PRESS RELEASE: Save The Poudre Tries To Defend Larimer County Against the City of Thornton

Hi Poudre River Lovers! Thank you for your support!! It's your support that keeps us working hard. Please donate online by clicking here.  Good News First! In February, State District Court in Larimer County ruled in support of our fight to stop the Thornton Pipeline. The court ruled that the Larimer County Commissioners were legally justified to deny Thornton’s permit, a denial we intervened to support in the lawsuit. Thornton has now appealed that decision, and we are counting on this new Larimer County Commission to defend itself in the State Court of Appeals. If Thornton would simply do the right thing – which is run the water down the Poudre River through Fort Collins – they wouldn’t even need a permit at all! Thornton would have saved millions of dollars in court costs, planning, and permitting by simply taking Save The Poudre’s advice TEN YEARS AGO and keeping the water in the Poudre. We will remain vigilant and engaged in this battle – stay tuned for the action! Second, our ongoing battle to stop the Northern Integrated Supply Project continues to work its way through the court system. We now have two lawsuits against the FORMER Larimer County Commissioners, Steve Johnson and Tom Donnelly, for their illegal decision to support NISP. First we argue that Johnson and Donnelly were biased due to their decades of support for NISP. Second, we argue that Johnson and Donnelly’s decision violated the Larimer County land use code in multiple ways. NISP would have dramatic negative impacts on the Poudre River, on neighbors around the proposed reservoir, and on neighbors along the pipeline route. We have worked in close coalition with two local neighborhood groups – “Save Rural NoCo” and “No Pipe Dream” – to fight the project and influence the court’s and the County’s decision. The NISP battle now turns to the City of Fort Collins! NISP has applied for a “Site Plan Advisory Review” for the project, including for the massive environmentally destructive pipeline through the City’s Natural Areas on the east side of Fort Collins. The City has scheduled a “neighborhood meeting” on April 21st at 6:00pm, and ALL SAVE THE POUDRE MEMBERS are invited as neighbors! We are encouraging all of you to sign up for this “Zoom” neighborhood meeting – let’s show the City how much we care about the Poudre River and its Natural Areas, and how much we OPPOSE NISP. We’ll keep you posted on how to zoom attend the neighborhood meeting – make sure and sign up for our newsletter on SaveThePoudre.org. Finally, Save The Poudre is awaiting the final “Record of Decision” from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which is expected to be released this year. Our legal and scientific team is ready for battle when this permit is released. We have a great attorney lined up to fight this permit if needed, and we are prepared to do everything we can to stop NISP. In other Big News, we’re excited to have launched a new “Rights of Nature” program for the Poudre River. The “Rights of Nature”…

Hi Amazing Poudre River Lovers! It's time to take ACTION! The new Larimer County Commissioners have many options for how to handle the biased, illegal NISP permit -- and the lawsuits against it -- that was issued by the previous Commissioners (Donnelly and Johnson) just weeks before they left office. We need you to reach out to the new amazing Larimer County Commissioners -- John Kefalas, Kristin Stephens, and Jody Shadduck-McNally -- and very respectfully and professionally ask them to "RECONSIDER" the biased, illegal permit issued by the former Commissioners. Recall, Commissioner Kefalas -- now the "Chair" of this new Commission -- voted against the NISP permit. We've made a simple form, with a friendly letter, for you to send them a quick email. Click here: http://www.savethepoudre.org/take-action/send-action-alert-email/ Let's do it, team! It's a new year, a new world in Larimer County, and it's time to take action! Thank you! Gary Wockner, Director, Save The Poudre