Citizen's Guide to Colorado's Environmental Era

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that 83 miles of the Poudre be designated as either wild or recreational. This included most of the mainstem of the river from its source in Rocky Mountain National Park to the canyon mouth along with the South Fork of the river near Fort Collins. The report received a mixed reaction. Support came from the environmental com- munity; opposition came from the water management community that wanted further study of potential reservoir sites. The Colorado Mountain Club, Audubon Society and a newly formed local group, Preserve Our Poudre, all wrote letters in support of the draft proposal. The water management com- munity talked of possible court action. Its concerns centered on the potential for the Wild and Scenic designation to preclude any and all storage sites from future development. One of the Poudre's old- est and most well established irrigation companies, the Water Supply and Storage Company, responded to the USFS, "...the study seems superficial and the recom- mendations totally contrary to the best interests of the people of the state." The Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District (NCWCD) asked the USFS to defer a decision on 30 miles of the proposed designation until after a basin -wide water resource development study could be completed. Taking these comments into consid- eration, the USFS studied five alternative designation combinations as it prepared to issue a final Environmental Impact Statement. Its final recommendation, issued in 1983, included 62 miles for designation, or 21 miles less than the draft report had proposed. The USFS had listened to water management input and excluded the proposed Idylwilde, Rockwell and Grey Mountain reservoir sites from its final recommendation. Idylwilde was a mainstem reservoir to be located upstream of the confluence with the South Fork. Grey Mountain was a mainstem reservoir proposed in the lower 7.5 miles of the canyon. The Rockwell site on the South Fork was to be a joint effort between the cities of Greeley and Fort Collins. After the USFS recommendation, Colorado Governor Dick Lamm surprised many when he came out in favor of des- ignating the entire upper Poudre, 12 miles more than the USFS proposal. With battle lines drawn, a Wild and Scenic designation was no sure thing. Into the fray stepped newly elected Congressman Hank Brown. A well- respected former state legislator from Greeley, Brown was familiar with the Poudre and knew most of the key interests on a personal basis. To those who he was a stranger, he soon made acquaintances. held out. Brown brought a smaller citizen's group together with the task of crafting a bill that would pass Congress. With Brown's guidance and forceful personality, the group eventually negotiated a compro- mise acceptable to all parties. This compromise would have desig- nated 70 miles of the river as Wild or Scenic and exempted from designation and permit review a couple of possible storage projects as long as fish bypasses were made. It also included protective language exempting present water development from impacts associated with Wild or Scenic designation. However, Brown's first attempt failed after national environmental groups object- ed. The bill never made it out of committee. Yet Brown per- severed, once again asking a small local group to help write the legislation. After months of negotiations, the group forwarded its compromise bill to Congressman Brown. It proposed designating 75 miles of the Poudre as Wild or Scenic, leaving undesignated the lower 7.5 miles above the canyon mouth. Water managers gave up reservoir sites upstream at Idylwilde and Indian Meadows, rendering those projects unbuild- able. Environmentalists agreed that a reservoir site below Poudre Park and the Rockwell site on the South Fork would be left undesignated and open to possible future development. Brown spoke eloquently before the House Subcommittee on Interior and Insular Affairs about the Poudre's treasures and that it stood to become Colorado's first Wild and Scenic River. He added that the bill reflected the joint recommendations of the region's conservation and water supply interests. Brown must have been convincing. President Ronald Reagan signed Public Law 99 -590 making the Cache la Poudre Colorado's first Wild and Scenic River in October 1986. Northern Colorado water management interests and environmen- talists had supported and helped pass legislation protecting 90 percent of one of Colorado's most beautiful river canyons for all time, while leaving a small stretch open for potential future development. Former Colorado Governor Dick Lamm surprised many when he came out in favor of designating the entire Upper Poudre as a Wild and Scenic River This was some 92 miles more than the USFS recommendation. Brown went to work immediately. He had a strong desire to see the Poudre become Colorado's first Wild and Scenic River, and he was willing to compro- mise. He was also in a position to bring the water management and environmental communities together. In November 1983, Brown invited 11 local and vocal members of key water management, environmental and governmental agencies to a meeting. From that meeting, he created a Citizen's Advisory Panel charged with reviewing the USFS recommendations and advising him on a course of action. Brown sought a compromise that would allow for designation and still leave critical storage sites open for development. And he knew he needed broad local support. Public meetings in Fort Collins indicated that the majority of residents supported designation, yet a few key interests still 22 1 COLORADO FOUNDATION FOR WATER EDUCATION