The Start of a New Colorado Fishing Season is here!
Enter for a chance to win a 'Dream Year of Colorado Fly Fishing'
Virtual STREAM Girls Events along Colorado’s Front Range during Spring 2021
Opinion: If we fight each other over water, we’ll all come out losers
Learning to Row
Fishing and Conserving Rare Waters in the Rockies
How will the huge wildfires of 2020 impact Colorado’s trout fisheries?
The Lightning Bug
*NEW* Spring 2021 High Country Angler and more!
How will the huge wildfires of 2020 impact Colorado’s trout fisheries?
By Ashley Rust, PhD
Question: Colorado, along with many states in the Rocky Mountain West, experienced a record-breaking fire season in 2020 where over 650,000 acres burned in our state. How will the trout populations in nearby streams be impacted? What should anglers expect to see in the rivers this year?
Dr. Rust Replies: Yes, 2020 was an unprecedented year, Colorado experienced three of the largest fires in the state’s history; the Cameron Peak fire, the East Troublesome fire and the Pine Gulch fire, each burning well over 100,000 acres a piece. And this is after the Grizzly Creek fire had engulfed forest areas around I-70 and caused highway closures.
With climate change, our fire season each year is two months longer on average, starting a month earlier in the spring and lasting a month longer in the fall. Combine a longer, drier season with current forest management practices and more people living in the wildland-urban interface and we are observing fires that are larger, more severe, and more costly than ever before. We are reckoning with our attitude of fire suppression, which has been a warfare on fires, allowing forests to age and fuels to accumulate. However, fires are a part of the forest landscape.
Fires are a natural disturbance, and the inhabitants of the West, including our beloved trout, have evolved with fire. Native plants, insects and fish have all adapted to return after fire. If you take the “long-view” fires generally help revitalize ecosystems, acting as a natural re-set in climax communities.
I have spent much of the last decade studying how wildfires disrupt water quality, impact water supplies and affect aquatic life. I have been on the ground sampling aquatic insect and fish populations immediately after and many years following fires in Colorado. And I have utilized public data to evaluate the most common water quality responses in streams disturbed by hundreds of wildfires. My main observation is that Mother Nature is incredibly resilient and ecosystems recover healthier after fire when enough time has passed. I hope to convince you to be patient, remain hopeful, and observe some remarkable landscape scale changes and recovery.
Wildfires are evaluated by their burn severity, a spectrum where foresters consider how much of the vegetation was combusted. Low severity fires leave much of the vegetation intact, are more like crown fires, and do not disrupt the hydrology, water quality, insect or fish populations in the streams within and below the burn scar. Moderate and high severity fires, where vegetation is completely combusted and the ground is scorched, result in higher streamflows and compromised water quality for 1-5 years after the fire. The greatest impacts on streams have been observed after rainstorms. In moderate to high severity burn scars, the forest floor becomes hydrophobic because the organic material has been cooked, reducing infiltration capacity of the soil, preventing rainwater from percolating into the ground and causing rain to accumulate as surface runoff, delivering more water to the streams after rain. The higher flows can scour stream bottoms, flushing fine sediment and material from the system.
During Colorado’s monsoon season late in the summer, short intense rain-events also physically dislodge soil from burned landscapes increasing erosion and delivering soil to streams. The eroded soil carries nutrients, like nitrates and phosphates, and absorbed heavy metals from ash and minerals to the stream. But it is the dirt alone that causes the most commonly-observed disruption: higher suspended solids in streams within and below wildfire areas. Algal growth has been observed to increase in some areas after fire because the streams are receiving more nutrients from the burned landscape and the canopy over the stream is open allowing more sunlight. These are temporary effects that are more common in landscapes where the fire burned at a moderate to high severity; large but low severity fires do little to change the stream. So, within and below the high severity burn areas, anglers can expect to see muddier water after each rain event, shifting deposits of ash and fine material and maybe more algae growing in streams. Generally, after 1-5 years these impacts dissipate as the landscape recovers and vegetation returns, stabilizing soils.
Aquatic insect populations experience the disruption from fire in and below burned areas. Surprisingly, the density and total number of insects inhabiting streams generally remains the same. But there is a species shift in diversity, from a wide variety of orders and sensitive species, to a few hearty pollution tolerant species. The stoneflies, most caddisflies, and most mayflies are temporarily absent from the community after fire and there are more chironomids (midges). The high flows that follow rainstorms in high severity burn areas scour the streambed, removing many species and the fine sediment embedded between rocks. This acts as a re-set to the ecosystem, and the early pioneer, pollution tolerant insect species come back first and the diversity of sensitive species tend to return in 2-5 years. Anglers may notice changes in their favorite local hatch, but impacts are extremely localized to within and directly below high severity burn areas, so hatches may be patchy throughout a burned landscape.
Stream fish, including trout, can be killed directly from the heat of the fire and from high suspended solids (turbid water) that follow monsoon storms. The suspended solids in the water can clog the fish gills and suffocate them. Patchy fish kills can occur 1-3 years after a fire if fish are trapped in streams with poor water quality. However, even when fish kills occur, and I have observed several after fires, the fish return and populations rebound quickly. The key to fish survival in streams is connectivity. If a fish can escape a poor water quality event, such as muddy water after an intense rainstorm, by swimming upstream, downstream, or into another tributary, they can survive. And even when fish kills do occur, if the stream has high connectivity, other fish will be quick to re-populate the open habitat. I have personally observed several trout populations rebound with higher numbers of adults and young of year 2-3 years after a fire caused a fish kill or burned the area upstream. While the purple fireweed is still carpeting the burned landscape and the aspens begin to re-establish, the fish and the population of insects they rely on for food are back stronger than before. For them, the fire was not a catastrophe but a moment that rejuvenated their ecosystem.
We have to get used to a future with more fires. It is hard to watch, but the change that follows as the landscape recovers from black and scorched to a fresh bright green, scattered with wildflowers and new young tree growth is awe-inspiring.
Ashley Rust is a researcher and professor at the Colorado School of Mines.
Check out the new Spring 2021 issue of High Country Angler e-zine!
Check out the new Spring 2021 issue of High Country Angler e-zine! Featuring articles on TU's abandoned mine reclamation work, public lands advocacy that will safeguard some 400,000 acres of the wild and historic landscapes, a story about the 2021 Conejos Superfly, exploring the impacts of the 2020 wildfires on fisheries, Denver TU's Trout in the Classroom Eddy Tank, and much more, including the regular columns:
Getting Salty in Wyoming by Brian LaRue
Spring Fever by Landon Mayer
For the Birds by Hayden Mellsop
Fly Fishing Rigs for Leader & Tippet Tags by Peter Stitcher, and more!
March Currents Newsletter
Currents is Colorado Trout Unlimited’s monthly newsletter. We feature stories about our work, chapters, and partners. You can also learn more about upcoming events and ways to participate across the state.
In this month’s issue:
Women's History Month
Macro of the Month
2021 Fly Fishing Film Tour Tickets
Virtual STREAM Girls coming this Spring
Fishing with, and learning from, Sharon Lance
Helping rivers & watersheds through your Colorado tax return
Public lands package passes House - includes the Colorado Outdoor Recreation and Economy (CORE) Act
The San Juan Worm, but make it wigglier
Indicator Fishing, mending the line
and much more!
Fishing with, and learning from, Sharon
Repost from TU.org, TROUT Magazine, by Chris Wood
“Whoo hoo!”
The first time Sharon shouted as she brought a fish to hand on the Roaring Fork, I waded out of my hole, ran upstream, pulled out my camera and took a few pictures of her with the fish. The next time it happened, I walked to the bank and asked if she needed help. The third time, without moving I yelled back upstream, “great job, Sharon!”
The fourth time she hollered, I gave a thumbs up, and quietly shuffled downstream around a bend in the bank where she could not see me, and her jubilant fish-shouts were a little less audible.
Sharon Lance strikes a familiar pose (Mark Lance photo)
I could go on and on about the inspiring, courageous, and trail-blazing women I have met at Trout Unlimited. There are so many unsung women in our history that made Trout Unlimited what it is today. In honor of Women’s History Month, I want to celebrate one woman who has made an outsized impact on coldwater conservation and me, personally, Sharon Lance.
Her spouse, Mark, first introduced her to both fly fishing and then Trout Unlimited. He took her to a chapter meeting, and after seeing she was the only woman in the room, Sharon realized “TU needs my help.”
And help she did. Before Sharon came to the Board of Trout Unlimited, she was president of the Cutthroat Chapter in suburban Denver. She served at the state level in Colorado as treasurer, vice-president, and president. Sharon created the immensely successful Colorado river conservation and youth camp. She also won Trout Unlimited’s highest volunteer honor, the Mortensen award, in 2010.
Sharon (left) with budding conservationists at the Colorado camp
She invited me to speak to the Colorado council a few years before I became CEO and picked me up at the airport in her 1987, Porsche 911. “We are running a little late,” Sharon said.” But I have to be careful because I just got a speeding ticket for driving 105 miles per hour on Interstate 70.”
I sat white-knuckled as she drove us to the meeting. Along the way, she made clear her intention to recruit younger and more diverse leaders into the leadership of the Colorado council. I didn’t say much on that ride, half out of fear from distracting her eyes from the road, but mostly because I just wanted to enjoy the slipstream of her passion and enthusiasm.
This should be enough… (Mark Lance photo)
I am one of many on that ride. When Sharon latches on to a topic. She Latches. On. To. A. Topic. Her spouse of 25 years, Mark, whose photographs adorn this piece is not only a gifted artist, he is Sharon’s anchor to windward. A few days ago, he told me “Sharon is a force of nature. That is for sure.”
When I ran the conservation programs of Trout Unlimited, and Sharon joined the national board of directors, I would attend board meetings, and much like my high school experience, sit in the back, and keep my mouth shut. Sharon would seek me out and ask me about different issues.
“What is happening on the Roan Plateau, and how can I help?”
“What can we do to stop irresponsible energy development on public lands?”
“You need to speak up more at board meetings.”
“When will the national organization better appreciate what the grassroots do for Trout Unlimited? When will we build one agenda for all of TU?”
“Some people fish all of their lives and realize it is not the fish they are after. Well, I have not reached that point yet. I really do enjoy catching fish.”
Sharon lance
That result of that last line of questioning likely marks Sharon’s most significant contribution to Trout Unlimited, and more important, conservation.
One of the goals in our new strategic plan speaks to developing a shared agenda among TU chapters, councils, staff, and partners. Another speaks of the necessity of engaging people—whether they are members or not—in our mission of caring for and recovering the lands and waters that sustain us. Both goals are a direct reflection of Sharon’s influence and leadership.
Her mentorship of me, and her overall leadership, generally, helped to quell a latent hostility that used to exist between the grassroots organization and the national organization.
Back to the Roaring Fork: Later that day, Mark and Sharon called me back upstream. I was getting hits but kept breaking off fish. Sharon said, “Chris, when you see that fly or line drop, gently, gently lift your rod, don’t yank it. Just be gentle with it.”
Lift, don’t yank (Mark Lance photo)
We walked out into the river and she stood by my left shoulder and waited until I casted. Then, she whispered “Ok. Wait, wait, wait… now! SET NOW! No-one ever wants to disappoint Sharon, but I broke that one off, too.
I did a podcast with Sharon after she won our most prestigious volunteer award, and she said, “some people fish all of their lives and realize it is not the fish they are after. Well, I have not reached that point yet. I really do enjoy catching fish.”
Fish on, Sharon, and thanks for making Trout Unlimited a better organization, and me a better leader.
by Chris Wood
Public lands package passes House - includes the Colorado Outdoor Recreation and Economy (CORE Act)
The Thompson Divide Withdrawal and Protection Act is part of the CORE Act and has 83 miles of cutthroat trout habitat and 4 miles of gold medal water and would protect 1,549 miles of streams and 244,429 acres of land. It is a sporting paradise.
Excerpt from Trout Unlimited, TU.org
By Sam Davidson
Today, the House of Representatives passed the Protecting America’s Wilderness Act (H.R. 803). Trout Unlimited strongly supports this legislation, as it will better conserve and restore public lands, watersheds and coldwater fisheries in four Western states and support the country’s commitment to countering the impacts of climate change by protecting at least 30 percent of our lands and waters by the year 2030.
Chris Wood, CEO and president of Trout Unlimited, noted “Few places are more important to trout and salmon than our public lands. All our Western salmon and steelhead rivers, and a majority of blue-ribbon trout streams in the West, flow from or through public lands. Our public lands are of immense cultural importance to indigenous people. They help drive rural local economies. They are a great equalizer—owned by all Americans, our public lands are the places where we can go, often for little or no entry fee, to fish, hunt, hike, or simply to catch our breath. In the face of climate change, we must do more to protect our headwaters and trout and salmon strongholds. The Protecting America’s Wilderness Act does this for some of the most iconic fishing waters in five states, and Trout Unlimited salutes the congressional champions of this timely and important addition to our country’s wilderness legacy.”
TU lauded the sponsors of six bills, in particular, for their leadership in conserving our public lands, trout and salmon streams. Rep. Jared Huffman (CA-2) authored the Northwest California Wilderness, Recreation and Working Forests Act; Rep. Peter DeFazio (OR-4) authored the Southwest Oregon Watershed and Salmon Protection Act; Rep. Salud Carbajal (CA-24) authored the Central Coast Heritage Protection Act; Rep. Judy Chu (CA-27) authored the San Gabriel Mountains Foothills and River Protection Act; Rep. Joe Neguse (CO-2) introduced the CORE Act; and Rep. Raul Grijalva (AZ-3) authored the Grand Canyon Protection Act.
A similar package of public lands bills, under the same title, passed the House last year. But the legislation never advanced in the Senate. So, this carefully crafted suite of bills—built over years of public outreach by its sponsors and feedback from local elected officials and businesses, chambers of commerce, and recreation and conservation interests—needs to pass both chambers of Congress again in this legislative session.
Continue reading about the five bills in H.R. 803 that TU supports, in particular HERE.
#BlackHistoryOutdoors
Whether you are celebrating or participating, we can all find ways to learn more about the history of family, friends or neighbors during Black History Month. Below are just a few notable stories and activities to explore anytime:
Black Firefighters Blazing Trails from Outdoor Afro
Celebrate Black History Month 2021 in Denver
Black History Month 2021 Virtual Workshops/Programs from EcoInclusive
Economic Benefits of Public Lands and the Value of Diversity
11 African American Outdoor Leaders Who Inspire Us
Check out Brown Folks Fishing, a community-based organization that is by and for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) anglers.
As Colorado Legislature kicks off, here are bills we’re watching
repost from TU.org, by Kara Armano
Trout Unlimited is known for its rock-rolling work where we are often found wearing waders and making rivers and streams better for trout and salmon, and of course, anglers. But we also spend plenty of time in our finest attire in the halls of state and federal legislative buildings advocating for smart water policies, protecting public lands, and funding allocations to continue our on-the-ground efforts.
With Colorado’s legislative session about to ramp up, here is a look at some of the bills we are watching in the Centennial State and how we’ll play both offense and defense to advance our goals of conserving, protecting, and restoring our coldwater fisheries and their watersheds.
Extend Colorado’s Healthy Rivers Fund — This successful funding mechanism is set to expire, but we are looking to extend it for another 10 years. This is financed by the Colorado tax check-off program, which provides taxpayers the opportunity to contribute a portion of their tax refund or to make a donation on their state income tax return. These funds assist Colorado Trout Unlimited and other watershed-based groups in efforts to protect our land and water resources. It is administered through the Colorado Water Conservation Board in association with the Water Quality Control Division and the Colorado Watershed Assembly. Since 2003, this fund has raised over $1.1 million to fund more than 80 local watershed projects.
The bill will be introduced by Sen. Cleave Simpson and Rep. Donald Valdez. Colorado Trout Unlimited does not want to see this fund expire, so we are asking that it be approved for 10 more years.
State parks funding — Amidst the many restrictions over the past challenging year, we’ve seen more and more people turn to outdoor recreation as a safe outlet for enjoyment and to benefit their mental and physical health. While a growing appreciation for our outdoors means more allies in its defense, it also means growing pressure on public lands, including our state parks. To rise to that challenge, Colorado Parks and Wildlife is looking to expand its funding base to help support sustainable recreation management and development of new parks and opportunities to serve the growing demand.
Drawing from an example already in place in Montana with a 75 percent participation rate, legislation will be introduced to fold an annual state parks pass into vehicle registrations in Colorado. Those who don’t want the pass can opt-out, while the proposed fee level will be significantly less than the current annual pass rates for those who do obtain the pass. Parks passes for out-of-state visitors or those who decide to purchase after registering their vehicle will still be available for the current standard fee. While the per-pass revenue will be less, CPW anticipates a significant revenue boost due to a much larger volume of pass sales facilitated by the convenience of having passes folded into annual vehicle registration. CPW’s priorities for the funding include maintenance and expansion of state parks, search and rescue/outdoor education programs, and wildlife management both within and outside of state parks, with an emphasis on non-game species. CTU is supporting this effort as the new dollars will help meet our state’s growing demand for hiking, camping, fishing, and other outdoor recreation at Colorado’s 42 (with more to come!) state parks.
Recreational in-channel diversion — There will be a bill to streamline the RICD process to avoid the necessity of significant in-river construction for smaller projects and to broaden the definition of whom can apply for these diversions.
We will be watching this bill and helping our partners determine the best language to ensure a positive outcome for our constituents.
Budget defense — With the current pandemic, state budgets across the country have been pushed to the brink, and that is certainly no different in Colorado. While creative measures to find funds for imperative state needs must be pursued, CTU will defend against redirecting funds that are specifically dedicated to natural resources, such as those earned under Proposition DD from sports betting to help fund the Colorado Water Plan. Likewise, we will defend against budget cuts and furloughs at important state agencies like Colorado Parks and Wildlife that manage fish, wildlife, and habitat programs critical to our mission.
Of course, we’ll keep you updated throughout the course of the Colorado’s legislative session. If any of these particular items need assistance in terms of advocacy efforts like calling, emailing or Tweeting your elected official, we’ll be in touch.
Support Colorado’s Healthy Rivers Fund!
Picture from Colorado Watershed Assembly, source.
Helping Rivers and Watersheds through Your Colorado Tax Return
The Healthy Rivers Fund, originally called the Colorado Watershed Protection Fund, was created in 2002 with a voluntary tax check-off line on Colorado State income tax forms where Coloradans can contribute a portion of their tax refunds. The program is unique among income tax check offs for its extensive oversight. The fund is housed within the Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB), and is used to support grants for projects within Colorado to preserve and enhance watershed health. Applications are reviewed and grants awarded collaboratively by the CWCB, the Colorado Water Quality Control Division, and the Colorado Watershed Assembly (a non-profit dedicated to collaborative efforts to preserve the ecologic health of Colorado watersheds). Over the years, the fund has helped support dozens of collaborative local projects by Trout Unlimited chapters and other local watershed stewards, benefiting rivers and streams across the state.
Picture from Colorado Watershed Assembly, source.
You can help by supporting the Healthy Rivers Fund on your own 2020 Colorado tax return! By contributing a portion of your state tax refund toward the Healthy Rivers Fund, you will support the grant program and see your contribution pooled with those from thousands of other Coloradans and then leveraged by the local watershed partners to make a difference for the rivers you love.
Colorado Trout Unlimited is also helping lead the charge to keep this program going in future years. The program is set to expire with tax year 2020, unless extended by bill. We are working with sponsors Senator Cleave Simpson and Representative Donald Valdez to extend the program for another 10 years, until tax year 2030. The program has been both popular and successful at helping to protect our rivers and riparian habitat, and we are optimistic that the reauthorization will enjoy broad bipartisan support. We will share more information as the bill is introduced, including how you can let your legislators know you support the Healthy Rivers Fund and its continuation for the next decade.
Learn about past projects funded by the Healthy Rivers fund here.
Feds Put Brakes on Risky Tennessee Pass Railroad Proposal
Along the Arkansas River near Granite. Colorado. 1997. From Wikimedia Commons
The Federal Surface Transportation Board (STB) put a pause on the Midland and Pacific Railway Company’s effort to fast-track approval for leasing the Union Pacific Railroad line over Tennessee Pass through STB’s exemption process. The railroad had requested a streamlined “non-controversial” exemption that would move ahead its lease for the line. The STB rejected that request in order to allow time for a more robust review of the proposal. Trout Unlimited and other conservation groups, along with Chaffee County’s Board of County Commissioners and many local citizens, filed comments with the STB raising concerns and making it clear that the proposal certainly was not “non-controversial.”
The Tennessee Pass line has been dormant for 24 years. During its previous operations, it had a history of safety concerns including derailments. In a joint letter, Colorado TU and the Collegiate Peaks, Eagle Valley, and Southern Colorado Greenbacks chapters raised concern that the operations could put at risk fisheries in both the Eagle and Arkansas Rivers that have improved dramatically over those years – including more than 100 miles of Gold Medal water on the Arkansas. A derailment could release significant volumes of hazardous materials into the river, jeopardizing its high-quality fishery. Given the importance of river-based recreation to communities in both valleys, it could also jeopardize local economies as well.
You can read a copy of TU’s joint comment letter here, and local news coverage on the proposal from the Colorado Sun and Ark Valley Voice.
