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 

Youth Camp to Yellowstone

Our chapter, St Vrain Anglers, became interested in the project to research the movements of invasive lake trout in Yellowstone Lake as a prelude to determining ways to suppress their numbers or eliminate them, and we wanted to support that program financially. A member donated a Winston Tom Morgan Favorite rod with a Ross Evolution reel to be used as a raffle prize for donations. As we were organizing the raffle, another of our members, Mike Turner, died from complications of Parkinson's disease. We decided to make the donation in his name as a memorial to this much-loved man. Our initial efforts started off with a bang: we sold about half of our 100 tickets quite quickly. Sales dragged, however, through the winter, and we became concerned about selling all 100. About 35 tickets remained unsold as of our May meeting. An angel then swooped in and bought the remaining tickets, so we met our goal of donating $2000 to the Yellowstone project. This angel and I assigned the tickets to outstanding students we know- kids from our own chapter's Kids Learn to Fly Fish Program as well as many campers from past CTU Youth River Conservation and Fly Fishing camps.

We held the drawing in late May. The winner was Ben Ward, a member of the 2011 CTU camp. Ben was invited back to the 2012 and 2013 camps as a youth counselor, assisting the adult counselors with camp activities. Ben was chosen as a youth counselor because of his leadership as a camp participant, and because of his extensive involvement with his local TU chapter in Trinidad, CO. You might say that Ben was the perfect person to win the raffle.

As a CTU camp counselor, I had the pleasure of presenting the rod and reel to Ben the first evening of this year's camp, held at High Lonesome Ranch near DeBeque, CO. To say Ben was surprised would be an understatement. The look on his face was priceless. So, Ben, congratulations- here's to many years of enjoyment with your new rod and reel.

---Dick Shinton

Evergreen TU shares message of angling and stewardship

Evergreen Trout Unlimited members are more than fishing enthusiasts. Many routinely volunteer to work on conservation efforts, compile fish counts and monitor flows in Bear Creek. Part of their outreach efforts include educating mountain-area children on fly-tying and fly-fishing.

Several members will teach children how to fish at Camp Comfort, a bereavement camp hosted by Mount Evans Home Health & Hospice this weekend and July 26-28.

ETU also stocks the pond at Buchanan Recreation Center, in return for which they get free days to fish at the pond.

Members are often active in Youth Outdoors Skills Day, where they provide instruction on casting, fishing and fly-tying. They helped out recently at the opening of Staunton State Park, near Pine Junction. Trips to Jefferson County Public Schools' Mount Evans Outdoor Lab are always on the calendar...

While the goal is to share their knowledge with the next generation of anglers, the message is environmental stewardship.

Read more about Evergreen TU in The Denver Post online.

Richard Van Gytenbeek, Colorado River Basin Outreach Coordinator

My interest in trout streams started early, armed with a used Sila-Flex fly rod, Pflueger reel and a worm I fished the Tarryall Creek with my father. Twenty years later those experiences would translate into a Fisheries degree and a job working for Colorado DOW in Montrose. My boss, Barry Nehring, helped to change my raw enthusiasm for the sport into a real understanding of the resource and how to protect it. I took those lessons, added a Masters in Landscape Architecture and worked on land and resource planning in northwest Wyoming for another 25 years. Three years ago I returned home and after 18 months as TU’s Colorado River Basin Outreach Coordinator, a lot of hours of windshield time and meeting time the experience has been, well, “living the dream.” Moving back to Colorado, living on the West Slope and getting to tell people about this amazing organization and our mission to keep the life blood of the West flowing and healthy is a privilege. As the outreach person here on the West Slope of Colorado, my job is to inform people about the importance of healthy rivers and streams and how TU is working to improve and protect our western Colorado waterways. To deliver that message, the Our Colorado River (OCR) program was created. The OCR program has two goals: first, to highlight the ongoing restoration efforts of our Western Water Project staff and their collaborative work with their local basins and agricultural communities. That work is spearheaded by Brian Hodge in the Yampa/White; Rob Firth in the Upper Colorado; Jesse Kruthaupt and Carey Denison in the Gunnison; Matt Clark in the Dolores/Mancos; Mely Whiting in the San Juan/Animas; and Kevin Terry in the Rio Grande basin. Upgrading irrigation infrastructure, improving habitat and promoting smart water use all help our farmers and ranchers and improve flow and temperature regimes. In the last few years, this staff has hit the ground running in getting restoration projects completed. I’m helping to get the word out about that good work and the benefits for landowners and habitat.

My second goal is to enlist support for the OCR program’s core values, which we established to encourage cooperation and common ground among diverse water users. These five values—which we believe most West Slope water users can embrace--speak to cooperation with the resource, protecting agriculture, protecting open space and wildlife habitat, improving aging irrigation infrastructure, and promoting innovative water management. When I make presentations to organizations, businesses and elected officials, I ask for their support by becoming a signatory to the core values. So far, I’ve gotten a positive response from most water stakeholders—they “get it” that we have to keep our rivers healthy.  Later in 2014, the core values and the list of supporters will be presented to the Colorado Water Conservation Board with a clear message that, while western Colorado citizens may not agree on all water use issues, there is strong grassroots consensus on these five values, which should be reflected in Colorado’s Water Plan.

Richard Van Gytenbeek - r.vangytenbeek@tu.org or 307-690-1267

Garrett Hanks, Colorado TU Youth Education Coordinator

I work to achieve the goals of Colorado Trout Unlimited through the engagement of Colorado’s youth. Raised on the Front Range, I was fortunate to be taken into the outdoors frequently growing up. I had family and friends who taught me not only the beauty of these places but also their value. These experiences shaped who I am and what I have chosen to do with my education and career. I am excited to give back some of those experiences to the next generation of conservation stewards. It is through them that the hard work we do now will have the greatest impact. My job takes me state wide in support of our Chapter’s efforts to engage their local youth. Outreach in schools is one way we provide youth education. The Trout in the Classroom program has been a proven success and is expanding every year to provide aquariums with trout to be raised by students then released into the wild. New initiatives like the Stream Explorers have been extremely successful in engaging students in hands on conservation and fishing, while hopefully providing a continued experience year after year.

The Outdoor Mentors is a program designed to provide youth a chance to get outdoors that would not otherwise have family or friends capable of taking them. Colorado Trout Unlimited partners with local and national organizations and other outdoor focused groups to give as many kids as possible a quality an outdoor experience. Opportunities also exist for families to learn to fish together, no matter the previous skill level, in our family fishing camp.

Each year Colorado Trout Unlimited puts on a week long fly fishing youth camp. Campers from ages 14 to 18 engage in conservation and science based classes in between time on the water. The camp hopes to provide a direct connection to a possible future in natural resources. Many of the campers go on to be successful in their continued education, and we hope as the next generation of leaders in coldwater conservation.

The first annual CTU Intercollegiate Fly Fishing Tournament was held this year in Steamboat Springs, CO. In an attempt to bring together new and old Five Rivers Chapters, six teams from four different colleges across the state participated. The tournament scoring was structured such that the team had to complete different challenges to earn points, rather than simply the most and the biggest fish taking home the trophy. The true message of the tournament however, was conservation and camaraderie for the individuals who will soon be the ones making the decisions on how our river’s resources are stewarded.

For more information on Youth Education programs in your area, or to get involved, contact Garrett Hanks at 720-354-2646 or ghanks@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.

San Miguel remains free flowing

A western slope river as old as the Rocky Mountains will live on. One of the last free-flowing rivers in Colorado, the San Miguel will continue to course through the western slope unchecked by mankind, thanks to a May 20 Colorado Water Court ruling granting it protected status. Granted "in-stream flow protection," the San Miguel will continue to be a natural habitat for three fish species, as well as fuel the down-stream rafting economy, said John Fielder, a landscape photographer and champion of natural resources preservation.

"Like the Yampa (River), the San Miguel is one of the last undammed major rivers in the state," Fielder said.

Read more about the ruling protecting the San Miguel in The Gazette.

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