Carson Lake’s lure

Grand Junction Sentinel

By Bill Haggerty

Carson Lake has long held a soft spot in my heart. Maybe it’s because Carson is a lovely, pristine mountain lake. Or maybe it’s because Carson Lake is so close to town, I can beat the heat in about an hour and a half. Maybe it’s because one of the finest short drives in the West, the Lands End Road, takes you right up to Carson Lake. (Lands End is a spur of Grand Mesa National Scenic Byway!)

Most likely, however, it’s because I can catch lots of wild, fat brook trout there.

The road is in good shape, and the trek around the lake is an easy hike, except for the bog near the inlet (wear appropriate foot gear!). It’s also a spotless recreation area and we can thank the local Grand Valley Anglers chapter of Trout Unlimited for adopting this lake and keeping it so clear of litter.

http://www.gjsentinel.com/outdoors/articles/carson_lakes_lure/

Save our waters

By Tonya BinaSky-Hi News

The Grand County chapter of Trout Unlimited has forwarded a petition to Moffat Firming project stakeholders, signed by Grand County residents and visitors, reiterating the need for protection of the area's rivers.

With the comment period on the water firming project long over, and as citizens await the ruling on the proposed increased diversions by Denver Water and the Northern Water Conservancy District, Trout Unlimited's Colorado River Headwaters Chapter President Kirk Klancke said the reason for the petition was to “just keep things simmering.”

In just over a week, as many as 429 people signed a petition urging sound use of headwaters resources in Grand County. Signatures had been gathered on three separate occasions, during a Trout Unlimited event at the Crooked Creek Saloon, at the Trout Unlimited Annual Banquet and at Winter Park's Art Affair, where Trout Unlimited hosted a booth.

“It was to let the people who are governing this process understand how much this means to the people of Grand County,” Klancke said.

http://www.skyhidailynews.com/article/20100807/NEWS/100809931/1079&ParentProfile=1067

Project clears invasive plants from river

Trinidad Times

Randy Woock, Staff writer

Eradication efforts are underway in Trinidad for vast swaths of invasive plant species that threaten to choke out the native riparian plant life of the Purgatoire River. Tackling Tamarisk on the Purgatoire, part of the Purgatoire River Watershed Woody Invasive Removal Project, is a multi-phase project aimed at removing such invasive species as the tamarisk and Russian olive in order to facilitate the development of the river area for recreational purposes.

The main stem of the Purgatoire River flows from Culebra Peak in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains through Trinidad and on to the county’s northeastern quadrant where it joins the Arkansas River.

The project’s origins stretch back to about five years ago with the Trinidad Community Foundation (TCF) and has grown since to include a multitude of active and supporting partners such as Trout Unlimited, The Nature Conservancy, the Spanish Peaks-Purgatoire River Conservation District, the Colorado Division of Wildlife, the City of Trinidad, the Tamarisk Coalition, private landowners and host of other agencies and groups. “We were talking about how the Purgatoire River, from the dam all the way through the town, was a very under-utilized resource. When the (TCF) got together, one of the tenants of their reason for being was recreation within the area,” TCF and Purgatoire Anglers chapter of Trout Unlimited member Howard Lackey said. “I took the project with the river as kind of our banner project for recreation.”

 http://www.trinidad-times.com/clients/trinidad-times/project-clears-invasive-plants-from-river-p675-1.htm

Thanks to Coyote Gulch for the link! http://coyotegulch.wordpress.com/

Denver Water Plan Draws Environmental Concerns

CBS4 Denver

Paul Day

WINTER PARK, Colo. (CBS4) ― Tumbling off a mountainside near Winter Park, Jim Creek carries a healthy volume of snowmelt until it flows smack into a concrete structure.

 

"This ... is built to divert water," explains Kirk Klancke, a fly fisherman and Grand County resident.

The structure does its job well. On the downstream side, all that's left is barely a trickle.

Jim Creek is one of many tributaries to the Fraser River. In this valley, Denver Water operates dozens of diversion structures that siphon water from what would naturally flow in the Fraser. The big utility now wants approval to take even more water and pipe it to Denver as part of its Moffat Firming Project.

Recreation and tourism would suffer if the stream is further imperiled, says Klancke who's president of the local chapter of Trout Unlimited.

"This river is struggling for survival," Klancke said. "An additional withdrawal could put it over a tipping point where it may not survive."

http://cbs4denver.com/news/fraser.denver.water.2.1826940.html

Exploring the Roan Plateau: Day One

Field & Stream

Conservationist blogger Hal Herring and photographer Kevin Cooley spent three days exploring what's at stake in the current rush to develop the energy resources beneath Colorado's unique Roan Plateau -- some of the best big game hunting and trout fishing in the United States. http://www.fieldandstream.com/photos/gallery/fishing/trout-fishing/where-fish-trout/2010/07/exploring-roan-plateau-day-one

Group pours years into protecting, reviving Roan Plateau creek

By Dave Buchanan

Grand Junction Sentinel

Nearly two decades after the local Trout Unlimited chapter unofficially adopted Trapper Creek, a small stream burbling from the sandstone layers atop the Roan Plateau, the changes are noticeable. Where once cattle trod through decadent sagebrush and the deepest hole was a smelly mud wallow, lush grasses and clear runs mark a stream that more than once has come back from the brink of disappearance.

http://www.gjsentinel.com/outdoors/articles/group_pours_years_into_protect/

Group calls Upper Colorado River ‘endangered'

Julie SutorSummit County Correspondent Post Independent

SUMMIT COUNTY, Colorado — New water diversions could sap the life from the Upper Colorado River Basin, according to American Rivers, a national conservation group.

The organization declared the Upper Colorado America's sixth most endangered river earlier this month in its annual survey of the health of the nation's rivers.

“We can't continue to take and take water from the Upper Colorado without accounting for the serious impacts to fish and wildlife habitat,” said Ken Neubecker of Colorado Trout Unlimited. “This river is on the brink. A vibrant, healthy river system in the Upper Colorado is every bit as important to the future of Colorado as the water it supplies to our farms and cities.”

http://www.postindependent.com/article/20100630/VALLEYNEWS/100629860/1083&ParentProfile=1074

Cars decorate Vail Valley river banks

Sarah MausolfVail Daily

 

There are actually two cars in the banks of the river in Edwards, and one fishing guide estimates there are about 15 cars altogether in the stretch of river that runs through Eagle County.

Local lore claims ranchers placed the cars along the river's edge to stop the banks from sloughing off and prevent the river from encroaching on their land.

“It was done to keep the bank from eroding,” said John Packer, owner of Fly Fishing Outfitters in Avon. “People used to do stuff like that back in the day when it was only slightly illegal. Nowadays, throwing cars in the river is not really kosher.”

Several people familiar with the river guessed the cars date back to the '40s and '50s. Ken Neubecker, a former Eagle resident and past president of Colorado Trout Unlimited, said he once uncovered a car during an Eagle River cleanup event about 12 years ago. Only the roof of the car was peeking out of the river sediment, he said.

http://www.vaildaily.com/article/20100615/NEWS/100619805/1078&ParentProfile=1062

Money flows to study of Lightner Creek

by Dale RodebaughHerald Staff Writer

The Southwestern Water Conservation District has contributed $3,600 to help fund the second phase of a study to determine the source of periodic sediment in Lightner Creek.

Initial results of the study point to the Perins Canyon watershed and a stormwater retention basin as possible sources.

For years, water-protection groups and Trout Unlimited have been concerned about the chalky-colored water that from time to time enters the Animas River from Lightner Creek immediately south of the DoubleTree Hotel.

In February 2009, Buck Skillen, a board member of Trout Unlimited, tested water turbidity at the confluence of the waterways. When he poured 60 cubic centimeters of water (the equivalent of two shot glasses or a medical syringe) in a filter, it became clogged by the time 45 centimeters had passed through.

Overall water quality and the effects of sediment on the Animas' gold-medal trout fishery are the major concerns of the coalition of concerned groups that initiated the study last October.

http://durangoherald.com/sections/News/2010/06/11/Money_flows_to_study_of_Lightner_Creek/

Upper Colorado Makes Endangered Rivers List

Colorado Public Radio

Colorado Matters

The thirst for water along the Front Range makes the Upper Colorado one of the nation's 10 most endangered rivers. That's according to the national watchdog group, American Rivers. The Upper Colorado begins in Rocky Mountain National Park and flows southwest toward Utah. Plans are underway for two separate projects to take more water from it-- near Kremmling-- then send it to Denver and cities in northern Colorado.  Now conservationists say it's not that they want cities to dry up for lack of water. But they don't want that for the river either. Ryan Warner speaks with Ken Neubecker, past president of Colorado Trout Unlimited. Listen to interview: http://www.cpr.org/article/Upper_Colorado_Makes_Endangered_Rivers_List