In celebration of Colorado Day, and the 144th birthday of the state, Colorado Parks and Wildlife offers free entry to 41 state parks on Monday, August 3. Although the state recognizes this annual holiday on the first of the month, state parks celebrate the occasion with free entrance on the first Monday of August. For a detailed article all about the day and trail etiquette click HERE.
Check out this virtual tour of Colorado Water Trust’s Hat Creek project by Tony LaGreca! Hat Creek is home to native Colorado Cutthroat Trout and a sport fishery. Click HERE to view the video. Click HERE for more information about the project on their website.
Take a look at the first installment of EcoFlight’s “Virtual Flight of the Week,” where you will be taken up in the air over public lands with conservation partners who are working to protect wildlands and solve complex management challenges. The first project is the Vail Pass Wildlife Crossing! Check out the full video HERE. The second installment of EcoFlight’s “Virtual Flight of the Week” over the Yampa is available HERE.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife is encouraging trout anglers statewide to consider fishing early in the day and in higher altitude lakes and streams as hot, dry conditions and reduced water levels may increase stress to trout populations. To read the full article click HERE.
Know how to tell a newbie canoer? It’s easy. So are paddle sports, if you follow THESE TIPS from Colorado Parks and Wildlife.
Read Water Education Colorado’s Headwaters Summer Issue: Keeping Up With Aging Infrastructure HERE.
Congress passed the Great American Outdoors Act and approved $900 million of annual funds for the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) to ensure necessary investments are allocated to protect irreplaceable lands and outdoor recreation opportunities in every state. This historic legislation will help direct funds to maintenance projects in Colorado to conserve public lands, waterways, and wildlife habitat for future generations to enjoy.
Check out the Upper Colorado River Watershed Group’s July Watershed Snapshot: High Temperatures and Fish Stress HERE.
Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO) is pleased to announce the official adoption of its 2020 Strategic Plan. The plan explores a new, values-based approach to grant-making for GOCO that reflects the priorities of GOCO’s partners, the needs of our state, and ideas for how GOCO can support those within its constitutional mission. To download the plan in English or Spanish, and to access GOCO’s new fiscal year ’21 grant calendar, visit HERE.
Turn your hikes into valuable research! Download the free iNaturalist app to help with weed mapping, bighorn sheep monitoring, and more. Learn how to conduct citizen science with iNaturalist through Mountain Studies Institute HERE.
Cherry Creek State Park is experiencing natural algal blooms that may be harmful to dogs and humans as a result of a number of things including warmer temperatures, stagnant waters, and nutrient loading from fertilized lawns. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) recommends the following: Keep kids out, no pets in water, do not drink water, and avoid contact with algae. For Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s full article, click 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 quality time in nature, it is important to remember that bears and humans can and do live in harmony in our shared outdoor spaces when humans take proactive steps to avoid conflicts with bears. For Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s great article on how to keep safe and what measures to take this season, click HERE.
Water Education Colorado's high-quality reference series is getting better and better. Learn something new this summer with the Citizen's Guide to Colorado Groundwater. To receive a guide, click HERE.
Waste in Our Waters Toolkit by River Network. This toolkit is available for free HERE and features a step-by-step guide for addressing litter in your community, before and after it reaches your local waterway.
The Babbitt Center for Land and Water Policy, a center of the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, is pleased to launch The Hardest Working River in the West, an ArcGIS StoryMap focused on the key water sustainability issues in the Colorado River Basin. Through data visualizations and stories, the web-based StoryMap highlights the places, people, and policies that have historically shaped and will continue to shape water and land management surrounding the 1,450-mile Colorado River.
Colorado residents will vote in November on a ballot initiative that calls for the proposed reintroduction of gray wolves to the state. Proposition 107, a citizen-initiated measure, would direct the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission to develop and oversee a science-based plan to restore wolves to the western part of the state. Read the news from Colorado State University HERE.
WaterNow Alliance is conducting a survey of municipal decision-makers, managers and water utility staff on key water supply issues facing Colorado’s communities. Your input is important to their work and you are encouraged to participate. WaterNow Alliance is a nonprofit network of local water leaders supporting sustainable, affordable, and climate resilient water solutions with a special focus on Colorado. This survey is intended to help them better understand your water supply priorities and interests and the potential for implementing ATMs in Colorado. If you are not familiar with ATMs, please don’t let that prevent you from taking the survey – that’s exactly the type of information they’re looking for! To participate click HERE.
The Arkansas Headwaters Recreation Area (AHRA) announced its slate of new and re-elected members of its Citizen Task Force (CTF), a 16-member panel that advises Colorado Parks and Wildlife on management issues in the upper Arkansas River valley. Read the full Colorado Parks and Wildlife article HERE.
In the closing hours of the 2020 legislative session, Colorado legislators approved $1 million to support efforts to develop Colorado’s next new state park around iconic Fishers Peak near Trinidad. Read the full Colorado Parks and Wildlife article HERE.
The River Network has Pandemic Resources for Nonprofits. As we all continue to practice physical distancing to limit the spread of COVID-19, many organizations are transitioning to remote work, cancelling or postponing events, wondering how to remain inclusive and equitable, and dealing with new anxiety and stress. Groups are looking for guidance and support regarding water shutoffs, water treatment, and other topics relevant to their work protecting and advocating for our nation’s waters. Click HERE to access resources on these topics.
Groundbreaking Climate Change Mitigation Tool Allows Communities to Assess Risks. A new state study and web-based visualization tool called Future Avoided Cost Explorer (FACE:Hazards), led by the Colorado Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management (DHSEM) and the Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB) in partnership with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), is now available to help communities examine the economic risks of climate change.
StormwateReport wrote an article on the U.S. Geological Survey’s new SPARROW Tool, which models streamflow. Read the article HERE.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced it is continuing its focus on taking action to address polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and protect public health. Building on the work outlined in its February 2019 PFAS Action Plan, the agency announced it is expanding its research efforts and capabilities by launching its PFAS Innovative Treatment Team (PITT).
Water Education Colorado's high-quality reference series just got better with publication of the Citizen's Guide to Where Your Water Comes From. It provides an overview of water quality issues important to Colorado. It also tackles the complex water quality protection framework, including laws and regulations on a national, state and local level, which help ensure the protection, restoration and maintenance the quality of this natural resource. Click HERE to get a guide.
If you are stuck at home in need of a good read, or craving good news about our world, Wildlands Restoration Volunteers have it for you! Pour yourself a cup of tea or coffee and read the Gaining Ground Annual Report for stories of an inclusive community and the epic positive influence your investment in WRV has made possible! Read on HERE.
The Front Range Roundtable, Southern Rockies Fire Science Network, Colorado Forest Restoration Institute, and CSU Forest and Rangeland Stewardship have released Mulching: A knowledge summary and guidelines for best practices on Colorado’s Front Range. Click HERE to check it out!
The Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB) is pleased to announce the release of a new handbook Colorado Disaster Recovery, Lessons Learned: A Guide to Plan, React, Adapt, Evolve, and Achieve the Best Possible Outcomes for Our Communities and Stream Corridors. This book covers a conceptual model of recovery that includes: Disaster Response, Recovery Planning, Design and Permitting, Implementation, Monitoring and Adaptive Management, Pre-Disaster Planning. All of these are wrapped around a Centralized Recovery Program that also fully considers The Human Element that plays so heavily into recovery. The lessons learned pertain to each and every one of the recovery elements with each section providing action items or guiding principles for recovery managers to consider, including recommendations for: Changes to State and Federal Disaster Response, Disaster Recovery Actions, and Pre-Disaster Actions.
Salinity Workshop Includes Colorado Corn Administrative Committee (CCAC) Commissioned Study. Full Study Being Published Spring 2020. A recent workshop about the increasing salinity of the South Platte river was organized by the Centennial, Morgan and Sedgwick County Conservation Districts with help from Sterling, Morgan and Julesburg offices of Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). Information included a study commissioned by Colorado Corn Administrative Council. Topics included Regulation 85 & Watershed Planning, the effects of salinity on soil and agriculture, salinity on the South Platte, and the future of water storage on the South Platte. Speakers were Phil Brink from Colorado Cattlemen’s Association Ag NetWORK; Mike Peterson, retired soil scientist & agronomist; Mark Sponsler of Colorado Corn; Grady O’Brien of NEIRBO Hydrogeology; and Joe Frank of Lower South Platte Water Conservancy District. The full salinity study commissioned by Colorado Corn will be published Spring 2020.
Learn About Methods for Stream Management Planning with CWCB’s and River Network’s New Resource Library! Just like individuals, each Stream Management Plan (SMP) is unique. The people and the location greatly influence their goals and activities. But there is also a common blueprint, documented at Colorado Water Conservation Board’s and River Network’s SMP Resource Library. For each step in the planning process, it presents examples, best practices, online resources, and methods to consider. The goal of the SMP Resource Library is to enlarge the pipeline of local coalitions that are interested, ready, and capable of undertaking Stream Management Plans, as well as advance the state of knowledge around how to craft effective and implementable SMPs. Resource Library case studies will be updated annually as SMPs progress. Experts in the different assessment areas (hydrology, water quality, recreation, riparian habitat, etc.) are encouraged to submit their ideas and feedback so it can continue to grow and improve. Click HERE to visit.
Visit the remodeled Colorado Emergency Watershed Protection website from the Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB). Now, many of the resources developed during flood recovery in Colorado available to the public for use on future efforts.