9th Annual Youth Camp a huge success!

The 9th Annual Colorado Trout Unlimited Youth Fly Fishing and River Conservation camp was held near Stonewall, Colorado the week of June 9th. During the duration teenagers age 14 through 17 participated in activities and talks on conservation topics such as water quality, entomology, fish pathology, water law, and riparian restoration. Between learning about the work TU does, the students were instructed on casting, proper fish handling, and fly tying. Trips to local waterways happened at least once a day, and in their free time students were able to fish near camp. 2014 was the first year holding the camp in the southern part of the state. The Purgatoire River Anglers Chapter was a great help in organizing accommodations and suggesting fishing trips. A day was spent touring the recent restoration project on the Purgatoire River the chapter has been so involved in over the past few years. Students were even able to take part in the restoration by helping to seed in some of the floodplain disturbed during construction.

Kids came from far and wide to attend camp this year, from as far away as Steamboat Springs and New Mexico, and some from down the road in Trinidad. The camp’s ongoing success was apparent in the recruitment of this year’s class, and the participation of the five alumni counselors.

Phil Long Toyota of Trinidad provided financial support for the 2014 camp. With their generous contribution the campers were all able to attend on scholarships. It also afforded the opportunity for the students to document their experience with the use of video equipment. The shots from the week are to be edited and produced into a highlight reel for campers to remember their trip, and for recruiting next year’s class of attendees.

Of course none of this would be possible without volunteer support. Camp director Mike Nicholson has been with the youth camp almost as long as Larry Quilling and Sharon Lance who founded the project nine years ago. In that time the camp has grown its reputation as well as a contingent of passionate alumni. This year five camp alumni volunteered their time to return as youth counselors. With the additional help of returning and first time adult counselors, the campers had plenty of one on one attention and guidance throughout the week.

The best part of camp is seeing the students’ progress over the course of the camp, and being witness to their hard work paying off. We can all share in the enthusiasm of a kid catching their first fish on a fly rod, or in fooling a fish on a fly they tied. But even better than that is hearing how passionate they are about clean water, and rivers, and healthy wild fish. Knowing that they will be the ones to take the reins in the stewardship of these resources in the not too distant future, that is the reason why all the hard work we do today is worth it.

Evergreen Trout Unlimited is Helping Sponsor Outdoors Day

Evergreen Trout Unlimited is taking a year off of their Annual Fourth of July event and in return they are partnering with Colorado Parks and Wildlife for the Evergreen Outdoor Skills Day on Sunday, June 29. The event will take place at Evergreen Lake Park from 9am to 2pm. Kids of all ages and skill levels can partake in fly and spin cast fishing, guided nature walks and with help from Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, kids can learn more about hunters safety.

A free lunch and other great prizes will be awarded throughout the day.

In a press release provided by Colorado Parks and Wildlife, Joe Nicholson, wildlife officer for the Evergreen area said, "We'd like to see every family have the opportunity to experience some of the wildlife-related recreation that goes on in Colorado to maintain our populations and the health of our wildlife. Learning about the wildlife nearby and understanding our heritage is critical to the future of this precious natural resource."

Evergreen Trout Unlimited is providing volunteers to help with the fly tying activities, help kids practice both their fly and spin casting technique, how to properly catch and handle a fish, and how to bait the hooks.

If you are interested in volunteering with Evergreen Trout Unlimited for the event, contact John Ellis at jellis@enbColorado.com. For more information regarding attending the event, please RSVP at http://www.register-ed.com/programs/colorado/118-colorado-outreach.

Colorado High School Teacher Wins National Conservation Award

Thanks to his conservation efforts and environmental teaching within the program of Trout in the Classroom, local Summit High School teacher, Jamie Lambrecht is the newest winner of the 2014 Presidential Innovation Award for Environmental Educators (PIAEE). The PIAEE is awarded to 16 different teachers across the country each year. These teachers have dedicated their time and curriculum to teaching their students about the importance of environmental conservation. According the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the award is given to teachers, “to nationally honor, support and encourage educators who incorporate environmental education in their classrooms & teaching methods.”

For Lambrecht, winning the award is an honor; but he is most happy with the recognition the award represents. According to Lambrecht, the award shows that, “people are starting to realize the efforts that go into watersheds and conservation.” This is the reason behind his involvement with the Trout in the Classroom program (TIC).

Lambrecht has been involved with the TIC program for the last three years. With a biology degree under his belt, he felt very drawn to the program when it was being offered by Gore Range Trout Unlimited. “I wanted a way for kids to get more involved with some more hands on research,” he said.

The program reaches about 150-200 kids between the ages of 14 and 18 at Summit High School in Summit County, Colorado. “The program is an elective class, [as an extension of the biology department] therefore students have to sign up and want to take it,” said Lambrecht.

His curriculum involves more than growing fish in tanks; it helps students learn all about the aquatic ecosystem. Students learn about the insects in the water, the affects of pH and nitrate towards water quality, and other ways to help improve the river habitat. The kids also learn how these different traits affect fishing. Lambrecht says, “The kids leave the class ready to fish.”

In the future Lambrecht and Gore Range TU are going to continue with the Trout in the Classroom program as well as other conservation projects that will help kids get more involved with watershed conservation.

For more information on the Trout in the Classroom program, check out the article on the Stream Explorers Program.

Meet CTU's Summer Interns

Colorado Trout Unlimited is excited to welcome Rachel Willis and Jeff Florence onto our team for the summer. The two of them will be working closely with staff, chapters, members and volunteers to help us make a bigger impact for the rivers in Colorado. We were fortunate enough to hire two very qualified people for two different positions. Below are a short bio and brief description about what they will be doing during their time with CTU.

River Cleanup Intern

 Rachel Willis rachel.willis@coloradotu.org

Rachel has been hired on as our River Cleanup Intern   for the summer. Rachel is originally from Alaska and grew up spending her summers fishing with her dad on the Chena River or down south in Valdez. Rachel is an Environmental Science major with a concentration in ecological restoration at Metropolitan State University of Denver. While at Metro she served as the Vice President for the Colorado Wildlife Federations student club. She is excited to work with Colorado Trout Unlimited on River Cleanup projects and to learn about river conservation in Colorado. Rachel is looking forward to being involved in conservation efforts in beautiful Colorado and to starting her career working for TU.

Rachel’s internship has two main objectives. The first is to help with planning the many river cleanups that our chapters do across the state. The main focus will be on recruiting new volunteers and helping to develop follow-up strategies for engaging those volunteers beyond river cleanups. She will edit and populate the Great Colorado River Cleanup website with all of the cleanup dates to help recruit volunteers across the state. She will also help with planning prior to the day of river cleanups and help to find materials, develop partnerships, and make calls for cleanups.

The second part of Rachel’s internship is to help CTU develop and manage a volunteer database within our SALSA software. This will include a lot of data entry as well and organizing volunteers by geographic area as well as area of interest for volunteer activities. This will help all of us in the future be able to utilize volunteers at the click of a mouse to help with projects.

Communications Intern

Jeff Florence jeff.florence@coloradotu.org

Jeff has been hired on as our Communications Intern for the summer. Jeff was born and raised in Highlands Ranch, Colorado. From an early age Jeff has been camping, hiking and fishing in his free time and he also played hockey and baseball growing up. Jeff is currently studying journalism with a minor in recreation services at Metropolitan State University of Denver. He hopes to one day write for an outdoor magazine and has done some free lance writing for Cabela’s in the past. Jeff is looking forward to getting to work for Trout Unlimited and help spread the story of a great organization while gaining experience in both journalism and recreation services.

Because of Jeff’s experience with other recreation activities he will focus his work on writing stories about how TU can reach out and partner/work with other recreation industries such as rafting, camping, hunting etc. Jeff will also be working with TU chapters and staff to help tell our success stories and network those stories through our various online sources. Jeff will also be developing a TU Chapter Guide to Social Media for those chapters that are looking to learn more about social media best practices and expand their social media presence. We hope that Jeff will be able to take our online presence to a new level and help to increase our relationships with not only the fishing community in CO but to the other recreation industries as well.

Time to seal the deal on protecting Hermosa Creek

Hermosa Creek in Southwest Colorado is beautiful in many ways. To anglers, it is trout heaven. To mountain bikers, it is an awesome place to ride. To miners, it is a limited but valuable source of minerals. In some circumstances, these constituencies would fight over the future of this wild piece of U.S. Forest Service land just outside Durango.

But that's not the story that has played out.

No, these interests came together in 2007 and began talking and compromising until they had a plan everybody could live with.

And now they're asking Congress to pass the watershed protection bill that is the result of their work. And it needs to happen soon, before elections become the sole focus of Washington, D.C., and a lame-duck Congress presides.

"All the concessions were made in the community," said Ty Churchwell, a Durango resident who is backcountry coordinator for Trout Unlimited. "There's nothing for them to do in D.C. but vote it forward."

Read the rest of the article in The Denver Post.

11,000 and growing!

It's time to celebrate!  Trout Unlimited now has over 11,000 members in Colorado! We are thrilled to have reached this milestone and see it as a testament to the great work of our Chapters and staff all across our beautiful state.  From the Upper Colorado to the Dolores, the South Platte to the Rio Grande, the Blue and beyond, Trout Unlimited works hard to protect our rivers and fish!

Thank you to all of our members for your continuing support of TU in Colorado!

Women on the Fly are on the Rise

Across the country Trout Unlimited chapters are actively engaging women into our conservation work. While the sport of fly fishing is mainly dominated by men, most of those men will tell you that when it comes to fly fishing, women are naturals!! There are a variety of opportunities for women to learn about fly fishing and to advance their angling skill throughout Colorado, and Colorado Trout Unlimited is helping to build the conservation knowledge of women as well. By becoming a Colorado member of Trout Unlimited, you receive the award-winning magazine Trout, stickers, the High Country Angler publication, calendars and discounts for various merchandise; but most importantly you are a small piece of the largest effort in the country to keep the cold water fisheries healthy! That is amazing!!

In the fall of 2012, Trout Unlimited launched a campaign aimed at getting more women to sign up as members. In doing so, women were offered complimentary trial memberships over the course of the year. Over 2,500 women signed up! What a great success. Thanks to all of you who reached out to women in your community and invited them to join Trout Unlimited.  It is undoubtedly because of your efforts that we can boast a 13 percent retention rate so far on these trial members.

To help bring women into our river conservation world, we are pleased to bring back this complementary trial membership and to announce that women can sign up for their first time annual membership for FREE right now!! In addition, women can renew for half price, at a special $17.50 rate. To add a little incentive for our chapters, any recruiting chapters (for women membership renewals) will receive $15 of that $17.50 in the form of a special rebate. AND, for even more incentive from March 1 - May 31, Trout Unlimited will be tracking which chapters recruit the most women and which have the highest rates of renewals (allocated proportionally based on chapter size.) The chapter that recruits the most women will be issued a plaque. Cash rewards will be awarded to the chapters that have the highest rates of renewals: $500 for first place, $300 for second place, and $100 for third place.

Colorado Trout Unlimited has partnered with a lot of groups across the state who are engaging women like Colorado Women Flyfishers and the Fly Gals from Collegiate Peaks Anglers. We have also created a “meet up” type page on Facebook where women throughout Colorado can find other ladies to fish with and to share their fishing stories. You can join that page at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/cowomenonthefly/.

To learn more about these efforts or to get involved, please contact Stephanie Scott at sscott@tu.org.

Colorado TU honors Chapter leaders and others at Rendezvous 2014

At the 2014 Rendezvous, Colorado TU presented its annual awards for outstanding contributions by chapters and individuals at the evening awards banquet. Colorado TU presented its “Trout Conservation Award”, recognizing outstanding contributions by TU partners, to Colorado Parks and Wildlife biologist Ken Kehmeier for his leadership in developing mitigation plans for water projects.  Kehmeier’s efforts helped secure mitigation commitments to protect fishery resources in association with the Chatfield, Moffat, and Windy Gap projects.  He has also been a leader in developing the proposed collaborative project for native trout restoration in the Poudre headwaters.

The “Trout Communication Award”, recognizing leadership in public education and communications around river conservation, went to Dan Crabtree, recently retired from the Bureau of Reclamation.  Under Dan’s leadership, the Bureau’s Aspinall public stakeholder meetings – held three times a year to coordinate operations on the Bureau’s Gunnison River dams – became a valuable forum for constructive dialogue between the agency and its stakeholders, and helped create a new spirit of cooperation.

As “Outstanding Guide & Outfitter”, Colorado TU honored Freestone Outfitters’ Clint Packo.  Clint helped develop the concepts for Colorado TU’s “Protect Our Rivers” corporate donation program and stepped up with a “Round Up For Rivers” program with Freestone itself – through which clients are invited to “round up” their purchase of a trip with an extra $25 donation for conservation.  Each donation is matched by Freestone.  In addition, Clint helped develop the innovative Hartsel Easy Access Recreation Trail with the Cherry Creek Anglers Chapter, providing an outstanding new angling opportunity on the Middle Fork South Platte for mobility-impaired anglers.

Colorado TU recognized two of its own “Outstanding Volunteers” as well.  Mike Nicholson was honored for his volunteer work as director of Colorado TU’s annual youth conservation camp, which he has guided into being a flagship program for engaging Colorado high schoolers with river conservation and angling.  Ric Tarr was honored for his 32 years of commitment as a volunteer with the West Denver chapter, stepping in wherever help was needed and providing leadership around chapter programs for both youth education and public education.

The Rocky Mountain Flycasters were recognized as “Exemplary Chapter” for their outstanding programs across the spectrum – strong community engagement, outstanding communications, vibrant youth programs including a summer day camp, and meaningful conservation projects.  In particular, the chapter was recognized for its leadership in promoting watershed health in the aftermath of two natural disasters effecting its home waters on the Poudre and Big Thompson Rivers – the 2012 High Park fire and the 2013 floods.

The West Denver Chapter was honored both for “Outstanding Communications” and “Exemplary Youth Education”.  The Chapter was recognized for its first-rate “Angler’s Edge” newsletter and effective website, and for youth programming that includes a long-standing partnership with Jefferson County Public Schools Outdoor Lab through which 6th graders get a week of in-the-field outdoor education experience.

Two chapters were recognized with “Exemplary Project” awards.  The Colorado Headwaters Chapter was honored for its long-standing, and very effective, campaign for public engagement behind protection of the Fraser River basin in the face of expanding water diversions.  The “Save the Fraser” campaign recently culiminated with an innovative agreement among TU, Grand County, and Denver Water for collaboration in conserving habitat in the watershed.  The Yampa Valley Flyfishers were recognized for their multi-year project, operating in coordination with their close partners with the Yampa Valley Stream Improvement Charitable Trust, recently completed a multi-year project investing hundreds of thousands of dollars in restoring quality habitat on the Yampa River in the Chuck Lewis State Wildlife Area.

In addition to Colorado TU’s annual awards, the Silver Trout Foundation presented its “Silver Trout” award – the highest honor for contributions to coldwater conservation in Colorado, recognizing lifetime efforts – to two individuals: Colorado TU past president Sinjin Eberle and Colorado TU Lobbyist Jen Boulton.  Sinjin was recognized for his effective leadership of Colorado TU, overseeing a period of strong financial and program growth and contributing his significant marketing and communications skills to successful campaigns to protect the Fraser and Upper Colorado Rivers.  Jen was recognized for her nearly 20 years of service as a lobbyist duing which she helped Colorado TU to secure legislation strengthening instream flow programs, water quality protections, and funding for habitat protection and fishing access – as well as holding off countless attacks on laws for protection of natural resources.

Congratulations – and thank you – to all of this year’s awardees!

Hermosa Creek legislation - moving forward, slowly

Sportsmen and women from the Southwest corner of Colorado continue to be hopeful the Hermosa Creek Watershed Protection Act will soon receive markups in the subcommittees of Congress.  In the meantime, Trout Unlimited and our sportsmen partners are doing our part to see this magnificent land protected, forever. In March, the ‘Sportsmen for Hermosa’ worked the campaign and were rewarded.  The bill’s Senate sponsor, Senator Bennet, came through Durango and requested a private meeting with the local supporters to discuss the progress.  Hunters and anglers, representing the coalition, spent about a half hour chatting with the Senator about the value of protected public lands, Hermosa’s economic input and habitat.  Attending were TU, Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, Duranglers, American Rivers, Conservation Colorado, Waterfall Ranch Outfitters, Gardenswartz and Rep. Tipton’s local staffer.  The Hermosa bill is a priority for the Senator and we’re grateful.

One of this campaign’s most important partners, Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, hosted their national Rendezvous in Denver.  Hermosa was a major topic of discussion all weekend.  Rep. Tipton attended a small, private breakfast and spoke candidly about Hermosa and his efforts to see it enacted.  Several ‘Sportsmen for Hermosa’ partner organizations were represented, including TU, BHA, Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, Bull Moose Sportsmen and Nat’l Wildlife Federation.  The coalition thanked the Congressman for his work and leadership on Hermosa.  Additionally, Senator Udall was the keynote speaker Saturday night and mentioned Hermosa numerous times.  Several new sportsmen supporters joined the coalition, including some notables such as Dvorak Expeditions, Anglers Covey, Dragonfly Anglers, CO Wildlife Federation and Rep Your Water.  We’re grateful for their voice.

It’s an arduous journey for a bill, as School House Rock taught us, but when sportsmen and women stand unified for a special place, good things happen for trout and public lands.  You can follow the progress and lend your support on Facebook at ‘Sportsmen for Hermosa.'

--- Ty Churchwell, Sportsmen's Conservation Project, tchurchwell@tu.org

CTU Hiring River Cleanup Intern

Colorado Trout Unlimited is hiring an intern to help with our River Cleanups across Colorado. Most of our 24 chapters host at least one cleanup a year and we are hiring an intern to help make a bigger impact with river cleanups in local communities. This intern will also help to bring a strong conservation message to the cleanups and help to strengthen cleanup partnerships. This is a non paid position, however we will work with your college to arrange credit for the internship. Click here to view the position description. To apply for this internship please email your cover letter and resume to Stephanie Scott at sscott@tu.org