Changes will ensure
our water is cleaner

Gary Harmon’s article on the 2009 Clean Water Restoration Act quotes Sen. Michael Bennet as saying that the legislation “could block access to waters for sportsmen and fishermen.”

With all due respect, the senator has it exactly backwards. The CWRA would have absolutely no effect on the ability of hunters and anglers to access Colorado’s waters. But it would ensure that when they visit Colorado’s rivers and streams, they find clean, fishable waters that have been protected from pollutants and waste.

Most hunter and angler groups, including Trout Unlimited, Ducks Unlimited and the National Wildlife Federation, support the CWRA for a simple reason: It protects streams and wetlands that are critical habitat for fish and wildlife.

Far from being a federal power grab, CWRA would simply restore the protection that the Clean Water Act provided for 25 years before misguided court rulings declared open season on wetlands and waterways.  In Colorado, 75 percent of our streams — 76,000 miles worth — are now at risk.

 Field and Stream magazine recently called passage of the CWRA a top priority for hunters and anglers, because it protects “temporary and isolated wetlands, among the most important habitats for waterfowl and a host of other wildlife.”

If Colorado’s senators wish to defend the interests of sportsmen and women, they will support the Clean Water Restoration Act and ensure that our rivers and wetlands are safeguarded for future generations.

DAVID NICKUM
Executive Director
Colorado Trout Unlimited
Arvada

Honor Flight group working
on a trip for WWII veterans

To the residents and businesses of Grand Junction and Mesa County:

On Aug. 25 and 26, a special Honor Flight will be flying to Washington, D.C. This flight is for our World War II veterans and is cost-free to them.

Our veterans stepped up when they were called and this flight to Washington is to allow them to see the World War II Memorial, which was especially built for them. They will also view the Marine Memorial, the Korean Memorial and others. This is one way that we can honor them.

If anyone would like to volunteer to help with this endeavor or donate to this cause, please contact:  Kris Baugh, 2121 N. Ave., Grand Junction, Colo. 81501, or Ron Fiedler, 2029 W. Liberty Court, Grand Junction, Colo. 81507.

RON FIEDLER
Grand Junction

Retired bus driver
always kept kids safe

The article in the May 21 edition of The Daily Sentinel about Sherill Dodd, the retiring school bus driver, was well done. Thank you.

She is modest but has quietly done something very well and it is great for her to receive some public recognition for her many years of effort.

A quote attributed to me in the article was partially misinterpreted. I will restate my thoughts: Sherill Dodd made us feel like she was the lucky one because she got to take our kids to school, but the big gift she gave to us as parents and grandparents, day after day, year after year, was that Sherrill kept our kids safe.

One of our daughters, Wendy, said, “Sherrill gave the parents peace of mind because they knew their kids would get to and from school safe.” That is the No. 1 reason Sherrill means so much to so many people. But Sherrill went way beyond that.

She filled her bus with humor, firmness, smiles, rules, fun, love, special treats and more. When the kids got off the bus at school, Sherrill would tell them, “Have a great day and remember I love you.”

Some other of our family thoughts about Sherrill are that she helped kids start their school day right. She was always smiling so it wasn’t scary to go to school. Sherrill made her kids feel welcome on the bus and went out of her way to accommodate them and to get them safely back home.

Sherrill did an amazing, superb job. That’s why she received Colorado’s highest school-bus-driver honor a few years ago. Our family deeply appreciates the level of care Sherrill put into driving bus number 67. Many, many people thank Sherrill for her care for their children, including our family.

KRIS POTTER
Palisade

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