by Jay Thompson and Bill Goosmann
The annual Colorado Riparian Association conference will take place at the Holiday Inn in Estes Park, October 13-15, 2004. Many of you no doubt received a “Save the Date” postcard last month, which included information about the conference with the notable exception of actually including the date! Though not all that humorous at the time, the CRA Conference Committee now hopes that the dateless “Save-the-Date” postcard will become a treasured collector’s item.
The theme for this year’s conference is “Wildlife and Riparian Values” with presentations and field trips highlighting the critical importance of healthy functioning riparian areas to wildlife and fish. The proximity of Estes Park to Rocky Mountain National Park makes it an ideal location to learn about the wildlife-riparian link. Speakers and field trips are still being arranged, but neo-tropical migratory birds, beaver-willow interactions, and recovery of the threatened Greenback cutthroat trout in Rocky Mountain National Park will be part of this year’s conference.
The second week in October should be an ideal time to be in Estes Park, with aspen leaves changing (or perhaps gone), elk bugling, and snow on the high peaks. So now that you know the conference date, please mark your calendar and plan to join us in Estes Park.
Errata: In the Spring 2004 issue of the green line, comments on the origin of tamarisk in the U.S. were attributed to John Erdman when credit should have been given to Jim Erdman. The editors regret this error and, as penance, have signed up for 20 hours of community service pulling tamarisk shoots on the Western Slope.