Western Rivers Conservancy is expanding its geographic focus to the Colorado Plateau, a region of rock-carving rivers that spans the Four Corners states.

The Colorado River and its tributaries – the White, Green, San Juan, Gunnison and many others – have sculpted one of the most famous and colorful landscapes in the world. Though many of these rivers are dammed and diverted, they are the lifeblood of the region’s ecosystems and people, providing world-class recreation opportunities and supporting rare plants and animals that live in this semi-arid and desert geographic province.

Western Rivers Conservancy’s first priority is the Gunnison, Colorado’s second largest river. We have committed to purchase 131 acres along the lower stretch of the Gunnison for inclusion into the Bangs Canyon Special Management Recreation Area (SMRA).

This lower stretch of the river, which sweeps past rocky bluffs, desert slopes, and riparian thickets of cottonwood, is one of few places where the four species of Colorado Basin warm-water fish still survive: Colorado pikeminnow, humpback chub, bonytail chub and razorback sucker. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has designated this reach of the Gunnison as critical habitat for these species.

Conserving this land and several other nearby properties will also enhance recreational access adjacent to the BLM’s Bangs Canyon SMRA, which provides backcountry recreation trails a few miles from Grand Junction, CO. In the next several years, our goal is to acquire additional properties to protect critical habitat along the Gunnison River and other outstanding rivers of the Colorado Plateau.

Above: Rafting the Gunnison River. Photo by Jeff Widen.