Roaring Fork Conservancy

Roaring Fork Conservancy Bringing People Together to Protect Our Rivers We are currently funded through individual donations, grants, special events, and program fees.

Founded in November 1996 through a unique public-private partnership, Roaring Fork Conservancy has become one of the most respected watershed conservation organizations in Colorado. Jeanne Beaudry served as first Executive Director from 1997 to 2005 and long-time staffer Rick Lofaro became the second Executive Director in May of 2005. Roaring Fork Conservancy's offices have been located in Basalt,

the geographic center of the watershed, from the time of its inception. In 2000, Roaring Fork Conservancy formed the Rivers Council to help raise support for the organization's five program areas: watershed education, land conservation, river stewardship, water resources research, and water quality monitoring. In 2003, Roaring Fork Conservancy co-founded the Roaring Fork Watershed Collaborative Water Committee, an ad-hoc committee of over 50 governments, agencies, non-profits, and citizens that proactively addresses water issues in the watershed.

Take a gentle float through important wildlife habitat in North Star Nature Preserve with Roaring Fork Conservancy, Pitk...
06/03/2026

Take a gentle float through important wildlife habitat in North Star Nature Preserve with Roaring Fork Conservancy, Pitkin County Open Space & Trails, and Blazing Adventures. Weโ€™ll share the history of North Star, discuss wildlife highlights and restoration activities during this float.

Register soon as floats are limited to 10 participants, and are appropriate for ages 14 and up.

Learn more and register at https://www.roaringfork.org/events/.

Making plans for this weekend? How about going fishing! Fishing license requirements are waived for this weekend only. ...
06/03/2026

Making plans for this weekend? How about going fishing! Fishing license requirements are waived for this weekend only. Get all the details below.

FREE FISHING WEEKEND COMING UP ๐ŸŽฃ

On June 6-7, 2026, anyone can fish for free, and the fishing license and Habitat Stamp requirements are waived: https://cpw.info/4u6rbdn

Observed every June, National Rivers Month celebrates the critical importance of our waterways. Enjoy our local rivers t...
06/02/2026

Observed every June, National Rivers Month celebrates the critical importance of our waterways.

Enjoy our local rivers this month by joining us on a float through North Star Nature Preserve with Pitkin County Open Space and Trails or sign-up your 5th-8th grader in our Youth Fly Fishing Clinic.

Learn more about our beautiful rivers at https://www.roaringfork.org/

โ˜‘ Have your children asked to fly fish?โ˜‘ Would you like to take them but don't know where to start and/or maybe you don'...
06/02/2026

โ˜‘ Have your children asked to fly fish?
โ˜‘ Would you like to take them but don't know where to start and/or maybe you don't have the gear?
โ˜‘ Is your child in 5th to 8th grade?

The June 15-17 beginner Youth Fly Fishing Clinic offered by Roaring Fork Conservancy and Taylor Creek Fly Shops checks all those boxes!

Young anglers will learn all the skills - from rigging a rod and reel, casting, aquatic insect ID, proper fish handling, knot tying, fishing and more - and, we have all the gear! Young anglers just show up with sunscreen, sunglasses, snacks and water.

Learn more and register your child at https://www.roaringfork.org/events/youth-beginner-fly-fishing-clinic-june-15-17/

But hurry, only 3 spots remain!

๐˜—.๐˜š. ๐˜ ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด, ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ ๐˜ง๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ฉ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ถ๐˜จ๐˜ฉ๐˜ต ๐˜ฅ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ ๐˜ง๐˜ญ๐˜บ ๐˜ง๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ค๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ด! ๐ŸŽฃ

"Dinkle Lake in the Aspen-Sopris Ranger District will remain empty through August 2026 while dam repair work is complete...
06/01/2026

"Dinkle Lake in the Aspen-Sopris Ranger District will remain empty through August 2026 while dam repair work is completed."

More information below.

Dinkle Lake in the Aspen-Sopris Ranger District will remain empty through August 2026 while dam repair work is completed.

Thomas Lakes Road (National Forest Service Road 311) and the Dinkle Lake Day Use Area will remain open. Visitors will encounter construction traffic as well as equipment operating in the reservoir and on the reservoir dam face.

For more information visit https://www.fs.usda.gov/r02/whiteriver

๐Ÿ’ฆ ๐–๐„๐„๐Š๐‹๐˜ ๐‘๐ˆ๐•๐„๐‘ ๐‘๐„๐๐Ž๐‘๐“ ๐Ÿ’ฆRunoff season is here and while flows across the Roaring Fork Watershed increased over the last w...
05/28/2026

๐Ÿ’ฆ ๐–๐„๐„๐Š๐‹๐˜ ๐‘๐ˆ๐•๐„๐‘ ๐‘๐„๐๐Ž๐‘๐“ ๐Ÿ’ฆ

Runoff season is here and while flows across the Roaring Fork Watershed increased over the last week, rivers continue to flow below average (34-66% of normal). While runoff is only a fraction of what weโ€™re used to seeing, Crystal River flows doubled over the last week! Of the nine SNOTEL sites in the Roaring Fork watershed, Castle Peak is the only one reporting measurable SWE, which decreased 4.4 inches since last week. Transbasin diversion tunnels are also flowing below average for this time of year. These tunnels move water from the west slope to the east slope for municipal, industrial, and agricultural needs. Boustead Tunnel on the headwaters of the Fryingpan River is diverting 48 cfs (11% of normal) and Twin Lakes tunnel on the headwaters of the Roaring Fork River is diverting 141 cfs (54 % of normal).

We thank our friends at Schindler Ferguson Law Firm for supporting our River Reports.

05/22/2026

Aquatic Nuisance Species are here, and we all have a part to play to decrease the spread. The two A.N.S. of concern here are zebra mussels and New Zealand mudsnails. Mudsnails have already been detected in the Roaring Fork River, and Colorado Parks and...

"๐ˆ๐ง ๐š ๐ฆ๐š๐ฃ๐จ๐ซ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ง ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐–๐ž๐ฌ๐ญ๐ž๐ซ๐ง ๐’๐ฅ๐จ๐ฉ๐ž, ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐“๐ซ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฉ ๐š๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ง๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐š๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ซ๐ž๐ฅ๐ž๐š๐ฌ๐ž๐ $๐Ÿ’๐ŸŽ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ข๐ง ๐Ÿ๐ฎ๐ง๐๐ข๐ง๐  ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ฉ๐ฎ๐ซ๐œ๐ก๐š๐ฌ๐ž ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐ฉ๐จ๐ฐ๐ž...
05/22/2026

"๐ˆ๐ง ๐š ๐ฆ๐š๐ฃ๐จ๐ซ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ง ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐–๐ž๐ฌ๐ญ๐ž๐ซ๐ง ๐’๐ฅ๐จ๐ฉ๐ž, ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐“๐ซ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฉ ๐š๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ง๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐š๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ซ๐ž๐ฅ๐ž๐š๐ฌ๐ž๐ $๐Ÿ’๐ŸŽ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ข๐ง ๐Ÿ๐ฎ๐ง๐๐ข๐ง๐  ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ฉ๐ฎ๐ซ๐œ๐ก๐š๐ฌ๐ž ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐ฉ๐จ๐ฐ๐ž๐ซ๐Ÿ๐ฎ๐ฅ ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐จ๐ซ๐ข๐œ ๐ฐ๐š๐ญ๐ž๐ซ ๐ซ๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐‚๐จ๐ฅ๐จ๐ซ๐š๐๐จ ๐‘๐ข๐ฏ๐ž๐ซ ๐ญ๐ข๐ž๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐’๐ก๐จ๐ฌ๐ก๐จ๐ง๐ž ๐๐จ๐ฐ๐ž๐ซ ๐๐ฅ๐š๐ง๐ญ."

In a win for western Colorado, the Trump administration released $40 million for the purchase of powerful Colorado River water rights.

๐Ÿ’ฆ ๐–๐„๐„๐Š๐‹๐˜ ๐‘๐ˆ๐•๐„๐‘ ๐‘๐„๐๐Ž๐‘๐“ ๐Ÿ’ฆWelcome to the first River Report of the year! Rivers across the Roaring Fork Watershed are flowi...
05/21/2026

๐Ÿ’ฆ ๐–๐„๐„๐Š๐‹๐˜ ๐‘๐ˆ๐•๐„๐‘ ๐‘๐„๐๐Ž๐‘๐“ ๐Ÿ’ฆ

Welcome to the first River Report of the year! Rivers across the Roaring Fork Watershed are flowing well below average for this time of year, at 27-40% of normal. This yearโ€™s runoff is historically poor due to record breaking low snowpack and unseasonably hot spring temperatures. As we head into summer, the watershed is still experiencing exceptional drought (5 of 5 levels of intensity) and has measured some level of drought since January 2025. For those recreating on the river this holiday weekend, please do so safely and responsibly and remember to clean, drain, and dry your gear to prevent the spread of aquatic nuisance species! For those working on their lawns and gardens, please choose native, drought tolerant plants. More indoor and outdoor water saving tips at www.roaringfork.org/drought.

We thank our friends at Schindler Ferguson Law Firm for supporting our River Reports.

Address

22800 Two Rivers Road
Basalt, CO
81621

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