Considered one of the most majestic places in the West, the Black Canyon of the Gunnison is a gold medal trout fishery. However, the river has also long been coveted by water development interests. In 2004, after almost 20 years of opposition, Trout Unlimited and its allies finally defeated the proposed AB-Lateral project, which would have diverted more than 1,000 cfs (cubic feet per second) of water from the Gunnison into the Uncompahgre River for hydropower development. In 2007, TU scored another huge victory for the river when a federal court ruled that the U.S. Department of the Interior had a responsibility to maintain ecologically significant minimum flows through the Black Canyon.

Photos by Mark Lance.