Three Colorado bodies of water will receive significant improvements within the year through a funding program with Colorado Parks and Wildlife.
Parks and Wildlife’s 2012 “Motorboat Colorado!” grant program will sponsor projects to enhance the boating experience at Lake Nighthorse, Ruedi Reservoir and Standley Lake.
The largest grant of the 2012 funding cycle will go to construct boating facilities at Lake Nighthorse, located near Durango. The $285,000 grant provides a share of the funding for an aquatic nuisance species inspection station, a dock and buoys, access road design and construction and development of a recreation master plan for the facility. Lake Nighthorse is part of the Animas-La Plata Project, which provides water to Native American tribes and partners in New Mexico and Colorado.
Two smaller “Motorboat Colorado!” grants were awarded to the Ruedi Water and Power Authority and the City of Westminster. A $10,000 grant will allow the Ruedi Water and Power Authority to continue aquatic nuisance species inspections at Ruedi Reservoir at the border of Eagle County and Pitkin County.
Likewise, a $5,000 grant will provide matching funds for the construction of motorboat access improvements at Standley Lake in Westminster.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife, created by the merger of Colorado State Parks and the Colorado Division of Wildlife, estimates that $700 million is spent on sport fishing. The “Motorboat Colorado!” grant program funds projects that open new waters to boats or improve facilities at lakes or reservoirs that already allow motorboat access.
The program is primarily funded by the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service Sport Fish Restoration Program’s tax on the sale of motorboat fuel. Projects selected to receive funding are subject to federal reporting, compliance and accounting requirements.
For more information on “Motorboat Colorado!” visit http://wildlife.state.co.us/Fishing/ResourcesTips/MotorboatColorado/ or for more information about Colorado’s state parks, visit http://www.parks.state.co.us, or for wildlife programs, visit http://wildlife.state.co.us.