Upper CO: Do More, Damage Less

Good advice for proponents of Chimney Hollow Reservoir

"Wildlife mitigation plans proposed by Northern Water and sanctioned by the state’s Division of Parks and Wildlife do not adequately address the issues," he [Drew Peternell, Director of TU's Colorado Water Project] said. “What we have currently is not enough,” he said. “We believe they can do more to make this a less-damaging project."

"Substantial springtime flows should be guaranteed," he said, "to improve the health of the [upper Colorado] river. Diverting the river around Windy Gap Reservoir should also be considered."

Read: Effects of Chimney Hollow Reservoir would ripple far and wide by Kevin Duggan on Coloradoan.com

CTU applauds new EPA rules for mercury and air toxics

Colorado currently has 22 waterbodies under Fish Consumption Advisories due to high mercury levels - where the fish themselves are literally too toxic to be safely consumed.  These include important fishing waters from Navajo Reservoir to Lake Granby to Horsetooth Reservoir and Carter Lake.  For an organization that has long championed catch-and-release fishing, supporting regulations to make fish consumption safer may seem a bit unusual.  But not only can reductions in mercury and other air toxics help protect the health of anglers and their families that eat some of the fish they catch, it is also good news for the fish themselves.  When a fish is too toxic to be eaten safely, it is a pretty strong indicator that the health of the fish and its habitat are also impacted.  Indeed, research has shown that elevated mercury levels impact trout's olfactory response - which in turn can harm their ability to feed, navigate, and reproduce. Fortunately, the Environmental Protection Agency has issued new rules that will restrict emissions of air toxics including mercury from power plants.  Not only will these changes help reduce air toxics, but they will also contribute to reductions in sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides - key pollutants that contribute to acid rain, another threat to fish habitat.  That is why Colorado TU Executive Director David Nickum joined physicians, state and federal officials, and business interests at a press conference at Children's Hospital on January 10, to voice support for EPA's new rules.  "We thank EPA for its efforts to protect the health of fish, the health of habitat, and the health of anglers," Nickum said.

Parks & Wildlife OKs Drilling

Here's an update from an industry release. Parks and Wildlife Commission has given unanimous approval for drilling at the Garfield Creek State Wildlife Area. With names like Dejour and Kokopelli, doesn't it sound more like a bistro than an oil and gas operation? Hey, it's only ten acres. And it's in the "rural" section of a state wildlife area. So what's the problem?

At its monthly meeting Thursday, the 14-member commission could authorize Colorado Parks and Wildlife director Rick Cables to negotiate a surface rights agreement to allow for energy development from a 10-acre well pad in a rural section of the park, with stipulations to protect the environment and visitors' experiences. Any drilling likely wouldn't occur until 2013.

Read the full article in the Denver Post

Update: The Sand Creek Leak

There's good news and bad news about oil seepage into the South Platte at Sand Creek.  

In a report for The Drake Magazine, Will Rice gives an update from the scene of the slime. Read the article.

Prez Profiled

The fly fishing blog Chi Wulff recently interviewed Colorado TU President Sinjin Eberle for its People of Fly Fishing feature. In a wide-ranging, two-part interview Sinjin touches on subjects from the Upper Colorado to mine drainage cleanup and roadless area regulations.

Read Part One of Sinjin's interview

Read Part Two of Sinjin's interview

A Look Back at 2011

It has been an eventful year for Colorado Trout Unlimited and our 23 chapters. We’ve seen a growth in capacity thanks to new full-time volunteers and additional National TU staff, conducted on-the-ground projects to improve habitat and restore native trout, extended our advocacy on behalf of rivers, and created new partnerships to strengthen our ability to conserve, protect and restore Colorado’s rivers and watersheds. All of these efforts were made possible through the involvement and support of our members, donors, and partners – and we deeply appreciate each and every one of you. Looking back at the past year, here are a few of the highlights from 2011:

• Yampa Valley Fly Fishers – long time leaders in conservation projects in the Steamboat Springs area – become the 23^rd active chapter of Trout Unlimited in Colorado.
• Colorado TU and the Colorado Water Project expand efforts to educate and engage the public in protecting the Colorado headwaters, launching a new Defend the Colorado website featuring the “Faces of the Fraser” – local residents from an Olympic skier to a logger who share their connections with the river.
• Colorado TU brings on two new OSM/VISTAs – full time volunteers funded with support from the Office of Surface Mining and Americorps – to strengthen our efforts with youth education and RiverWatch water quality monitoring programs.
• Denver Water and west slope interests announce an agreement to provide additional water and funds to benefit the Colorado River headwaters.  The agreement does not address the impacts of proposed new projects, but is a good start in collaboration to benefit the Colorado, Fraser, and Williams Fork.
• Upslope Brewing Company unveils its new craft lager with a “1% For Rivers” program where a portion of all sales of the new beer benefit Colorado TU.
• Our new ColoradoTU.org website launches with an enhanced design, pages on TU activities in basins across the state, and an improved set of tools for visitors to engage with TU in river conservation.
• Grand Valley Anglers and Colorado TU volunteers plant more than 200 willows along Trapper Creek on the Roan Plateau, helping improve riparian habitat for a key native Colorado River cutthroat trout stream.  Grand Valley Anglers also assists federal agencies with reconstruction of a reservoir atop Battlement Mesa as a refuge habitat for native cutthroat trout.
• TU and a coalition of agency and private sector partners – with volunteer support from the Collegiate Peaks Anglers chapter – complete award-winning mine restoration work along Kerber Creek in the historic Bonanza mining district.
• After years of advocacy and volunteer monitoring, TU and the Evergreen Chapter successfully get Bear Creek listed as an “impaired water” for temperature under the Clean Water Act – triggering a state regulatory process to identify the sources of the problem and develop projects to address them..
• The West Denver Chapter completes work on the Canyon Reach project, improving fish habitat and angling accessibility on Clear Creek.
• Colorado TU holds its first “Golf Classic,” engaging more than 120 participating golfers and raising funds for conservation and education.
• Denver TU provides seed money to launch development of a master plan for river restoration in the south Denver metro area; the plan wins unanimous approval from the South Suburban Parks & Recreation District and City of Littleton opening the door to a new “golden age” for the South Platte.

This is a long list, but still far from complete. And with your help, we will work to make 2012 an even better year for Colorado’s rivers and watersheds. Thank you – and happy new year to you all!

Congress Boosts Land and Water Funds

Not exactly front-page news to the mainstream media, but it's pretty big news to us. Congress recently approved increased funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund. Revenues for program, created in 1965, come from offshore oil and gas leases. LWCF benefits are far-reaching. According to Will Rogers, President of the Trust for Public Lands. “This program protects lands and jobs across the nation, from local parks and trails to Civil War battlefields and local forestry jobs in New England and Montana, to the Sierra Nevada in California.”

In a news release announcing the funding increase, the Land and Water Conservation Fund Coalition (TU is a member), pointed out that outdoor recreation, conservation and historic preservation contribute $1.06 trillion annually to the U.S. economy, and support 9.4 million – or 1 out of every 15 - American jobs. The coalition lauded the efforts of a number of members of Congress, including Colorado Senator Mark Udall and Representative Scott Tipton (3rd District) of Cortez.

This year’s LWCF appropriation will increase to a shade under 323 million. If there’s a down-side, it’s that more than $900 million in offshore royalties are deposited into a special trust fund each year, so there’s still room for improvement. You can learn more about the LWCF at lwcfcoalition.org.

Colorado TU fighting for clean water

Colorado TU, along with its conservation partners the Colorado Environmental Coalition, High Country Citizens Alliance, and San Juan Citizens Alliance, has filed its comments and recommendations for water quality standards to protect against excessive nutrient in Colorado waterways.  Through cooperation with one of Colorado's largest dischargers, the Metro Wastewater Reclamation District, these conservation partners have supported a compromise strategy that will put standards in place while allowing facility upgrades to be phased in over the next ten years - helping keep costs to customers reasonable.  The Colorado Water Quality Control Commission will be taking final action on nutrient standards in March 2012.  Click here to read our press release. Many anglers notice that they can catch larger fish below treatment plants on some of Colorado's rivers and so may wonder why Colorado TU would be looking to restrict nutrients.  The "Old Professor" (retired biologist Dr John Nickum) explains the issue in his December 2011 column in High Country Angler. The simple answer is that while some added nutrients can help boost productivity, too much can also create unhealthy river conditions - including declines in key macroinvertebrate and fish species.  A little nutrient can help - but too much of a good thing is just that:  too much.

The Colorado White River basin - Best Wild Places

From Field & Stream:The White River basin might be the West’s best deer and elk hunting destination, and the river itself is a trophy trout fishery home to massive rainbow and brown trout. High in Trapper’s Lake, native Colorado River cutthroat trout still swim. The area, though, is also highly coveted by the energy industry, and its use of water and land is of concern to the connectivity of the region from a fish and game standpoint. Trout Unlimited is working with local volunteers and the energy industry to prove that oil and gas extraction can be done in a way that protects the long-term viability of our sporting resources.

Read More Here

Support the San Juan Wilderness

Durango, Colo. — Trout Unlimited announced today its strong support for S. 1635, the San Juan Mountains Wilderness Act of 2011. The bill, authored by Sen. Mark Udall and co-sponsored by Sen. Michael Bennet, would conserve more than 60,000 acres of outstanding fish and wildlife habitat on public land in Southwest Colorado, and with it, countless opportunities for sportsmen and women to hunt, fish and provide sustainable economic benefits to the communities in the region. “This is a beautiful, high-altitude area that is heavily used by both local sportsmen and visitors to our area,” said Marshall Pendergrass, current president of TU’s Gunnison Gorge Anglers chapter and resident of Montrose. “It’s the key to the tourism economy of Telluride and Ouray.”

Local TU members worked with fellow residents and several conservation organizations to help craft the legislation, which has the support of a wide variety of stakeholders in the area.

“I’ve attended meetings on this proposal from the beginning, and this bill is not a surprise coming down on this area from federal officials. This bill was crafted from the grassroots,” said Ouray resident Tony Chelf, an active member of the Gunnison Gorge Anglers chapter. “It wasn’t easy, but now that the work is done, the bill ought to be passed quickly.”

Both Pendergrass and Chelf, joined by the 10,000 members of Colorado Trout Unlimited, called on Colorado Rep. Scott Tipton to support a twin measure in the House of Representatives to ensure the bill’s speedy passage through Congress.

“This isn’t a partisan measure,” Chelf said. “It’s not only what the majority of people in this area want to see, it’s a win-win for everyone.”

See also:

• Senators Udall and Bennet Introduce San Juan Wilderness Bill
• San Juan Mountains Wilderness - Protecting 33,000 acres has broad support