LOCATION: Long Lake, Brainard Lake Recreation Area
Thousands of people visit Long Lake over the course of the year to soak in the fresh and frozen water recreational opportunities. In winter, it’s a popular cross-country ski, backcountry ski and snowboard, and snowshoe destination. In the summer, people picnic on the lake and hike along its shore.
LOCATION: North Platte River, Colorado and Wyoming
Rivers are an interstate and international affair. The North Platte River runs a little more than 700 miles, starting in Colorado and arcing north into Wyoming before heading east into Nebraska and over to the Mississippi River. Humans have been using this very water source for over 11,000 years, according to the Wyoming State Historical Society.
LOCATION: Union Reservoir, Longmont
In Colorado, 86 percent of our water goes to agricultural use, 7 percent to municipal/domestic use, 3 percent is dedicated to recreation and fisheries, 2 percent is used by industrial and commercial projects, and the final 2 percent is made up of miscellaneous necessities, according to Resource Central.
LOCATION: Maroon Bells, Aspen
There are five types of wetlands in Colorado: fens, marshes, wet meadows, riparian wetlands and salt flats. Since Anglo settlers arrived in the area, nearly half of the wetlands that were once here have been lost. Now only about 2 percent of Coloradan land is classified as wetland, and those areas provide critical habitat for the majority of the state’s wildlife.
