In a first such event for a state chapter, Colorado BHA held its first annual member rendezvous this past June. The group of about 20 attendees from around the state set camp on the Florida River, northwest of Bayfield in the San Juan National Forest near the Weminuche Wilderness Area, Colorado’s largest (488,210 acres). It was a relaxed, mostly unstructured “get acquainted” weekend with cold beer, hot campfires, serious conversation and plenty of laughter. Saturday afternoon, however, it was all business during the member meeting, including a brief awards ceremony, a round-table discussion concerning where we've been and where we want to go as a group, and more.

During the day Saturday, folks dispersed to go hiking and fishing. The weather was for the most part exceptionally pleasant, except for a few hours of rain, wind, hail and lightning Saturday afternoon, coinciding with the business meeting - which was consequently held in the comfort of a 24-man teepee that member Patrick Smith had the foresight to bring “just in case.”

Members receiving awards included Bill Sustrich, of Salida, for leading CO BHA’s ongoing campaign to get 20,000 acres of low-elevation big game habitat in the Browns Canyon area near Salida protected as wilderness. Paul Vertrees, of Canon City, was present to receive recognition for a history of BHA activism, including attending national forest resource management meetings, writing letters to newspapers supporting enforcement of ATV laws to prevent public lands abuse, and more. Tom Sykes, of Cortez, received an award for his tireless and at times courageous work fighting to preserve wildlife habitat from growing assaults by ATVs and dirt bikes in the San Juan National Forest.

The group also discussed the concept of designating BHA “Forest Watchmen” teams for each national forest in the state. These local cells of dedicated members would become BHA’s active, boots-on-the-ground representatives for various FS and BLM management plans in their home forests – travel management, forest management, grazing, timber and more – attending meetings, meeting with agency officials, writing letters to newspapers, and working with chapter leaders to write formal comments. Chapter leaders, meanwhile, will use their professional conservation experience to continue developing tutorials on the various issues and skills needed by individual activists, and offer ongoing personal support. As co-chair David Lien noted, “If we had even a couple of folks like Bill, Paul and Tom in every forest in Colorado, we could make a huge difference in how these critical hunting and fishing areas are managed.”

The primary means of communication between CO BHA chapter leaders, members and the public, as well as a frequently updated billboard for posting alerts and reports, is our CO BHA website.