By Michael Elizabeth Sakas, CPR News While most people in Colorado live on the Front Range, most of the state’s water is on the Western Slope. That’s where the snowpack melts and makes its way into the Colorado River. Much of that water flows to places like Denver through a series of dams, reservoirs, pumps […]
fish
Posted inEnvironment, News
Colorado River cutthroat trout restored to Hermosa Creek near Durango
By Jonathan Romeo, The Durango Herald DURANGO — A decades-long effort to restore the Colorado River cutthroat trout to the upper reaches of Hermosa Creek has been completed, resulting in the largest continuous stretch of waterway for the native fish species in the state. “This is a 35-plus-year vision come true,” said Jim White, an […]
Posted inEnvironment, News
Kill fish to save fish: Behind Colorado’s effort to revive the Rio Grande cutthroat trout
On a beautiful early September day, Ken Gierhart hiked a trail familiar since boyhood to Music Pass in the Sangre de Cristo mountains above Westcliffe. As he dropped off the saddle toward the Sand Creek lakes, he noticed people heading the opposite direction with fishing poles. “How’s the fishing?” he asked one woman. “They’re all […]
Posted inBook Excerpts, SunLit
Humanity and nature, mother and son, fulfillment and regret — a field guide
Emily Wortman-Wunder is an essayist and fiction writer, with recent work in the Kenyon Review, Creative Nonfiction, Nimrod, High Country News, and elsewhere. “Not a Thing to Comfort You,” winner of the Iowa Short Fiction Award, is her first book. She teaches scientific writing at the University of Colorado Denver. The following is an excerpt […]
Posted inEnvironment, News, Politics and Government, Water
To understand the future of the Colorado River, look to a frowny, eel-faced fish: the humpback chub
By Judy Fahys, InsideClimate News Charismatic is hardly the best word to describe the humpback chub, a fish with a frowny eel face jammed onto a sportfish body in a way that suggests evolution has a sense of humor. Nor did tastiness build a fan base for this “trash fish” across its natural habitat throughout […]
Posted inBusiness, Coloradans, Crime and Courts, Education, Energy, Environment, Growth, Health, News, Outdoors, Politics and Government, Technology, Transportation, Wildfire
The 25 most read Colorado Sun stories of 2019
These are the 25 Colorado Sun stories that received the most readership in 2019. They touch on a wide variety of issues and topic areas, from reporter Jason Blevins’ investigation into Backcountry.com, to a look at production of Neil Young’s new album and persistent coverage of Colorado’s deadly 2018-19 avalanche season. Backcountry.com sues anyone who […]
Posted inEnvironment, News
Judge vacates part of protection decision on cutthroat trout species found in Colorado, New Mexico
A judge has asked U.S. biologists to explain part of a determination that a trout native to Colorado and New Mexico doesn’t merit an endangered species listing. But U.S. District Court Senior Judge Marcia S. Krieger found that a 2014 decision by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service not to list the Rio Grande cutthroat […]
Posted inEnvironment, News
Changes were made to water flow out of the Glen Canyon Dam. And that led to more bugs in the Colorado River.
By Felicia Fonseca, The Associated Press FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — Ted Kennedy sums up what he sees along the river in the Grand Canyon: “It’s buggy out there.” That is to say, an experiment to change the flow of water from a dam near the Arizona-Utah state line appeared to boost the number of aquatic insects […]
Posted inNews
Razorback sucker is the latest rare Colorado River fish to make it back from the brink of extinction
By Dan Elliott, Associated Press Another rare Colorado River fish has been pulled back from the brink of extinction, wildlife officials said Thursday, the second comeback this year for a species unique to the Southwestern U.S. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recommended reclassifying the ancient and odd-looking razorback sucker from endangered to threatened, meaning […]
Posted inEnvironment, News, Outdoors
Colorado fish are catching the brunt of continuing drought, wildfire runoff
In the midst of a drought-choked summer, Joe Lewandowski stood on the bank of the Animas River near Durango and watched the fish die. Mountain runoff after a mid-July rain scraped the burn scar of the 416 fire, which raged for two months about 10 miles north of the city. That clouded the water with […]