The Green River: What We All Stand to Lose

I had the privilege of spending most of last week on the Green River, below Flaming Gorge Reservoir in Utah. I floated, fished, camped and took photos of what has to be one of the most beautiful trout rivers in the United States. The Sportsmen’s Conservation Project in conjunction with Trout Unlimited hired me to document the A, B and C sections of this river by floating for three days and camping for two nights with my good friend Arturo Almeida, fishing, and exploring all the way. What we viewed was nothing short of amazing.

We caught super healthy rainbow and brown trout. Saw bald eagles, osprey, hawks, river otters, moose, and deer. We watched amazing thunderstorms roll through the area, and were basically blown away by the diversity and beauty of these three sections. If you’ve never been–the Green below flaming gorge should be on your life list as an angler. It’s simply like no other trout stream I’ve ever seen.

Unfortunately the Green is under serious threat from a Colorado developer named Aaron Million that wants “to take 81 billion gallons of water each year out of the Green River and Flaming Gorge, and pump it 560 miles to the Front Range of Colorado. That’s 250,000 acre-feet per year. Initial construction costs for this project will exceed $7 billion, with annual operating costs totaling over $123 million.”

The negative impacts of this project could be enormous and potentially could affect local communities, fish and game habitats and taxpayers in three states. And for what? For one man to make a handsome profit so it’s easer for me to water my Kentucky blue grass that I shouldn’t have to begin with. That’s silly.

Enjoy this small sampling of images of the area. I’ll be showing more as the week(s) progress.

For more on the issues at hand and what can be done to help stop the proposal visit ourdamwater.org