Please help educate the public on caring for our parks, wildlife, forests and mountain ecosystems. While searching for educational links with which to include in a recent letter encouraging neighbors to protect wildlife, I found very little information from the very organizations one would expect to find helpful ideas. In addition, the letter received zero response from our community, so I decided to reach out to those who care. 

In just ten years once peaceful areas in the Colorado Rocky Mountains have become polluted with traffic noises, speeding cars, motorcycles, toxic waste due to overdevelopment which causes unnecessary wildlife deaths and the decline of our beautiful Rocky Mountain ecosystem. With the building of more and more neighborhoods comes the use of toxic chemicals such as certain types of paint, paint thinners, deck stain and sealants, insecticides which kill native pollinators such as bees, moths and butterflies and rodent poisons which in turn poison their natural predators, such as the red fox. Mountain trails are commonly littered with plastics, styrofoam, and dog droppings, and dogs are often allowed to bark incessantly and run loose in neighborhoods killing native rabbits, squirrels and other defenseless creatures. In addition, many pets left to roam are sometimes attacked and eaten by larger mammals natural to the environment. The toxic runoff of hazardous chemicals leaching into waterways is poisoning aquatic wildlife and delicate mountain vegetation. All of the above and many more hazardous practices besides must not be allowed to continue in any natural environment. There must be guidelines and new laws to stop overdevelopment, needless fires, toxic waste, and any disregard for wildlife. Help us gain the attention of Colorado politicians, help us educate tourists and people who care to save and restore the balance of nature in the Rocky Mountains. Thank you!