! Watch the full video HERE.

This special Colorado Water Trust 20th anniversary edition photo contest is centered around the theme of “How Rivers Connect Us,” and asks you as a participant to submit photos and captions that demonstrate a community connected by a river. One of our values as an organization is that it takes a community to restore a river. We want to showcase, in this year’s photo contest, how our rivers bring us together. Check out the full details for when and how to submit your photos HERE!

Colorado lawmakers say “yes” to more than $53M in new water funding. Read more HERE.

Colorado is home to a large population of black bears, with numbers estimated at 17,000-20,000 in the state. As humans venture into Colorado’s great outdoors to spend time in nature, it is important to remember to take proactive steps to avoid conflicts with bears. Click HERE to read the full release.

Read the Colorado Leave No Trace brochure that includes a packing list and Colorado-specific lingo Click HERE to view the list.

WEco has recently produced several fact sheets focused on the Colorado Water Plan, Environmental Flows, and Fire and Watershed Health. The fact sheet series includes easy to understand background information, infographics and data on water topics. Be sure to download, print, repost and share them. And stay tuned for the next package coming soon! Click HERE to view.

Barr Lake State Park partnered with the acclaimed virtual reality experience design house TimeLooper to produce a new augmented reality app. This 360 degree virtual adventure includes points of interest around Barr Lake to educate and inspire visitors about nature, history, outdoor recreation, stewardship and Leave No Trace principles. Read HERE for more information.

SWEAP is gaining momentum thanks to individuals and organizations like you! Get involved in bringing water education to every community in Colorado by: Visiting the new SWEAP website | Downloading the SWEAP Executive Summary | Filling out a short form to share how you will bring SWEAP to your community and what resources would be most helpful | Signing up for email updates on SWEAP

The Colorado State Forest Service (CSFS) has just recently released the 2020 Forest Action Plan (FAP), which is a road map to improving forest health across Colorado in the next decade.  The 2020 FAP was created by forestry experts at the Colorado State Forest Service.  This in-depth analysis of forest trends offers solutions and guidance for improving forest health and ensuring our forests — and the resources they provide — persevere for future generations.  This plan will also help assist decision-makers in investing in our forests where these investments will make the most difference.  If you would like to take a look at the plan please click HERE and HERE. Additionally, there is a Forest Action Plan app on the CSFS Forest Atlas page HERE. This is an easy, interactive tool that drills down into the themes of the Forest Action Plan and is an important tool to understand and know how to use.  For CSFS and federal grants, partners will need to show where their project fits in relations to the FAP and will need to convey how the projects that they are proposing ties into this plan.

The Babbitt Center for Land and Water Policy, a center of the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, proudly co-funded Swimming Upstream, a new StoryMap that highlights collaborative conservation efforts to protect endangered, native fish populations in the Upper Colorado River Basin and enhance critical streamflow management for recreation and agricultural needs in and around Grand Junction, Colorado, along a stretch of the Colorado River commonly known as the 15-Mile Reach. The StoryMap was developed by the Conservation Innovation Center for the Upper Colorado River Endangered Fish Recovery Program, in collaboration with the Colorado Water Conservation Board and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Click HERE to access the map.