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fn,~ 4,1%1.~YeI,C(;lo RfA:I:,,,...1.IIl~f't.,.;-'21 . .. Lamm -wants t)aii;; on building dams on Cache la Poudre By PETER BLAKE Rocky Mounlain News Stall Writer The upper reaches of the Cache 1.1 Poudrc. the last free-flowing river along Colorado's Front Range, should be kept dam-free by being designated a wild and scenic river, Gov, Richard 0_ Lamm told the U.S. Forest Service Thursday. His recommendation will bt> in. c1uded in the final Forest Service report to the Agriculture Depart. ment and Congress, which finally dl,termincs if a river gets the desig. nation. The Poudre "provides white wa- ter rafting and kayaking, camping and picnicking, superb trout fishing, hiking and cross-eountry skiing and excellent hunting," said the gover- nor in a letter to Regional Forester Craig W. Rupp. Lamm said he disagreed with the Forest Service's report, which rec- ommends that portions of the river flowing through pri\'ate land be ex- cluded from designation. Such exclusions are inconsistent wilh the purposes of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act and may operate to the detriment of the landowners, wrote Lamm. They are afraid of condemnation, which is legally possible but unlike- ly, said Lamm. He suggested that lhfort" may be a ne-cd to condemn righL.;...of-way for a few access trails or development rights for S('cnic purposes, but that is better than being "overrun by unregulated tres- passers" on undesignated areas. Property owners "deserve and .....ould receive protection for their rights if the river running through their property were designated and managed so as to channel public users around their land," Lamm said. Eight possible dam sites along the Poudre have bet.>n evaluated by the Colorado Water Conservation Boord, Lamm said. All were techno- logically feasible, but none was deemed economically justifiable_ "11 appears that water needs in the area are being adequately met and will be in the fort.'Seeable fu- ture," the governor said. In recommending that the enUre 74-mile upper stretch of the main Poudre be -designated a wild rh'er, Lamm said that Fort Collins owns land and water rights along lhe South Fork that it mav want to turn into a reservoir someday. If that is the case, the state wouldn't object to excluding the site from designation, the governor said Once it reaches the Plains, the Poudre flows through Fort Collins and north of Greeley bt>fore joining the South Platte. The Fort Collins City Council ear. lier this week endol"St"d Lhe designa- tion. 0363