Do We Really Love The Poudre River?
How to take care of our state’s only Wild and Scenic River.
The warm air of an early September evening settles in around me as the sun plays hide and seek behind the tops of the cottonwoods along the riverbank. I pull my waders up to the middle of my chest and snap the belt buckle closed — a crisp and satisfying ‘click!’ that signals the start of a new adventure. I set off down a dusty trail toward the vein of water that brings life to the town Fort Collins and the fly fishing community that calls this place home.
Flashes of orange and gold dance across the main river channel when I reach the bank. The sun is slowly setting behind the cottonwoods now, and it gives way to the image of a wildfire consuming the sky for the last few minutes of the day.
Amid the worn out rocks that hold the stories of millenia on the river, and below the sashaying willow branches, there are vile intruders in this world of water and beauty.
Cigarette butts, empty beer cans, plastic grocery bags, and broken glass linger on the riverbank — unwelcome and unwanted.
As I string up a late-evening terrestrial pattern, a juicy looking foam hopper with a flattened barb, I can’t help but wonder.
Do we really love the Cache la Poudre River?
And if the river had a say, would it agree with us? Or would it spit on our wading boots and laugh in our faces before rolling over the next boulder and snaking away from us?
For most people the answer is no.
Before the proverbial brown trout contemplates the foam hopper and flits away disdainfully, both sides of the story need to be told.
The Poudre River is the lifeblood of the fly fishing community in most of northern Colorado. To those hands that are filled with worn down cork and green fiberglass, it is the higher being in the universe.
As a community that reaches beyond just fly fishing, we have absolutely done our part to help protect the Poudre River. No doubt about it, since the latter part of the 1900s and even into the early 2000s, we have taken many steps to protect and cherish the river that calls Fort Collins home.
Following massive cleanup efforts to rid the river of industrial waste and refuse in the late 1970s and 1980s, the Poudre has undergone a major facelift.
During the environmental era of the 1970s and on, not only has the Poudre River been the site of many restoration efforts, but it has also been the site of legislative protections. It seemed as though Fort Collins realized the crown jewel of their outdoor community was at risk of irreversible damage.
Luckily for the river, that realization came just in time. Scrap metal and debris that is usually reserved for junkyards or landfills was removed from the river. Companies stopped dumping toxic waste into the river. It was a rallying cry that the river must be saved — and it was.
But only for the time being.
Since then, we have faltered on protecting our most prized possession. As an outdoor recreational community, we have faltered on taking care of our loved one. Our attention to detail has caused our relationship with the river to turn south.
As I mentioned, there is no doubt that we have taken care of this river, and we enjoy it for what it is. But there is so much more that we can do to take care of our home waters, and right now we are not doing enough.
So that is why I beg the question, do we really love the Poudre River?
As an angling community we need to ask ourselves. Say it outloud. Write it down. Ask your Parachute Adams-throwing friends. Do you really love the Poudre?
Most likely, the real answer is no.
Before the hands shoot up in anger and disgust, we need to take a look at the evidence.
Cigarette butts, empty beer cans, plastic grocery bags, and broken glass. Old tires, soup cans, metal wires, and soggy tennis shoes. Decaying inner tubes, used fishing line, broken lures, and rusty scissors.
The proof is in the river.
Along many parts of the river trash is a regular sight — on the bank, in the vegetation, or even in slackwater and pools. This phenomenon can be observed anywhere along the Poudre, from downtown Fort Collins, all the way up the canyon to the headwaters.
The presence of our materialistic heavy world and the heaps of garbage that follow is inescapable where the water tumbles down the canyon and meanders across the eastern plains.
This is where the fly fishing community comes into play.
We are arguably the largest demographic that directly utilizes the river for recreational purposes. The power that we hold as a collective army of wader-clad men and women is unrivaled by any other outdoor recreational group in northern Colorado. The fly fishing community needs to step up, and we need to work harder at protecting the river that pulses through our own veins.
We need to truly love the Poudre River.
This means doing the little things, the ones that show the most. When we’re out on the river chasing scales and fin, we need to do our part and love the river with all our hearts — and fishing vests.
We need to collect the trash that we find on the river — the remnants of materialistic abuse that the Poudre River has faced over the years.
Fill up your fishing vest with the trash you find, and dispose of it responsibly. Pick up that empty chip bag you find tucked under a rock and stow it away in a side pocket. The empty beer can that has faded from sunlight and shifting currents doesn’t belong on the bank, it belongs in a recycling bin. Wrap up the discarded fishing line you see on a willow branch and find a good pocket to keep it in until you get home.
Invest in a portable trash receptacle that hooks onto your wading belt, the investment will almost immediately pay off when you get to the river.
It’s the little things that can make the biggest difference in a relationship, and those little things will pay off in the long run when it comes the Poudre River. We are caring for and loving the river we call home when we do those things.
If you are a fly fisherman that truly loves the Poudre, you will feel a sense of pride, joy, and relief when you take trash from the river. You will have a feeling of accomplishment and being part of something larger than yourself, even if you’re the only one doing it.
When we remove those signs of selfish misuse, the cigarette butts and plastic bags, we are not only taking care of the river, we are helping the river heal.
It will make the river healthier in both the short term and long term. Not only will we benefit as an angling or recreational community, but the ecological community will benefit tremendously too.
Next time you’re out on the river, don’t turn a blind eye to the trash you find. Take the extra time and care to pick up that used fishing line or piece of rusty wire, and tuck it in a back pocket on your vest. The river will thank you for generations to come.
So, do you really love the Poudre?
