Southwest Colorado Forests, Communities Get Boost From New Collaborative Initiative
Dolores Watershed Forest
The Rocky Mountain Restoration Initiative
An unprecedented gathering of Colorado’s land managers, natural resource partners, utility providers and nonprofit organizations have selected Southwest Colorado to be the focus of a new effort to increase the resilience of Colorado’s forests and communities.
A diverse group of 30 organizations have joined forces as the “Rocky Mountain Restoration Initiative” to explore places where they can pool resources to make transformational differences in protecting the things Coloradans value most: recreation opportunities, water resources, communities, forests and wildlife habitats.
The group unanimously selected the Southwest Colorado Project, which encompasses nearly 750,000 acres along Colo. Highway 160, including the towns of Cortez, Dolores, Mancos, Durango and portions of the San Juan National Forest.
“This project really stood out to us because it’s in a place where we can move the needle quickly,” said Cindy Dozier, Board Chair of Club 20, a non-partisan coalition advocating for Colorado’s West Slope. “Collaborations already exist on the ground to get work done on a large scale; also, there is an existing wood-products industry and social license to utilize all tools, including prescribed fire.”
The Rocky Mountain Restoration Initiative was born when Colorado was selected as a pilot location by the National Wild Turkey Federation and the USDA Forest Service to showcase the USDA’s Shared Stewardship Strategy — a national effort to plan and implement work across public and private lands. In July, the newly formed Initiative, representing interests from across Colorado, chose three priority areas — southwest Colorado, the central Front Range, and the I-70 corridor.
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Western States Cutting Back on Water Use from the Colorado River
U.S. Interior Secretary David Bernhardt speaks to reporters Friday, Dec. 13, 2019, after addressing water managers from seven Western U.S. states at a Colorado River Water Users Association conference in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ken Ritter)
By The Associated Press
States in the U.S. West that have agreed to begin taking less water next month from the drought-stricken Colorado River got praise and a push for more action Thursday from the nation’s top water official.
Federal water managers are starting now to review how a crucial share-the-shortage agreement has worked for seven states that rely on the Colorado River, instead of waiting until the end of next year. U.S. Interior Secretary David Bernhardt said Friday in Las Vegas he wants a report in time for a deadline set in a key operational guidelines document signed in 2007 that established a schedule of water cutbacks to states if surface levels continue to fall at the crucial Lake Mead and Lake Powell reservoirs.
U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Brenda Burman told federal, state and local water managers that abiding by the promises they made will be crucial to ensuring that more painful cuts aren’t required.
The river supplies 40 million people in Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming as well as a $5 billion-a-year agricultural industry.
“We need to be proud of what we’ve done,” Burman told hundreds at the annual Colorado River Water Users Association conference at a Las Vegas Strip resort, while also warning of “tougher challenges in the future.”
Arizona, Nevada and Mexico will start taking less water from the river Jan. 1 under a drought contingency agreement signed in May. It followed lengthy negotiations and multiple warnings from Burman that if the seven states didn’t reach a deal, the federal government, which controls the levers on the river, could impose severe water restrictions.
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The WIP lending library has more than 200 water-related books and videos available for checkout. Stop by the office to find a book or DVD of interest to you to check out for free!
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