A few times a week, I reach into the deep freezer for locally sourced beef, fish, or game meat. I’m grateful for the nourishment deer, elk, antelope, and wild fowl provide and for the hunter friends who donate the meat. One of several reasons I am voting for the is to protect the ability of these Colorado hunters and anglers to put meat on the supper table.

Colorado’s 300,000 hunters and 950,000 anglers don’t just provide sustenance for their families and friends; they benefit the state in other ways. In addition to providing $3.25 billion in economic impact and support for thousands of jobs, hunting and fishing fund wildlife conservation through licenses, tags, and taxes, and help the state manage wild animal populations.

Without management, game species are vulnerable to starvation and disease – nature’s way of population control. The initiative does not forbid the use of secondary management tools like relocation and birth control; it just ensures that hunting and fishing remain the preferred means of responsible management.

In fact, the initiative does not limit the authority of Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) or the General Assembly to regulate hunting and fishing “for sound scientific wildlife conservation and management, public safety, or to preserve the future of hunter and fishing opportunities for all species statewide.” They will continue to determine seasons, number of licenses and other licensing requirements and safety guidelines. Trespassing on private property or the hunting of non-game species, endangered species, or any species prohibited by federal law will still be illegal.

Colorado isn’t the only state considering adopting such an amendment at this time. The Oregon Attorney General began drafting a similar initiative after voters turned in the requisite number of signatures. Earlier this year, activists threatened to introduce a measure to criminalize hunting and fishing.

While activists have not threatened to directly eliminate fishing and hunting, groups representing sportsmen and women in Colorado are worried the CPW Commission, the governor-appointed citizen board that oversees the agency’s policies over parks and wildlife, could favor activists’ interests in the future over those of hunters and fishermen and women depending on who is appointed.

During the last session, a Colorado Senate committee refused to confirm two of the governor’s appointees to the sportsmen-designated seats because of such concerns. What will happen if the chamber doesn’t do its due diligence next time? A constitutional amendment is needed to ensure that Colorado fishermen and women and hunters continue to have a seat at the table.

Rick Enstrom, who served eight years on the CPW commission and three terms as chairman, told me he is concerned: “Generations of families that hunt and fish for enjoyment and sustenance have been backed into a corner by nameless, faceless political newcomers opposed to this traditional lifestyle.”

My friend is voting for the amendment not just to preserve the tradition of hunting and fishing for the future, but to maintain funding provided by hunters and anglers for conservation, and to ensure “wildlife in Colorado is properly managed by biologists and professionals.”

I will be joining him. Some of my fondest childhood memories with my dad are of hunting pheasant and fishing for trout. I, too, want to ensure the next generation will have the same opportunities. In the meantime, this amendment will protect me, even though I neither hunt or fish (I’m terrible at it), as I ditch factory farms for ethical and sustainable sources of sustenance.

Krista Kafer is a Sunday Denver Post columnist.

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The sewage is expected to reach the John Martin Reservoir State Park in Bent County on Monday morning, and Colorado Parks and Wildlife advised people to avoid swimming, wading, tubing, paddleboarding and fishing in the reservoir.

The sewage spill began Wednesday at Pueblo’s wastewater treatment plant, which is just east of Interstate 25. The spill, which happened when a patch on a wastewater pipe failed, was stopped on Thursday after it was discovered. Officials estimated 4.25 million gallons of raw sewage leaked into the Arkansas River before the pipe was fixed.

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment reported on Friday that dangerously high levels of bacteria, including E. coli, were detected in water samples taken from the river.

People and animals should avoid any contact with river water from where Fountain Creek enters the Arkansas River in Pueblo through John Martin Reservoir in Hasty, including Blende, Avondale, Fowler, Manzanola, Rocky Ford, La Junta and Las Animas.

Anyone who comes into contact with the river should immediately wash their hands and skin with soap and clean water; remove wet clothing and wash it separately; and contact a health care provider if they develop symptoms like diarrhea, vomiting, stomach cramps, fever or other illnesses.

The Colorado Department of Agriculture issued for contaminated irrigation water used by produce farmers downstream from Pueblo. Growers must ensure any water used on crops before, after or during a harvest is of “adequate quality,” the alert said. The Arkansas River provides water to farms and ranches between Pueblo and the state line in southeastern Colorado.

Colorado has notified the Kansas Department of Public Health and Environment so that the agency can warn its Arkansas River water users.

The sewage spill is happening at John Martin state park as the reservoir already has a bloom, according to a CPW news release. The blue-green algae is toxic and can cause skin rashes, respiratory ailments and gastrointestinal distress.

The reservoir was recently downgraded to a yellow caution level for algae-producing cyanobacteria and toxins. Regular testing continues.

Lake Hasty, a separate water body at the park, is closed to swimming, wading and other recreational activities because of the algae. That lake will not be affected by the sewage spill.

Monsoons were supposed to be heavy this year. As I looked down at the river in late August, clouds in the distance appeared almost monsoonal. Wisps of rain streamed out, but they evaporated before reaching the parched ground. It just about made me cry.

Below me, the North Fork of the Gunnison unceremoniously trickled into the Gunnison River at a place known as Pleasure Park, a weather-beaten outpost of civilization that����ap one of the last best-kept secrets in Colorado.

The Gunnison River starts high in the Elk Mountains and flows into Colorado’s largest body of water, Blue Mesa Reservoir, though currently it is only the second largest because of drought. Then it flows free through Black Canyon National Park, but only after most of its water gets diverted to irrigate farmland surrounding the towns of Delta and Montrose. The park is a gem, albeit one of the least visited in the nation. From above, there’s not much to do except walk to outlooks to stare at sheer, colorful rock walls on the other side and the thin ribbon of river 2,000 feet below.

The “Gunny” then flows through the remote yet accessible Gunnison Gorge Wilderness. In this thin crack of the earth, I’ve spent the past 12 summers working as a wilderness fly-fishing river guide.

Accessible is a relative term. The hearty few that run this remote wild river get to the water by hiking a rough 1.2-mile-long mule trail that drops steeply for almost 600 vertical feet. Even getting to the trailhead takes an hour and a half from the nearest town, and it����ap on a four-wheel-drive road that����ap been the death knell of many a low-clearance vehicle. Rocky on a good day, it can become impassable when wet.

For those with the dough, a mule packer can be hired to transport boat and gear to the river. Those with the youth, knees, and determination can backpack down rafts, frames, oars, fishing and camping gear. Even elite guests, including former presidents who book fly-fishing trips with commercial guide services, carry their personal gear down to the river.

World-class fishing is why anybody makes the effort: 14 miles of wilderness Gold Medal water, the action peaking in June when large hungry trout key in on an epic salmon-fly hatch.

This stretch of river may be navigable, but it features 18 named technical rapids, and any one of them can humble experienced river runners. Rapids called “Improvise,” “Boulder Garden,” and “Squeeze” can feel more like rock than water, and almost every rapid has ruined a trip at some point. The river is littered with rocks that also earned names because they have strong personalities: “Queen of Hearts,” “The Table and Tombstone,” and “Dicky Do.” Others carry the monikers of unlucky guides.

All these barriers have kept crowds at bay, though now there’s a new constraint — 90-to-100-degree temperatures for days on end. The Gorge can remain runnable in 14-foot rafts down to about 300 cubic feet per second, but even then it’s tight. Today it����ap running well below that, and the water is too warm for the fish. Most commercial trips have been canceled.

Looking upriver into the Gorge, I don’t see any boats fishing their way out of the wilderness, and it doesn’t take much to imagine the riverbed — a sad meander of dry cobbles bleached white, punctuated by stagnant pools full of belly-up trout.

This place, with its rugged remoteness, wild rapids and world-class trout fishing, has carved its way into my soul. I mourn for future generations who will probably know a much different river.

I feel bad for the salty guides out both trips and tips. I mourn too for the bugs that fattened the fish that paid my bills, for the mergansers, ring-tail cats and desert bighorn sheep. All need a river that����ap wet.

Jacob Richards is a contributor to Writers on the Range, an independent nonprofit dedicated to spurring lively conversation about the West. He is a writer about Western environmental issues and a sometime outdoor guide. He lives in Fruita in western Colorado.

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The attack happened around 8 p.m. on the when the man, who is in his 60s, was walking back to the parking lot after fishing near the confluence of the Platte rivers, Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials said in a news release.

The man was not carrying any fish when the bear, a “subadult” sow, knocked him to the ground and bit his legs. The attack continued for several minutes until the man’s friends were able to scare the bear away.

He was taken to the hospital with injuries that are not life-threatening, CPW spokesperson Kara Van Hoose said. The angler was still hospitalized as of Saturday morning.

State wildlife officers started searching for the bear alongside a team from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s , which also brought a dog team to track the bear’s scent.

Wildlife officials found and euthanized the bear early Saturday morning. The bear did not show signs of nursing and there were no cubs in the area, CPW said. State wildlife veterinarians will perform a necropsy on the animal.

This is the sixth bear attack so far in 2026, which is double the number of bear attacks in 2025, according to the agency.

Wildlife officials have reported nearly double the number of bear sightings and conflicts in Colorado so far this year as the animals roam closer to population areas in search of food during their “hyperphagia” phase, when bears eat up to 20,000 calories per day to prepare for hibernation.

“Historic drought has caused bear’s natural food sources to become scarce,” CPW said in a statement. “As food is harder to find, bears may act bolder to find calories, and trash should be secured and removed to discourage conflict between humans and bears.”

include recreating in groups, not leaving any trash or food scraps out, keeping dogs on leash so they can’t chase after bears, practicing bear-safe camping and carrying bear spray.

Anyone who sees a black bear should move away quietly. If spotted by a bear, people should slowly back away and not run, which could trigger a chase response. If the bear continues approaching, people should wave their arms and yell until it leaves and use bear spray if it continues to approach.

“If a black bear makes contact with you, do NOT play dead; fight back aggressively,” state officials said.

The fish in Sandpiper Pond, on the northeast side of the park, likely died from a lack of oxygen in the water, according to Nick Julian, a park administrator.

The pond is already pretty shallow, he said, and this year, low water levels and heat have made fish kills like this one more likely. Fish kills have happened before under similar conditions, especially in the park’s shallower ponds, he added.

Rangers cleaned up about a quarter of the fish, and birds feasted on the rest, according to a .

Park officials have decided they won’t stock ponds on the north side of the park this fall. Fish will instead be put in the park’s more full, healthy waters — like the Coot and Pintail ponds and Blue Heron Reservoir.

Fish kills can happen every summer, but drought conditions make them more likely. In July, channel after they died in a privately owned lake upstream.

The Upper Conejos River in southern Colorado was named the by Rightboat, an online marketplace for boats. The website ranked 10 places in the U.S. based on online search data, TripAdvisor reviews, publicly available tourism data, wildlife information, and geological data to determine which waterways offer plentiful natural beauty and few crowds. The less Google-searched and the less publicized on social media, the better.

Described as “a brilliant trout fishing destination in Colorado’s southern San Juan Mountains,” it took the top spot because it is so remote and requires a hike to reach the upper part of the river, which has several additional forks. Other , , “there are places to hike in and not see a soul for weeks.”

“You’ll find wild rainbow, brown, and brook trout in cold, fast-moving mountain water here, with the dramatic San Juan peaks rising above 14,000 feet on the horizon and elk grazing the meadows below,” Rightboat said.

Since July, the river has been under . People are discouraged from fishing between noon and midnight, when the water is at its warmest and fish become stressed, according to Colorado Parks and Wildlife. Anglers should use a handheld thermometer to test water conditions and move to cooler, higher-elevation waters once temperatures approach 71 degrees, the agency advises.

CPW maintains a spreadsheet of so locals can stay up to date with the latest conditions. If you’re itching to drop a line elsewhere in the U.S., Rightboat����ap top five includes the Conasauga River in Georgia, the Big Bend region of Florida, the Cranberry River in West Virginia, and the Eleven Point River in Missouri.

From his home a few hundred yards away, the past president of the saw the privately owned reservoir shrink into a patchwork of isolated pools as places that had held water earlier in the summer gradually became mud flats.

So he wasn’t exactly surprised when the lake’s fish began dying and floating through the inlet to Boyd Lake last weekend.

“The lake is essentially emptied,” he said. “And that����ap when the die-off really took hold.”

What followed was dramatic, but not entirely unexpected in a summer marked by prolonged heat and dwindling water supplies.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials estimate that thousands of fish died in Horseshoe before entering the channel, creating a startling — and increasingly unpleasant — scene that quickly spread across social media. Most of the dead fish were common carp, with smaller numbers of walleye, white bass, shad and catfish.

Because Horseshoe Lake is privately owned, CPW does not manage or stock its fishery and did not investigate the conditions that caused the die-off. The manages water levels within the irrigation system that connects Horseshoe and Boyd lakes. The ditch company could not immediately be reached for comment.

AJ Macdonald, president of the Horseshoe Lake homeowners association board, provided an email that he said was sent to residents within the HOA. The email said the board reached out for help in saving the fish population after learning that the irrigation company “intended to draw the lake to such a low level.”

After contacting the ditch company and Colorado Parks and Wildlife, and learning “saving our fish was not a high priority,” the board reached out to the fish farm that stocked Horseshoe Lake and came up with a plan to save the fish by relocating them and then restocking them the following year, according to the email. They applied for a permit from the state to do so legally.

“The owner of the fish farm was assured by the state that our permit would be approved last week and that they could start moving fish immediately,” according to the email. “No action has been taken as our permit has still not been issued. Unfortunately, now all our fish have died. “

CPW crews were able to salvage some fish that were still alive in the inlet and relocate them to another body of water that already contained carp. The remaining carcasses will largely be left in place.

The agency also emphasized that the fish did not die in Boyd Lake and that the lake’s existing fishery has not been affected.

“There’s just dead fish that flowed into the inlet,” CPW Public Information Officer Kara Van Hoose said. “There’s not a lot you can really do.”

Although the exact cause of the Horseshoe Lake fish kill has not been determined, experts say prolonged heat and shrinking water supplies have created conditions that make fish kills more likely across Colorado.

“The hotter the water is, the less oxygen it naturally holds, and, at the same time, the hotter the water is, the more oxygen fish use,” said Chris Myrick, a Colorado State University professor of fisheries and aquatic sciences. “So it����ap a double whammy.”

When a lake shrinks, fish can also become concentrated into a smaller volume of water, further increasing demand on a limited oxygen supply.

“You have a limited amount of water, limited amount of oxygen, fish that are using a lot of oxygen even when they’re resting,” Myrick said. “Then you just run out of oxygen.”

Myrick did not inspect Horseshoe Lake and cautioned that confirming the cause of a fish kill normally requires water-temperature and dissolved-oxygen measurements taken at the site. Investigators may also test for chemicals, toxic algae or other possible causes.

Still, he said the frequency of fish kills and emergency fish salvages around Colorado this summer is not surprising.

“I think this year it����ap been exacerbated by starting off with relatively low water levels in some of the reservoirs,” he said. “And then high temperatures just make it worse.”

The dead fish themselves are unlikely to pose a danger to Boyd Lake’s surviving fish or to wildlife, Myrick said. Unless a toxic substance caused the deaths, carcasses are commonly left in place, where scavengers consume them or they decompose and return nutrients to the ecosystem.

That natural process has not made the inlet a pleasant place to visit, according to Prater.

Dead fish have collected in the shallow water and along the exposed lakebed, where some remaining fish could still be seen swimming among the carcasses earlier this week. As decomposition set in, the piles produced an increasingly foul smell, Prater said.

They have also attracted an array of hungry birds, like herons and gulls, taking advantage of the abundant food.

“If you’re a birder, you’ll be able to see all kinds of them,” he said.

Prater also said he has noticed signs of stress among fish in local fishing spots and worries that additional lakes could become vulnerable if temperatures climb again.

“This might not be the end of it,” he said.

LIVINGSTON, Mont. — cool water to survive, but this summer has driven water temperatures to lethal levels for fish.

Wildlife officials are banning fishing during certain hours on rivers and streams across the U.S. West, following an and amid . Lower water levels mean rivers can heat more rapidly.

How severe drought is affecting Colorado, from record fishing restrictions to threatened power supplies

The restrictions aim to reduce stress on species including highly-prized trout. Anglers travel from around the world to find the fish in Yellowstone National Park or Western Montana’s Blackfoot River, featured in the movie “A River Runs Through It.”

More record temperatures are forecast this weekend as in the Southwest expands north into the Rocky Mountains and east across the High Plains.

On the Yellowstone River near Livingston, Montana, California resident Mike Wever waded into the swiftly-moving water Friday with a fly fishing rod in one hand. He dipped his free hand into the water.

“Not very cold,” said Wever, 62.

He lacked the customary waders that keep fly fishers warm. Instead, he wore shorts. Stepping carefully across a rocky side channel, Wever said he was OK with the decision to close stretches of the Yellowstone to fishing after 2 p.m. daily.

“It����ap great for us to have this resource,” he said. “But we have to manage it.”

Many trout anglers let their catch swim free after netting it. But temperature-stressed rainbow or cutthroat trout can die if they’re out of water even briefly for a commemorative photo, experts say.

Colorado has imposed restrictions this summer on 19 rivers totaling 635.5 miles (1023 kilometers), a situation state officials say is unprecedented.

Yellowstone on Wednesday expanded afternoon fishing restrictions to the whole park.

Also Wednesday, wildlife officials in neighboring to now cover 1,200 miles (1,931 kilometers) of rivers.

Closures “have become very common over the last decade plus, some might even say very routine from late June through early September,” said biologist Adam Strainer, administrator of the fisheries division at Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks.

That trend coincides with rising temperatures as human-caused climate change warms the planet and droughts become more frequent and severe. Yellowstone, for example, has restricted fishing due to high water temperatures during five of the past six years. That����ap much more often than in the past, according to park officials.

The consequences aren’t just ecological; trout fishing is closely entwined with the economy in many Rocky Mountain communities.

Dan Gigone, who runs Sweetwater Fly Shop along the Yellowstone River in Montana, says many visitors are pushing trips to the fall to avoid low and warm summer water flows.

“People are realizing August is a crapshoot here in terms of whether you’re going to be able to fish and how good the fishing will be,” Gigone said. “I’ve been here 22 years and this is the warmest stretch I remember.”

Warm water contains less oxygen, making it harder for fish to breathe. It also slows their growth.

Full reservoirs usually help buoy water levels during dry summers and low-water years, said Kirk Deeter with the conservation group Trout Unlimited. But many of those reservoirs .

In Steamboat Springs where Deeter lives, drought and warm waters in the mid 70s (23 C) killed a massive number of fish on the Yampa River. “That����ap a bad harbinger for the trout,” he said.

In 2016, wildlife officials closed 183 miles (295 kilometers) of the Yellowstone River to fishing, rafting and other activities to prevent tens of thousands of fish from spreading further in the low and warm water.

A study last year found “river heat waves” are increasingly happening in snow-dominated areas such as the northern U.S. and the Rockies, said Li Li, a professor in civil and environmental engineering at Pennsylvania State University and co-author of the study.

Climate change, she said, is changing the size and timing of the mountain snowpack, and that����ap contributing to river heat waves. The researchers also found more days when rivers were warm enough to stress cold-water species like bull trout.

Todd Tanner’s School of Trout in Bigfork, Montana, typically organizes fly-fishing classes from May to October in the northwest. But “the window for those trips seems to be growing narrower” as conditions get hotter, drier and more wildfire-prone, said Tanner, 65.

The school has shifted classes to avoid adverse conditions.

“I’ve been in Montana full time for the last 34 years,” he said. “This wasn’t something that we even thought about 30 years ago or 25 years ago.”

Pineda reported from Los Angeles.

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The woman, who has not been publicly identified, was reported missing on Monday in southern Colorado, according to a news release from Colorado Parks and Wildlife. Her family told law enforcement she had not been seen since Sunday evening, and state officials were alerted around noon.

Wildlife officers found her fishing pole and personal belongings on the north side of Lake Pueblo State Park, on a cliff near Yucca Flats Campground, and started to search the water below, the release stated.

The search was made difficult by the area’s boulders and steep cliffs, state wildlife officials said. Her body was found shortly after 5 p.m. Monday.

The woman’s identity and cause of death will be released by the Pueblo County Coroner’s Office.

“Our thoughts are with the victim’s family and friends during this incredibly difficult time,” Lake Pueblo State Park manager Joe Stadterman said in a statement. “We appreciate the professionalism and teamwork of our officers and our partner agencies who worked throughout the afternoon to bring this search and recovery operation to a respectful conclusion.”

Coloradans may have seen the little foam boards, imprinted with the word “FLYBRARY” in large font, near local trout fishing hotspots. The idea is similar to Little Free Library boxes that have popped up across the U.S. in recent years: If you have a fishing fly you’re willing to share, hook it to the board for the next hopeful to cast in a nearby river or lake.

Andrew Gilbert and Jamieson Craske, avid fly fishermen and co-hosts of the podcast, said the idea for communal lure boards came about accidentally in 2019, through their friends and fellow podcasters Larry Littrell and Carl Granger.

As the story goes, Littrell and Granger were going to fish Mosquito Lagoon in Florida and stopped by a gas station known as one of the last spots to fill up on boat gas. On this fortunate trip, there was a small piece of foam at one of the pumps with a fly attached to it, which inspired the duo to leave one of their own. The next time they returned, the fly had been replaced by a new one.

Littrell coined the term “flybrary,” and the men began promoting the concept on their podcast. Both the gas station and the Flybrary became somewhat fabled among Tailer Trash listeners who made it a must-stop destination on trips to the lagoon, Craske said. Soon enough, a company called Castaway Customs created templates that the general public could order and put near their favorite fishing hole. Some people even took the initiative to make their own.

“The cool thing, especially from a fly fishing perspective, because I’ve been in that boat, where you get to the river and you forgot your fly box. Maybe, luckily, the Flybrary would be there and could save your day. Maybe a good fly that was working on that part of the lagoon that day would be on the Flybrary, so you’d know what to throw and you’d replace that fly with something else,” Gilbert said. “So there’s a lot of practical use to it, but really it was the lore and building community around it.”

There’s no way to know for certain exactly how many Flybrarys exist — “More than 100, probably less than 1,000,” Craske guessed — though they have been sighted throughout the U.S. and from Canada to the African nation of Seychelles. They tend to be popular in trout fishing areas where fishers are more amenable to sharing both their gear and go-to fishing spots, Craske said.

“Along trout rivers I feel pretty confident, 9 times out of 10, if I’m going to a well-known public spot I’m going to find a Flybrary, which is always super cool to see,” he said.

The Tailer Trash Fly Fishing podcast crew used to keep a map of everywhere people in their listening community found one or sent videos of one being installed. But keeping track proved tricky as the movement became increasingly popular. They are now so well disseminated that Gilbert and Craske have seen them in use in the wild.

“I had just come back from a trip in Colorado. I ran into a guy who, while I was watching him, placed a fly on Flybrary. It’s just shocking all the corners and fishing destinations that have Flybrarys. It kind of blew my mind that people who probably didn’t know anything about the podcast were still putting Flybrarys there. It’s bigger than us,” Gilbert said.

Now, the Tailer Trash guys are working to relaunch the website to both inform fly fishing enthusiasts and to honor Littrell, who died in March of 2025 due to prostate cancer. They hope that spreading awareness of where Flybrarys are located will keep Littrell’s legacy alive and also remind outdoors people that there are likely friends nearby.

“If we’re going somewhere — Chicago or Wisconsin or California, wherever it is — there’s probably someone there who’s willing to go fishing with you and maybe show you around. And if you’re cool enough to participate in the Flybrary, you’re probably cool enough to go fishing with, too,” Gilbert said.

Keep up with the Flybrary Project on Instagram at .