Fishing closure extended at Home Lake State Wildlife Area

John Livingston
Southwest Region Public Information Officer
970-759-9590 / [email protected]
@CPW_SW

Home Lake State Wildlife Area will remain closed to fishing through at least June 30.

MONTE VISTA, Colo. – A mandatory fishing closure at Home Lake State Wildlife Area east of Monte Vista has been extended by Colorado Parks and Wildlife through at least June 30.

The closure has been in place since June 2 after the lake was exposed to chemicals used for agriculture operations. Those herbicides can be toxic to aquatic life.

The original closure was through June 16 and has been extended through June 30, as water sampling and monitoring of the fishery continue.

It is important for the public to respect the closure and that no fish from Home Lake State Wildlife Area be consumed at this time.

“We are running into people violating the closure, taking down closure signs and continuing to fish Home Lake,” said District Wildlife Manager Tyler Cerny. “We are not doing this to be mean. We are doing this for the benefit of public health and safety.”

The cause of the chemical exposure to Home Lake is being investigated by the Colorado Department of Agriculture and CPW.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) is an enterprise agency, relying primarily on license sales, state parks fees and registration fees to support its operations, including: 43 state parks and more than 350 wildlife areas covering approximately 900,000 acres, management of fishing and hunting, wildlife watching, camping, motorized and non-motorized trails, boating and outdoor education. CPW's work contributes approximately $6 billion in total economic impact annually throughout Colorado.