Summer 2019 Newsletter

Yay for Colorado

There are champions among Colorado’s politicians who actually walk the talk when protecting our spectacular landscapes. In January 2019, Sen. Michael Bennet and Rep. Joe Neguse introduced the Colorado Outdoor Recreation & Economy (CORE) Act. If passed, the legislation will protect about 400,000 acres of public land across Colorado to support outdoor recreation opportunities and protect access to public lands for future generations. The bill will help maintain Colorado’s $62 billion outdoor recreation economy, including a half-million jobs and $10 billion in wages.

EcoFlight has worked with local Colorado communities for years to protect the landscapes included in this bill. The CORE Act was originally drafted and introduced in Congress as four separate pieces of legislation that were written in close coordination with Colorado counties, recreation groups, sportsmen, businesses and conservationists. EcoFlight has flown a large diverse cross section of policy-makers and stakeholders over areas included in the bill, such as the Thompson Divide, San Juan Mountains, Camp Hale and Colorado's Continental Divide. EcoFlight will continue providing the incomparable aerial perspective to increase outreach, until the CORE Act is passed by Congress.

The Verde has an impressive fan base

The Verde River is an environmental and cultural gem in arid Arizona. Its verdant valley winds through spectacular landscapes, and is critically important to multiple communities who live in its watershed. It is one of Arizona’s few remaining flowing rivers. EcoFlight is excited to become part of a growing coalition of groups working on this watershed. Overflights with The Nature Conservancy and Friends of the Verde highlighted unregulated development in the upper reaches of the river, and also highlighted why this stretch of the river is eligible for wild and scenic. Flights around Camp Verde with the Yavapai-Apache looked at riparian restoration work, agricultural needs and the importance of sustaining flows, and flights with IMBA looked at their work on the implementation of a trail system that is a win for the environment, recreation and the Verde River.

Partner Spotlight: Deon Ben

EcoFlight is excited to welcome a new member to our Board of Directors, Deon Ben. Deon grew up in the community of Tohatchi, New Mexico and is a member of the Navajo Nation. Growing up on Navajo land, Deon experienced the perfect mesh of traditional knowledge and environmental education, which led him toward his graduate work focusing on incorporating traditional ecological knowledge to address animal husbandry and grazing within tribal communities that are facing climate challenges. Deon currently resides in Flagstaff, AZ and serves as the Native American Program Director for the Grand Canyon Trust. Deon grew up on the Navajo Nation raising livestock and participating in family ceremonies and community events. Deon is excited to participate in EcoFlight’s vision of ensuring that truly diverse stakeholders are represented in all landscape decisions, and especially on the Colorado Plateau.

Cell Phone Batteries vs Desert Tortoise

An Australian firm is proposing to drill lithium brine exploratory wells in the Panamint Valley in southern California and this could lead to a full-scale lithium mining operation. Overflights with Center for Biological Diversity highlighted how industrial-scale development would impact this fragile ecosystem, that is as deep as Death Valley and even more narrow, and provides critical habitat to Nelson's bighorn sheep, desert tortoise and many native plant and animal species. As lithium becomes a bigger part of renewable energy and battery technology there will be an increased push to mine and develop the mineral. While lithium plays an important role in our transition from fossil fuels, it is still paramount to be responsible, and fully assess the impacts of the proposed mine under existing land management plans and environmental laws, and to understand the implications of full-scale mining in the area and impacts to scarce water resources.

Largest Dam Removal in US History Going Forward

Last fall, EcoFlight flew the Yurok tribe, Trout Unlimited, Klamath River Renewal Corporation and local press to get the big picture view over Klamath River and its tributaries, the Wood, Sprague, Scott and Shasta, on the border of California and Oregon. The removal of the Klamath dams and related reservoir restoration is the first crucial step to recover and sustain healthy fish populations and improve water quality on the Klamath.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission must approve the transfer of the hydroelectric

dam licenses from PacifiCorp to KRRC as well as KRRC's plans to remove the

dams. The FERC process is still underway, as are other regulatory approval

processes for dam removal. Depending on the timing of these approvals,

KRRC anticipates beginning site preparation in mid-2020, with dam removal and

restoration activities commencing in 2021 and extending into 2022 or 2023. EcoFlight will be flying this issue for the tribes and KRRC again in late July.

President's Letter

It’s springtime in the Rockies or at least it is supposed to be.

When you read this newsletter we are immersed in almost every front of conservation work. These short articles are a sampling of our current work on air and water, energy, planning and development, wilderness and wildlands, wildlife issues, tribal work on landscapes, and always the dire consequences of our changing climate.

We are in the midst of a subtle and sometimes not so subtle assault on our environment. A policy of energy dominance that trumps all other uses of our landscapes prevails, and our ability to participate in decisions on our public lands is being diminished and in some cases eradicated.

And hovering above all our considerations and discussed on all our flights, whatever the issue, is climate change. We have felt the effects of these dramatic storm cycles very personally with massive avalanches in Colorado, and recently, climbing up Elk Mountain Peaks in what is supposed to be Springtime, we were consistently knocked down by almost 60 mph winds.

It is with great pride that EcoFlight has been able to accomplish so much flying already in 2019, weaving around the weather, and rallying as many people as we can 'touch' to understand the urgent need to act on behalf of our planet.

It will take a concerted effort to have our voices heard loud and clear. You can be sure we will be watching and reaching out far and wide from 12,000 ft. up in the air.