When a landowner hurled rocks at Roger Hill for wading and fishing in the Arkansas River, the octogenarian angler sued, arguing the river was navigable when Colorado became a state in 1876 and therefore public property and open for wading and fishing. The lawsuit threatened to upend decades of tenuous agreements around public access on […]
fishing
Posted inOutdoors
The rock-hurling spat that could upend Colorado’s river access rules
The Colorado Supreme Court will wade into a technical aspect in angler Roger Hill’s lawsuit arguing Colorado rivers are public property if they were used for commercial activity – like floating timber – at statehood.
Posted inOutdoors
Colorado biologists hope their Poudre River fish restocking efforts don’t go up in smoke
Volunteers hope planting tiny fish in a 40-mile stretch of the river fouled by fire and mud will restore the Poudre River’s status as one of the best fisheries in Colorado
Posted inEnvironment
Where are the salmon? Kokanee numbers drastically drop in Blue Mesa, Gunnison river
Even if there were several back to back winters with deep snow and Blue Mesa filled to the brim, it would still take years for the kokanee to return to pre-drought population
Posted inEnvironment
At Colorado’s largest reservoir, one national park scientist shifts her focus to toxic algae
Blue-green algae is native to Colorado’s largest reservoir. Two research projects seek reasons for its toxic bloom at Blue Mesa and how to stop it.
Posted inEnvironment
What 3 million little kokanee salmon can tell us about Colorado’s drought
The celebratory release of kokanee salmon from Roaring Judy hatchery ensures that the fish so popular with anglers continue to propagate – even in drought-ravaged waters
Posted inNews
Colorado appeals court revives river access, right-to-wade debate
For nearly 40 years, riverside property owners and recreational river users in Colorado have relied on a tenuous agreement when it comes to floating rivers and streams through private property. The deal is this: Stay on your boat and don’t touch the riverbed or you could face trespassing charges. If you wade on those rocks […]
Posted inEnvironment, News
Warming rivers in the western U.S. are killing fish, imperiling industry
By Daisy Nguyen, The Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO — Baby salmon are dying by the thousands in one California river, and an entire run of endangered salmon could be wiped out in another. Fishermen who make their living off adult salmon, once they enter the Pacific Ocean, are sounding the alarm as blistering heat waves […]
Posted inEnvironment, News, Outdoors, Water
Drought-caused Colorado River fishing restrictions lifted, but it may be a temporary reprieve
By James Anderson, The Associated Press Colorado lifted some fishing restrictions along a stretch of the Colorado River on Tuesday, but biologists warn that historically low water flows caused by a drought in the U.S. West, high water temperatures and wildfire sediment that all starve trout of oxygen could force future bans. On July 7, […]
Posted inClimate, Environment, News
Drought, heat and fire prompt fishing ban on 120-mile stretch of Colorado River
By James Anderson, The Associated Press Colorado wildlife officials on Wednesday urged anglers to avoid fishing along a stretch of the Colorado River because low flows during a historic drought in the U.S. West, critically warm water temperatures and sediment runoff from wildfire burn scars are all starving trout of oxygen. The move along a […]