DENVER – Friday, July 12, 2019 – Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO) is launching a new phase of its Generation Wild marketing campaign with the help of an extraordinary creature, “Wilder,” who will spark imaginations while connecting people of all ages to the wonder of being outside according to Rosemary Dempsey, communications director at GOCO.

“As Generation Wild enters its third year, we wanted to bring to life something remarkable to help us continue to deliver our message around how kids grow better outside,” Dempsey added. “Wilder does just that. He helps remind us of the imaginative play we adults used to engage in and serves to introduce today’s kids to the notion that playing outside can be every bit as fun and cool as sitting in front of a screen. That adventure awaits in the great outdoors.”

Looking like a yeti, mountain goat, golden doodle or perhaps a combination of the three, Wilder embodies the imagination, wonder and creativity we all experience when we are outside at any time of the year. He may seem a little wild on the outside, but Wilder is all friend as he invites people young and old to reconnect with nature and to be more active, creative and self-reliant. In fact, he’s “Part goat. Part yeti. All friend.”

Produced in conjunction with Sukle Advertising & Design, Wilder makes his official debut on television July 15,^, 2019 and with in-person appearances at events across Colorado through the summer and beyond. Also look for him online in digital ads and social media and in movie theaters.

Generation Wild was created by GOCO to reconnect kids with nature by increasing the amount of time they spend outside in unstructured play – the kind of play that used to be way more common. The program is an integrated, statewide effort that involves providing parents and caregivers inspiration for getting children outdoors.

The Generation Wild website details the benefits of outdoor play and offers strategies and tips to nudge children away from the television, computer or other screens in a fun and engaging manner. Centered around the notion that “Kids grow better outside,” the initiative has resonated with moms across the state. In fact, after two campaign seasons, more than 73.8% of Colorado moms surveyed reported having heard about Generation Wild. Of those, 65.9% reported either having or using Generation Wild’s 100 Things to Do Before You’re 12 list, and 60% of moms surveyed indicated their child had engaged in 31+ activities from the list.

Generation Wild enjoys broad support from statewide non-profit, public and private partner organizations, including Colorado Parks and Wildlife, the Colorado State Library, and Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado. It’s also an on-the-ground initiative by 15 locally based coalitions in Generation Wild communities working to create new places to play, outdoor programs, and pathways to leadership opportunities and jobs in the outdoors.

Go to GenerationWild.com to access more information on Wilder, Generation Wild and all the innovative ideas to help children get outside and play. Follow Generation Wild on Instagram and on its Facebook page and group.
 

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Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senators Cory Gardner (R-CO) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) released the following statements today after the U.S. House of Representatives passed the bipartisan Never Forget the Heroes: James Zadroga, Ray Pfeifer, and Luis Alvarez Permanent Authorization of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund Act, legislation they are lead cosponsors of in the U.S. Senate.

“After today’s strong bipartisan vote in the U.S. House of Representatives, permanent reauthorization of the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund is one step closer to being signed into law,” said Senator Gardner. “After everything the first responders of 9/11 did for us, our nation cannot and will not turn its back on them. I urge the Senate to take up this legislation as soon as possible and send it to the president’s desk to honor the heroes of 9/11 and ensure they have the support they’ve earned and desperately need.”

“I commend the House for passing the ‘Never Forget the Heroes: James Zadroga, Ray Pfeifer, and Luis Alvarez Permanent Authorization of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund Act’ and doing the right thing for our heroes,” said Senator Gillibrand. “Our 9/11 first responders are back in Washington today with Jon Stewart for what should be the last time. The Senate Majority Leader gave his commitment to get this bill done in the next two weeks and we now have 72 bipartisan cosponsors — which means there are no excuses. It would be unconscionable for the Senate to ask 9/11 responders to spend any more of their precious time walking the halls of Congress and fighting to make the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund permanent. This needs to get done now. We need to let these men and women get back to their lives and families. We need to show with our actions — not just our words — that we will never forget what these heroes did for our nation. We owe them nothing less.”

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Colorado Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Executive Director Dan Gibbs announced today the addition of a new member to his leadership team, Doug Vilsack, as the new Assistant Director for Parks, Wildlife and Lands. 

“Doug is an important addition to the leadership team we are building at the Colorado Department of Natural Resources,” said Dan Gibbs, Executive Director, Colorado Department of Natural Resources. “Doug has played an integral role within the Department over the years serving as Legislative Liaison, helping to usher in key legislation such as the SB 181, Colorado’s new oil and gas law, spearheading passage of the Hunting, Fishing, and Parks for Future Generations Act and working to increase funding for the Colorado Water Plan.”

“Doug has demonstrated great leadership in program and policy development and has a true passion for wildlife and protecting Colorado’s public lands,” continued Gibbs. “I am thrilled to have Doug on board as we tackle important priorities for our Department including increasing access to our state lands for more Coloradans and developing new funding opportunities to support Colorado’s wildlife and outdoor recreation opportunities.”

In addition to serving as the Legislative Liaison for the Department for the last three years, Doug has diverse experience as an attorney handling water, energy, mining, and public lands issues. He also worked with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) in Namibia developing successful community-based conservation programs to conserve elephants in Africa.

Doug is also a founder and leader of several non-profit organizations, including Elephant Energy, which works to establish distribution networks for small-scale solar products in rural Africa, and formerly as Executive Director of the Posner Center for International Development, a network of Colorado-based organizations and businesses dedicated to growing lasting solutions to global poverty.

Doug has a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Systems: Natural Resource Management from Colorado College and a J.D. from the University of Colorado School of Law.

The Assistant Director position at the Department acts as a policy advisor to the Executive Director, Deputy Executive Director, and Colorado Parks and Wildlife director regarding issues, legislation, and state and national policy developments in natural resources, parks, wildlife, trails, and outdoor recreation that impact Colorado.

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Washington, D.C. — The Senate Energy and Natural Resources (ENR) Committee approved multiple bills this week authored by U.S. Senator Cory Gardner (R-CO). The Energy Savings Through Public-Private Partnerships Act encourages the use of Energy Savings Performance Contracts (ESPCs) and Utility Energy Savings Contracts (UESCs) in federal buildings. ESPCs and UESCs are innovative public-private partnerships in which private companies use their own money and resources to make energy efficiency upgrades to federal buildings at no cost to the taxpayer. The private companies receive a portion of money saved as a result of the increased efficiency in federal buildings.

The Reliable Investment in Vital Energy Reauthorization (RIVER) Act would reauthorize an existing Department of Energy (DOE) program which provides funding for retrofitting existing dams and river conduits with electricity-generating technology, or upgrading the technology where it is already installed. According to DOE reports, there are up to 12 gigawatts of untapped hydropower development within the nation’s existing dam infrastructure, and only three percent of the United States’ 80,000 dams are used to generate clean hydroelectric power.

“These bills will lead to more energy efficiency, more energy generation, and more jobs in the energy sector,” said Senator Gardner. “Promoting energy efficiency and clean alternative power sources is one of my top priorities, and I’m pleased to have the chance to continue shaping federal energy policy in the Senate.”

Other Gardner sponsored bills that were approved by the Energy and Natural Resources Committee are:

• S. 143, the Department of Energy Veterans’ Health Initiative Act – authorizes the DOE’s national lab system to use their high performance computing abilities to crunch veterans’ health data provided by the Veterans Administration from voluntary participants, including DOE Secretary Rick Perry, to further our understanding of the health challenges veterans face.

• S. 1286, the Energy Technology Maturation Act – accelerates technology spinoffs coming out of the national lab system to the private sector.

• H.R. 347, Responsible Disposal Reauthorization Act – extends the lifetime of the DOE-operated mill tailings storage facility in Grand Junction, CO, through 2031.

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Washington, D.C. — Senators Cory Gardner (R-CO) and Maggie Hassan (D-NH) today introduced the Newborn Screening Saves Lives Reauthorization Act, a bipartisan bill to help save lives and improve the health of newborn babies by providing federal funding for comprehensive and standardized newborn screening tests for conditions such as critical congenital heart disease, cystic fibrosis, and hearing loss. The tests can identify treatable conditions that, if caught early, can prevent serious illness, lifetime disabilities, and even death.

“As a parent, I know how important early screening is. Identifying genetic disorders in a newborn early on can be the key difference between life and death,” said Senator Gardner. “Early treatment from newborn screening can save families, the taxpayer, and the health care system millions of dollars down the road. I urge Congress to reauthorize this program to ensure that states have the support they need to continue critical screenings for newborn babies.”

“It’s vital that every parent understand and have access to life-saving newborn screening,” said Senator Hassan. “Over the last decade, we’ve seen the powerful impact that this program has made for families, and I’m proud to be working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to ensure its continued funding.”

The Newborn Screening Saves Lives Reauthorization Act — which builds on the Newborn Screening Saves Lives Act of 2008 — provides funding for state programs that screen newborns for a complete panel of disorders, as recommended by experts, and that educate parents and providers about the disorders. The bill also includes additional funding to support states’ follow-up and tracking programs, as well as laboratory quality. Each year, these screenings result in over 12,000 newborns being diagnosed with disorders, many of which can be treated even before symptoms begin to appear. The House version of the bill, led by Representatives Roybal-Allard, Mike Simpson, Katherine Clark, and Jaime Herrera Beutler, was passed by the House Energy and Commerce Committee earlier this week. 

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Washington, D.C. — A bipartisan energy bill reintroduced in the U.S. Senate today includes a bill authored by Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet designed to promote energy efficiency in homes.

The Energy Savings and Industrial Competitiveness (ESIC) Act, reintroduced by Senators Rob Portman (R-OH) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), and co-sponsored by Bennet, includes the Sensible Accounting to Value Energy (SAVE) Act, legislation Bennet first introduced in 2013.

“The SAVE Act is a commonsense approach to reduce energy usage, cut consumer costs, and address climate change,” said Bennet. “Home builders are embracing energy efficient technologies, and the SAVE Act will ensure mortgage lenders take those future savings into account. This bill will help homeowners save thousands of dollars and will create thousands of jobs along the way. Including the SAVE Act in the broader legislation will help push it across the finish line.”

The SAVE Act, which Bennet first introduced with Senator Johnny Isakson (R-GA) in 2013, establishes more practical mortgage lending processes that allow lenders to consider a home’s energy efficiency and expected monthly energy bills when determining the homeowner’s ability to afford monthly mortgage payments. The typical homeowner spends about $2,500 a year on home energy costs, adding up to more than $70,000 over the life of a 30-year mortgage. But while mortgage lenders typically take into account the cost of real estate taxes and homeowner’s insurance when determining the cost of a home loan, they do not take into account home energy costs, even though these costs are, in many cases, more than taxes and insurance. The SAVE Act would address this blind spot, encouraging investments in energy efficient homebuilding and creating tens of thousands of jobs in the process.

The Energy Savings and Industrial Competitiveness Act contains key energy efficiency policy reforms that will strengthen the economy and reduce pollution. This bipartisan bill uses a variety of low-cost tools to make it easier for private sector energy users to become more efficient while also making the country’s largest energy user – the federal government – more efficient. The bill incentivizes the use of efficiency technologies that are commercially available today, can be widely deployed across the country, and quickly pay for themselves through energy savings. The bill will help speed the transition to a more energy efficient economy, increasing both our economic competitiveness and our energy security for the coming decades, while driving economic growth and encouraging private sector job creation.

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Washington, D.C.— July 20, 2019, is the 25th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act listing of the Rio Grande silvery minnow, a small fish found only in the Rio Grande. The federal government is failing in its duties to recover this now-rare fish. The five-year review conducted in 2018—the first such review ever conducted for the minnow—revealed that 14 of the 15 recovery criteria have not been met (the only exception was maintenance of a captive hatchery population).

The minnow was once one of the most common and widespread fish in the Rio Grande Basin. But because of water diversion and habitat fragmentation, the minnow now occupies less than seven percent of its historic range.

“The minnow is the canary in a coalmine for the Rio Grande,” said Galen Hecht, Rio Grande campaigner for WildEarth Guardians. “The health of the minnow indicates the health of the river. And right now it’s not looking good.”

The Rio Grande’s water is regularly drained, mainly for irrigation; some reaches of the river dry completely due to over-allocation of water, killing the resident fish. The “forgotten reach” of the Rio Grande runs from Fort Quitman, Texas to Presidio, Texas, and today has just five percent of its historic annual flow. It is dry much of the year. The forgotten reach was once the heart of the minnow’s habitat that spanned from the Rio Grande Delta at the Gulf of Mexico all the way to Española, New Mexico and included parts of the Pecos River, a tributary of the Rio Grande. Today the minnow exists only in the main stem of Rio Grande from just north of Albuquerque to Elephant Butte Reservoir, just 152 miles of the nearly 3,000 miles where it once thrived.

The minnow has a lifespan of approximately 30 months, and with increasingly frequent drying of the river in the region where the minnow still lives, extinction is a serious threat. Data from recent reports indicate that in 2018, the minnow’s population was just 1.4% of the 25-year average since the species was listed. More strikingly, the minnow’s population decreased 99.5% from 2017-2018.

Guardians’ vision for a living Rio Grande involves rethinking how people use and store water, and will help save the minnow. For example, Elephant Butte and Caballo Reservoirs, low-elevation reservoirs in hot climates, lose a huge amount of surface water to evaporation. Moving water storage upstream to higher-elevation reservoirs could save more than 100,000 acre-feet of water per year (an acre-foot is equivalent to 325,851 gallons and is enough to supply water to a family of four for one year). That water could be used to ensure a living Rio that supports native species who have relied on it for thousands, sometimes millions of years. It will also support communities who depend on the river for tourist and recreational economies such as birding, angling and rafting.

The issue of the Rio Grande drying and dying will only become more urgent as climate change warms the Rio Grande Basin; climate models suggest that before the end of the century the Basin’s mean annual temperature will warm 5° F to 7° F and precipitation will decline. Flows in the Rio may decrease by as much as half. For an already over-taxed river, this scenario means disaster without changes in water management. Therefore, Guardians is working to secure the Rio rights to its own water, ensuring sufficient instream flows to support native species.

“We’re going to need to make some serious changes in order to avoid permanent drought in the Rio Grande Basin,” continued Hecht. “But there’s hope; we can restore the Rio to its former glory and preserve the wildlife and human communities that depend on this imperiled waterway.”

For more information, see Guardians’ report “The Rio Grande: Rethinking Rivers in the 21st Century.” WildEarth Guardians is hosting events around New Mexico to launch the Living Rio Campaign, an initiative to restore the Rio Grande to support thriving communities of people and wildlife. The first events will take place in Santa Fe and Albuquerque and include screenings of Patagonia’s new film “Artifishal,” about the plight of wild fish, and events to kick-off the campaign and get the public involved in the pursuit of a living Rio Grande.

• Thursday, July 25—Artifishal in Santa Fe at the Jean Cocteau Cinema at 7PM, by donation and open to the public

• Saturday, July 27—Santa Fe Living Rio Kick-Off at the Downtown Public Library, 3:00-4:30PM, free and open to the public

• Saturday, August 3—Artifishal in Albuquerque at The Guild Cinema at 1PM, by donation and open to the public

• Tuesday, August 6—Albuquerque Living Rio Kick-Off at Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge 5:30-7:00. Free and open to the public.

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