Speaking Out for Trout Advocacy from the Grassroots Up
by Colorado TU Staff
A
n important part of Trout Unlimited’s work to conserve, protect and restore coldwater fisheries and watersheds is advocacy with decision-makers at all different levels. Colorado TU’s Bull Moose Committee is made up of many of those grassroots advocates, accompanied by professional staffers, who are helping give voice to Colorado’s rivers and trout. Recent weeks have seen some important victories in advocacy.
The CORE of Colorado Conservation On February 12th, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Protecting America’s Wilderness Act, a package of public lands bills that will protect nearly 3 million acres of public lands. One key piece of the bill for Colorado is the Colorado Outdoor Recreation and Economy (CORE) Act, sponsored by Rep. Joe Neguse (D-2nd CD). The CORE Act would safeguard some 400,000 acres of the wild and historic landscapes that define Colorado while supporting the state’s vital outdoor recreation economy by designating new wilderness, special management areas and national recreation areas. Among its provisions: protection for the outstanding wildlife and native fish habitat of the Thompson Divide in western Colorado; securing the Camp Hale area (once home to the 10th Mountain Division) as the first national historic landscape; and reaffirming federal commitments to secure additional fishing access to 12 miles of quality waters in the Gunnison basin. The package now moves on the Senate, where Senators Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper have sponsored the Senate version of the CORE Act. 22
High Country Angler • Spring 2021
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