PRESS RELEASE: June 22/23, 50th Anniversary Celebration, Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, Cache la Poudre

For Immediate Release
June 11, 2018
Contact: Gary Wockner, Save The Poudre: Poudre Waterkeeper, 970-218-8310

June 22/23, 50th Anniversary Celebration, Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, Cache la Poudre

Fort Collins: Toyota USA, the Waterkeeper Alliance, and Save The Poudre are joining together on June 22nd and 23rd to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the U.S. Wild and Scenic Rivers Act with a SPLASH event. The celebration will be on the Cache la Poudre River, the ONLY Wild and Scenic River in the state of Colorado designated by an Act of Congress.

The celebration will feature:

June 22: Photography presentation by renowned Colorado nature photographer John Fielder featuring his photographs of beautiful rivers in Colorado, at the Lincoln Center in Fort Collins at 7:00 pm (Information and tickets here).
June 23: Free half-day rafting on the Cache la Poudre River for 100 guests, including a free Save The Poudre t-shirt, funded by Toyota. The rafting trips will be hosted by Mountain Whitewater and Wanderlust, both long-term professional rafting companies on the Cache la Poudre.

“The Cache la Poudre is a beautiful river and we are lucky to have it here in northern Colorado,” said Gary Wockner, Director of Save The Poudre. “Please join the celebration to enjoy this Wild and Scenic River, and if you can’t join us, try to get out on the river as often as possible this summer.”

“Beyond our own water conservation and watershed protection activities, through this partnership we aim to drive awareness in the community about the importance of protecting our water resources,” said Kevin Butt, general manager of environmental sustainability, Toyota Motor North America. “The SPLASH series provides a fun way to contribute to water conservation projects and make a difference.”

“Engaging people with their local waterways is a crucial part of securing drinkable, fishable, swimmable water,” said Marc Yaggi, executive director of Waterkeeper Alliance. “The SPLASH Event Series strengthens connections between communities and waterways across the country. We thank Toyota for their commitment to the environment, clean water, and another great year of SPLASH.”

See more about the national Toyota/Waterkeeper SPLASH series here.

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Hello Poudre River Lovers! We Are Deep Into The Fight And Need Your Support! Please make your tax-deductible donation today by clicking here. First, we had a HUGE VICTORY against the Thornton Pipeline! In February, the Larimer County Commissioners voted unanimously to “deny” the Thornton Pipeline, in part thanks to your support! You sent the Commissioners about 1,000 emails and many of you showed up to provide comment during the six public hearings over the last year. We also participated in the “Larimer Water Projects Working Group” for several months, all the while arguing that Thornton should send their water down the Poudre River! What’s next for the Thornton Pipeline and the “Poudre River Option”? It’s up to Thornton – they’ve publicly stated that they might file a lawsuit against the Larimer County Commissioners, and if they do, we will stand behind the Commissioners’ decision and support them in court. If you see the Commissioners, please THANK THEM for standing up for the Poudre River throughout the permitting process. Second, the permitting process for Northern Integrated Supply Project (NISP) is all coming to a head at the County, State, and Federal Level in the next few months: 1. NISP has applied for a permit from the State of Colorado Dept of Public Health and Environment for a “401 water quality certification”. Their application is 1,247 pages of extremely technical analyses that we have to digest and respond to in 60 days! We have a team of scientists and attorneys digging into the application. Your support is what makes the difference in our ability to hire professional experts to respond to this permit. 2. NISP is in the process of developing a “1041 permit” and “Intergovernmental Agreement” application to the Larimer County Commissioners to build Glade Reservoir, move Highway 287, and build two large pipelines north and east of Fort Collins. As soon as the drafts of these permits are public, in the next month or two, our team will dig into them – again, we expect them to be hundreds of pages of technical information. Your support is what makes the difference in our ability to hire professional experts to respond to this permit. 3. Last week, our attorneys sent the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers a legal letter demanding that the Corps prepare a “Supplemental Environmental Impact Analysis” for NISP. This demand is a response to the new revelation that NISP now expects to buy over 100 farms in Larimer and Weld County to obtain 25,000 acre feet of water to make NISP and Glade Reservoir feasible. This farm-buying scheme is a dramatic new twist in the now 16-year NISP debacle that changes everything about how the project would work and what its impact would be on northern Colorado. Again, your support is what makes the difference in our ability to hire professional experts to respond to this permit. For 16 years, Save The Poudre has been the voice for the Poudre River, and YOU are the megaphone that…

Hi Poudre River Lovers! We greatly appreciate your membership and support, and we are committed to fighting to protect the Poudre through 2019 and beyond. A few months ago, I got an email from another Poudre River Lover, Sue Pendell of Fort Collins, who wanted to meet and discuss a donation to Save The Poudre. At our meeting, Sue told me that for for 40 years she has enjoyed going to the Poudre River in Fort Collins and up in Poudre Canyon. Sue's not a kayaker or fisherperson -- she enjoys the peace and solitude and often takes a book along to read as she relaxes along the Poudre River. Sue has very generously donated $10,000 to Save The Poudre out of her retirement account to support our work to protect and restore the Poudre River! I told Sue that I’d like to tell all of you about her generous donation because it may inspire other people to give. Sue replied, “Oh, I’m just a regular person. Nobody knows me. I doubt if that will help you.” And I told Sue, “That’s exactly why I’d like to let our supporters know – you’re just a regular person, and that’s the story of Save The Poudre. We’re thousands of ‘regular people’ who want to protect the Poudre River through Fort Collins. In the spirit of Sue’s donation, our end-of-year fundraising goal is to match Sue’s $10,000. Can you join us and help match Sue’s love for a healthy, free-flowing Poudre River? Please renew your membership by clicking here: http://www.savethepoudre.org/take-action/donate/ Here’s an update on all of our work in 2018 and our plans for 2019: First, some really great news: We hired one of the best public-interest environmental law firms in the U.S. – Meyer, Glitzenstein & Eubanks LLP – to coordinate the writing of our comments in to the Army Corps of Engineers for the Final Environmental Impact Statement for the massive proposed river-draining dam project we’ve been fighting for 15 years, the Northern Integrated Supply Project (NISP). Having this great law firm on our team will ensure we are in the best place possible if and when litigation is needed in the future. We also hired a team of experienced scientists and analysts to review and comment on the FEIS – all of which was finalized on Oct. 4th. Your support helped make this happen! Second, we have heavily engaged to try and influence the City of Fort Collins and the State of Colorado in their roles of commenting on and permitting NISP. Good news -- the City of Fort Collins continued its “do not support” position on NISP. The State of Colorado is working to finalize its position and permit in the next few months. Third, we did extensive public outreach to the Larimer County Commissioners regarding their role in permitting for NISP. We sent them a strongly worded legal letter that sets us up to continue engaging with the County during its permitting process in 2019. Fourth, we helped…

June 22/23, 50th Anniversary Celebration, Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, Cache la Poudre

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