Colorado Public Radio features Browns Canyon

U.S. Senator Mark Udall plans to introduce legislation later this summer that would create the Brown's Canyon National Monument.  The monument would cover 22,000 acres between Salida and Buena Vista in Chaffee County and includes 10,500 acres of new wilderness. The proposal seeks to protect one of southern Colorado’s most coveted wild trout fisheries and surrounding outstanding backcountry hunting areas. Listen to Colorado Public Radio's Lesley McClurg's report on Browns Canyon.

Click here to follow Trout Unlimited's work on Browns Canyon.

DRA project, a collaboration success story!

The Dolores River Anglers' (DRA) first river project at the confluence of Taylor Creek and Little Taylor Creek, tributaries of the Dolores River, was a great success!  The Chapter received great support from the community, and their out lay of cash for the project was only about 25% of budget because of several generous donations, including one from Western Excelsior in Mancos.  Chris Burkett, DRA Secretary/Treasurer, calculated over 160 hours of TU labor moved 10 tons of rock and emplaced more than 240 feet of Aspen fiber rolls. The crew from the forest service’s hydrology group also provided great support.  According to San Juan National Forest, Dolores District, Hydrologist, Shauna Jensen, "I couldn't have asked for anything better than this" at the completion.  District Ranger, Derrick Padilla said "I am very pleased with the results of this partnership and look forward to more such projects."  The USFS provided the technical expertise and engineering for the project and a core work crew that DRA supplemented with volunteers, funding, and donations of materials.

Dale Smith, chapter vice president and project coordinator said "This project was an excellent opportunity for Trout Unlimited's newest chapter in Colorado, the Dolores River Anglers, to partner with the local District of the San Juan National Forest.  Our purpose was to prevent degradation of a wonderful resource, to help protect native cutthroat trout, and protect water quality in our homewaters drainage."

DRA learned a lot from these folks and are looking forward to their next project together.  Fish sampling and a paper draft have already begun for a stream crossing rebuild on Rio Lado, another creek in the Dolores River drainage.

Check out The Cortez Journal's write up on this great collaborative project!

Anglers & Hunters Say "Thanks" to Bennet and Tipton for Hermosa

Colorado TU, in conjunction with its partners in the Sportsmen for Hermosa coalition, have recently launched a series of advertisements in local newspapers and on southwest Colorado radio to thank Rep. Scott Tipton and Sen. Michael Bennet for their leadership in introducing the Hermosa Creek Watershed Protection Act.  (Read more about the new legislation here.) Print ads thanking the Congressman and Senator for their bipartisan efforts appeared in western Colorado newspapers including the Durango Herald, Silverton Standard, and Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. (Click here to see a larger PDF version of the advertisements,)  Radio ads will be airing in early July as well, featuring local sportsman and TU member Buck Skillen giving voice to the appreciation hunters and anglers have for our elected officials stepping up to protect the Hermosa watershed - a mecca for wild and native trout fishing and big game hunting that includes one of Colorado's most valued backcountry "roadless" areas.

"Senator Michael Bennet and Congressman Scott Tipton: thank you for making the effort to preserve the Hermosa Creek Watershed," Skillen said in his radio spot. "Through your joint  efforts, our children and grandchildren will continue to have the opportunity to enjoy our backcountry heritage of fishing and hunting in the San Juan Mountains."

Trout Unlimited's Ty Churchwell added, "As sportsmen we often ask our elected officials to help protect important habitat and access for hunting and fishing, and we need to be just as ready to express appreciation. So we're very happy to have this chance to say a heartfelt thank you to Senator Bennet and Congressman Tipton for their work to protect one of southwest Colorado's real hunting and angling treasures."

Take a peek into the lives of the sportsmen and women of the Thompson Divide

Trout Unlimited and Sportsmen for Thompson Divide announced the roll out of a series of profiles which look at the role the Thompson Divide plays in the lives of area locals. The series features a cross section of people who depend on the Divide for everything from it’s capacity as a place to escape the modern world, to a living landscape capable of maintaining local agricultural operations.

Located west of Carbondale, Colo., the Thompson Divide is one of the most pristine places in the West and is currently under threat from energy development. It harbors some of the best elk hunting in the state, a dozen populations of cutthroat trout, and source waters for numerous renowned fisheries. Trout Unlimited has been working with sportsmen, agencies and industry to find solutions to keep the Thompson Divide as it is, largely by supporting legislation introduced by Sen. Michael Bennet in April of 2013 which would withdraw 183,000 acres from future development.

The profiles feature a series of photos and audio from interviews gathered in the past year and provide a peek into why the area is so important to the people who use it.

First to be featured is Kara Armano, an avid angler, cross country skier and mountain biker. Armano works for Backbone Media, representing companies such as Fishpond, Sage, Rio and Reddington.

“The Thompson Divide is one of those places where you can go and get away from everything,” Armano says. “You want to get back up into nature and reconnect with what it is in these areas that are open and pristine and really well maintained by nature itself.”

Randy Melton, a hunting and fishing guide with Avalanche Outfitters, also featured in the series, further highlighted the area’s importance to sportsmen.

"As a sportsman you've got an even deeper connection to the land. (You feel that) when you're up in the Thompson Divide in the fall when the elk are bugling and you're watching the sun come up with the birds and the little critters running around waking up and you're just sitting there listening, watching and smelling the elk,” Melton says. “You know that smell when you go through the dark timber, you're seeing all the rubs and scrapes, it's all dark and shadowy, the light is going through the dark timber, and you hear that elk bugle for the first time that morning. Your heart starts racing a hundred miles an hour…"

Profiles from the series will be posted every two weeks. To view the project, go to http://new.tu.org/tu-projects/thompson-divide.

For more information about Trout Unlimited's work in the Thompson Divide, contact Aaron Kindle with TU's Sportsmen's Conservation Project at akindle@tu.org 

Ty Churchwell, Backcountry Coordinator, SCP

Having spent the last ten years or so engaged with TU, both in chapter leadership and on staff, I have a wonderfully unique perspective on our work as a ‘One TU’ team.  A decade ago, I had the pleasure of joining our local chapter in Durango just in time to fill a vice president’s void, then two years later stepped into the president’s seat.  I cut my conservation teeth performing chapter fundraising, youth education, learning water policy and developing relationships at all levels, all as a volunteer.  I found a family of trout warriors and a great desire to do conservation work full-time. Six years ago I joined the team of National TU’s public land programs, the ‘Sportsmen’s Conservation Project’ (SCP), headquartered in Durango.   I share office space with the director of our programs, Steve Kandell, who oversees about 28 staff in all eleven western states.  We’re the ‘…and their watersheds’ part of TU’s mission statement.  It is my pleasure to represent hunters and anglers in discussions around our public lands.

I primarily work on placed-based initiatives, which are directed at being legislative in nature at the federal level.  The campaigns I’ve coordinated were for special areas of BLM or USFS public land that had been identified as vital to sportsmen, such as the Alpine Triangle and Hermosa Creek.  I’ve also had the opportunity to assist colleagues in all areas of TU, on campaigns such as Browns Canyon, the San Juan Wilderness bill, Thompson Divide, Roan Plateau and the Public Land Renewable Energy Development act.  My work takes me to discussion around ATVs, mines, native trout, timber, oil/gas development, elk habitat, mountain bikes, sage grouse and on and on.  Our public lands are our birthright and trout fisheries rely on them.

At present my time is almost exclusively directed at the Hermosa Creek effort, a campaign of somewhat notoriety.  Hermosa Creek has long been a focus area for TU in SW Colorado.  A bill to protect the entire basin now works its way through the halls of Congress, including a wilderness component.  Each day seems to bring new developments.  Many consider Hermosa Creek to be one of the top bills in the country to possibly break the gridlock of public land bills in DC.  Congress has only enacted one wilderness bill since 2009.

The Animas River, my home water, is the poster child for Acid Mine Drainage in America.  The upper basin near Silverton is laden with heavy metals from historic mining.  I work with local stakeholders such as BLM, EPA, CDPHE and mining interests to resolve our water quality problem.  I worked with Rep. Tipton and Sen. Udall in crafting ‘Good Samaritan’ legislation, which was introduced in 2013, but has languished.  Thankfully the Animas’ water has been diluted by the time it reaches Durango and we enjoy a world-class brown trout fishery right in town.

I have always been a trout bum, for as long as I can remember.  Those beautiful trout have brought me great joy with wonderful friends and exciting travels.  I owe them!

Ty Churchwell - tchurchwell@tu.org

Sportsmen Thank Secretary Jewell For Her Strong Support of the LWCF

Today, organizations representing hundreds of thousands of hunters and anglers delivered a letter to Interior Secretary Jewell thanking her for her leadership on the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) in front of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee last week.  In her statements, Secretary Jewell called for full and dedicated funding for this tool which has helped protect some of the country's best fish and game habitat.  Created in 1967, LWCF funnels revenues from offshore oil and gas extraction to purchase public land from willing landowners.  This tool has been used to secure new public lands, provide access to existing lands for hunters and anglers, and fill in patchwork public lands, allowing for continuous habitat for fish and game.  Originally authorized at $900 million per year, this non-taxpayer funded program has dwindled in recent years, creating a backlog of needed acquisitions.  By making the fund a mandatory spending program, it would prevent Congress from cutting it to fund other projects, and ensure a consistently full funding level from year to year.   America's hunters and anglers know the value of these public lands better than any group, as they often hold the biggest fish and game, and support local rural economies by providing destinations for sportsmen.  The letter,signed by  The American Fly Fishing Trade Association, Bull Moose Sportsmen's Alliance, Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, Isaak Walton League of America, National Wildlife Federation, Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, and Trout Unlimited, pledged that sportsmen would continue to work with Secretary Jewell and Congress to protect our public lands by investing in LWCF.

Read the letter to Interior Secretary Jewell.

Brian Hodge, Project Coordinator, Yampa and White River Basins

As a member of TU’s Colorado Water Project, I work to meet TU’s mission through on-the-ground projects.  My goal is to plan and implement projects that benefit coldwater fish and landowner alike.  By helping to improve irrigation efficiency, for example, we can, under the right circumstances, both improve ranch operations and increase stream flows for trout.  I frequently work with private landowners and agency partners to reach conservation goals. Here’s a flavor of happenings in the northwest Colorado:

In 2012, I worked with Yampa River Ranch and Partners for Fish and Wildlife (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) to protect a 1.6-mile segment of the Yampa River. The Ranch wanted both to run cattle and to maximize habitat for brown trout.  So we constructed a riparian fence that enhanced the ranch’s ability to concurrently manage for a livestock operation and trout fishery.

I’m currently working with the U.S. Forest Service to reconnect Poose Creek.  Poose Creek is occupied by native Colorado River Cutthroat Trout.  However, since the 1960s a large culvert under a county road has prevented cutthroat and other fishes from accessing the headwaters.  We’re installing a fish ladder to restore fish passage in Poose Creek.

This year, I continued working with Colorado Parks and Wildlife and others on multi-phase efforts to restore Armstrong and Milk creeks.  Both streams are home to native cutthroat trout and to two lesser-known native, coldwater fishes: mountain sucker and mottled sculpin.  Additional information is available at the following links:

Armstrong Creek.   http://www.tu.org/blog-posts/a-small-creek-a-grand-vision-of-restoration

Milk Creek.  http://troutunlimitedblog.com/climate-adaptation-one-stream-at-a-time/

We’ve implemented successful projects and developed valuable partnerships in northwest Colorado. Additional opportunities await.

Brian Hodge - bhodge@tu.org

Aaron Kindle, Colorado Field Coordinator, SCP

My name is Aaron Kindle. I am the Colorado Field Coordinator for National Trout Unlimited's Sportsmen's Conservation Project or SCP. The SCP is essentially the public lands protection arm of TU. We work in three main program areas: energy development, off-highway vehicles (OHVs) and backcountry protection. I have been with TU for three years now and have worked on several issues you are probably familiar with - the Colorado Roadless Rule, energy development in the White River Basin, and travel management planning across the state. I'm currently engaged in efforts across Colorado in all three of our program areas. One you may have heard of is the Thompson Divide. This area is a unique 200,000 plus acre landscape just west of Carbondale. We are engaged there due to the outstanding fish and wildlife habitat, including several cutthroat trout populations, and the potential for energy development. Our goal is to pass legislation to permanently withdraw the area from future development and to broker deals with energy companies to buy, retire or exchange currently held leases.

I also work just south of the Thompson Divide in Gunnison County. Last year Senator Michael Bennet began a process to examine the potential for protective designations for federal lands in the county. Gunnsion County is a sportsmen's haven, boasting abundant world class fish and wildlife habitat. We are working to with a broad spectrum of stakeholders to determine the most appropriate ways to protect the outstanding values of the area. Keep an eye out for more on this effort in the coming months.

In the realm of off-highway vehicles, I have two main campaigns. The first one is working in the state legislature to pass a bill requiring that all OHVs have visibly identifiable license plates. We regularly hear from wildlife officials and sportsmen that they witness off-highway users violate laws but lack a mechanism for identifying these violators. We want to change that and believe that visible identification in the form of license plates is the  essential tool to effective management of OHVs.  The second campaign I work on is Bear Creek. Bear Creek is a small stream near Colorado Springs that holds the one and only population of wild greenback cutthroat trout. Poor management and user abuse, including poorly managed OHV use, has caused the degradation of this stream. We are working diligently with trail users, agency officials and members of the Cheyenne Mountain Chapter of TU to correct the problems, restore the stream and implement a sustainable management scheme to ensure the persistence of these rare fish. TU has also developed a nationally recognized OHV program, dubbed Sportsmen Ride Right, to address many issues related to OHV use on public lands. Look for us at rideright.org.

If you have any questions or comments about the work I do, please do not hesitate to contact me. I enjoy working with chapter members across the state and find their knowledge invaluable to many of my campaigns so please do get in touch when a public lands issue arises in your neck of the woods.

Aaron Kindle - akindle@tu.org or 303-868-2859

Denver Water and Colorado TU

Jim Lochhead is chief executive of Denver Water. David Nickum is executive director of Colorado Trout Unlimited. They represent groups that often have opposing views, but worked together on an opinion piece in the June 1, 2013 edition of the Denver Post. Conservation groups and water utilities don't always see eye-to-eye on every water resource issue.

A case in point: Trout Unlimited and Denver Water have yet to agree on what constitutes an adequate package of protections for the Fraser River, a Colorado River tributary and stellar trout fishery that is also an important source of water for metro Denver. We're trying to find a package of protections that keeps the river healthy while ensuring that Denver Water's need for system reliability are met through the Moffat Firming Project.

We face tough, complicated issues. What we agree on, though, is the need to preserve the long-term health of the Fraser and Colorado Rivers, and the value of working toward collaborative solutions.

Read the full article, "Together, we can meet Colorado River challenges," in The Denver Post.

Jason Willis, Mine Restoration Project Manager, Western Restoration

I grew up about 30 minutes east of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  It was along the mighty Youghiogheny River that I learned how to fish and developed a passion for outdoor activities.  Summer days were spent fishing for catfish and smallmouth while spring was reserved for trout.  Driving across the state to different fishing spots increased my desire to learn more about the environmental processes and hydrology that composed my local river and stream networks.  I eventually was able to steer these personal interests into a career choice after completing graduate school in the field of Environmental Engineering.  A previous road trip had me longing for a relocation to the West, particularly either Colorado, Montana, or Oregon.  It’s been about 3.5 years since Colorado became home and I started my initial work for TU as a contractor based out of Saguache, Colorado. It was here that I was introduced to the Kerber Creek Restoration Project, which has been one of TU’s most successful abandoned mine clean-up projects in Colorado.  Needless to say, the transition from Pittsburgh to Saguache was quite a shock, but I embraced the Western way of life and became well versed in stream restoration practices and soil improvement.

After 9 months in Saguache and 6 months on Pikes Peak, I was brought on full time for TU in 2012 to work on mine restoration projects with a home base in Salida, Colorado along the Arkansas River.  Being centrally located in Salida allows me to work on projects across the state giving the program wide-reaching capabilities.  The focus of my program is to help restore watersheds affected by historic hardrock mining.  Mining played such a large part in the development of Colorado, and it is evident today by the degraded water and soil quality left behind at these sites.  Specifically, over 80% of Colorado’s most-impaired waterways are a result of past mining operations.  Typically, these are the type of streams where I work to improve stream channel health and adjacent soil quality by raising pH and adding nutrients to the soil.  This process of adding calculated amounts of soil amendments promotes future riparian and upland vegetation growth, which stabilizes stream banks and reduces heavy metal runoff into our surface and ground waters.  The end goal is to meet state standards for water quality in these streams, while improving habitat to sustain a reproducing trout population.

Some watersheds where I currently work are the Kerber Creek watershed outside of Villa Grove, Evans Gulch east of Leadville, Leavenworth Creek outside of Georgetown, Willow Creek near Creede, and a local project on the South Arkansas River in Poncha Springs.  I also assist in water quality studies on various projects, as well as working with watershed groups and TU chapters from Cortez to Trinidad.  I am privileged to work at such a great organization with like-minded people who are passionate about conservation.  I look forward to continuing to expand and improve TU’s restoration work across the state of Colorado for years to come.  If you have any questions or comments about the projects I work on, please don’t hesitate to contact me at jwillis@tu.org.