Giving Back to the Watershed

In June, Rocky Mountain Flycasters (RMF), the Fort Collins area Chapter of TU, began discussing the restoration process in the areas burned by both the High Park and Hewlett Gulch fires.Those two fires burned close to 100,000 acres of forest in the Poudre and Big Thompson watersheds. RMF was gravely concerned what impacts the fires would have on the watersheds. Using recent Colorado and Western US fires as examples, the chapter knew that restoration costs of those burned areas couldn't be done solely through agency response. The US Forest Service, National Resource Conservation Service, Colorado Parks and Wildlife, Colorado State Forest Service and Larimer County are all first rate organizations, but all these agencies combined lack the resources necessary to address the ecological damage caused this year by our two local fires, Colorado's other wildlifres, and the numerous fires burning throughout the Western US.

Rocky Mountain Flycasters has teamed with, in a leadership capacity, approximately 40 current member, agency or stakeholder organizations throughout Northern Colorado to collectively fund, organize and support restoration needs for the High Park and Hewlett Gulch fire areas through the High Park Restoration Committee (HPRC).

Restoration funds collected for the benefit and use by the coalition will be deposited with the Community Foundation of Northern Colorado. Project proposals will reviewed and approved by a HPRC Project Review Committee and funding will only be released to those projects that are approved by the committee.

To get "boots on the ground" and working on restorative projects, trained project leaders will be required to manage the on-site work. Project leaders will be volunteers and can receive training certification through programs provided by Wildlands Restoration Volunteers.

Details of volunteer and cooperative HPRC projects will be posted in the Rocky Mountain Flycasters newsletter and on the RMF website.

This is a tremendous opportunity for all anglers and those who support angling to 'give back' to the community and more importantly to give back to the rivers. Nothing can be done to eliminate the devastating effects fires have caused to the watershed, but together we can minimize the time it takes for the watershed to begin to recover and regain a sense of normalcy.

For more information about volunteering or donating to the HPRC, please visit the RMF website at http://www.rockymtnflycasters.org or contact Dick Jefferies, President of the Rocky Mountain Flycasters chapter, at djefferies@q.com.

White River Basin - Worth Protecting

After months of waiting and anticipation, we finally get to see what the BLM thinks oil and gas development should look like in the White River basin. The White River basin sits in the little-known north-western corner of Colorado and spans over 2 million acres. Last week, the White River Field Office released the draft Resource Management Plan Amendment (RMPA), which will govern how oil and gas development will proceed in the basin for the next 20 years. Of course, many sportsmen and women perked up when they heard the news – the basin is home to outstanding fisheries, some of the largest elk and deer herds in North America and home to a myriad of other critters we all care about. These values sometimes contrast with the extensive energy development occurring in the basin.

Here at TU, we are striving to ensure that an appropriate balance is struck. We drafted the Sportsmen’s Conservation Vision for the basin that outlines many of the ways we think energy development should proceed while retaining robust fish and wildlife populations and the basin’s other ways of life such as farming, ranching and outdoor recreational pursuits. We also work with the BLM, industry and other sportsmen towards meaningful solutions that benefit all parties. Of course, this is very difficult at times and we need other voices to echo our call to keep the area healthy and vibrant for generations to come.

That’s where you come in. We need our members to share their thoughts with the BLM about what they value and to offer ideas and insight regarding what they view as the smart way to develop.

In the coming weeks, we will post more information about where we feel the plan needs improvement and how to encourage the BLM to make those changes. In the meantime we encourage you to visit the planning website to see the plan for yourself or attend one of the four open houses hosted by the BLM, scheduled for late September. Your review and comments are an important part of ensuring the continuance of strong sporting and angling heritage in the White River basin.

You can find the draft plan in its entirety, along with the open house schedule by clicking this link.

Please check back in the near future for further information and contact Aaron Kindle if you have other questions (akindle@tu.org  303 868 2859).

Conservation nerds and the tale of Hermosa Creek

Here at TU, we spend a lot of time talking about watersheds.

We conservation nerds can find the most befuddling things to occupy the hours of the day. But, much to the dismay of our poor, bored-to-tears spouses and significant others, this notion we love so much here – the idea of protecting quality, connected, large-scale chunks of habitat – is catching on.

And it’s a good thing, too.

Case in point: the community reaching out to preserve Hermosa Creek in Colorado.

Located just outside the town of Durango, Hermosa Creek is a completely intact watershed with exceptional recreation values. Think rugged 13,000 foot peaks, high alpine meadows, pine, fir and aspen forests, crystal clear water and you’ll start to get a sense of this place.

Home to a native Colorado River cutthroat trout reintroduction program and some of the finest elk habitat in Colorado, Hermosa Creek is a sportsmen’s paradise.  For OHV enthusiasts, mountain bikers, campers, hikers, photographers and backpackers, Hermosa Creek offers some of the best…and within just a few miles of a major community.

With this in mind, locals formed a working group, the River Protection Workgroup, which spent 22 months crafting a blueprint for future management of this little gem. This proposal was not built in a D.C. office, but instead as a function of local, stakeholder-driven collaborative.  Everyone had a seat at the table and the consensus recommendations reflect a broad group of interests.

With that blueprint in hand, Sen. Michael Bennet. introduced the Hermosa Creek Watershed Protection Act of 2012. This legislation will maintain the quality of the habitat through a balance of protections and allowances to keep many things just as they are today. It’s the best of both worlds – sensitive habitat gets preserved and users still get to enjoy the landscape as they already do.

Just a few highlights:

• About 108,000 acres of the San Juan National Forest will be designated as the Hermosa Creek Special Management area (SMA), meaning it will have more protection than any old chunk of National Forest. The key here are the boundaries, which are drawn to encompass the entire watershed – no whittling out small bits that later have to be put together like a some hackneyed puzzle where the pieces don’t quite fit together anymore. In this fantastically fantastic instance (can you tell how giddy we are about this?) we’re talking the WHOLE puzzle.

• Of that acreage, some will receive more stringent protections, some less. For example, 25 percent of the area will allow current and historical uses such as mountain biking, motorized recreation, selected timber harvesting, grazing etc.

• 40 percent of the acreage will allow those activities to take place, but will no longer be eligible for future building of roads or timber harvesting, meaning more land will be able to stay just as it is today.

• All of the SMA, save for about 2,000 acres will be withdrawn from future mineral development.

• The remaining 35 percent will be designated as wilderness.

Bottom line? This is common-sense approach from the people, for the people – a collective forward step by a community that will protect a special corner of their own backyard.

The genius behind this kind of legislation is that it takes the entire watershed into consideration, thereby taking into account a basic principle that we all too often forget: All things are connected. By taking the initiative to protect the entire watershed, this community is taking an innovative approach to conservation. You can’t protect one portion of habitat if you don’t protect the things connected to it – i.e. what good is protecting a fish if there is no water for that fish?

So next time you overhear one of those conservation nerds utter those buzz killing phrases – watershed…habitat…permanent protection…collaborative process…federally designated lands  - don’t glaze over. Throw them a bone. Listen with a content smile on your face and happy heart. They’re doing good things for you.

And little-by-little, it’s catching on. Just ask the folks over in Hermosa Creek.

Originally posted here on the Trout Unlimited website.

Protecting CO Backcountry

Colorado’s backcountry fish and wildlife habitats will enjoy strong protections for the future thanks to a new federal rule that was shaped significantly by anglers and hunters.

The July 2012 release of the final US Forest Service plan for conservation and management of Colorado’s roadless areas was the culmination of a process that spanned the terms of three governors. From the beginning, TU was there, taking part in Governor Owens’ initial roadless task force, periodically meeting with Forest Services officials, and working to secure enhancements right through the final days before the rule was issued.

Why is “roadless” so important to TU? Because roadless areas support prime wildlife habitat that is critical to the survival and recovery of Colorado’s remaining populations of native cutthroat trout. The numbers tell the story about what roadless areas encompass:

• More than 75% of the remaining habitat for Greenback cutthroats
• Nearly 60% of the remaining habitat for Rio Grande cutthroats
• More than 70% of the remaining habitat for Colorado River cutthroats

Native trout and dirt roads are not good partners. Backcountry streams that support native trout are often narrow, not very deep and can experience very low seasonal flows. A single severe thunderstorm can flush so much sediment into a stream that spawning areas are smothered and fish suffocated.

Of course, TU wasn’t alone in its support of a beefed-up backcountry plan. Colorado hunters supported roadless protections because they harbor some of the state’s best big game habitat: More than 50% of elk summer concentration and production areas are in roadless areas, and the 15 most hunted Game Management Units in Colorado all have more than 66,000 acres of roadless lands.

Development of a state-specific Colorado Roadless Rule began during the Bush Administration as an alternative approach to the Clinton administration’s 2001 rule, at a time when the 2001 rule was the subject of multiple lawsuits. Even though the ensuing legal battles ultimately resulted in the affirmation of the Clinton-era rule, Colorado continued to develop its own plan, focusing on local interests and issues. TU participated throughout, always reiterating a simple standard: we would support a Colorado rule only if it was, on balance, as strong as or stronger than the 2001 rule in protecting Colorado’s backcountry.

It was a fruitful strategy. TU’s most notable success was to secure special protection for drainages supporting native cutthroat trout. And while the final rule allows for a range of activities within those drainages, it also requires the Forest Service to ensure that those activities would not result in any long-term declines in cutthroat trout habitat, or in the extent of streams and lakes occupied by the native cutthroat. These protections help ensure that roadless areas continue to serve as an essential and effective refuge for Colorado’s native trout heritage.

The final rule that emerged from the decade-long process contains additional, important protections:

• Establishing an “upper tier” category of roadless lands with protections stronger than those in the 2001 federal rule, including a requirement that oil and gas reserves be accessed through directional drilling, with drill sites sited outside the roadless boundaries. This upper tier includes more than 1.2 million acres of Colorado’s total of 4.2 million roadless acres.
• Closing a loophole in the federal rule that allowed for “linear construction zones” – temporary roads in all but name. Under the new rule, these “LCZs” are greatly restricted.
• Adjusting the federally designated “roadless areas” to reflect more accurate inventories, effectively extending roadless protection to more than 400,000 acres not included under the 2001 rule.

The final Colorado rule does contains some exemptions from the road-building and logging limitations of the 2001 rule, designed to accommodate specific community and economic interests. Most notably, the rule allows for temporary roads and logging to address wildfire risks by conducting fuel treatments in roadless areas adjacent to communities in the so-called “wildland-urban interface.” The Colorado rule also exempts certain areas within the boundaries of existing ski areas, as well as areas overlying some existing coal mining areas within the North Fork of the Gunnison watershed. Another exemption allowing for construction and maintenance of water conveyances with existing water rights was also included.

Colorado TU Executive Director, David Nickum, praised the new rule for its balance between strong protections for key habitats and flexibility when it comes to community protection and economic development. “We recognize the need to deal with issues like fuel reduction around communities,” said Nickum. “But the new rule pairs that flexibility with stronger protections for Colorado’s native trout heritage and its best backcountry lands. It strikes the right balance.”

Trout Unlimited was a central voice in pushing for some of the final changes that helped the Colorado rule meet our standard of being, on balance, as strong as the national rule.

Those changes included strengthened provisions for native trout protection, limitations on the location of water development facilities, and the concept of “upper tier” areas, which were modeled after a state-specific plan created by in Idaho.

There is no question that without the steady and effective involvement of sportsmen throughout the rulemaking process, we would not have achieved the success that we see in the final rule today.

“Colorado’s anglers and hunters understand the connection between healthy fish and game habitat and their ability to fish and hunt successfully on land that belongs to all Americans,” said Chris Wood, President and CEO of Trout Unlimited. “That’s why our volunteer members were engaged in the Colorado rule-making process. This rule, while not perfect, sets the bar pretty high and proves that sportsmen are a force to be reckoned with when it comes to protecting public lands and how they’re managed today, and in the future.”

For more on the importance of backcountry areas, visit Trout Unlimited's report on Colorado roadless areas, Where the Wildlands Are: Colorado

Bridging the (Thompson) Divide

Help Protect an Area Vital to Western Colorado Fisheries

Senator Michael Bennet recently introduced draft legislation to protect the area known as the Thompson Divide, near Carbondale, Colorado. The bill is being labeled as a discussion draft with the intent of gathering public input before formally introducing it in the Senate.

Many of you may ask why this area matters to TU? That’s a good question with several answers. First and foremost, the Thompson Divide contains several genetically pure populations of cutthroat trout known as conservation populations. These populations are used as a pure source for repopulating areas where cutthroat have been extirpated and need to be restored. Second, the Thompson Divide is, in part, the headwaters to no less than four major rivers – the Crystal, the N. Fork of the Gunnison, the Colorado and the Gold Medal waters of the Roaring Fork. Third, the area is a premier hunting destination in Colorado. And finally, the Roaring Fork Valley has a decades-old sustainable, recreation-based economy that can remain so, as long as the pristine landscapes that attract anglers, hunters and other outdoor enthusiasts remain intact.

The next question you’ll likely ask is what does this legislation intend to do and why? The legislation aims to permanently withdraw the area from future oil and gas development and provide a mechanism for current lease holders to divest in an equitable manner. For those of you who follow TU across the country, you may remember similar situations we worked on in Wyoming, Montana and New Mexico. The result in those three areas was legislation that did essentially the same thing Senator Bennet seeks to do in the Thompson Divide. The issue is salient right now because the area is under imminent threat to be developed. Citizens, conservationists, sportsmen, ranchers and recreationists are all in the midst of working towards averting any sort of development in the area due to its pristine nature and importance to the Roaring Fork Valley’s outdoor based economy and traditional pastimes.

Lastly, I’m sure you’re clamoring to aid in this effort right away. Well, there’s a way for you to do so. Senator Bennet’s office has set up a website that has maps, a copy of the bill and allows citizens to provide input. I suggest you go to this link and provide meaningful input that explains to the Senator’s office why this is important to you and that there are much more suitable and less pristine areas to develop our domestic resources. Here is the link: http://www.bennet.senate.gov/thompsondivide

We have also set up a couple of resources for your use. For more information got to: www.sportsmenfortd.org or search for Sportsmen for Thompson Divide on Facebook and be sure to like the page so you’ll receive updates. If you could not find something you were looking for or just want more information, please call or email Aaron Kindle at akindle@tu.org or 303 868-2859.

More Fishing is Even More Fun

Through the "Fishing is Fun" program, Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) has selected 11 projects to improve fishing around the state that will share in nearly a million dollars in matching funds as part of the 2012 grant cycle. Our own Southern Greenback and Cheyenne Mountain Chapters have teamed up with CPW, the City of Pueblo, Xcel Energy, and the Packard Foundation on one such project designed to improve aquatic habitat on a seven-mile section of the Arkansas River through Pueblo.

"This is an important project for a section of river that has been recognized as one of the Top 10 trout fisheries in the United States," said Doug Krieger, Colorado Parks and Wildlife Senior Aquatic Biologist for the Southeast Region, in a July 31, 2012 press release.

Other projects receiving funding include habitat work on the South Platte River in Denver, expansion of a community fishing pond in Kiowa County, aeration of Waneka Lake in Lafayette, an effort to build an ADA-accessible fishing platform on the Arkansas River at Canon City and projects to improve angler access to Clear Creek, the Swan River, Upper South Boulder Creek, Idaho Creek, the inlet to Lake San Cristobal in Lake City and three ponds in Loveland.

To read more about the "Fishing is Fun" program and these projects, please visit the CPW website here.

Hero for a Day: See the Movie

When Field and Stream chose The Trail Creek Restoration Project, a joint effort by the Cutthroat Chapter, the Coalition for the Upper South Platte (CUSP) and the National Forest Foundation as one of its Hero for a Day Conservation Projects they sent a video crew along to tell the story. The result is a nice little story featuring some people you may know. Take a look:

http://www.fieldandstream.com/hero-for-a-day/videos

The Roadless Rule and You

The U.S. Forest Service has issued a Record of Decision for the Colorado Roadless Rule, thus concluding a nearly seven year process to determine the management of the 4.2 million acres of Colorado’s roadless backcountry. These lands are especially critical to anglers as they are the headwaters to every major river in the state and home to the majority of our only native trout - the cutthroat. Colorado is one of only two states to participate in a state rulemaking process for the roadless lands within their state boundaries – the other being Idaho. So what does this mean for anglers and conservationists in Colorado?

The main thing it does is clear up the fog lying over natural resource management that occurs in roadless areas.

It is now very clear how management actions in these areas must be conducted. For instance, 1.2 million acres are now managed as “upper tier”, meaning these areas have greater protection and more prohibitions on the type of activities that are allowed. In these upper tier areas any new oil and gas activities must operate without occupying the surface of these lands. Also, any project in these upper tier areas must protect native cutthroat trout and ensure that these populations remain over the long-term. These upper tier areas have greater protections than they were afforded under the 2001 Clinton-era Roadless Area Conservation Rule.

As for the 3 million acres of non - upper tier lands – these areas are generally well-protected but have numerous exceptions tailored to Colorado’s economic drivers and unique management situations such as ski areas, the coal mining areas near Paonia and fire and fuels management in the Wildland Urban Interface or WUI .

Of course, this is an oversimplified account of the vast array of ramifications of such a detailed rule. However, you the reader, would be bored if I went into the excruciating details. Some people love this stuff though and I’m happy to talk with them about how the new rule affects their favorite backcountry fishing hole or their favorite waters far downstream, but still influenced, by the backcountry headwaters. If you find yourself in this category, please contact me. Or, if you want to read the rule for yourself, here’s the link: http://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5378039.pdf

The best thing about all this is that here in Colorado, we still have wild, un-roaded landscapes where you can be one with the stream, your rod, a babbling brook and nothing else. Make sure you exercise this privilege and take a youngster with you – it is priceless and irreplaceable.

For more information, contact Aaron Kindle at akindle@tu.org.

Native Trout Grants Available

The Western Native Trout Initiative announces 2012 Small Grants Program request for proposals.

The Western Native Trout Initiative is a nationally recognized Fish Habitat Partnership that seeks to cooperatively restore and recover 19 western native trout and char species across their historic range by funding efforts to raise awareness for the importance of native trout and focusing limited financial and human resources toward the highest-impact, locally-led, on-the-ground projects.

>>Click here to apply.

WNTI covers an area of 1.75 M square miles and includes representation by 12 western states, 5 federal agencies, sovereign tribes, and private conservation groups. Since 2006, the Western Native Trout Initiative (WNTI) has helped to invest over $16 million of private and public funding toward 78 projects that have reconnected, restored and enhanced over 430 stream miles, and helped complete over 500 native trout population assessments to guide collaborative watershed planning and management.

In addition to directing and leveraging approximately $600,000 in federal funding annually toward large, on-the-ground native trout conservation projects, each summer WNTI accepts proposals to help ‘jump start’ or complete smaller, high-impact efforts by community groups to restore or recover western native trout in the rivers, lakes and watersheds where they remain.

Projects considered for funding under the Small Grants Program may include riparian or in-stream habitat restoration, barrier removal or construction, population or watershed assessments needed for prioritization and planning, water leases or acquisitions to improve in-stream flows, and native trout community outreach and education. Individual projects will be funded at a maximum of $3,000.

In order to help applicants put forward the best possible projects, WNTI has a set of criteria by which projects are evaluated for funding. Applicants should address these criteria in their project applications.

>>Please click here to review the grant selection criteria and application instructions.

We would like to thank the National Fish Habitat Partnership, Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, state agencies, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and our private sector partners like Orvis and Patagonia for contributing funds and resources toward the Small Grants Program.

The deadline to submit a project under the Small Grants Program is August 25, 2012. Questions? Contact Robin Knox at rknox@westernnativetrout.org.

You Can Help Kids Explore the Aquatic Life

Colorado TU's Stream Explorers initiative is a watershed learning program for young people in grades 5-10.

Now in development by Colorado TU’s Youth Education Task Force, Youth Education Coordinator Jake Lemon and TU volunteers like you, the Stream Explorers program is a series of hands-on, science based activities that help students understand aquatic organisms as well as – you guessed it – fly fishing techniques.

Would you like to be a Stream Explorers Trainer?

On Wednesday August 22, 2012 we will be holding a training/meeting in the Salida/Buena Vista area for people interested in helping Colorado TU host this program in their respective communities. During the day-long session we’ll “model” each activity and then talk about how we might improve and adapt them to various community settings.

This is a great opportunity. You won’t just be taking part, you’ll play a role in launching the program - and in its ongoing improvement.

Interested? Want to learn more? Click here to read more about the program, or contact Jake Lemon at jake.lemon@coloradotu.org

Session size is limited, so don't delay.