From June 2-6, Living Rivers' Colorado Riverkeeper program, in conjunction with Holiday River Expeditions, honored the 50th Anniversary of the first Yampa/Green river trip organized to stop the inundation of Dinosaur National Monument from Echo Park Dam. It's purpose included drawing attention to the slow death of Dinosaur National Monument's river corridor due to the operations of Flaming Gorge Dam upstream.
This month the Riverkeeper program will return to the Green River. It will spend nine days in Desolation Canyon, the most remote wilderness- quality river corridor in the continental United States. Like those in Dinosaur National Monument, native fish in this stretch suffer from the impacts of Flaming Gorge Dam. This critical habitat is being ignored by federal researchers developing re-operation plans for the dam.
In October the program will undertake a 12-day science trip down the Colorado River through Grand Canyon National Park. Participants will assist researchers from Northern Arizona University in collecting data to evaluate how the food base of Grand Canyon's river ecosystem has changed due to the operation of Glen Canyon Dam. Federal scientists are considering ceasing financial support for such research, despite its vital role in understanding the steps needed to recover endangered fish species in the Grand Canyon National Park.
