RBC | Members of the local White River Alliance met this past Wednesday to chart the course of their work for the coming year. The board was re-elected by unanimous consent with area fishing and hunting outfitter Shawn Welder taking the helm again as president.
The group will continue their focus on educating and sharing information to area ranchers and landowners about some of the possible contributors to the algae bloom, reach out to towns of Meeker and Rangely and the County to encourage a healthier and more effective approach to summer mosquito control and continue to educate the community — and take action — to reduce the expansionists of exotic thirsty invasive plants like Russian olive and Tamarisk.
Board director Luke Trout has been researching Ute place names in the White River Valley. When John Wesley Powell wintered in what later became known as Powell Park in 1868 with the Tabeguache band of the Utes, he documented that the White River got its name from the Ute language, “A-vwim’-pa.” His research is ongoing.
The group is seeking to line up regular speakers during the year, and the first scheduled speaker for 2021 is Professor Nathan Perry of Mesa University whose specialty is population growth in Colorado and economic development. He is scheduled to speak Monday, Feb. 8 at 6 p.m. via a Zoom link which will be advertised in the Rio Blanco Herald Times.
To join the White River Alliance, visit whiteriveralliance.net
Membership is $25.
Special to the Herald Times
