Rocky Mountain Dinosaur Resource Center

From the Education Desk

June is National Rivers Month and our rivers are truly national treasures, offering recreation, wildlife viewing, ecosystem study and peaceful contemplation. They are also a necessary source of water for many of our communities. This is a month to enjoy all of the great things rivers bring to our lives. Get more involved with your local rivers and see how you can help keep these national treasures clean and well maintained.

You can listen to a river and appreciate its sounds, its colors and how it moves. Rivers nurture plants, animals and people. You can walk along a river, sit by it, play or wade in it. It can carry you through deep jungles, dense forests, canyons and deserts. Often starting from a small spring, rivers gather strength as they make their journey to the lower land masses. They change the landscape as they carve out valleys and canyons and they build land where none had been before. Some have falls and rapids and others run through marshy swamps and they all serve as a concentration of life forms.

The Yampa River, in northwestern Colorado, has a bit of everything for everybody. It flows through Steamboat Springs, where you can rent a variety of floating devices and take in the simple but fun swells of the river. Towards Pagosa Springs, flows the Upper San Juan. Mesa Canyon is great for boaters who are really starting to get a feel for the water. High water can mean class III rapids so take your abilities into consideration. The Arkansas is one of Colorado’s most popular rivers. The whitewater can range from great to absolutely breathtaking! The float between Canon City and Pueblo Reservoir is ideal for families. All the way south, near the border with New Mexico, is the Rio Grande. Like many of the rivers in Colorado, this one can either thrill you or soothe you, and there’s almost always good fishing.

According to the World Commission on Water for the 21^st Century, half of the world’s major rivers are polluted or drying up. The Colorado River has been so misused by large-scale agricultural that the ecosystems it once supported are severely threatened. Millions of tons of trash end up in our nation’s rivers and streams every year. The National River Cleanup is now a year long event and was started by America Outdoors in 1991. More than 600,000 volunteers have participated in thousands of cleanups across the country, covering more than 100,000 miles of waterways.

The National Organization for Rivers (NORS) feels that we should take only what we need, without destroying the balance of nature. We should be able to take enough water for efficient irrigation to water the crops we need, while still leaving enough water in the river for the fish, the flora and fauna that surrounds the river, and for human recreation. We should be able to make enough electricity to satisfy our needs without destroying the river and the natural habitats that depend on it.

So, get your tackle box, haul out the canoe, grab a paddle and join millions of Americans participating in river trips, festivals, boat races, and other events celebrating the gifts of rivers!

Happy Summer!

Regards,
Geri LeBold
Education Director
geri@rmdrc.com