Gary Wockner: Make EARTH Great Again!

"$100 million settlement fund for Poudre River Improvement! We got the best outcome for the river that we could get. We could have fought ‘til the bitter end in court, with risk of losing and getting absolutely nothing.”--Gary Wockner of Save The Poudre denverpost.com/2025/03/05/col…

Denver Water doesn't appear to be managed properly. watereducationcolorado.org/fresh-water-ne…

“AI can save the planet, and part of our mission is now to do that.” -- @AnthropicAI CEO garywockner.substack.com/p/ai-river-gua…

My vision for California as a climate leader: 1. Make polluters pay 2. Make life more affordable by deploying new technologies to advance clean and green solutions 3. Bring environmental justice into policymaking considerations 4. Lead in nature-based solutions

MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT: "AI River Guardian," The World's First Watershed Protection Agent, Goes Online READ: open.substack.com/pub/garywockne…

@BenjiBacker Thanks for weighing in. Of course, you're right.

Continuously putting the environment last puts our nation last long-term.

The federal district court judge in the Gross Dam case 100% agrees with my organization's stance on climate change, how Gross Dam expansion would accelerate a potential Compact Call on the Colorado River, and the need to stop new diversions. Alan Salazar's response: "Gary is on the fringe and he has a more radical view of what ought to happen." Meanwhile, "Restaurants in Denver are only allowed to serve water to diners who specifically request it." coloradoan.com/story/news/nat…

As a MAHA voter, my interpretation of “America First” included clean water, clean food, massive funding for farmers to grow real food and heal their soil, and telling foreign chemical companies and special interests that they don’t own our country. It isn’t too much to expect.

We actually agree on that! The ENTIRE SYSTEM is being operated to protect the hydropower turbines which the Compact says "shall be subservient." There is NOTHING in any law that allows @usbr to operate the dams to PROTECT THE DAMS. Glen Canyon Dam is worse than a Deadbeat Dam, it's become a Narcissistic Dam, requiring the entire system to be sacrificed and operated to keep the Dam functioning. The entire institution is backwards -- instead of the Dam serving the system, now the system must be sacrificed to serve the Dam to try and keep it operational. It's all about the Dam. The Dam should've never been built. #BypassGlenCanyonDamNow! @JimRobbins19

@United_ByNature Whateverthehellyou'redoing, Go Get 'Em!

@GaryWockner Thank you Gary for your support! 🙌

I'm not exactly sure what this is or what I just donated to, but I bought a $9 share of the Roosevelt National Forest which surrounds my house in the mountains west of Boulder, CO. I like to reward enthusiasm and commitment as well as new ideas, and these folks got that nailed down. Good luck! unitedbynature.eco/campaigns/goin… @United_ByNature @NINP_org BTW, the "Indian Peaks Wilderness Area" is more specifically the landscape closest to me, and is a subsidiary of the Roosevelt National Forest. Consider adding Wilderness Areas to the list.

I said it 15 years ago, 10 years ago, and 5 years ago. I'll say it again: 50% of the economy on the Front Range of Colorado is built on a junior post-compact water right on which irrigation districts in Southern California own the senior right. Read the Compact. It's quite clear. A reckoning is coming.

The River through the Grand Canyon suffers in this "deal " It is always the River that suffers first and most. That's why we named our Alternative the "Grand Canyon Restoration Alternative." It was summarily dismissed by BuRec because the ecological health of the River itself has no standing in this process.

COLORADO RIVER CAMPACT CALL UPDATE: This article talks openly about the threat of a Compact Call and how it would affect junior post-compact water rights in Colorado. During the permitting battle, and court fight, over the Windy Gap Firming Project (WGFP), we repeatedly raised the issue that the WGFP water right was very junior (1980) and subject to call if/when conditions worsened on the Colorado River. @USBR, the @USACEHQ, @northern_water, all the WGFP participants -- as well as the judge in district court -- 100% ignored us. Now, WGFP participants are sitting on $750 million of committed bond debt, a project that is built and not delivering water because of uranium contamination, and the specter of a compact call that could theoretically wipe out the very junior water right the project proposes to divert. @ShannonMullane @mboothdenver @ColoradoSun

After years of community opposition, Sempra has finally cancelled its proposed Vista Pacifico fossil fuel project in the Gulf of California—one of the world’s most biodiverse regions. But the fight isn't over as more projects threaten this irreplaceable ecosystem. on.nrdc.org/4sCEEtP

I think it was, and is, the combination of the two.

Interesting! dailycamera.com/2026/03/19/ame…

@acousteau Good piece. Thanks for writing it

A good read from @acousteau! substack.com/home/post/p-17…

@NINP_org Also this: The River ecosystem changed from a carbon emitter to a carbon sink: tellthedamtruth.com/press-release-…

The largest dam removal in American history just brought a river back to life. The Klamath runs along the California-Oregon border. For more than a century, four hydroelectric dams blocked fish from reaching hundreds of miles of upstream habitat. Salmon populations collapsed. It was quickly noticed by tribal communities who had fished the river for thousands of years. The Yurok and Karuk nations spent decades pushing for dam removal. In 2024, all four dams were removed in the largest dam demolition project in U.S. history. The river ran free for the first time since the early 1900s. Within weeks, Chinook salmon were spotted upstream of the former dam sites for the first time in over 60 years. By 2025, thousands of fish had been counted crossing the former dam sites. The river is responding faster than many scientists expected. The dams had originally been built for hydropower, but they produced less than 2% of the utility's total capacity. Meanwhile, they trapped sediment, raised water temperatures, and fueled toxic algae blooms that killed fish downstream. Removing them wasn't just about salmon. The Klamath supports more than 80 fish species. Cleaner, cooler, free-flowing water benefits the entire ecosystem, from lamprey to steelhead to the communities that depend on the river. This didn't happen overnight. It took over 20 years of negotiation between tribal nations, farmers, fishermen, conservation groups, and state and federal agencies to reach agreement. The Klamath is proof that rivers can recover when people decide they should. That a single infrastructure decision can restore what took a century to damage.