Who Cares About One Last Undammed River?
It doesn’t matter how many times you’ve rafted down the Yampa River in remote northwest Colorado. You will still get butterflies before Warm Springs, a Grand Canyon-esque Class IV rapid studded with at least four boat-munching holes. Several weeks ago, I stood at the side of the river, gazing over this maelstrom of water, feeling a bit nervous but also grateful. In most of our daily lives, we are insulated from this sort of fear. And this fear, I think, is necessary. It humbles us and reminds us what it is to be human.
The Yampa is the perfect place to be humbled. Striped cliffs tower over the river. Ancient Fremont rock art dots the banks. Bighorn sheep graze in high nooks. It’s impossibly beautiful and almost devoid of human beings. Best of all, the Yampa, thanks to the efforts of some of the country’s first environmentalists, is a free-flowing river. In fact, it’s the last major free-flowing river in the whole Colorado River Basin. That means that it can be its natural self, roaring through the canyons in spring and slowing to a mere trickle in the winter. These cycles support wondrous native plants and animals. They also completely awe the human beings lucky enough to witness them.
But as water in the West becomes increasingly scarce—and an increasingly contentious issue—will this one wild river stay free? Read my recent story on TakePart.com.