Playing the Long Game

As anglers, we are all familiar with the reasons behind keeping our rivers and lakes healthy.  As a community that spends time on the water and public lands more than most, we can be far more attentive to subtle changes in environmental quality or perceived threats to an ecosystem.  Moreover, our chapters are often heavily engaged in the community and see the impacts of programs like Stream Explorers, Casting for Recovery, and Project Healing Waters on the lives of our friends and neighbors. Unfortunately, our elected officials (county commissioners to Senators) are often too busy to see these same local stories first-hand, or experience the subtle ecological impacts of a new fish passage structure just upstream.  This is why it is so important for TU members, chapters, and organizers to reach out and build relationships with the leaders in our communities.

As chapters, we are the face of TU in our local communities and we do a great job of bringing people together in the spirit of protecting and enjoying our public lands.  We also make a significant impact on the lives of veterans, families, youth, and the general public through a myriad of programs and special events.  This is the story we must not only tell – it is the cause we must share.

Far too often, the only time we find ourselves talking with an elected official is when we need something. As chapters, we must break out of this mold if we are to be successful in cultivating a healthy environment of community leaders that understand the importance of keeping our rivers and watersheds healthy.  For this reason, we should all to extend a hand to our local leaders and invite them into the CTU community.

When we think of elected officials, we often point to state legislators and national delegations, but do not forget your local school boards, county commissioners, or active community organizers.  These leaders at all levels of government make decisions every day that affect the programs we hold near and dear to our hearts – Trout in the Classroom, public access, mineral leasing, funding for recreation, and the list goes on.\

So next time you are planning a barbeque for chapter volunteers, consider reaching out to your county commissioner to have them join you and meet their constituents; invite your state legislator to come fishing with you during the Green Drake hatch; or bring a member of your local school board along for a kids fishing derby.  These local leaders are genuinely interested to meet their constituents and get engaged in their communities – and what better way to show the importance of keeping our rivers healthy and maintaining recreational opportunities then putting a fly rod in their hand, or having them help net a young kid’s first fish.

By building these types of relationships on the front end, we can more actively engage our local leaders when we do actually need them to take a specific stance on a key issue.  Suddenly CTU is not that just that fishing organization flooding their email box with action alerts – they are the local chapter that brought a senator out on the river with a group of military veterans.

Below are a few ways that your chapters and local members can help cultivate these future water leaders:

• Invite elected officials to attend chapter events and give them an opportunity to speak;
• Invite community leaders to join one or two members on a fishing outing;
• Keep the conversation light and don’t hammer down on details – the point is to develop long-term relationships and help these public officials to better understand the ecosystem or a certain community program;
• Don’t give them expensive gifts (state laws restrict gifts to a value under $50) – this is a learning and “get-to-know-ya” activity, not a bribe;
• Expand your focus beyond elected officials who don’t have a strong record on the environment, it is also good to bring allies out on the river too
• Ideas of people to invite: school board members, county commissioners, city council, city/county staff, basin roundtable reps., ag/water companies, state legislators, state and local departments, other NGOs

At the end of the day, CTU and its chapters are successful because of our ability to build strong ties with our local communities.  While it may seem easy to focus on anglers or specific members when we do our outreach, let’s not forget the value of bringing in our local leaders. Show them that while CTU members support opinions across the political spectrum, we are united in the idea that clean, healthy rivers are a benefit to us all.  You never know, the school board member you have at your fishing derby today could be the state’s governor tomorrow.  Play the long game.

A Native Odyssey: A conservation road trip of a lifetime

"The beauty and charm of the wilderness are his for the asking, for the edges of the wilderness lie close beside the beaten roads of the present travel."

—Theodore Roosevelt

President Theodore Roosevelt was a visionary, having set aside 230 million acres during his presidency for the American public to enjoy. In doing so, he was responsible for founding the U.S. Forest Service, and laying the ground work for the Department of the Interior and the National Park Service.

Fast forward a little more than a century. The U.S. government now manages 640 million acres of public land in trust for all Americans, a vast swath of shared real estate representing 28 percent of the American land mass. This large plot of public land in large part supports the $887 billion dollar outdoor recreation economy.

Today, our public land is under threat, with President Trump ordering the review of national monuments, and congress in tow with a push to transfer federal land to states governments that cannot afford it.

For two months this summer, five students from the TU Costa 5 Rivers Outreach Program will embark on a once-in-a-lifetime journey in pursuit of 16 native trout species, all on their public land. With support from the U.S. Forest Service, Costa Sunglasses, Simms Fishing Products, Fishpond and Post Fly Box, these students will tell the stories of our native trout, the places they live, and the local economies they fuel.

These students will be chiming in on Trout Unlimited’s and Trout Unlimited Costa 5 Rivers’ social media accounts to document the adventure. They will fish and explore our public lands around the country, unearthing challenges facing our native trout species. In addition to pursuing each species on fly, they will be interviewing local stakeholders, including ranchers, TU Volunteers, TU and U.S. Forest Service staff. They hope to reveal a diverse set of perspectives on what public lands, native species, and clean water means to each region the students visit.

The students will be in Colorado on June 18-24. They will be working with the Pikes Peak Chapter of TU on June 19 learning about the Greenback Cutthroat trout story, tour the Henderson Mine in Empire, CO on June 20 as part of the TU Abandoned Mines program, fish for Cutthroats in Rocky Mountain National Park with the Greenbacks of Colorado TU on June 21-23.

This week we will be introducing this year’s Odyssey participants. Each of these students comes from a unique background, having shaped their conservation viewpoints from their respective fisheries from around the country. Stay tuned to the blog to meet the participants.

To stay up to date with the Odyssey, follow @Troutunlimited, @TUCosta5rivers, @USForestservice, @simmsfishing @Fishpondusa to discover the story of our native trout, public lands, and what you can do at home to keep your lands in public hands.

For additional opportunities to get involved with protecting public lands, please visit standup.tu.org.

Adam Beede wins Dr. Behnke Award

Adam Beede, the 2017 Youth Camp Director, was rewarded as the recipient of the Dr. Robert Behnke Award from the Pennsylvania Rivers Conservation and Fly Fishing Youth Camp. The Behnke award recognizes an individual who is a graduate of a TU Conservation Youth Camp, someone who has gone on to continue their river/conservation/fishery studies in college or a career in the field, and has contributed with a leadership role with a state Youth Camp.

The award was established by the Pennsylvania Rivers Conservation and Fly Fishing Youth Camp to honor Dr. Behnke for his years of volunteering his time and his talents in teaching at the Pennsylvania camp as well as his educating and mentoring thousands of students during his career as a professor of Fisheries Conservation and Wildlife Biology at Colorado State University.  He was the author of more than 200 articles and papers regarding fish and fisheries and had served on numerous advisory boards for state and federal agencies.  He was the author of several books, including the seminal Trout and Salmon of North America (2002).  Bob began writing the quarterly column About Trout for Trout magazine in 1983.  Dr. Behnke passed away in September, 2013.

Adam is an alumnus of the 2011 Colorado Trout Unlimited River Conservation and Fly-fishing Youth Camp, served as a youth counselor for the camp three additional years, and is volunteering at the 2017 as Youth Camp Director. He is the youngest person to take on this role for the Youth Camp.

"I am honored and extremely excited to receive the selection for the Dr. Robert Behnke Award this year!" said Adam. "Attending the 2011 Colorado Trout Unlimited Youth Camp inspired me to start the Gunnison Sockeyes River Conservation Club and also to serve as Director for this year's youth camp."

This Spring, he graduated from Western State University in Gunnison majoring in Chemistry with an emphasis in Biochemistry. But he's leaving behind an incredible legacy of coldwater conservation leadership. In 2013, Adam founded The Gunnison Sockeyes, the first TU Costa Five Rivers collegiate club in the nation to found their club based on conservation rather than fly fishing. The club boasts over 160 members and has logged in excess of 220 man hours of service work in the Gunnison Watershed in the fields of Lake Trout Removal, Kokanee Salmon Spawning, Electroshocking, Stonefly Reintroduction and River Clean Ups.

"The Sockeyes logged 568 man hours of community service in the few years I went to Western State and I believe they will continue to put river conservation equal to, or ahead of, fly fishing in an effort to inspire the conservation of our rivers while having a blast in the Gunnison watershed," said Beede.

Adam has been head guide for Harmel's Ranch Resort the past three years sharing his passion for fly fishing and conservation with multitudes of ranch clients.

Colorado TU is extremely proud of Adam Beede for this incredible accomplishment and recognition. The work and leadership he has provided to the Colorado TU youth programs has helped instill the passion of fly fishing and conservation into other groups of kids. CTU is honored to have Adam be part of the Youth Camp team this year.

Adam will be presented the award at the Pennsylvania Fly Fishing Rivers Conservation Camp graduation on June 23, 2017 at Messiah College in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. In addition, his name will be added to the plaque at the Pennsylvania Fly Fishing Museum's Rivers Conservation Camp exhibit and will receive a certificate, a hand-carved trout pin, and a custom made pen to record his efforts in cold water conservation.

Behind the Fin: Wil Huett

How long have you been a TU member? Hard to answer. In the late 1970's-early 80's I was attending meetings of the Northern Colorado Anglers which eventually became the Rocky Mountain Flycasters (chapter #010). The chapter was chartered in 1983, so I was at least unofficially some kind of 'member' before there was a chapter!  A few years later I had a career change which created an unavoidable conflict with chapter meeting dates and so was relatively inactive for a long time. When I was able to become active again I became a life member - and was surprised when my new life-membership card arrived and bore an expiration date! I thought, how do they know when I am going to expire?

Why did you become a member and what chapter are you involved with?

My initial interest was the 'fishing club' hook which brings so many members into TU. I wanted to learn more about the mythical art of catching trout on a flyrod. I grew up on the banks of the mighty Mississippi and had used a friend's flyrod to catch a few bass in farm ponds. A career change took me to NW Nebraska where I caught my first trout - on another friend's flyrod. I picked up a little more experience in the nearby Black Hills, but when I moved to Colorado and within a few blocks of the Cache la Poudre I was in 'real' trout territory and needed to know more.

What made you want to become involved with TU?

Growing up on the banks of the Mississippi and experiencing its periodic floods gave me no background for understanding the water scarcity issues of the west. When the mighty Miss and its tributaries flooded they used to let us older boys out of school and permit trustee crews from the state prison to help sandbag. It was usually a problem of too much water, so I was fascinated by the complexity of water law created by the scarcity of water and the mission of TU to conserve and correct the mistakes of the past just seemed to me to make manifest sense.

What is your favorite activity or project that you have done with TU?

I love to get involved with our youth activities, and field work. The RMF annual Youth Conservation and Fly Fishing Day Camp is one of the highlights of my year. It is such a terrific program I truthfully tell people that in my first year as a mentor in the camp I learned things I hadn't learned in the previous 40 years of fishing, The info these students are presented is that good! (or maybe I was just that slow a learner?)

One of my favorite field work projects was installing plunge pools on the Michigan River near Gould many years ago, with fellow RMF members including "Dr Trout", the late Robert J Behnke, PhD, himself. It was a two day project so we camped out and got rained on overnight. Dr Behnke had not brought a tent so he just rolled his sleeping bag under my jacked-up pickup truck to stay dry. He truly was a man with one foot firmly planted in the field and the other in the academic world!

I am also looking forward to our chapter cooperating with the Alpine Anglers in Estes Park to rebuild the fishing access pier up the Big Thompson, I helped build the original (in '89' or '90') and would love to have a hand in seeing it rebuilt to give the mobillity impaired a better chance to fish the "Big T"

I know you won’t tell me your top spot, so what is your second favorite fishing spot or favorite fishing story?

My favorite fishing spot is any spot I happen to be in which harbors fish. I advocate carrying a flyrod in every vehicle because you never know when you will run into a fishing emergency! Although exotic locales beckon to many I have trouble getting too far away from my home rivers - and ponds. I flyrod a lot of local natural area ponds for warmwater species too. Also take a trip to Canada each June with a couple of RMF's founding fathers, but home waters are the preferred locales since they are close.

One of my favorite memories occurred one week to the day before the 2013 flood devastated the lower Big Thompson and its North Fork. I was fishing the North Fork and saw a rise just inside a culvert under the county road. I watched long enough to see the fish was rising regularly in roughly the same spot, but it was going to be a tough, horizontal, back-handed cast, low enough to get into the culvert and into the feeding lane. I tried and missed. The fish kept rising. I tried again and missed. The fish paused but then resumed. I tried once more and got it just right...and Fish On! It dove into the pool just out of the culvert and bulldogged me. I know it was a big fish for that small stream, but had no idea for a few minutes that it was an 18 inch brown trout! Out of that tiny stream! I have no proof because my camera-bearer had gone back to the truck to escape a light rain and proceeded to fall asleep. So I released the fish and a week later as the flood swept the canyon had to hope he or she could survive somewhere in Nebraska. Once North Fork restoration work is done, some of it by RMF volunteers including me, I hope to find a similar fish hiding in a similarly deceptive spot. And then have to hope I'll be able to reproduce that tricky cast again.

What does being a part of TU mean to you?

TU membership means I am leaving a legacy, giving a gift to the future.

What else do you do in your spare time or for work

It seems spare time is so scarce in retirement I wonder how I had time to work! But I did: 40 years in the broadcast business and then 15 years with the American Red Cross before retiring. I volunteer with Rocky Mountain Flycasters, currently serve in the Trustee slot of Immediate Past President and fill the Community/Media Outreach chair. I think I have about 240 RMF volunteer hours thus far in this fiscal year. Also volunteer occasionally with a couple of other conservation organizations, read voraciously, do handyman fix-up projects on my near 100 year old home, and am finally trying to learn to tie a fly that doesn't look like an insect scraped off a windshield.

Meet the CTU Communications Intern Sam Stein

My name is Sam Stein, the Colorado TU communications intern for the summer of 2017. I am currently a graduate student at Colorado State University studying natural resources and environmental economics. I am incredibly excited at the opportunity to work for Colorado Trout Unlimited, and the ability to help promote conservation, sustainability, and good stewardship.

I caught my first fish on a fly on the Roaring Fork River at five years old, sparking a lifelong passion. Over the years I have fished many places, but few give me as much joy as fishing my local waters. I have translated this passion into working in several fly shops as well as working as a fly fishing guide. My immense interest in fly fishing, paired with the direction of a dedicated college adviser (who happens to be a fisheries economist) shaped my undergraduate studies and kindled my focus in conservation.

Working for Colorado Trout Unlimited will give me the ability to help promote the ideals that this organization so fastidiously stands by, as well as learn immensely throughout the experience. Consequently I hope to determine how to direct my passion into an effective tool for protecting fisheries and the other precious amenities that make Colorado so unique.

Some of the key projects I will be working on over the course of the internship is compiling a history of Colorado TU and key events and projects from over the years. I will also be building the Instagram and social media pages through compelling photos and interesting articles. As well, I will be helping share the great work and project stories from around the state!

With Colorado Trout Unlimited working on incredible projects such as reintroducing Greenback Cutthroats and protecting the upper Colorado River, I am excited to embrace the principles displayed by TU and work with them to continue making a difference in such an important industry.

I can be reached at CTU.CommsIntern@gmail.com. I look forward to working with the National and State Council staff of Trout Unlimited as well as all of the chapters!

Thank you for Celebrating Colorado Public Lands Day!

On May 20 Colorado celebrated the first ever Public Lands Day. As part of this celebration we called on Colorado Trout Unlimited members and supporters, anglers and sportsmen, and overall supporters of our public lands to help celebrate these great places Colorado has to offer. And did you all deliver!

On Colorado Public Lands Day there were over 450 Instagram posts with #CoPublicLands, over 265 tweets, and we received various emails with photos showing your love for public lands.

We tasked our supporters to share public lands fish photos with Senators Cory Gardner and Michael Bennet. There were some awesome photos of fish caught on public lands and some of our favorites can be seen below. There were also photos of people celebrating by hiking, camping, biking, and hunting. These outdoor recreation opportunities through public lands help drive Colorado's economy by generating 313,000 jobs and $34 billion in revenue for the state.

While there is still some uncertainty regarding the future of our public lands in the United States, our voices have been heard before and they will continue to be heard. Both Senators posted statements regarding Colorado Public Lands Day and showed their support to Colorado's 24 million acres of public lands. Senator Bennet's statement can be read here. Senator Gardner's statement can be read here.

Thank you to everyone who helped show their support of these lands! Remember, that it doesn't have to be a special day to show your support for our public lands. You can always share your photos and testimonies with Colorado TU's social media accounts or email! You can also visit standup.tu.org or contact Tyler Baskfield, Tbaskfield@tu.org

Mine Reclamation Updates

Site	Location	Update
Lower Creek (Updated 12/18/17)	Boulder, CO, near Jamestown, CO	We are receiving our final report from the Lefthand Watershed Oversight Group (LWOG) detailing restoration success at a former informal gun range that TU, the Arapaho Roosevelt National Forest and RMC Consultants cleaned up in 2015. LWOG has been partnering with us this summer to monitor the site and has reported some extremely positive findings. LWOG’s monitoring data are showing at least a four-fold decrease in total lead concentration in surface waters as compared to pre-construction levels, and an even more impressive 14-fold decline of lead concentrations in streambed-sediments as compared to pre-construction levels. These results demonstrate the success of our project and our partnerships in this watershed, and promise continued environmental health for the area.
Fourmile Creek	Boulder CO, near Gold Hill, CO	Trout Unlimited and the Fourmile Watershed Coalition have successfully partnered to complete active water quality sampling and flow monitoring along multiple sites located in the Fourmile Watershed.  These samples have been sent to Fort Collins for analyzing and we are awaiting the results.  We are hopefully awaiting a grant to continue our proactive research with more high flow and low flow sampling at additional sites.
Doctor Mine	Empire, CO	We plan to monitor water quality at this site to monitor the overall effectiveness of work completed in 2014.
Lion Creek (Updated 12/18/17)	Empire, CO	We just wrapped up a really interesting project with USGS and the Arapahoe Roosevelt NF in the Lion Creek watershed. This project utilized a sodium bromide tracer injection at the upstream Minnesota Mine shaft to understand pathways of connectivity between contaminated groundwater and surface water within the watershed. Understanding these pathways will help us focus future restoration efforts in the watershed in the most effective way possible. We look forward to applying the lessons learned from our data in the coming seasons to continue to improve downstream water quality for Clear Creek and its valuable ecological resources.
Leavenworth Creek (Updated 12/18/17)	Georgetown, CO	TU, Arapaho Roosevelt National Forest, and H2 Enterprises completed tailings removal and amendments on approximately three acres of tailings in the Leavenworth Creek watershed in October. All of the improved areas were seeded with native alpine species and mulched to encourage healthy revegetation at the site. In addition to tailings removal and amending, project partners also created multiple sustainable drainage ditches to control drainage on the site, and planted approximately 300 willow stakes in those ditches. Preliminary soil testing revealed decreased soil acidity and decreased concentrations of metals in soils across the site but final testing and revegetation evaluation will be done next spring/summer once the site is accessible. In addition to the tailings work in the Leavenworth watershed, TU and our partners also completed revegetation at the Santiago Mine and Mill building. We expect that our efforts will contribute to a healthier watershed within Leavenworth Creek and increased downstream water quality for the Town of Georgetown and Clear Creek.
Illinois Gulch	Breckenridge, CO	Our project proposal for construction on Illinois Gulch has been approved and we are looking forward to working with the EPA, property owners, and Summit County to have the best reclamation project possible.  Work should begin in Late August/ Early September.
Chalk Creek	Buena Vista, CO	A site visit at the end of this month (July) will help us to determine the best ways to improve site drainage and overall maintenance.  This project also offers us the unique opportunity to build a relationship with the Pike San Isabel Forest Service.
Minnie Lynch Mine (Updated 12/18/17)	Villa Grove, CO	TU, Rio Grande National Forest and Iron Maiden, Inc had an extremely successful construction season at the Minnie Lynch Mine site. This year, project partners removed tailings material from the site, established drainage controls to reduce contaminated sediment erosion into Minnie Lynch Gulch, developed a sedimentation basin on site and revegetated the site with native species. This year’s work compliments two previous phases of work completed at the site by TU and our partners and contributes to an even higher level of environmental improvement in the Kerber Creek watershed.
Stinkingwater Mining District	Cody, WY	We have completed our sampling plan for this area will be working with the USFS from July 31 – August 4 to complete water quality sampling in the district.

Chapter Youth Education Feedback

Chapter Leaders, As many of you may already know, CTU is undergoing a review of its statewide youth education program.  The goal of this process is to create a strategic plan that will help CTU better support local chapter initiatives, increase revenue for youth programming, and develop more targeted state-level projects.  We are reaching out to you to get your initial feedback.  Before we dive into the planning process, we want to see where CTU and its chapters currently stand – that means identifying current programs, goals, and participants.

In order to help us develop a program that will best support your youth education efforts on the ground please provide the following information:

• What youth education programs you currently have in place;
• What programs you are working on or would like to see in the future;
• The number of participants (youth ages 5-25) that you reach through your current programming;
• The number of partners (teachers, community orgs., etc.) that you work with to implement these programs
• How CTU can best support your youth education efforts

Please feel free to distribute this email to your members who are involved with these efforts.  We are hoping to have responses by Friday, June 2 in order to begin moving forward with the next phase of the plan.  We understand that collecting this data will demand some work on your end and we greatly appreciate your effort here.  By getting your input on the front end of this planning process, we hope to craft a stronger youth program that will provide your chapter with the additional support it needs to continue the great work that you do.

Please reply to Dan Omasta or Jeff Florence

Please let us know if you have any thoughts or questions.

Best,

Dan and Jeff

The rivers need people like you

Long ago, a wise and influential man told me, in a low and gravelly voice that matched the importance of his words, "The rivers need people like you." Last month, I was reminded of these compelling words when I was honored to receive the Silver Trout Award. The award, given by the Silver Trout Foundation, recognizes individual volunteers whose body of work in support of Colorado's rivers has left a significant and lasting impression.

If you were at Colorado TU's Rendezvous 2017, you heard me nervously stumble through an acceptance speech. I had one memorized in advance, but altered it on the spot because of the way I was introduced. I've since been encouraged to share that speech for others and I welcome the opportunity to deliver it without stumbling!

---

Thank you. I've always been honored to work with such a passionate and committed group of people. Now I'm humbled to be in the company of other award winners.

Ken [Neubecker] mentioned that he met me at a volunteer day where I was flipping burgers, and it reminded me of a story that I'd like to share.

That volunteer day, at Buffalo Peaks Ranch in 2008, was my very first volunteer experience with Colorado TU. Sinjin [Eberle] had enlisted my help to cook lunch. Honestly, I wasn't a TU member or even a river conservationist at the time. I was simply helping a friend out.

The last person I flipped a burger for happened to be the late Charlie Meyers of the Denver Post. I shut down the grill and joined him for lunch. I tried to thank him for the media coverage of the event, but he cut me off and thanked me for helping to restore the river.

We talked about a lot of things and I don't recall the details anymore, but I do remember how it ended. He grabbed my arm to make sure he had my attention, looked me in the eye and said, "You know, the rivers need people like you."

He didn't sound like Morgan Freeman, but I felt like Morgan Freeman had just given me my marching orders. Later that day, I told Sinjin I wanted to get more involved in Colorado TU and the rest is history.

So I was a volunteer, but I didn't really become an engaged volunteer until Charlie gave me the push I needed. We all know someone like this, someone who just needs a push to get involved. I want to encourage all of you to push that person - you might be creating a future Silver Trout Award winner. Thank you.

---

I added the bit about Morgan Freeman. Sure wish I'd thought to say it at the podium!

For those who don't know, Ken Neubecker is the current President of the Silver Trout Foundation and a past president of Colorado TU. Sinjin Eberle, who was a good friend even before the Buffalo Peaks Ranch projects, is the Director of Communications for American Rivers and a past President of Colorado TU. Both are Silver Trout Award winners.

Charlie Meyers, an outdoors writer for the Denver Post, covered his beats for 40 years. He died in January of 2010 from complications due to lung cancer.

Yampa-White Project Coordinator

ABOUT TROUT UNLIMITED

Trout Unlimited (TU) is a national conservation organization with a mission to conserve, protect and restore North America's cold-water fisheries and their watersheds. From the beginning, TU has been guided by a principle grounded in science: if we "take care of the fish, then the fishing will take care of itself." With more than 155,000 volunteers organized into ~400 chapters nationwide, this dedicated grassroots army is matched by a respected staff of organizers, lawyers, policy experts and scientists, who work out of more than 30 offices across the country.

POSITION SUMMARY

TU's Western Water and Habitat Program seeks a Project Coordinator to plan and implement on-the-ground projects that conserve and improve trout habitat in the Yampa River and White River basins in northwest Colorado. The Coordinator will be a TU employee, and for at least two years, work in a cost-share, partnership position with Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). The Coordinator's work plan will be jointly developed by TU and NRCS, and the Coordinator will assist both TU and NRCS staff. Projects will include efforts to improve irrigation infrastructure and stream flow, remove fish passage obstacles, and restore instream and riparian habitat. The Coordinator will be located in Steamboat Springs, CO. Continuation of the position beyond two years depends on the availability of funding.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

The Coordinator will work closely with water users, private land owners, agency staff, and personnel from other non-profit organizations. Primary responsibilities will be to:

• Develop relationships with the agricultural community and agency staff.
• Assist private landowners with enrollment in Farm Bill assistance programs.
• Plan and oversee projects.
• Raise funds, as necessary, to implement projects.
• Manage grant application and reporting requirements.
• Identify opportunities and make recommendations for acquisition or appropriation of instream flow water rights.
• Monitor project effectiveness.

Other responsibilities may include:

• Working with agency staff and water providers to advocate for fish-friendly water management.
• Sitting on technical advisory committees.
• Completing other appropriate tasks as needed.

QUALIFICATIONS

• An advanced degree in biology, ecology, hydrology, engineering, or another related field.
• Work experience and skills in aquatic ecology/biology.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills.
• Knowledge of irrigation systems and experience working with irrigators.
• The ability to secure grants and manage project budgets.
• Practical problem-solving skills and a proven track record of attaining goals.
• Ability to work with experts on, hydrologic modeling, water rights engineering, GIS mapping, instream flow quantification methodologies, biological sampling, and data analyses.
• Willingness to travel locally.
• Passion for the outdoors and TU's mission is essential. Fly fishing is a plus.

HOW TO APPLY

Please submit a cover letter, CV, writing sample, and list of three professional references to Brian Hodge at bhodge@tu.org. Include the words "Yampa-White Coordinator" in the subject line. No phone calls, please. Applications will be accepted until May 31 or until the position is filled.

This is not an all-inclusive list of duties and responsibilities.

Please fill out this voluntary form and submit it as an attachment to this email address.

TU is an Equal Employment Opportunity & Affirmative Action Employer pursuant to Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act & Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistant Act.

TU hires staff without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, age, gender, sexual orientation, marital status or disability.