ACTION ALERTS | Boulder Rights of Nature

The Endangered Species Act (ESA) is a 40 year law that has saved species like the Bald Eagle and the Grizzly Bear from extinction. House Republicans have been attacking the law for years, and they’re back in 2015 with plans to weaken the ESA even more. The Senate Committee on the Environment is also considering several bills that could all but destroy our ability to protect species. One of the bills would even require the Department of the Interior to value the short-term profits of Big Oil companies more than keeping an entire species alive.

Under pressure from both branches of Congress, and the wealthiest corporations in the world, even President Obama recently announced plans to “seriously overhaul the law.” One of those overhauls would require a citizen or conservation group to get approval from State wildlife agencies before petitioning the ESA to protect a species.

WOULD YOU LIKE TO GIVE BACK AND HELP RESTORE THE LANDS YOU LOVE?

The newly formed non-profit, Synergy Ecological Restoration, announces its 2015 schedule of volunteer trainings and projects. There is a tremendous gap between the disturbed lands in need of restoration and the capacity to restore those lands. This is where your dedication to ecological restoration becomes invaluable.

Led by seasoned Synergy staff and experienced instructors, topics will include ecological restoration, willow restoration skills, seed collection, sowing native seeds, and erosion control. Trained volunteers will be mentored during future ecological restoration projects, and are provided opportunities to lead volunteer crews on important post-flood restoration projects.

For a full list of training dates and topics, visit www.synergy3.org.

Synergy’s volunteer projects will include collecting native seeds and cuttings for use in future habitat restoration and the maintenance of our Native Seed Farm in Weld County. Project dates will occur at least twice a month throughout the summer, in Boulder, Weld, and Larimer Counties. No experience is necessary for training programs or projects, and the minimum age is 14. Our first project will be June 20th at the Native Seed Farm.

If your company would like to engage your staff in a tailor-made volunteer project, let us know. Synergy would be happy to craft a fun staff project for you. For a full list of volunteer trainings and projects, and to register, please visit www.synergy3.org or contact Erica Cooper at

KICK KING COAL OFF OUR COLORADO PUBLIC LAND

The Obama administration needs to be told to “walk the talk”. Click here to take action and get more information.

The Obama administration says it wants to fight climate change, but it keeps opening our public lands to more brutal fossil fuel extraction. Obama’s Forest Service wants to sacrifice a beautiful Colorado roadless area to coal mining. The Forest Service has proposed to strip away roadless-area protections across 19,000 acres of pristine backcountry in western Colorado — all to let a St. Louis-based company mine 350 million tons of coal. It’d destroy some of our last, best natural areas and wildlife habitat — and open the door to a half-billion tons of carbon dioxide pollution we can’t afford.

COLORADO PARKS & WILDLIFE 2015 STRATEGIC PLAN PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD DEADLINE APRIL 3

The public is invited to submit comments by April 3 concerning the future of Colorado’s state parks system, wildlife populations and opportunities for outdoor recreation, education and stewardship.

Let CPW know how you would like the agency to prioritize these issues at their online public comment form.

If you plan to submit a comment to CPW, perhaps include the suggestion of re-introduction of extirpated species such as wolves to the State of Colorado.

For questions email them at: or call 303-869-1350

More information:

According to the 2010 census, approximately 5 million people live in Colorado.

Colorado’s population is expected to increase to 7.75 million in 2040, which is only 25 years from now, a relatively short time.

This means a lot of land will be eaten up for urban development to accommodate population growth.

As shown on the fact sheet, only 1% of total CPW expenditures is for land and water acquisition. Perhaps CPW should increase its total allocation for land acquisition, including land for wildlife habitat?

For the CPW 2015 Fact Sheet click on http://cpw.state.co.us/Documents/About/Reports/StatewideFactSheet.pdf

Strategic Planning Process and Timeline

2010 Colorado State Parks Strategic Plan (5MB)

Final 2014 Path Forward strategic plan and merger report (6MB)

CITY OF BOULDER NORTH TRAIL STUDY AREA PLAN

Starting in April 2015 the City of Boulder’s Open Space & Mountain Parks (OSMP) will kick off its development of the North Trail Study Area (TSA) Plan with a series of public workshops and online opportunities to gather input from the community.

BRON will be primarily interested in “conserving the area’s diverse natural” … resources.

You may learn more about this plan by signing up for updates or by visiting NorthTSA.org. VIDEO: Learn more about the lands in the North Trail Study Area.

From Steve Armand, Environmental Planner, OSMP.

STOP THE GROSS DAM EXPANSION

The Environmental Group (http://tegcolorado.org/), a Coal Creek Canyon based 501c3, is leading the action to stop the Gross Dam expansion.

TEG our comment (104 pages) and a BRON board member submitted public comment responses before the deadline to the Army Corps Final Environmental Impact Statement. TEG raised many challengeable issues, the top ten of which are posted here.

The Army Corps plans to release its Record of Decision (ROD) for the project this June. TEG intends to file a lawsuit in federal court challenging their decision (assuming they approve the project’s permit) shortly thereafter. To do so, they must have legal representation. Former Western Resource Advocates attorney Mike Chiropolos and his associates have stepped forward to serve as council, provided we can raise the necessary funding. Mr. Chiropolos and his colleagues believe this is a crucial case for the future of water in Colorado and the Colorado River as a whole!

ST VRAIN GREENWAY DEVELOPMENT PLAN MARCH 24, 2015

Learn about the St. Vrain Greenway Development Plan in Longmont and the impact it will have on natural habitat, wildlife and the health of the St. Vrain!

The latest version of the St. Vrain Blueprint went to council for review March 24.

You can find the updated Blueprint here: http://www.stvrainblueprint.com/ The redevelopment areas are in Chapter 5.

The zoning of this area is presently Mixed Industrial (MI) with a maximum building height of 45 feet. The 4 story buildings near the St. Vrain Greenway will remain in the updated Blueprint. If your preference is that overall density and redevelopment patterns on properties along the St. Vrain Creek be limited — please contact city officials with your comments and questions.

Send your comments to Brad Schol and copy Kim Shugar, Dan Wolford, Sarah Levison, and Polly Christensen. Write: ST. VRAIN BLUEPRINT COMMENTS in the subject line.

The City of Longmont has initiated design work on the St. Vrain Creek Improvement Project. This project includes flood recovery and improvements to the St. Vrain Creek channel from approximately Airport Road to Boulder Creek.

In coordination with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the City intends to prepare an environmental assessment (EA) for the proposed project.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact any of the following City staff members that are involved with the project:

Nick Wolfrum, Engineering Services Manager | Public Works & Natural Resources
, 303-651-8307

Kim Shugar, Natural Resources Manager | Public Works & Natural Resources
, 303-651-8992

Brad Schol, Special Projects Manager | City Manager’s Office
, 303-651-8319

Dan Wolford:

Council member Sarah Levison:

Council member Polly Christensen:

The St. Vrain Blueprint is the economic development plan for Longmont. It will entail widening the creek channel to contain a 100 year flood, including expanding the bridges.

The hope is that the plan can be balanced to give equal consideration to potential environmental and social impacts along with proposed economic benefits. For instance, the required 150 foot setback that is currently in place may be scrapped.

BRON’s interest is in speaking on behalf of the voiceless wildlife and the river ecosystem that sustains them.

SAVE 1 OF THE LARGEST PRAIRIE DOG COLONIES ON THE FRONT RANGE

The Promenade: the ‘Biggest Mall in the Nation’ is slated to destroy one of the largest prairie dog colonies on Colorado’s Front Range.

It is important that you take a moment to make a personal appeal to the Planning Department in Castle Rock and to the Developer. Their contact information is:

Planning Department in Castle Rock – Heather Lamboy- 720-733-2203

Alberta Development LLC, Nicole C. Haselden, 5750 DTC Parkway, Suite 210, Greenwood Village, CO 80111 Office: 303-771-4004 Email:

The new mall is located in Douglas County and is going to cover 200 acres in concrete. Unfortunately, over 100 acres of prairie dogs live here in 3,000 to 8,000 burrows. There are no laws in place to require developers to move these animals. This is problematic for many reasons, a major one being that more than 99% (from their historical numbers) of prairie dogs have already been exterminated in the name of development.

Colorado has not listed prairie dogs as endangered. However Burrowing Owls are a threatened species in Colorado.

Their chosen method of poison, aluminum phosphide is inhumane. One of BRON’s members has contacted Colorado Parks & Wildlife spokesperson Jennifer Churchill regarding this method which causes an extended cruel and painful death.

Also a group of 5 volunteers are prepared to visit the sites to locate Burrowing Owls which arrive the end of March.

You can read more about this situation by viewing the following article:

http://colorado.deepgreenresistance.org/2015/01

You can also get a glimpse of the prairie dogs by watching this 8 minute video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbPOaHBP5Bs

You can contact us at:

720-722-1691

WESTERN RIVERS ACTION NETWORK (WRAN)

See Audubon of the Rockies page for all information on the COLORADO WATER PLAN. Click here to sign up and find out. What can we do?

END KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE

Help us put an end to the KXL fight once and for all: Write to President Obama now!

TELL the Obama Administration to Protect Pollinators

Very soon the Obama Administration will likely announce a plan to protect bees. The plan must address toxic pesticides made by chemical companies like Bayer and Syngenta.

Almost 4 million Americans have already signed petitions urging President Obama to protect bees from these pesticides.

Bees are responsible for one in three bites of food we eat

Sign the petition now! Urge President Obama to ban bee-killing pesticides!

TELL THE EPA TO GET POISONOUS LEAD OUT OF ALL HUNTING BULLETS

CLICK ON THIS LIVE GREEN LINK to write a letter through the Center for Biological Diversity to tell the EPA to get poisonous lead out of hunting ammo. http://org.salsalabs.com/o/2167/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=14477 We’ve gotten lead out of gasoline and paint. It’s time to get the lead out of hunting ammunition. Every year, millions of animals — including endangered condors and bald eagles — are poisoned when they eat spent lead shot or lead fragments from lead ammunition that’s been used to kill wild game. More than 130 species of wildlife are being needlessly poisoned and killed. Hunters and their families are also put at risk if they eat game shot with lead ammunition. It’s time for the Environmental Protection Agency to take action. The EPA can address these preventable deaths through the Toxic Substances Control Act, a well-established and time-tested federal law aimed at limiting exposure to dangerous substances like lead. This landmark law can be used to phase out toxic lead ammunition. Effective, nontoxic bullets and shot are widely available and in many cases are now comparable in price to lead — there’s simply no reason to continue to use toxic ammo for hunting when it ends up in the food chain. The NRA has been fighting common-sense measures to protect wildlife from lead ammunition. But, if we’re going to save birds and other animals from lead poisoning, we must set aside politics and do what’s right for America’s wildlife.

SAVE MONARCH BUTTERFLIES

CLICK ON THIS LIVE GREEN LINK to write a letter through the Center for Biological Diversity to get Monarch Butterflies listed as an endangered species: http://org.salsalabs.com/o/2167/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=16354 Monarch butterflies urgently need your help. This iconic, orange-and-black beauty was once common in backyards across the country — but its population has plummeted by 90 percent from the 20-year average. Monarchs must have Endangered Species Act protection to save their habitat from further destruction. These delicate creatures weigh less than a gram, but every year they travel thousands of miles — from Canada down to Mexico — in an incredible, multigenerational migration. Generations of schoolchildren have learned about metamorphosis by watching monarch caterpillars transform into butterflies. But the milkweed that monarchs depend on for survival is now being wiped out by genetically engineered, herbicide-resistant crops, as well as pesticides, human development and climate change.

DON’T SUPPRESS CLIMATE SCIENCE

CLICK ON THIS LIVE GREEN LINK to write a letter through the Center for Biological Diversity asking Congress and the President to not suppress the science of climate change. http://org.salsalabs.com/o/2167/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=16162

The U.S. House of Representatives approved the military’s new budget — but included an amendment requiring the Department of Defense to completely ignore climate science. Military experts recently deemed climate change a national security threat, and the Pentagon is starting to work toward addressing the crisis. If climate deniers get their way, this amendment could undermine those efforts.