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Fishing is Fun awards $400K to six angling projects in Colorado

Manda Walters
CPW Communications

DENVER — Colorado Parks and Wildlife agreed to award a total of $400,000 to six projects that aim to improve angling opportunities around Colorado in May. Projects approved for funding will result in greater public access, restoration and construction of fishing piers, access trails, a boat dock, and a fish bypass structure to allow access to spawning habitat.

“Colorado has incredible fisheries, truly world-class,” said Bob Broscheid, director of Colorado Parks and Wildlife. “The Fishing Is Fun Program is a powerful tool to develop more opportunities for residents and visitors to access that resource, and to leverage angler dollars while doing so.”

Project sponsors and partners include local and county governments, a natural areas department, Trout Unlimited chapters, a nonprofit marina, a watershed coalition and an irrigation company.



Ben Swigle, an aquatic biologist in the Northeast region, notes two of the projects help restore angling opportunities destroyed by the September 2013 floods.

“I had any number of anglers ask me when the Big Thompson fishing pier would be rebuilt,” said Swigle. “The new pier will restore and actually expand angling access in a prominent stretch of the river. A big part of the Button Rock Preserve project will be restoration of half a mile of quality fish habitat on the North St. Vrain.”



Swigle adds that both projects would not have reached this point without indispensable backing and funding from local partners.

For nearly three decades, the Fishing Is Fun Program has provided matching grants for angling improvement projects, by partnering with local governments, angling groups, water conservation districts, land trusts and others. The six projects include more than $525,000 in matching funds.

Fishing Is Fun projects awarded a total of $400,000 in 2016 include:

Big Thompson Watershed Coalition: Americans with Disabilities Act fishing pier on the Big Thompson River east of Estes Park ($55,400)

City of Longmont: Americans with Disabilities Act fishing pier and habitat restoration at Button Rock Preserve on St. Vrain River ($84,000)

City of Georgetown: Fishing piers on a new trail around Georgetown Lake ($50,200)

Grand County: Public access and habitat improvement on the Fraser River near Tabernash ($87,900)

Trout Unlimited: Fish bypass structure on Elk Creek near New Castle ($78,000)

Vallecito Marina: Floating dock extensions on Vallecito Reservoir near Durango ($49,000)


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