DAILY CAMERA (Boulder, Colorado) 19 December 04 Turtle, fish canal rescue effort muddles on (Todd Neff)
About 60 people spent their Saturday in a muddy Boulder canal, in an effort to save about two dozen turtles and hundreds of fish and crayfish.
It was the second full day of the rescue work, which involved plunging into the muck of a mile-long canal Xcel Energy is draining for eventual repair.
Ryan Allen, 27, of Boulder, thrust his bare arms elbow-deep into the cold mud Saturday afternoon. He emerged with a western painted turtle that would have stood little chance of survival as the mud it had burrowed into dried in the coming cold months.
He walked, turtle in hand, the hundred yards to an Xcel reservoir to release the reptile. His boots appeared to be made of melted chocolate.
"I've been chasing reptiles since I was a little kid," he said. "If they don't get out of there, they're not going to make it through the winter."
Matt Bear, executive director of National Endowment for the Animals, washed mud off his waders.
"Good job Ryan. You saved a life," he said.
Bear said volunteers at the far end of the ditch had netted 500 trapped fish from a pond and transferred them to South Boulder Creek. Most were perch and bluegill, Bear said.
Once diesel pumps drain the canal's water, the repair work is expected to last until spring, Tom Hess, Xcel's plant manager at its Valmont Station power plant said on Friday.
Xcel owns the canal, which stretches from South Boulder Creek to a pond used in power generation. The company was forced to repair the canal when it lost a lawsuit with Western Disposal Services. Western Disposal said leakage from the canal was turning its adjacent property into a marsh.
Xcel is cooperating with the rescue effort on the company's property near 63rd Street and Arapahoe Road.
Rocky Mountain Animal Rescue was among a half-dozen wildlife groups leading the rescue effort.
David Crawford, that organization's executive director, said they were finding dead animals, as well, particularly fish that didn't survive being pumped from the canal to the reservoir.
"This was really a flowering ecosystem here, and the effects have been disastrous," he said.
Daniel Ziskin, who sits on the city of Boulder's environmental advisory board, said he thinks the city should have taken precautions to protect the animals.
"I don't know why it wouldn't have occurred to them to check for wildlife," he said.
Save the turtles. The effort to save the animals of the Xcel ditch will continue at 11 a.m. today. Volunteers are welcome, as are donations or loans of waders, fish nets, rubber gloves or money for buying such items. The cleanup is centered at 63rd Street about a half-mile north of Arapahoe Road. For more information, call David Crawford of Rocky Mountain Animal Defense, (303) 449-4422.
http://www.dailycamera.com/bdc/city_news/article/0,1713,BDC_2422_3410523,00.html
DAILY CAMERA (Boulder, Colorado) 19 December 04 Story of the turtle and Xcel - Volunteers strive to save turtles from receding waters (Todd Neff)
This is a story of big business, a lawsuit, hypothermic turtles and, on Friday, lovers of wildlife knee-deep in December mud.
The turtles' plight began in September, when Western Disposal Services sued Xcel Energy to fix part of a mile-long canal at the east edge of Boulder. The canal connects South Boulder Creek with reservoirs used by Xcel's Valmont Station power plant. Leaks had turned 46 acres of Western Disposal property on 63rd Street into a high-plains bog.
Western Disposal won. Xcel began draining the canal last week to start repairs. Nobody thought of the turtles, until several were spotted Thursday afternoon on the thawing ice and muddy banks.
"I don't think anybody knew there were turtles in there," said Gary Horton, Western Disposal's president.
By Friday evening, staff and volunteers from Rocky Mountain Animal Defense, Prairie Dog Action, Bleating Heart Sanctuary, Wild Places, National Endowment for the Animals and the Colorado Reptile Humane Society had saved hundreds of fish, dozens of turtles and many crayfish from the receding waters, said Matt Bear, executive director of the National Endowment for the Animals.
Having only worked in a few hundred feet of the canal Friday, the rescuers planned on being at the canal all weekend, Bear said, and anyone interested in helping is welcome.
Friday afternoon, the diesel pumps draining the canal hammered at the air. Across the canal, Ann-Elizabeth Nash pulled something from a food-storage container. It didn't look tasty.
"This is a western painted turtle," said Nash, of the Colorado Reptile Humane Society. The turtle was painted with mud, but only somewhat more so than Nash.
The animal had been hibernating, she said. The deeper water acted as insulation. When the water drained, the temperature changed, and the turtle woke up. With little available to eat in the winter, that's not good, she said.
In the canal, several volunteers — some wearing tennis shoes, none wearing waders — sloshed through two feet of mud. Some held fish nets bought Friday at Gart Sports. Others scooped at the canal-bed soup with shovels. Shipping pallets from the ReSource recycling yard, just up the street, provided a measure of stability, although they tended to sink, too.
Tom Hess, the plant manager at Xcel's Valmont Station, allowed the animal rescuers to save the turtles and other animals on Xcel property Friday. The Colorado Division of Wildlife gave the OK to relocate the creatures to a nearby pond.
Mark Leslie and John Koehler, wildlife managers from the Colorado Division of Wildlife, looked on Friday afternoon. Koehler had donned waders earlier in a failed attempt rescue a turtle on the ice.
"I appreciate these guys doing work to help save wildlife," Leslie said, as he and Koehler pulled away to score more pallets from ReSource.
Xcel's Hess said Friday that winter is a good time to make the repairs, as lakes are full and stream flows are down, leaving less to pump. The canal is Xcel's, and Xcel received permission from the city of Boulder to do the work, he said.
Hess said he hopes to have the canal repaired before the spring runoff and is happy to work with the animal rescuers.
David Crawford, executive director of Rocky Mountain Animal Defense, said he appreciated Xcel's allowing them to relocate the animals, but wished the company had contacted wildlife groups earlier.
That would have been difficult.
"I had never heard of these guys, to tell you the truth," Hess said.
http://www.dailycamera.com/bdc/county_news/article/0,1713,BDC_2423_3408946,00.html
WYOMING NEWS (Casper, Wyoming) 18 December 04 Volunteers wade through mud, muck to save turtles
Boulder, Colo. (AP): About 60 volunteers were knee deep in stinky mud Saturday helping relocate hundreds of bewildered turtles from a drained canal.
The mile-long canal, owned by Xcel Energy, is being drained for repairs. Some turtles, many hibernating before the water level began to drop, were seen perched atop the canal Thursday.
Several animal rights groups went to work Friday, digging through muck to find the animals then walking them to a nearby pond. Local companies got involved, including Gart Sports which brought fish nets and a local pizza shop offering half-price food to volunteers.
A front-page article in the Boulder Daily Camera inspired several other people to join in Saturday, wading through mud and scooping up turtles, craw fish and other aquatic animals.
''Some of (the volunteers) are with Rocky Mountain Animal Defense, but many of them are brand new people we've never seen before,'' said RMAD member Jill Bielawski. She said about 800 animals had been rescued as of Saturday afternoon.
''I think the community has really come together to save these animals. They could be out Christmas shopping, but they're out here saving turtles,'' Bielawski said. ''I think it's wonderful.''
In September, Western Disposal Services successfully sued Xcel saying leaks in the canal had turned 46 acres of its property into spongy, wet flatland.
The canal is on the eastern edge of Boulder, about 30 miles northwest of Denver, and connects South Boulder Creek to reservoirs used by an Xcel power plant. Xcel began draining the canal last week.
''I don't think anybody knew there were turtles in there,'' said Western Disposal President Gary Horton.
Volunteers mobilized Friday, including Colorado Reptile Humane Society member Ann-Elizabeth Nash.
''This is a western painted turtle,'' Nash said pulling the critter from a food-storage container.
Nash, covered in mud, said the animal had been hibernating and the deep water in the canal acted as insulation. The turtle woke up when the water level receded and the temperature changed, she said.
Tom Hess, manager of the Xcel plant, allowed volunteers on the property Friday saying he was happy to work with them. The Colorado Division of Wildlife also approved the animal relocation.
Winter was a good season to make the repairs because lakes are full and stream flows are down, Hess said.
http://www.casperstartribune.net/apdata/wire_detail.php?wire_num=112006
