creating environmental improvements through biodiversity

The Place: Clear Creek begins high in the Rocky Mountains, near the Loveland Basin in Colorado. Melting
winter snows descend from heights in excess of 14,000 feet above sea level to Denver and, ultimately, the
Gulf of Mexico. Clear Creek is like many headwater streams in the Western United States, where 40% of the
waters do not meet water quality standards due to metals pollution. For millennia this stream provided a
robust habitat for fish, including Colorado’s signature fish, the Greenback Cutthroat Trout.
The Problem: Beginning in the mid-nineteenth century, mining for precious metals, including placer
mining, contaminated the stream with toxic metals that ultimately led to the area around Idaho Springs and
Blackhawk, Colorado, being declared a Superfund site under the Comprehensive Environmental Response,
Compensation, and Liability Act. The area of specific interest is near the town of Golden called The Golden
Mile, which has been affected by sedimentation, channelization, bank erosion, and the chemical effects of
mining. Consequently, this segment lacks the diversity in depth, cover, bottom and edge strata, plant life and
sinuosity necessary to support a substantial fishery.
The Partners: For several years the West Denver Chapter of Trout Unlimited has been an active
participant in a number of community-based initiatives dealing with impacts to Clear Creek, the Upper Clear
Creek Watershed Association and the Clear Creek Foundation. Partners in the Clear Creek Watershed
effort include all local communities; major industries, including the Henderson Mine, Loveland Ski Area
and Coors Brewing Company; county governments; state agencies, including the Water Quality Control
Division, the Division of Minerals and Geology, the Department of Transportation, the Division of Wildlife,
the Department of Local Affairs and the Colorado School of Mines; and federal agencies, including EPA, U.S.
Forest Service, U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Army Corps of Engineers and the
Bureau of Land Management
The Price: The total estimated cost for the stream restorations is $204,273, with funds from the Fishing
is Fun grant programme accounting for $74,000. Industry donation is estimated at $26,000, while cash
donations total $72,515 from the City of Golden, West Denver Chapter of Trout Unlimited and privatesector
donors. In-kind volunteer time equates to $31,750.
Primary Points: This project was initiated by a local chapter with technical assistance from the staff of Trout
Unlimited. The roles of the partners have included funding, political support, focus and direction. This is just
the first step in a long-term effort to restore the entire watershed in cooperation with various stakeholders.
Sustainable Aggregates Creating Environmental Improvements through Biodiversity
Resources Available
Trout Unlimited has pulled together different kinds of financial and in-kind support for each project within
the initiative through partnership with a wide range of sectors and organizations. Each project uses a
combination of different resources from different partners that includes private landowners, local land users,
mining and related industries, conservation organizations, local/state/federal agencies and Trout Unlimited
chapters.
In 2004, Trout Unlimited members volunteered approximately 425,000 hours on local projects across the
country.
Legislative/Policy Framework
Limiting liability for groups doing abandoned mine cleanup is critical in securing their involvement in
expanding cleanup operations from public to private lands. Federal legislation is a major barrier to abandoned
mine restoration in this region. Organizations wanting to get involved can be discouraged by laws that would
hold them responsible should they accidentally cause more pollution in their cleanup efforts. Under federal
law, anyone who takes over a polluted site must assume the financial and legal burden of cleaning up the
entire problem. Liability for potential harm caused by disturbing mine tailings is considered to be a major
limiting factor for managing multi-stakeholder partnerships. Legislation is needed that would limit the liability
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