Cherry Creek State Park. Photo by Brianna Federico. 9/21/2020
Colorado Parks and Wildlife has awarded $650,000 to eight Fishing is Fun (FIF) projects, all geared to improve angling opportunities in the state of Colorado. The approved projects include improved angling access, habitat improvement, and trail and boat access. Funding recipients include projects that will protect and improve a threatened fishery on the eastern plains, build a new fishing pier and boat docks at Lake San Cristobal in Hinsdale County, and develop new angler access at Kyger Open Space in Windsor. Click HERE for more information.
At long last the draft revised forest plan and draft environmental impact statement is available and ready for your review and comment! The materials you need are all located HERE. The Grand Mesa Uncompahgre and Gunnison (GMUG) National Forests is excited to host a virtual webinar series to provide an introduction to the Draft Forest Plan. We will give an overview of the planning process and the plan alternatives on Tuesday August 17 and delve deeper into key issues identified by the public on Thursday August 19. Your questions and feedback are welcomed!
San Juan Watershed is accepting volunteers for their 2021 San Juan Bacteria Sampling and Investigation Study! Sampling will be occurring twice a month from July to October by both raft and vehicle travel, making for many fun days learning river ecology, water quality monitoring techniques, and more! Spots will fill up quickly. Click HERE to learn more and to register.
Colorado's State Engineer is planning a rulemaking process on measurement devices for Colorado water users. Details are in this Aspen Journalism report.
Summer is the time of year when many folks are enjoying spending time on the water, but it is also the time of year when algae blooms or E. Coli can cause closures of popular areas like swim beaches. Colorado Parks and Wildlife explains them both in its latest podcast episode of Colorado Outdoors. Listen in to the podcast episode or WATCH: video explaining blue-green algae
Nicole Rowan has accepted an offer to serve as the Director for the Water Quality Control Division. As an engineer with over 25 years of experience leading diverse teams in solving complex technical problems and developing public policy, Nicole is well suited to lead the department in the state’s goals to protect water quality in the places Coloradans live, work, and play. Read the full press release here. Congratulations to Nicole!
EPA Awards Over $3 Million Towards Research to Assess Health and Environmental Impacts of Biotechnology Products. 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 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.