After a Century of Abuse, the Arkansas River is on the Rise

Tommy Brown of Colorado Springs fishes along the banks of the Arkansas River in Bighorn Sheep Canyon near Cotopaxi on Sept. 5. The Arkansas River fishery is the longest stretch of gold medal waters in the state. (Mike Sweeney, Special to The Colorado Sun)

Colorado’s Arkansas River has suffered from mining waste, overfishing, agricultural effluent, and more since the beginning of the last century, but things are looking up, according to a great article by Michael Booth:

But there are hard-won signs of a physical revival for the Arkansas. And appreciation for what it once was and could be again. If humans ruined the natural Upper and Lower Ark in Colorado, they also believe they are the ones to bring it back. It’s the paradox of engineering nature to get back to nature.

In 1992, clients of Greg Felt’s guide shop never caught a brown trout older than two years or bigger than 10 inches. Now they regularly hook 9-year-old fighters measuring 20 inches.

Click here for the full story in The Colorado Sun