A Great Day for Bear Creek

On a day cloaked with freezing drizzle and fog, nearly four dozen brave souls headed to Bear Creek to get some work done. Before even realizing the incredible importance of the now known, one and only, greenback cutthroat trout population in the creek, folks from the angling, motorized, mountain biking communities and the general populace committed to showing up on October 6th . The goal was to clean up trash, restore stream banks, plant native vegetation and install signs about how to behave appropriately in a sensitive watershed. Two large sites that had been denuded of all vegetation and generally mistreated were chosen for the brunt of the work, along with numerous user-created trails that were contributing sediment to the stream and encouraging inappropriate behavior. These sites were cleaned of debris, seeded with a native seed mix, planted with native shrubs and had erosion control matting installed. The net result was some constructive progress towards better managing this precious creek.

This day came together after folks from Trout Unlimited, the Colorado Motorized Trail Riders Association and the Medicine Wheel Trail Advocates (a mountain biking club) joined together to ask for actions to protect the creek and to preserve the fish and recreation opportunities. We collectively asked Colorado Springs Parks (owners of this piece of land) to allow us to get a crew together to get out and address some of the easiest-to-fix problems.

Of course, much more needs to be done to ensure the legacy of the Greenback and of the unique recreation opportunities found in the Bear Creek watershed. The drainage holds one of the very few single track motorized trails on the Front Range, a world class mountain biking trail and a great hiking trail, very close to Colorado Springs. The fish and the recreation make this drainage a real treasure for both Colorado Springs residents and the general public alike. With these ideals in mind, the above-mentioned groups also asked the managing agencies to complete a few tasks that will both retain the recreation opportunities and preserve the fish. We have asked for a reroute of the trail to a less impactful area in the drainage, restoration of the creek and a remedy of the problems associated with a nearby road.

Once completed, these tasks will ensure the longevity of an amazing fish and tremendous recreational opportunities, and we be hailed as a true community effort. We at Trout Unlimited are proud to be part of efforts like this and hope that collaborative efforts where folks reach out to one another to get things done becomes the new paradigm. We think wild places, wild critters and people will all ultimately benefit.

Successful Clear Creek Cleanup for West Denver Chapter

On September 22, the West Denver Chapter of TU enlisted 15 ladies from the Colorado Women’s Fly Fishers organization and 5 students from the Colorado School of Mines Earth Works Environmental Club.  They were teamed up with 19 West Denver volunteers to pick up trash on Clear Creek and the adjacent U.S. 6 highway. The group started at Mayhem Gulch and worked its way up to the Mountain Gateway Mercantile store, approximately 10 miles upstream.  After the trash pickup, volunteers were treated to a cookout in the parking lot of the store (brats, baked beans, potato salad and soft drinks provided/cooked by West Denver volunteers).  Apple pie was furnished by the store’s proprietor.

West Denver’s chuck wagon was visible from Interstate 70, and grill activities furnished a tasty meal for anyone who stopped at the store. A good day was had by all!

Trout in the Classroom program hooks Centaurus students

Colorado Trout Unlimited's 2012 shipment of trout eggs to Centaurus High School only arrived on Wednesday, but that was more than enough to dredge up fish tales from years past. For the third straight year, Centaurus will participate in the Trout in the Classroom program sponsored by Colorado Trout Unlimited and Boulder Flycasters. As one of six participating schools in Colorado, Centaurus received 100 trout eggs and a 55-gallon fish tank in which to raise them to adulthood.

But the stories varied on the size of the fish in last year's batch when they were released into Lafayette's Waneka Lake.

"I'd guess they were around 2 to 3 inches when we released them in May," said Centaurus science teacher Craig Weinhold, whose classroom becomes the six-month home to the project fish.

Sophomores Ryan Elliott and Aaron Wilkins, who both participated in the Trout in the Classroom program as freshmen, recall things differently.

"A few of them got pretty big, more than 6 inches long," Elliott said.

"They got huge," Wilkins said. "One was at least a foot."

A whole new set of fish stories began Wednesday with the arrival of 100 tiny, bright orange trout eggs in Weinhold's classroom.

"Kids do better with it when they can go out and see it for themselves rather than looking at a poster or a worksheet," Weinhold said. "(The trout tank is) a valuable tool that I can use as a reference point. But it's also good to have something visual in the classroom to get kids interested in biology."

Though the trout aren't part of a dedicated instructional unit, Weinhold said he incorporates the trout's ongoing development into his lesson plan as often as possible.

"We watch the stages of life they go through," Weinhold said. "The whole purpose is to get kids invested and go over the different concepts we work with in biology and apply them."

Those concepts include ecology, developmental biology, cell biology, genetics and evolution, "all things we can relate to pretty much whatever we're working on," Weinhold said.

Visit Colorado Hometown Weekly to read the rest of the story about Trout in the Classroom at Centaurus. 

Native Trout Come Home to the San Juans

Native cutthroat trout are returning to a corner of the San Juan Mountains as part of a conservation project by Colorado Parks and Wildlife. On September 20, Parks and Wildlife biologists stocked more than 250 native cutthroat trout in Woods Lake southwest of Telluride. This location was selected because it will provide excellent quality cutthroat habitat: the area is isolated, the water is pristine and barriers protect the lake from non-native fish that live downstream.

Once the population is established, the lake will provide the brood-stock which will eventually assist in cutthroat conservation efforts throughout the Dolores and Gunnison river basins.

"This area was populated with native trout before settlers arrived in Colorado, but the fish haven't been present in, probably, over a half a century," said Dan Kowalski, an aquatic researcher with Parks and Wildlife in Montrose. "This is one of the few spots in southwest Colorado suitable for this type of restoration project and it will provide a great refuge for this important native fish. This project will help give the cutthroat a long-term foothold in the area, expand their numbers and range, and benefit native trout conservation throughout southwest Colorado."

To read the rest of this story, please visit the Pagosa Daily Post. 

My Best Float Trip Ever

I did a float trip on the Gunnison River last weekend. I caught a couple of fish, saw an enormous Golden Eagle, enjoyed outstanding weather, and none of that had anything to do with why this was my best float trip ever. It was my best float trip ever because it was a "perfect storm" of conservation values, dedicated staff and volunteers, and people who are willing to provide financial support for river protection and restoration efforts.

• The trip was organized for members of Colorado TU's River Stewardship Council, people who contribute at least $1,200 annually. These are people who are serious about protecting rivers and it was a pleasure getting to know people who share my conservation values.
• The trip was organized by people at all three levels of Trout Unlimited - national, state and local chapter. It was a tremendous demonstration of how powerful and effective we can be when the OneTU concept is applied.

• The trip included a visit to the Gunnison Ditch Relief project site, giving RSC members a personal, on-the-ground view of how their donations translate into river conservation work.

I encourage you to consider joining the River Stewardship Council. I can't guarantee you the "best float trip ever," but I can guarantee that your money will directly translate to the best river conservation work in the state!

Rick Matsumoto, Vice President Colorado TU

Fall Rendezvous a ‘Monumental’ Occasion

Colorado TU has an in-person board meeting every quarter in a different part of the state each time.  We move the event around to try to lessen the driving blow for those coming from far away – some up to 7 or 8 hours one way.  Given that these volunteers are willing to spend so much personal time to simply attend the meeting, the leadership has been trying hard to make the time spent as valuable as possible. The Colorado TU Fall Rendezvous was held last weekend in Monument, Colorado.  Unlike most of these meetings, we planned this version to be a two-day affair, integrating the annual New Leaders Training into the schedule.  Engaging new leaders before they take office in their local chapters is a great way to give them the tools they need to effectively manage and grow their chapters.

Saturday morning started off with the Colorado TU Business Meeting, where we did such business-y things as finalize our 2013 budget, outline staffing needs for the coming year, and approve the boundaries for the budding Dolores River Anglers chapter.  We also discussed a number of resource-related issues, such as the Aspen hydropower proposal, the Roan Plateau and Upper Colorado campaigns, and plans for the upcoming legislative session.  The meeting was on-time and efficient, and we got everyone to a great fajita lunch right on schedule.

Saturday afternoon featured the New Leaders Workshop, which engaged about 15 new leaders from across the state on subjects like the structure of Trout Unlimited, techniques and tools for running an effective chapter, and some communications strategies.  We also discussed the tools available from National TU, such as the Leaders-Only Tacklebox and Colorado-based staff resources.  Concurrently, David Nickum gave a detailed update on the Roan Plateau campaign, and Doug Krieger from the Colorado Division of Parks and Wildlife conducted a session on Native Cutthroat Trout Restoration and Genetics.

Saturday evening concluded with a social gathering at the Pikes Peak Brewery for brews and eats, and was attended by at least 20 folks from the meeting, along with a number of members of the local Cheyenne Mountain Chapter.  The party was lively to say the least and a great time was had by all!

Sunday kicked off with a fantastic session on Water Law hosted by Colorado Water Project Staff Attorney Mely Whiting, then led into concurrent sessions about Youth Education conducted by Colorado TU’s Youth Coordinator Jake Lemon, and a session about TU’s Sportsmen’s Conservation Project led by Colorado Field Coordinator Aaron Kindle.

The finale of the weekend was a tour of Bear Creek, which holds the last remaining stronghold of genetically pure Greenback Cutthroat Trout in the state.  Bear Creek is the focus of Cheyenne Mountain TU’s restoration project on October 6.

Overall it was a fantastic weekend.  Many thanks to the Cheyenne Mountain Chapter for coordinating the logistics of the weekend and hosting a great event!

Clean Rivers are Healthy Rivers

Colorado’s rivers are one of our greatest assets – providing the water we need for our communities and farms, supporting our robust recreation economy, and sustaining our environment.  Now, Colorado Trout Unlimited has launched the Great Colorado River Cleanup so that people across the state can give something back to our rivers by removing trash from the banks and channels of our waters.  Whether you fish on a gold medal Colorado stream - take walks along your community’s riverfront greenway – raft or kayak on some of our state’s outstanding whitewater – or simply enjoy the sight of healthy, flowing rivers – by participating in or organizing a stream cleanup on your local waterways you can make a difference! River cleanups are good for our river corridors and the fish and wildlife that live in them – and they are fun, family-oriented projects that Coloradoans of all ages can take part in.  With partners including our lead sponsor, Teva, and river stewards like American Rivers and a host of local watershed groups, there is a team of dedicated Coloradoans ready to help our rivers from the South Platte and Cache la Poudre to the Colorado and Animas.

See what cleanups are coming soon on waters near you, and join in the Great Colorado River Cleanup!

Cleaning up the Colorado and Roaring Fork

By all accounts, this year’s Glenwood Springs River Cleanup, on Saturday, August 25, was a success. About 85 volunteers, including almost a dozen in boats, turned out to pick up trash from an estimated nineteen miles of public riverbanks along the Colorado and Roaring Fork Rivers.   The event was organized by the Glenwood Springs River Commission, a nine-member citizen board that advises Glenwood’s City Council on issues related to the rivers and the City’s River Trail system. The River Commission credits the excellent volunteer turnout largely to a series of ads in local newspapers, mostly financed by a substantial gift from the Ferdinand Hayden Chapter of Trout Unlimited. Volunteers met at Two Rivers Park to register for cleanup assignments. Fueled by coffee donated by Starbucks, volunteers on land picked up trash along the Glenwood Canyon bike path from the Grizzly Creek rest area to the west end of the Horseshoe Bend tunnels, as well as from about three miles of riverbank along the Roaring Fork and Colorado within the city limits. Boaters reached from their boats and scrambled onto shore to pick up litter and larger trash along the south side of the Colorado River in Glenwood Canyon and on both sides of the Colorado from the city limits to the South Canyon boat launch ramp west of town. Other boaters combed less-accessible stretches of the Roaring Fork within Glenwood Springs.

American Rivers, a nationwide nonprofit that advocates for healthy rivers, provided the trash bags, and the Colorado River District chipped in additional cash for the project. The trash, which amounted to several truckloads, included everything from the smallest pieces of foil wrappers to pallets, culverts, and an artificial Christmas tree complete with lights. The most common items were water bottles, soft drink cans, and fast food cups. City of Glenwood workers picked up full trash bags left at work sites by land-based volunteers, and hauled them to the landfill.

After the work was done, volunteers were treated to a community barbecue made possible by the generosity of Glenwood Springs businesses. Rick Wernsmann of the 19th Street Diner donated burgers and sausages and cooked them on a commercial-sized grill. The burgers and brats were accompanied by side dishes stirred up by six Glenwood Springs restaurants. Glenwood Canyon Brewing furnished the beer, and soft drinks were donated by the local Coca Cola distributor. Through it all, the volunteers were serenaded with smooth country-rock music provided by a Carbondale-based band called “All the Pretty Horses.”

This was the second annual community-wide river cleanup, and with the success of this year’s event, it’s pretty certain the River Commission will continue to promote a cleanup day into the future.

Article and photos submitted by the Ferdinand Hayden Chapter of TU.

Volunteer and protect Colorado's only greenback stream

 A new genetics study revealed that Bear Creek, near Colorado Springs, holds the only remaining wild population of greenback cutthroat trout - and TU volunteers with the Cheyenne Mountain Chapter are already rolling up their sleeves to help protect the creek with an October 6 workday!

To help reduce the sediment entering Bear Creek, restoration work will focus on soil decompaction, seeding, transplanting, naturalization, split rail fence installation, and sign installation. We have a lot to do in one day, so we need a big turnout of volunteers. We need 40+ volunteers!

In conjunction with the Bear Creek Roundtable, CMCTU's partner, Rocky Mountain Field Institute ("RMFI"), recently completed a site visit on the lower section of Bear Creek and has developed the Roundtable's "plan of attack" for closing multiple sediment producing social trails and campsites located on the City of Colorado Springs property adjacent to Bear Creek.Interested in participating in this important restoration work?  Want to actively get involved with protecting the threatened Greenback Cutthroat Trout in Bear Creek?  Then join us on October 6.  Please contact RMFI's Liz Nichol at 719-471-7736 or rmfi @ rmfi.org to sign up!

 

Where & When

Saturday, October 6, 2012

8:00AM-4:00PM

 

Starting from the caretaker's House at the bottom of High Drive in Colorado Springs (intersection of Gold Camp Road and High Drive/Bear Creek Road)

Redrawing the map on native cutthroats

A new study just released from the University of Colorado, published in the peer-reviewed journal Molecular Ecology and funded in part by Trout Unlimited, will redraw the map on Colorado's native cutthroat trout and has shone a spotlight on a small tributary of the Arkansas River near Colorado Springs. The study, conducted using historic fish samples from the 19th Century, attempted to shed light on what native trout lineages were found in Colorado - and where they were found.  Among the most notable findings:  the fish generally believed to be greenback cutthroat trout and native to the Front Range are in reality from native trout lineages west of the Contintental Divide, while one remaining greenback population remains in Bear Creek on the flanks of Pikes Peak.  Trout Unlimited is actively working to protect habitat and address issues with trail impacts and sedimentation in Bear Creek.

The Denver Post has reported on the study and its implications for cutthroats and for Bear Creek.  Trout Unlimited also issued a press release on the study.

Does this mean that the work done to date on greenback restoration is for naught?  Fortunately, that is not the case. First - the restored populations are still valuable native Colorado trout albeit of a different lineage and their conservation is important, just as is that of the greenbacks themselves. Moreover, work that has been done in preparing sites for successful relocations (such as planning efforts in the Poudre headwaters for large-scale greenback restoration) as well as general TU efforts in improving habitat and watershed health, will help create a better home for the greenbacks in those locations where they are reestablished going forward. Our work to date provides a solid foundation for our future restoration efforts with the greenback.

Of course having to push the "reset" button on our native trout restoration strategies is a disappointment, but the flip side of any disappointment is opportunity. It has been said that "extinction means it is too late."  The good news for greenbacks is that we are not too late and our efforts in the years to come will help ensure that our children and grandchildren can have the opportunity to fish for this unique Colorado native. 

Q&A about the new genetics study on Colorado’s native cutthroat trout

What are the key findings from the new University of Colorado genetics study?

By looking at DNA from historic fish samples as well as stocking records, the study’s authors – led by principal investigator Dr Jessica Metcalf – have identified six different genetic lineages of native trout for Colorado (compared to the four previously identified) and have in some cases suggested that the lineages have a different historic range than was previously thought.  Specifically, they identify lineages for the Arkansas drainage (Yellowfin – now believed extinct), the South Platte drainage (Greenback – now found in one small stream in the Arkansas basin, Bear Creek), the Rio Grande drainage (Rio Grande), the Green/Yampa basins (Colorado River), the Colorado/Gunnison basins (previously unnamed), and the San Juan basin (previously unnamed – now believed extinct).

So if there’s only one population left in the Arkansas basin, then what are the “greenbacks” I’ve caught in places like Rocky Mountain National Park?

Based on the genetic markers identified by Dr. Metcalf and her colleagues, it appears that most such populations are likely a different Colorado native trout – from either the Green/Yampa lineage or the Colorado/Gunnison lineage.  So you have caught a real Colorado native – just not a greenback.

Can I catch a true greenback in Bear Creek?

No.  Because the population is small and susceptible to hooking mortality, it has been – for several years – closed to fishing.  We hope that as new sites are restored with these fish that anglers will again have the opportunity to fish for native greenback cutthroat trout.

Does this mean that the fish previously thought to be greenbacks are no longer protected under the Endangered Species Act?

No.  The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will be initiating a review of cutthroat trout in Colorado to examine the genetic results as well as results from an ongoing study looking at physical characteristics of the different fish and any other relevant science.  To assist in that process, they will convene a group of leading experts in the field to help advise them on proper classification among the different cutthroats – and on the question of which lineages are imperiled and warrant continued Endangered Species Act protection.  From those results, they will then begin a formal rulemaking process to make any changes.  Until that rulemaking takes place, all populations previously protected as “greenbacks” will remain protected under the Endangered Species Act.

What is TU doing to protect the one remaining greenback population in Bear Creek?

The one population of greenbacks still known to exist are found in Bear Creek near Colorado Springs – ironically, the result of an early stocking effort by a local hotelier that believed that cutthroat fishing would help draw tourists.  The Bear Creek watershed is suffering from sedimentation and the impacts of both motorized and non-motorized trails, as well as from an existing gravel road (High Drive) that parallels the lower part of the stream.  Trout Unlimited, with leadership from our local Cheyenne Mountain Chapter and in partnership with federal, state, and municipal agencies and local stakeholders, is working on volunteer projects to help address sediment impacts and to rehabilitate unauthorized user-created trails that are impacting the stream.  At the same time, Trout Unlimited has reached out to mountain bikers and motorbike users to collaborate on assessing and relocating sections of trail that are creating impacts on the stream.  With support from this diverse group of stakeholders, the Forest Service is currently completing a trails assessment that will clearly identify problem sections of trail and options for relocating those sections away from Bear Creek to eliminate those impacts.  We anticipate work will begin on trail relocation in 2013.  We also applaud CH2MHill, which is donating its services for a road assessment on High Drive to help guide efforts to modify the road so as to reduce its significant impacts on sedimentation in the lower reaches of the cutthroat habitat.  We are working with the Forest Service and other partners to seek funding for road improvements as well.

So what will be the future for greenback restoration?  Will populations of the Colorado/Gunnison fish be removed and replaced?

That decision will rest with the Colorado Division of Parks and Wildlife and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, along with their agency partners on the Greenback Recovery Team.  Fish from the Bear Creek lineage are now being raised in multiple hatcheries for restocking into appropriate waters, and we expect that efforts to establish new populations using those fish will take place fairly soon.  There are locations that have been identified as potential restoration sites that could be used in this effort without removing cutthroats from previously “restored” waters, and those may be the logical first places to move with restoration.  That will provide the agencies with more time to come up with answers for the long-term question of what to do with cutthroats that have been re-established in waters outside their native range.