These Gals are Fly!

The Collegiate Peak Anglers Chapter of TU has an awesome group of ladies in their ranks - the FlyGals. This group of women fly fishers began meeting up in 2002, hosting their first fly fishing event in June of that year - a two-day excursion to the Sweet Water Ranch on the Chaffee-Park county line. In January of 2003, the group met to set up goals and hosted a casting demonstration.

Originally called the Women's Outreach Committee of CCP-TU, they renamed themselves the Womens Outreach Group (WOG) in 2004, and continued to hold spring clinics and fish together in the summer.  By 2007, this group of lady fly fishers had renamed themselves the FlyGals.  With instructors the likes of professional guides Char Bloom (Keystone), Paula Fothergill (Carbondale), and Carol Neville  (Salida, now located in Boise, ID), the group has hosted numerous women's only fly fishing clinics and trips.

FlyGals currently hosts fly shop orientations, where women are able to visit their local fly shop (Ark Anglers) and receive firsthand knowledge about what is available in the shop.  The Fly Shop provides several door prizes and discounts for the women as well as a chance to try out rods and other equipment.  FlyGals also offers several clinics throughout the summer - fly casting clinics; bug clinics designed to orient participants to the local bug cultures and conditions, what bugs hatch at various times of the year, and which flies are best to imitate these hatches; and 2-day fly fishing clinics offered by a professional female fly fishing guide.  FlyGals also host great events like Companion Fishing, where more experienced women fly fishers are paired with more novice women for a day of fly-fishing, and River Fishing, where each woman has a “river helper” (often a member of Collegiate Peaks Anglers) to serve as a “guide” for a morning of fly fishing on the Arkansas River.  In the summer the FlyGals get together for trips from high mountain lakes fishing for native cutthroats to private water fishing.

With over 30 women currently on the roster, FlyGals is a great testament to women on the rise in fly fishing!

For more information or to join the FlyGals email list, please contact Barbara Plake at bplake1@unl.edu.

Evans Wins Leadership in Conservation Award

At Rendezvous 2013, Jo Evans was presented with the Bruce Hoagland Award for Leadership in Conservation. Jo is just the fifth person to receive this award, Colorado TU's highest honor. Jo served as Colorado TU’s legislative lobbyist for 20 years. The highlights:

• Expanding the In-Stream Flow program to allow it to actually improve the health of streams – not just keep bare survival flows.
• Negotiating the overhaul of mining regulations in the wake of the Summitville disaster.
• Playing an integral part in developing the Great Outdoors Colorado program.
• Rallying conservationists to take up the fight against Referendum A – and winning it.
• Defeating more than 30 regulatory takings bills.
• Building a bipartisan respect for – and trust in – Trout Unlimited as a reliable, balanced, and committed organization.

More recently, as a board member and currently as the Lundy family representative for the Silver Trout Foundation, she was an integral part of revising the Foundation’s bylaws and practices to restore a stronger connection – financially and organizationally – with Colorado TU. She has been a trusted friend, advisor and mentor to generations of TU leaders, leading both by example and as a patient teacher helping new volunteer leaders learn the ropes both of conservation issues as complex as water law and in teaching them how to be more effective conservation advocates.

While her forte was engaging Colorado TU effectively in political matters, she ensured that our mission and not politics guided decisions. She has always helped Colorado TU and its leaders remember that protecting the health of our fisheries and rivers has remained our guiding star. “If you do what is right for the resource, you will not go wrong.”

In presenting the award, Colorado TU Executive Director David Nickum said, "this award recognizes not just environmental achievements, but leadership in conservation. I can think of nobody who better exemplifies that leadership than Jo Evans."

Congratulations Jo!

Trout in the Purgatoire River!

The Purgatoire River Anglers Chapter of TU sends a big Thank You to Colorado Parks and Wildlife for stocking 500 rainbow trout in the Purgatoire River in downtown Trinidad. Those fish took off looking for their new holding spots lickety split!  Get your 2013 Colorado Fishing License if you haven't yet, and come on down to the Purgatoire for some fun fishing.

George Osborn Wins Award

George Osborn just won the Jimmy Nelson Volunteer of the Year Award for his outstanding work on the ditch relief modification diversion project on the Gunnison River. The award, named after the late Jimmy Nelson of the Gunnison Gorge Anglers chapter, was presented by chapter president Marshall Pendergrass at Rendezvous 2013.

"George has worked tirelessly over the past three years and overcome many challenges in fundraising and cooperation with a wide variety of stakeholders," said Pendergrass. "The project simply would not have gotten done without him."

Congratulations George!

Not Colorado TU, TU in Colorado!

I'm in scenic Redstone a day before Colorado TU's annual Rendezvous conference, meeting with 20 of the heavy hitters of river conservation in the state. In addition to the staff of Colorado TU, the room includes leaders from the Sportsmen's Conservation Project, Western Water Project, Colorado Water Project, Coldwater Conservation Fund, and National Trout Unlimited. The agenda covers a spectrum of issues, but getting the individual subgroups of Trout Unlimited to work together more collaboratively is the underlying theme. We at Colorado TU are often working so hard to establish our own brand that we neglect to take advantage of the other TU resources in the state. The same can be said of the other groups.

Colorado TU President Sinjin Eberle used a phrase that gained some traction:

It's not about Colorado TU, it's about TU in Colorado.

The average member or donor doesn't know or care if a project is run by a chapter or the council or any of the national subgroups. It's more important to know that the project is running under the TU banner. "Protect, conserve, restore" with all of the integrity associated with the TU brand. Frankly, that's how it should be!

High Sportsmen Turnout at Sen. Udall’s Brown’s Canyon Meeting

Sportsmen and women showed up by the dozen Saturday at a standing-room-only event at Noah’s Ark Whitewater Rafting Co. to voice support for Senator Udall’s proposed legislation to create the Browns 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. The proposal is based on a year of public input that Udall and his staff have collected since the spring of 2012, but the effort to protect Brown’s Canyon has been around for many years.

Many of TU’s Collegiate Peaks Chapter members, including chapter President, Dan Clegg and members Reed Dils and Bill Dvorak praised Senator Udall’s plan, noting that the area’s backcountry angling, hunting and recreational values are simply too precious to remain unguarded by a lack of federal legislative protection. Local voices from other sportsmen’s organizations, including the Colorado Wildlife Federation, Backcountry Hunters & Anglers and even a life member of the NRA (Dave Moore) also praised the proposal.

At the meeting, Congressman Lamborn appeared open to the proposal, stating that as long as the designation reflected his “multiple use” approach to public lands usage, he was willing to entertain the idea of the legislative protection.

While a majority of users are in favor of the protection, there are still some that feel a monument is not necessarily the right tool. The majority of those opposed to the designation came from the local recreational off highway vehicle community. Ironically, the recently designated, adjacent Fourmile Travel Management area on the northern boundary of Brown’s Canyon covers 102,000-acres and offers OHVers 195 miles of trails. In addition to Fourmile, much FR 184 (Turret Trail) will remain open to motorized use. Many of the hunters and anglers that spoke in favor of the designation also owned ATVs and UTVs and felt that the area provided more than enough motorized access to satisfy even the most fervent OHV enthusiast.

Senator Udall and Congressman Lamborn will be holding a second town hall-style meeting is tentatively scheduled for May 18th in Golden (meeting specifics have yet to be announced by Senator Udall’s staff). It is imperative that sportsmen and women show up to this event and voice their support!

For more details, contact Reed Dils (719) 395-8949, Bill Dvorak (719) 221-3212, or Garrett VeneKlasen (505) 670-2925.

Protect Our Rivers License Plate Clears First Hurdle!

Thanks to strong bipartisan support in the 2013 legislature, we are renewing our effort to create the Protect Our Rivers license plate! Senators Andy Kerr (D) and Randy Baumgardner (R) are the co-sponsors in the Senate. Representatives Millie Hamner (D) and Jared Wright (R) are the co-sponsors in the House. Representative Mike McLachlan (D) has also signed on.

On Tuesday April 9, the bill to establish a Protect Our Rivers license plate passed its first committee - Senate Transportation - on a unanimous 5-0 vote. The bill next goes to Senate Appropriations.

Once authorized by legislation, the plate will be available to all CO residents through a tax-deductible contribution of $25 to Colorado Trout Unlimited (plus payment to DMV for the physical plates themselves). 100% of the funds donated will be used locally to protect, conserve and restore Colorado rivers.

We secured more than enough signatures in our prior effort to establish this plate, but feel free to sign the petition if you would like to be kept apprised of the bill's progress and availability of the plate via email. Thank you for supporting Colorado's rivers!

Senator Bennet to Protect Sportsmen's Haven

A bill introduced on March 22nd would provide protection to an area critical to sportsmen and to the recreation-based rural economies of Colorado. Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO) introduced the Thompson Divide Withdrawal and Protection Act. The bill provides an appropriate framework for protecting this invaluable landscape by withdrawing unleased portions of the area from future energy development and by providing mechanisms for current leaseholders to retire or sell their leases, ensuring they won't be leased again.

"We applaud Senator Bennet for recognizing the value of the Thompson Divide. From iconic trout waters to some of the best hunting in the country, the Thompson Divide holds a special place in the sportsmen's heart" said Aaron Kindle, Colorado Field Coordinator for Trout Unlimited.

Kindle said the bill walks a good line between conservation and development by respecting valid existing rights. He added that sportsmen are eager to work with energy companies to find equitable solutions.

The Thompson Divide is a roughly 200,000 acre landscape just west of Carbondale, Colorado that holds some of the premier big game habitat in the state and provides water to the world famous Gold Medal trout waters of the Roaring Fork River.

"We're pleased that we have the opportunity to protect an area that makes our valley great" said John-Paul Schaefer, President of Trout Unlimited's Ferdinand Hayden Chapter in the Roaring Fork Valley. "Anglers and trout conservationists value the area's extreme importance to cutthroat trout conservation and to providing cold, clean water to area rivers."

Comments needed to protect the Roan Plateau!

The BLM’s Colorado River Valley Field Office (CRVFO) recently released its Notice of Intent to Prepare a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement and Resource Management Plan Amendment for the Roan Plateau. Colorado Trout Unlimited, along with national TU, has invested hundreds of hours and almost a quarter of a million dollars in the protection of Colorado River Cutthroat Trout (CRCT) in Trapper Creek, Northwater Creek, East Middle Fork of Parachute Creek (below the confluence of Trapper and Northwater Creeks) and the East Fork on the top of the Plateau.

You have probably heard about TU’s efforts to support responsible energy development. On the Roan, we are seeking a balanced solution that protects TU’s interests and the native trout that call streams there home.

We ask that our members help us spread the word and submit comments (by March 30^th) to influence the BLM into developing a plan that is most protective of TU’s and Sportsmen’s interests on the Roan Plateau.

Key points to include in your comments:

1. New roads, well pads and pipelines should not be constructed in cutthroat trout drainages on top of the Roan;
2. Undisturbed big game winter range at the base of the plateau should not be developed;
3. Big game migration corridors need to remain intact and undisturbed by drilling and development; and,
4. Where drilling is allowed, it should be done using state of the art practices (such as directional drilling and water and advanced waste management technologies) that will protect sensitive trout and wildlife habitat at the top, along the sides and at the base of the plateau.
5. To protect sensitive resources including trout and wildlife habitat, the BLM should retain the option of lease cancelation.

Submit Comments to: 

roanplateau@blm.gov

Attn: Roan Plateau Comments

For additional information please contact:

Bob Meulengracht

Coordinator Sportsmen for Responsible Energy Development – Colorado

Trout Unlimited

303-232-3909 (W) or 303-514-8227 (C)

rmeulengracht@tu.org

Sneak Peek into 2013 Rendezvous

We know you are all anxious to hear what presenters we have lined up for Rendezvous this year, so here is a sneak peek into our Rendezvous weekend. The theme for Rendezvous 2013 is SUSTAINABILITY. We tend to think first about the sustainability of Colorado's rivers, when in fact the sustainability of our organization is what allows us to "conserve, protect, and restore." Ongoing fundraising programs help us fund restoration projects. Succession planning helps us ensure continuity and board effectiveness. Youth education programs help us groom future members and leaders. And so we sought to achieve a balance of presentations that address the sustainability of both our rivers and our organization.

This year we have something very special planned for the Saturday night banquet:

Sustain This! The Many Landscapes of Trout

Presented by Mark Lance

This program captures a photographer's view of the most spectacular landscapes in the world of fly fishing.  Though his compelling images, Mark takes the audience on a fly fishing journey from the heights of the Patagonian Andes, to hallowed fisheries of the Rocky Mountain West, to forbidden rivers of the Kamchatka peninsula. “Rivers are a key force in shaping the landscape,” says photographer Mark Lance. “Rivers are inseparably entwined with the surrounding ecosystem, the people, culture and development of a place.”

Mark Lance has been fly fishing for over 40 years and wielding a camera for nearly as long. He is the Rocky Mountain Field Editor for Southwest Fly Fishing Magazine. He shoots for many outdoor manufacturers and travel companies and is a frequent contributor to fly fishing magazines including Grays Sporting Journal, Fly Rod and Reed, Trout Magazine, American Angler, Saltwater Fly Fisherman, and the Contemporary Sportsman. His photography can be viewed at riverlightimages.com.

Below are some of the other presenters and topics that they will be presenting:

Healthy Rivers Sustaining Rural Communities

Richard Van Gytenbeek, Trout Unlimited’s Colorado River Basin Outreach Coordinator is responsible for enlisting support for healthy rivers in the Colorado River Basin from local agricultural interests, sportsman groups and river dependent businesses. The “Healthy Rivers Sustain Rural Communities on Colorado’s West Slope” presentation is an integral part of TU’s “Our Colorado River” campaign. The program examines the importance of healthy rivers to agricultural and recreation on Colorado West Slope and the vital economic role they play in their communities. The presentation additionally covers the essential physical components of healthy rivers, threats to the river and strategies to mitigate those threats. The presentation concludes by highlighting some examples of TU’s work on the West Slope through restoration, irrigation infrastructure improvements and water sharing.

Colorado Fish and Wildlife Service Funding Programs

Pam Sponholtz, Project Leader, Colorado Fish and Wildlife Service Conservation Office, will be providing an overview of the Service's funding programs and how TU can effectively partner with CFWS on different projects.  With a focus on sustainability, she will be discussing various programs, the nuances of each, how to apply and some examples of completed projects.

Responsible OHV Recreation and Habitat Protection on Public Lands

Garrett VeneKlasen, Southwest Regional Director for TU’s Sportsmen’s Conservation Project (SCP), and Aaron Kindle, Colorado Field Coordinator for the SCP will present on Sportsmen Ride Right and how TU works to promote responsible Off Highway Vehicle recreation. Sportsmen Ride Right is a TU developed program that asks sportsmen to lend their energy to ensuring habitat protection and viability while using OHVs. We believe that all sportsmen who recreate on public lands use some form of an OHV to access their favorite hunting and fishing spots and that problems are not confined simply to ATV users. Mismanagement of motorized recreation and irresponsible use is a growing problem on our public lands and sportsmen need to play a large role in creating solutions. Join Garrett and Aaron as they talk about TU’s efforts both nationally and here in Colorado.

Energy Development in the Thompson Divide and What it means to Sportsmen

The Thompson Divide is right across the highway from Redstone and feeds numerous rivers important to anglers. The area also holds several conservation populations of cutthroat trout and is known as one of the best elk hunting areas in Colorado. The Thompson Divide is currently largely undeveloped but proposals for large scale development have been submitted. Aaron Kindle, Colorado Field Coordinator for TU’s Sportsmen’s Conservation Project, will present on TU’s efforts to work with sportsmen, surrounding communities, Colorado’s congressional delegation, and energy companies to find solutions and protect this magnificent area.

Want to visit the Thompson Divide and see what is going on?

Aaron Kindle, TU’s Field Coordinator, will be leading an optional field trip into the Thompson Divide for Rendezvous attendees. Topics will include proposed energy development, cutthroat trout conservation, sporting opportunities and an overview of Western Colorado energy development. You are encouraged to attend if you have not followed this issue and would like to learn more.

TU will provide transportation and will be departing from the front entrance of the Redstone Inn on Friday the 19^th of April. Please meet there at 8:30 AM. The trip will last approximately two hours, running from 8:45 – 10:45 AM. Please RSVP for this trip with Stephanie Scott 720-354-2647 or sscott@tu.org.

For more information about 2013 Rendezvous please click on the link below:

www.coloradotu.org/event/colorado-tus-rendezvous-at-redstone/