by Jason GonzalesHerald Staff Writer
Ty Churchwell, backcountry coordinator for Trout Unlimited, spoke during the public hearing and said the city is doing a great job keeping the Animas River clean.
"We had some good storm-water rules in effect, and this just steps things up a hair," he said.
http://durangoherald.com/sections/News/2009/07/29/Commissioners_OK_stormwater_changes/
By DAVE BUCHANAN/The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel Monday, July 13, 2009
These simply aren’t trout but rather Colorado River cutthroat trout, one of the state’s three existing native trout and special even beyond that.
“You figure this trout has been isolated up here for thousands of years and there’s no question it’s adapted to some unique environmental conditions, including higher water temperatures that would kill other trout,” said Corey Fisher, 30 minutes later as he quickly pulled a barbless fly from the jaw of a brightly colored 5-inch trout. “If these fish were lost, we’d lose genetics that took eons to develop.”
Which is one reason Fisher, energy field coordinator for the conservation group Trout Unlimited, and Hunt, with that group’s Sportsmen Conservation Project, talked two writers into clambering down a sage-covered cliffside into a jungle of riparian growth fed by Trapper and Northwater creeks that come together to form the East Middle Fork of Parachute Creek.
http://www.gjsentinel.com/rec/content/sports/stories/2009/07/13/070809_out_trout_www.html
By Joe Stone - Special to the Mountain Mail About 20 people installed nearly a mile of wattles in Kerber Creek west of Villa Grove in the San Luis Valley Saturday as continuing damage repair caused by upstream mining.
Volunteers from Collegiate Peaks Anglers chapter of Trout Unlimited worked with various agency employees and local land owners to repair damage that began at least 130 years ago in the Bonanza Mining District.
http://www.themountainmail.com/main.asp?SectionID=4&SubSectionID=4&ArticleID=16670
Durango Herald Outdoors Editor
A prime stretch of the Animas River in downtown Durango will get a new identity this summer.
The Animas River itself will get a bit of a new look, starting in mid-August.
The west-side riverbank will get a full-scale makeover - a retro renovation - between Ninth Street and the Highway 160 bridge.
The river and west-bank renovation project was announced recently when Durango received an $86,000 grant from the Colorado Division of Wildlife for bank stabilization and habitat improvement on that stretch of the Animas River.
The DOW grant was one of the final pieces of a 3½-year jigsaw puzzle, put together through the nonprofit efforts of Trout Unlimited and the Animas Riverkeepers.
Ty Churchwell, then the president of the Five Rivers Chapter of Trout Unlimited, sat as a member of the Animas River Task Force. With other Trout Unlimited local board members and board members from Animas Riverkeepers, the task force was asked to review an Animas River corridor assessment.
http://durangoherald.com/sections/Features/Outdoors/2009/05/01/Animas_River_Makeover/
Boulder Daily Camera By Laura Snider (Contact) Tuesday, April 28, 2009
BOULDER, Colo. — As David Blauch stepped closer to the creek, he saw a couple of shadows dart under the eave of a big rock.
"That's exactly what you want," he said, pointing to the trout he'd just frightened into the shadows.
The massive rock now sitting in Boulder Creek, parting the frigid waters and creating an eddy of still water where a trout can hide, is new to the stream. Just a week ago, this section of the creek near the top of Boulder Canyon ran wide and shallow, with uniform ripples stretching for a half mile with barely a boulder in sight.
"All the larger rocks are placed to increase habitat," said Blauch, vice president and senior ecologist for Ecological Resource Consultants in Boulder.
The $234,000 restoration project is the result of three years of hard work by Boulder Flycasters, the local chapter of Trout Unlimited, to create a fish-friendly section of stream with stable banks, better recreational access and environmental education opportunities.
http://www.dailycamera.com/news/2009/apr/28/restoration-project-rogers-park-boulder-creek-fish/
BY TREVOR HUGHES March 26, 2009
Federal officials are proposing to spend tens of thousands of dollars to poison invasive fish and then restock streams with native trout above Long Draw Reservoir and in parts of Rocky Mountain National Park as part of plans to keep the reservoir open.
The 10,800-acre-foot reservoir, about 50 miles up the Poudre Canyon, supplies water to Front Range cities, including Greeley and Thornton, and to Fort Collins-area farmers.
Trout Unlimited in 2004 sued the U.S. Forest Service, which permits the reservoir, to force changes. Trout Unlimited argued the reservoir was harming fish and other wildlife downstream.
In response, the Forest Service is proposing mitigation efforts known as Alternative 3 that include killing all fish in sections of area streams and creeks, then replacing them with the threatened greenback cutthroat trout.
The Forest Service released a draft environmental impact statement about a year ago and has now issued a final statement, with a formal decision expected within the next few months.
http://www.coloradoan.com/article/20090326/NEWS01/903260325/1002/CUSTOMERSERVICE02
Local groups unite to rehabilitate river Durango Telegraph
by Missy Votel
The Animas River is getting a facelift. This week, the City of Durango was awarded an $86,000 grant from the Colorado Division of Wildlife for habitat improvements and bank stabilization for the stretch of river between 9th Street and the Highway 160 bridge. The project, which is planned for August, is meant to improve fish habitat while restoring riparian areas along the western river bank. With the high flows and increased use of the area in recent years, a number of native cottonwoods and shrubs along the banks have disappeared, leading to further erosion and habitat damage.
“Over the last several years, we’ve lost a lot of our big cottonwoods into the river,” said Ty Churchwell, of the Five Rivers Chapter of Trout Unlimited. “Every time we lose a 150-year-old cottonwood, it takes that long to replace it.”
Churchwell said the trees are important because, in addition to providing bird habitat and cover for fish, their massive root systems help to hold the soil in place. Without them, the bank erodes, causing further undercutting. “The root structure is what keeps the soil from washing away. Every big run-off we have, the problem perpetuates itself.”
Trout Unlimited along with Animas Riverkeepers was instrumental in securing the grant and getting the City of Durango on board with the project. The area to be worked on, which runs adjacent to Roosa Avenue, is city owned, making city cooperation crucial. The west side of the river, versus the east side adjacent to the River Trail and Doubletree, is being pinpointed because that is where the river takes a natural lefthand turn, scouring the west bank especially hard as a result.
http://www.durangotelegraph.com/telegraph.php?inc=/09-03-05/coverstory.htm
Colorado Springs Independent By J. ADRIAN STANLEY
Here's the thing: Because CDOT is contributing funds, state law says the Colorado Division of Wildlife must review the plan and ensure the animal environment isn't damaged. So far, the wildlife folks aren't pleased.
Neither is Jack Hunter, president of the Cheyenne Mountain chapter of Trout Unlimited, a nonprofit dedicated to preserving and creating trout habitat. He says the partners ignored his organization's tips on improving the environment for fish.
Under current plans, both Hunter and Division of Wildlife representatives say, water would be too shallow for fish during warm months, while planned small waterfalls would act like barriers to fish. Rocks along the banks would leave nowhere to hide or feed.
The Division of Wildlife and Trout Unlimited argue that changes — such as adding more curves to the creek — could be made without sacrificing the project's other goals. Some ideas might even save money.
Funny thing about Colorado's Habitat Stamp. Most folks I talk to think it's a swell idea to tack $10 onto the price we pay to fish and hunt and that the stamp should be reauthorized either in this session of the legislature or in the next.
But all this enthusiasm comes with a strange caveat. Hardly anyone likes what happened during the first three years of this fundraising project.
In an effort aimed both at reform and in keeping the stamp alive, an advisory group has arrived at a number of proposals to be codified into a bill that might be introduced in a couple of weeks. Otherwise, the stamp faces a do-or-die legislative firing squad during the 2010 session.
Among other changes up for discussion:
• The stamp would involve a one-time $10 cost, no matter how many licenses are involved.
• A stamp would be required to apply for big-game preference points, a measure to prevent abuse by non-resident hunters.
• A stamp would be required of those who purchase search-and-rescue cards.
• DOW could use stamp funds for maintenance and operation of these newly acquired properties.
• Finally, and foremost, public access would be considered a key element in any property selection.
This last element is of particular interest to an angling community that has paid for more than it has received.
"Our organization isn't looking for special treatment, but we don't want anglers to be put in a disadvantageous position," said David Nickum, executive director of Colorado Trout Unlimited.
http://www.denverpost.com/headlines/ci_11621704
The proposed Feb. 12 sale of oil and gas leases on more than 81,000 acres of national forest, federal and private land in Colorado has sparked protests from the state, counties and environmental groups.
The sale is the most controversial since the $114 million auction of Roan Plateau leases in August.
That sale is the target of a lawsuit by environmental groups.
One major criticism of the upcoming auction is that forest parcels were chosen based on 1993 information about wildlife in the areas and dated science on how drilling might affect that wildlife.
Environmentalists argue that those older rules fail to reflect new information on species and major changes in oil-and-gas-drilling technology.
Trout Unlimited protested the sale on the grounds that it includes about 60,000 acres of prime cutthroat trout habitat.
"The problem is that just about all the cutthroat trout habitat is in this sale," said Cathy Purves, the group's science adviser.
