Suit Filed to Protect Historic Colorado River Cutthroat Trout Rivers

Nationwide, 150 river segments, totaling 10,500 miles have been protected under the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. But despite its plethora of grand rivers, Colorado has only one protected river under the Act: the Cache la Poudre River. To rectify the omission and ensure that Colorado s streams are protected from mining, dams, logging, road building and pollution, the Center for Biological Diversity, Colorado Rivers Alliance and Taxpayers for the Animas River filed suit on 3-4-02, charging that six BLM districts have refused to assess their lands to determine if they contain rivers eligible for protection. Once found eligible, the streams and rivers must be protected until a final decision on their fate is made.

Among the rivers likely to be protected by the suit are the North Platte, Yampa, Green, San Miguel and Uncompaghre Rivers. All except the North Platte historically provided habitat for the highly imperiled Colorado River cutthroat trout. These streams are vital to protect and restore as part of efforts to re-establish these magnificent trout

The suit is being argued by Matt Bishop of the Western Environmental Law Center. It is part of the Center s Wild Rivers Campaign which has thus far moved to protect rivers in California, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Colorado, Oregon, Idaho, Alaska, and Michigan.

To find out more about the status of Colorado River Curtthroat trout::
http://www.westerntrout.org/trout/profiles/colorado.html

To find out more about the wild rivers campaign: www.biologicaldiversity.org/swcbd/programs/watersheds/wild/index.html