United by a split

By Gregory Moore | Herald Outdoors Editor August 8, 2008

A good measure of progress on the new proposal could be found in July at a gathering of wilderness proponents near Purgatory that was hosted by the Durango office of Trout Unlimited. Present at the weekend retreat were representatives of the San Juan National Forest, the Colorado Division of Wildlife, Trails 2000 and several journalists from around the state.

Also present were staff members from the local office of U.S. Rep. John Salazar and La Plata County Commissioner Wally White.

Everyone had something positive to say about the compromise proposal, and about the necessity of acting in a timely fashion to ensure the protection of the Hermosa drainage.

"This one's a winner," Chris Hunt of TU's Public Lands Initiative office said of the compromise proposal. "Let's come together on this one to protect the area for generations of hunters and anglers."

http://durangoherald.com/asp-bin/article_generation.asp?article_type=out&article_path=/outdoors/08/out080808_1.htm

Proposed Hermosa Creek plan could create mixed population of trout

By DAVE BUCHANANThe Daily Sentinel

Ty Churchwell, president of the Five Rivers Chapter of TU, says the reintroduction will include about five miles of Hermosa Creek’s headwaters, leaving more than 20 miles downstream as a multi-species fishery.

“There still will be plenty of water for people who want to catch brook trout and rainbows,” said Churchwell, standing near the site of the fish barrier. “But when people come in here, they’ll experience the creek like it was 100 to 150 years ago.”

Cutthroat trout reintroductions began in the Hermosa drainage more than 20 years ago but that was before DNA testing could prove a trout’s genetics. This proposal would take DNA-tested fish raised from brood stock at the Pitkin Hatchery and put them in Hermosa Creek.

http://www.gjsentinel.com/hp/content/sports/stories/2008/07/29/073008_OUT_wild_and_scenic_WWW.html

Colorado's roadless forest plan to get fed review

Associated Press By JUDITH KOHLER

"I actually think it will be a lively give and take," Chris Wood, chief operating officer of Trout Unlimited, said of the federal advisory panel's meeting on Colorado's plan.

Wood is a member of the panel appointed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees the Forest Service. Speaking as a Trout Unlimited representative, Wood said he's concerned about some of the exceptions in Colorado's plan.

"I'm anxious to hear the state explain the significant number of exceptions," Wood said.

Under Colorado's plan, temporary roads would also be allowed for cutting trees to reduce wildfire risk and some land around ski areas would be removed from the inventory of roadless areas.

"We are comfortable and confident that we can resolve this in a way that preserves our initial understanding and intent for those areas to be kept roadless," said Dreyer, Ritter's spokesman.

http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2008/07/30/ap5270772.html

Outdoors enthusiats pushing for creation of West Hermosa Creek Wilderness

By DAVE BUCHANANThe Daily Sentinel

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

“This would be the first wilderness area in Colorado specifically pushed by hunters and anglers,”said Chris Hunt of Trout Unlimited’s Public Lands Initiative.

The east boundary would be Hermosa Creek, the west boundary along the ridge of the La Plata Mountains plus a portion of the Bear Creek drainage.

http://www.gjsentinel.com/hp/content/sports/stories/2008/07/29/073008_OUT_hermosa_WWW.html

Hermosa: Return of the Native

By Gregory Moore | Herald Outdoors Editor On July 17, Trout Unlimited (TU) sponsored a media tour of the western branch of the creek, which is scheduled to join the East Fork in the cutthroat-only club in the spring of 2009.

The tour gave TU a chance to tout its support of the creation of a wilderness area in the Hermosa Creek drainage, and show how the cutthroat restoration project could compliment any new wilderness proposal.

"Basically, this project is taking the upper reaches of this river and turning it from a multi-species river to a single-species river," said Ty Churchwell, president of the local Five Rivers chapter of TU.

"This is the kind of thing that can be done only in headwaters, and the result will be that anglers will be able to come up here and experience this water as it was a hundred or more years ago."

http://durangoherald.com/asp-bin/article_generation.asp?article_type=out&article_path=/outdoors/08/out080725_1.htm

DENTRY: Sportsmen push Hermosa area for wilderness status

By Ed Dentry

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

About 28 miles of Hermosa Creek's main stem hold trout, but the native gem is the Colorado River cutthroat, which almost disappeared until a few pure specimens turned up in isolated headwaters.

Ty Churchwell, president of the Five Rivers chapter of TU, says chapter members will help the Division of Wildlife restore the upper five miles as an all-native trout fishery next spring.

"We want the general public to come in here and experience the river the way it was 100 to 150 years ago," Churchwell said.

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/jul/22/dentry-sportsmen-push-hermosa-area-for-status/?printer=1/

Forest plan full of holes, critics say

Foes believe roadless-area rules could open 300,000 acres to development.

By Mark Jaffe The Denver Post

Sportsmen's groups are pressuring Gov. Bill Ritter not to sign off on a soon-to-be-proposed rule regulating roadless areas in national forests.

The rule, negotiated by the Ritter administration and the U.S. Forest Service, is expected to protect about 4.1 million acres but potentially open 300,000 acres to development, according to a consortium of conservation groups.

"Ritter tried to make the best of it, but it was already a flawed process," said Dave Peterson, Colorado field director with Trout Unlimited and a member of the task force.

http://origin.denverpost.com/headlines/ci_9965756

Dentry: Natural gas drilling hurting land

By Ed Dentry Rocky Mountain News

July 22, 2008

"While there is little to no relationship between the price of gasoline and development of natural gas on public lands - which is what most of this development has been about, as opposed to oil - our rush to produce short-term energy supplies can have a profound effect on the fish and wildlife habitats and water supplies that define the West," said Chris Wood, a Trout Unlimited executive.

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/jul/22/feverish-natural-gas-drilling-has-wreaked-havoc/

Trout Unlimited boosts fish in Canon City

By CHRIS WOODKATHE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN

Trout Unlimited is trying to raise money to improve fish habitat on the Arkansas River through Canon City.

The Southern Colorado Greenback Chapter is trying to complete fundraising for the $20,000 project, which will create weirs, “J-hooks” and boulder clusters on the Arkansas River between Ninth Street and Raynolds Avenue in Canon City, said Ted Sillox, project coordinator.

http://www.chieftain.com/articles/2008/07/08/news/local/doc4872f6be32e9b629083968.txt

Enviros seek options to fight Roan drilling

by David Frey, Aspen Daily News Correspondent Monday, July 7, 2008

After Ritter took office, his administration reviewed the plan and called for protecting about 15,000 more acres to safeguard areas of environmental concern further.

Many wildlife groups, including Trout Unlimited, the National Wildlife Federation and the Colorado Wildlife Federation, have endorsed that plan. The House passed a bill sponsored by Salazar’s brother, Rep. Ken Salazar, and by Rep. Mark Udall, both Democrats, to implement it, but it must also be passed by the Senate.

http://www.aspendailynews.com/section/home/127920