Headwaters of Dallas Creek | Photo by Sinjin Eberle
You Have something to say about how the Upper Colorado, Gunnison, Taylor, San Miguel and other classic Colorado Rivers (and surrounding lands are managed)? You have until Friday to say it…
This from American Rivers:
The Grand Mesa, Uncompaghre, and Gunnison National Forest, commonly known as the “GMUG,” encompasses over 3.2 million acres of public land in Colorado and are a significant portion of the headwaters of the Colorado River. The forest is home to beloved streams and tributaries such as Oh-Be-Joyful Creek, the San Miguel River, Escalante Creek, and the Taylor River, and towering waterfalls like Ingram Falls and Bridal Veil Falls, Colorado’s tallest, free-falling waterfall.
The forest provides critical water supplies for downstream communities, and it’s natural water infrastructure — including high-altitude creeks, wetlands and riparian areas — can help mitigate the impacts of wildfire and drought, improve habitat resiliency for wildlife, sequester carbon, and improve water quality, making it an important component of climate resilience for the whole Colorado River system.
Every 15-20 years, the US Forest Service (USFS) and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Planning Areas revise their Forest Plans and Resource Management Plans, providing an exceptional opportunity to administratively protect our best remaining, free-flowing streams, and direct the management of our public lands and waters for the next two decades.
Help American Rivers tell the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre, and Gunnison (GMUG) National Forest to protect free-flowing rivers with outstanding ecological and cultural values by finding streams eligible and administratively protecting them under the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, and to advocate for the restoration and protection of our natural water infrastructure in the Forest Plan.
Please follow this link to send an email to the Forest. You can send it as-is, but we encourage you to modify it to include any places that you have a particularly strong attachment to or story about. Maybe it was the first time you hiked to Bridal Veil Falls, or maybe it was camping out next to Oh-Be-Joyful Creek or fishing the Taylor River? Please share your stories.
*Deadline: Submit your email, letter or phone call by Friday, November 26.*
