Hermosa Bill Takes Another Step Forward!

Legislation to establish wilderness and a special management area protecting Southwest Colorado's Hermosa Creek watershed passed unanimously through a US Senate Committee this week.  The legislation, S.841, was introduced by Senator Bennet and cosponsored by Senator Udall, who also serves on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee which passed the bill out of committee on Thursday, November 13.  A companion bill, HR 1839, is sponsored by Representative Tipton and already has passed out of House committee. TU and other supporters of the bill hope that it can get a floor vote in both chambers during the "lame duck" session, and be forwarded to the President's desk for signature.

The Hermosa watershed bill, which incorporates an agreement crafted by a broad range of local stakeholders, preserves an array of recreational opportunities in and around the areas designated for protection. The package of protections will help protect hunting and fishing values, motorized recreational opportunities, popular hiking and biking trails, and wilderness-quality lands.  The bill designates approximately 37,000 acres of new wilderness and a 70,000 acre special management area to protect watershed values.

On a disappointing note, specific reference to Hermosa's native trout was removed from the bill.  However, the watershed and land protections still accomplish protection for the area's highly-valued native cutthroat trout fishery.

You can read TU's press statement on the latest Congressional action here.

And a big "thank you" goes to Senators Bennet and Udall for their efforts in moving S.841 forward in the Senate, and to Representative Tipton for his continued leadership for Hermosa in the House.

Tell EPA and the Corps: Protect Our Headwaters!

Tell EPA and the Corps: Protect Our Headwaters!

Act by November 14 to help ensure that the Clean Water Act protects our headwater and feeder streams!

Here in Colorado, we are a headwaters state, and we understand the basic premise that if we don't protect the headwaters, we cannot protect our downstream rivers.

Colorado is a headwaters state, the birthplace of major rivers like the Rio Grande, Arkansas, Platte and the mighty Colorado - and so we understand how important it is to protect the headwaters.  Indeed, some 75% of Colorado's rivers and streams - 76,000 miles worth - may not be protected under the Clean Water Act if the new EPA and Corps guidance isn't adopted (these are the intermittent and ephemeral streams, shown in red on the map below).  Nationwide, some 60% of rivers and streams are at risk, as outlined in a recent Trout Unlimited report.

The agencies are taking public comment on this proposal until November 14.  Equally important, please let your elected representatives know you support these vital water quality protections.  If you haven't yet submitted comments, please click here to learn more and take action!

If you've already submitted comments, thank you for your help, and please spread the word with your friends.

It is simple common sense -- if we don't protect the headwaters, we cannot protect our downstream rivers.  

Trout Unlimited is the nation’s oldest and largest coldwater fisheries conservation organization dedicated to conserving, protecting and restoring North America’s trout and salmon and their watersheds. Follow TU on Facebook and Twitter, and visit us online at tu.org.

Come to the Fly Fishing Rendezvous!!

You are invited to the first annual Front Range Fly Fishing Rendezvous. This event is to FREE to attend and guaranteed to be a great time. There will be great vendors there to talk about their products and fishing organizations there to talk about fishing opportunities across the state.

Here is a sneak peak at the vendors that will be there:

Accent Fly Fishing http://ascentflyfishing.com/

Slayfest http://slayfestfishing.com/

The Bug Guy http://www.the-bug-guy.com

5280 Angler http://www.5280angler.com/

Native Nets http://www.nativenets.com/

Titan Rod Vaults http://www.titanrodvault.com/

There will be a silent auction, raffle prizes and more!! Throughout the weekend the vendors and other fishing enthusiasts will be giving presentations, providing a great opportunity to learn from the experts!! The host of the rendezvous is donating all of the proceeds from the event to Colorado Trout Unlimited.

Come hangout and enjoy the fun!! Visit the event page on Facebook by clicking here.

8 River Rodeo Helps Support CTU

Last week, Clint Crookshanks - the event manager for the 8 River Rodeo fishing competition - stopped by the Colorado TU offices to pass along a $1000 contribution from the event proceeds to help support conservation of Colorado rivers. The 8 River Rodeo is a unique event that takes teams of two anglers across eight rivers in two basins over two days.  Each team member must catch at least one fish from each of four rivers in the Colorado basin on day one - the Colorado, Crystal, Fryingpan, and Roaring Fork - and then one fish from each of four rivers in the Gunnison basin on day two - the East, Gunnison, Taylor, and Spring Creek.  Teams that catch the required fish from each site qualify for prizes, with first place going to the team with the most total inches among their 16 fish.  Participants get to enjoy an intense two days fishing eight great rivers across central Colorado, followed by a Sunday barbecue and award presentation in Almont.  It takes place the final weekend in July.  For more information on the 8 River Rodeo, click here to visit their website.

Net proceeds from the event are donated to support charity - this year, they contributed to Colorado TU as well as an additional $1000 to Project Healing Waters.  A big thank you to Clint and all the participants in the 8 River Rodeo for their support!

WDTU hosts Landon Mayer in Golden

Join the West Denver Chapter of TU for a Chili Supper and presentation by fly fishing guide Landon Mayer on November 7, 2014. American Mountaineering Center 710 Washington St. in Golden

Silent Auction Wine and beer available

Click here for more information.

Sportsmen aim to put Browns Canyon on Denver Map

 Preserve Browns Canyon as a national monument

Denver—On a beautiful October evening, a crowd gathered in downtown Denver to watch Browns Canyon come alive on the façade of the McNichols Building, in an eye-popping display of light and images. The Oct. 17 event, called “Browns Canyon Live,” was sponsored by Sportsmen for Browns Canyon, a grassroots coalition of hunters and anglers committed to preserving Browns Canyon as a national monument.   Here’s a recap video of the event:

Click here to read the whole story

The group also paid for two billboards along I-70 through Denver from early September until the first week of November. One billboard features a striking image of an angler fishing in the canyon, and another shows the canyon awash in a starry nightscape, with the message: “Monumental: Protect Browns Canyon.” The billboard messages will reach an estimated 180,000 people a day who travel this major east-west corridor.

“We’re getting the word out: We have to protect this place or risk losing it,” said Kyle Perkins, Campaign Manager.

For more information, go to www.sportsmenforbrowns.com.

Cutthroat Chapter and The Coalition for the Upper South Platte

The Cutthroat Chapter of Trout Unlimited, located in Littleton Colorado has been busy at work throughout 2014!!  The Chapter was recently recognized by the Coalition for the Upper South Platte for the tremendous effort volunteers contributed to protection of this 2,600 square-mile watershed.  Work included

•  Check-dam construction in Eleven-Mile Canyon
• Mine reclamation efforts in Alma - acres of riparian rake and seed operations; planting of willows.
• Cleaning of noxious weeds and trash from Deer Island

Since 1998 the Coalition for the Upper South Platte (CUSP) has worked to protect the 2,600-square-mile watershed that reaches from the Continental Divide to Strontia Springs Reservoir, southwest of Denver.  The watershed is a recreational mecca with over 1.6 million acres of public lands; it provides municipal water for about three quarters of Colorado’s residents; it is renowned for its "gold-medal" fishing streams; and it is home to numerous threatened and endangered species.

Roan: Help us thank CO elected officials for their help

For years, Colorado TU and our Grand Valley Anglers chapter have worked on protecting and restoring habitat on western Colorado's Roan Plateau, home to rare native trout populations as well as outstanding big game habitat and scenic forests, canyons and waterfalls.  The Denver Post's Scott Willoughby recently wrote about the Roan's unique values. The Roan has also been a flash point in controversy between energy development and conservation, including a long-standing legal battle over BLM's oil and gas leasing on the Roan.  TU and other conservation groups are hard at work seeking a resolution that can protect the Roan's outstanding fish and wildlife habitat while also allowing responsible energy development to move forward on appropriate sites.  Getting to that solution will take some real political muscle, and we got a much-needed boost when Senator Bennet, Senator Udall, Representative Tipton, and Governor Hickenlooper weighed in with a supportive letter to the Secretary of the Interior.

Please take a moment to visit our action center and thank Senator Bennet, Senator Udall, Representative Tipton, and Governor Hickenlooper for their support and leadership!

TU restores miles of habitat on Kerber Creek

The Kerber Creek Restoration Project is an ambitious partnership between Trout Unlimited, federal and state agencies, non-profits, and local landowners to address the impacts of mining and erosion on a high-value trout stream in Colorado. The headwaters of Kerber Creek start above Bonanza, Colorado, and flow for 26 miles past Villa Grove, until its confluence with San Luis Creek at the base of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains.  Since the inception of the project in 2008, Trout Unlimited and project partners have restored seven miles of stream and 14 miles of stream bank.  Unstable stream conditions were created by several flood events in the 1900’s that deposited historic mine wastes throughout the downstream floodplain.  The highly acidic soils did not provide a good growing medium for riparian plants, resulting in unstable stream banks throughout the lower watershed.

This short video provides an example of the restoration techniques used to stabilize an eroding stream bank.  The operator first knocks down the steep, unstable bank to a 3:1, gradual slope.  Two sets of in-stream rock barb structures are then installed on the outside of the bend to provide bank stabilization and trout habitat.  Anchored and dredged into the bank, these rock barbs push the energy portion of the stream away from the bank to help create pools and establish a point bar.

After installation of each rock barb, the operator transplants sedge mats and willow clumps to provide immediate vegetation and bank stabilization.  The sedge mats and willow clumps will provide erosion resistance on the newly graded bank until the planted seed comes up the following year.  After completion of the in-stream restoration, soil amendments will be added into the bank behind the structures to neutralize any acidic soil, and provide good growing conditions for the native seed mix.

TU has had great success with this type of stream restoration procedure, and post-project monitoring has shown an improvement of water quality and an increase in trout density throughout the watershed.

Jason Willis is Mine Restoration Field Coordinator for Trout Unlimited in Salida, Colorado.

Shocking Fish and Why Biologists Rock!

How do we know restoration and conservation efforts are working?  Anecdotal evidence shared by other anglers can help us decide where to fish tomorrow, or add a new river to our “must fish” list, but more than fish tales are needed to confirm conservation work is warranted and successful. These efforts need validation, and this validation comes from scientific data. It isn’t as sexy as tales of big fish, gin clear water, and prolific hatches, but these tales are often made possible through hard work, done by real people.  Today we look at why Biologists electroshock fish, and the important role it plays in protecting cold-water fisheries. Electroshocking a stream temporarily stuns the fish, allowing for capture and counting before being released back into the habitat.  The data collected includes species, length, and weight, and whether the fish appear healthy or have obvious problems.

The process itself varies based on the size and type of stream.  One recent fall day I found myself on a 15-foot raft, prepared to assist Biologist Greg Policky with Colorado Parks and Wildlife to electroshock a section of the Arkansas River.

I was pre warned this day would be hard physical labor, but I guide on the Arkansas and I regularly row people down this very river, so I thought “How hard can it be?”

Well, if throwing the 15 pound probe upstream then retrieving it as quickly as possible, repeatedly, doesn’t sound hard enough, consider Policky’s role “I lead the dance” he said.  Donning waders, boots, and a life jacket, he steers and slows the boat from handles attached to the back.  Picture water skiing from a whitewater raft, loaded down with frame, generator, and 3 more people; but on the river bottom.  He struck a fine balance between steering the boat toward trout habitat, and being drug along chest deep in the river.  While the rest of us were able to rotate jobs and positions throughout the day, moving from throwing to netting, Policky was unwilling to place anyone else in this risky position.  Of course, none of us insisted either.

The data collected proves that restoration and management efforts on the Arkansas River are astoundingly successful, and the numbers back the new Gold Medal Status bestowed on the fishery this year.  But what of rivers in dire need of the kind restoration the Arkansas River has already experienced?  Electroshocking can be used to compile and provide the proof that attention is needed.  If fish cannot survive and thrive in a river where they once did, scientific data to this point must be brought to the conversation. Protections cannot be afforded to a river based on a big fish tale, whether true or not. Biologists are working hard for the health of our rivers; it’s shocking really.

Rachel is a fly fishing guide at ArkAnglers, and studies

communication at Regis University. She is excited to

expand her stewardship role working with Colorado Trout

Unlimited.