April 21, 2005
Colorado Trout Unlimited’s annual Trout Conservation Award was presented to Gibson Dunn on April 16, recognizing their decade-long effort to protect streamflows on National Forests.
For more than a decade, Gibson Dunn has represented CTU and Trout Unlimited in litigation on the issue of “bypass flows” – minimum stream flow requirements below dams and diversions on National Forests. In 2004, the firm’s long-standing work paid off when a federal district court agreed that the Forest Service has both authority and responsibility to minimize harm to National Forest streams when issuing permits for water projects, something they had not done in issuing an easement for Long Draw with no bypass flow requirements.
“Tackling a difficult legal issue through the long and difficult federal court process is something we couldn’t have done on our own,” said CTU Executive Director David Nickum. “CTU and Colorado’s streams needed a champion, and we found one in Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. Their efforts will help streams on the National Forests not only in Colorado, but nationwide.” Gibson Dunn attorneys representing CTU and Trout Unlimited include Chris Buckley, Greg Whitehair, Michael Crimmins, Michael Murphy and Robert Marshall.