The New Spring Issue of High Country Angler is Live!

Your new Spring 2024 issue of High Country Angler is here!

Check out the Spring 2024 issue of High Country Angler e-zine, including these stories:

• Landon Mayer talks about identifying trout ‘paddles’ with Tails Up Tips;

• Brian LaRue goes international with Costa Rican Jungle Tarpon Adventure;

• Colorado TU Staff celebrates its annual River Stewardship Gala and the honoring of Bob and Suzanne Fanch with Protecting the Headwaters;

• Jackson Temme writes about the Costa 5 Rivers program with CU Boulder Club Highlight;

• Peter Stitcher with How to Master the Davy Knot;

• Other columns by Hayden Mellsop, Joel Evans, Greg Hardy, Celia Sheneman, and the Old Professor!

March 2024 Currents

THIS MONTH’S ISSUE OF CURRENTS FEATURES Speaking for Trout, Protecting the Headwaters, Restoring the Kawuneeche Valley, and More!

Restoring the Kawuneeche Valley

Trout Unlimited Joins Collaborative Effort in Rocky Mountain National Park

By Celia Sheneman

If you have ever driven over Trail Ridge Road through Rocky Mountain National Park, then you have probably enjoyed the serenity and scenery of the beloved Kawuneeche Valley, which lies just inside the Grand Lake entrance to the Park. The headwaters of the Colorado River flow through this landmark valley at the start of its epic journey to Mexico. The Valley is a vital part of the Upper Colorado River watershed, playing significant roles in flood mitigation, drought mitigation, and wildlife habitat. Once a lush, percolating riparian wetlands teeming with birds, bugs, trout, and beaver split by a meandering stream that frequently flooded the meadow, the Valley has now lost more than 75% of its tall willows and with that the beavers that sustained its wetlands. What was once a wet beaver-willow ecosystem is now largely an elk-moose grassland.  

In 2020 Rocky Mountain National Park, the Arapaho-Roosevelt National Forests, Northern Water, the Colorado River District, Grand County, and the Town of Grand Lake formed an inclusive collaboration to study and rejuvenate this picturesque and critical gateway. The Kawuneeche Valley Restoration Collaboration (KVRC) goal is to achieve long-term benefits of a healthy environment including improved water quality, wildlife habitat, and aesthetic and recreational value. Now TU has joined this group effort to work to return the Kawuneeche Valley to its status as a vibrant and diverse ecosystem.

KVRC has engaged Colorado State University to perform an assessment of the watershed and to make recommendations for potential pilot restoration sites. Four potential sites with high chances of success and cost-effective ecosystem restoration have been identified. These initial sites are within Rocky Mountain National Park and include Beaver, Baker, Bowen, and Onahu Creeks. Going forward, KVRC is striving to implement a variety of restoration projects on public lands in the Valley and surrounding private lands that could include strategies such as planting willows/riparian vegetation, installation of beaver dam analogs, restoration of abandoned ditches, levees and dams, and temporary fencing to allow recovery of vegetation. CTU joined this group with plans to participate in field projects that align with TU's mission and bringing resource support and volunteers for execution of field projects. Additional participants include Rocky Mountain National Park, US Forest Service, the Colorado River District, Grand County, Town of Grand Lake and the Colorado Water Conservation Board.

As assessment results are evaluated and the new pilot projects are implemented, look for more news on TU’s involvement and engagement as well as opportunities for TU members to participate in the KVRC to renew the riparian home of the headwaters of the Colorado River!

Celia Sheneman is a Director at Large for Colorado Trout Unlimited and represents CTU with the KVRC.

CWCB Issues $17.4 Million in Colorado Water Plan Grants

TU and Allies Partner on More than $5.7 Million of Collaborative Projects Funded

On March 13, the Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB) approved 52 Water Plan Grant applications today, which will distribute $17.4 million to fund critical projects to manage and conserve water, improve agriculture, promote watershed health, spark collaborative partnerships, and much more.

Among the approved Water Plan Grant projects were $3.28 million in projects being managed by Trout Unlimited in Colorado:

• A $1.5 million collaboration with agricultural users on Elk Creek, a key spawning tributary to the middle Colorado, to modernize infrastructure to improve its reliability for irrigators while improving efficiency and opening up more than 7 miles of habitat to fish passage;

• A $287,000 partnership with ag users on nearby Canyon Creek, which will have similar diverse benefits including opening 1.5 miles of spawning habitat to fish passage;

• A $1 million collaboration coordinated by the Boulder Flycasters to advance design and permitting for multiple diversion structures along South Boulder Creek, helping set the stage for restored fish passage, improved habitat, and the ability to shepherd low flow releases through the system to maintain winter flows; and

• A $491,000 collaborative pilot project and study with NTU staff partnering with irrigators in western Colorado to evaluate productivity and drought resilience for alternative forage crops that consume less water.
  
  

The CWCB also approved a $100,000 Water Supply Reserve Fund grant to the Dolores River Anglers chapter of TU in support of collaborative restoration work on the West Fork Dolores, a part of the chapter’s ongoing partnership with local water users and the Dolores Water Conservancy District, the US Forest Service, Colorado Parks and Wildlife, and other local stakeholders to improve watershed health and resilience in the face of a changing climate.

Along with these TU-led partnerships, projects in which TU is collaborating with efforts led by other conservation and water management allies accounted for another nearly $2.5 million in Water Plan grants – including efforts to benefit the Colorado headwaters (Learning by Doing and the Kawuneeche Valley Restoration Coalition), the Purgatoire River (Purgatoire Watershed Partnership), and the Conejos River (Colorado Rio Grande Restoration Foundation).

“When the Colorado Water Plan was developed and later revised, we saw its potential for encouraging multi-benefit projects and collaborations, and helping to conserve the health of rivers and watersheds,” said David Nickum, Colorado TU Executive Director.  “The diverse range of cooperative projects that CWCB has funded this year are a great illustration of how the plan is delivering those real benefits to Colorado.”

“Water is on the top of many Coloradans’ minds. And the projects this program funds are critical to meet and mitigate our state’s most critical water challenges,”said Lauren Ris, CWCB Director.“We received significantly more applications than we had funding for this cycle of Water Plan Grants, showing just how much demand there is for this important funding, and how critical it is that we continue to fuel this effort.”

Every year, the Water Plan Grant Program provides millions of dollars of funding for projects in five key categories: Water Storage & Supply, Conservation & Land Use, Engagement & Innovation, Agricultural Projects, and Watershed Health & Recreation. Water Plan Grants support the Colorado Water Plan, and funded projects are wide-ranging and impactful to the state, focusing on enhancing water infrastructure, restoring ecosystems, supporting education and community collaboration, boosting water conservation and efficiency, guiding resilient land use planning, and more.

Rocky Mountain Flycasters Trout Fishing Expo

The Rocky Mountain Flycasters Trout Fishing Expo is Saturday, March 23rd from 10am to 4pm. See below for a great raffle!

Enter to Win RMFTU's Biggest Raffle Prize of the Year!

Enter to win the Ross Colorado Greenback Cutthroat reel, Scott G-Series 3wt rod, and Fishpond Nomad net. A dream package for fishing small waters!

Event details:

• Event Date: Saturday, March 23, 2024; 10am – _4pm

• Location: South Hall of FNBO Exhibition Building at The Ranch (Larimer County Events Complex), 5280 Arena Circle, Loveland, CO

• Purpose: Annual fundraising event for RMFTU’s programs to conserve, protect and restore coldwater streams and rivers, including Big Thompson, Cache la Poudre and North Platte rivers in Colorado. This event will kick-off Northern Colorado’s 2024 fly fishing season in style

• Event Features:

  • Speakers and trout fishing movies

  • Fly tying demonstrations from 20-25 tyers

  • Women’s Forum by Uncharted Outdoors Women

  • Lots of fun for kids

  • Casting demonstrations

  • Silent auction – _trips, gear

  • Raffle/auction for high-end fly gear and/or trips

• RMFTU-branded merchandise for sale

• Lunch (food & beverage available for purchase on-site)

• Admission:

  • Adults —$15/person when pre-purchased online, ($25 at the door)

  • Students, First Responders and Veterans —$10/person

  • Children (under age 10)—Free

Protecting the Headwaters

River Stewardship Champions: Bob and Suzanne Fanch

On March 7, CTU held its 2024 River Stewardship Gala at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, drawing more than 300 river supporters to join in celebrating and raising funds for Colorado’s rivers. As a centerpiece of the event, the River Stewardship Award was presented to Bob and Suzanne Fanch, owners of Devils Thumb Ranch and founders of the Headwaters River Journey Museum in Winter Park. Colorado River Headwaters Chapter President Kirk Klancke and Mark Eddy presented the award; this article is drawn from their presentation.

The stars had to align to create the paradigm shift that led to the Colorado River Cooperative Agreement and the resulting collaborative efforts in conserving the Colorado headwaters. The first star in this constellation was when then-Mayor John Hickenlooper appointed three conservationists to the board of Denver Water. The next was when the Grand County Government realized our rivers were worth fighting for. The third star to align was Trout Unlimited, coming to the headwaters and asking what they could do to help. Then a fourth star aligned when two Grand County citizens rose to the challenge to help create change and advance the protection of the Colorado River headwaters – Bob and Suzanne Fanch. 

In the lead-up to the Cooperative Agreement, the Fanches contributed to the effort in several critical ways. Bob dedicated his time to meeting with TU and Denver Water staff to discuss much needed mitigation to help our struggling rivers. He also traveled to testify publicly at Wildlife Commission hearings to advocate for mitigation. When the Wildlife Commission approved a plan that included far too little mitigation, Bob and Suzanne brought their children, Rachel and Zach, to a CTU demonstration on the steps of the Capitol building. When asked why they had come, they said they wanted their children to know that they needed to speak up if they saw something wrong. 

Critically, Bob and Suzanne, with help from their friends, the Finlons, paid for an onstream sediment transport study that showed how stream modeling for the Environmental Impact Statement was severely inaccurate. Shortly after the results of this study were provided to the EPA, officials from the Denver agency called Trout Unlimited and Grand County to report that while they still didn’t think that they had to offer additional mitigation for their impacts on the Fraser River, they wanted to talk about what would we believe mitigation should look like. Several meetings later, we had a negotiated agreement.

While the Cooperative Agreement was a significant milestone, its success hinged on the follow-through after the agreement was reached, and the Fanches have continued to support headwaters protection, including support for the adaptive management “Learning by Doing” program in several key ways:

• Learning By Doing was intended to be funded through the Cooperative Agreement, funding that was due upon Denver Water securing all of the permits for their Moffat Firming Project. Eleven years later, Denver Water still doesn’t have its final permits, so Learning By Doing has been operating off grants and a steady income stream provided by Bob and Suzanne as a percentage of profit from the Devil’s Thumb Guest Ranch.

• A percentage of the profits from Devil’s Thumb Ranch has also provided a steady income stream to National TU to support the continued work in this area of Mely Whiting, a key mover and shaker in advancing projects protecting the headwaters.

• Bob and Suzanne have given conservation partners access to their property to harvest 9,000 willow stakes that, over the years, have been replanted around Grand County to help stabilize stream banks and improve riparian habitat. 

• Bob partnered with Learning By Doing and Denver Water to fund the first Learning by Doing public/private stream improvement project on the Fraser Flats reach. Scientific monitoring has shown this prototype project conducted by Freestone Aquatics has produced considerable improvements in river health. Projects like this one will be the future of healthier rivers in the headwaters.

However, Bob and Suzanne also recognized that the future of healthy rivers depended on an educated population. They went on to conceive and fund one of the country's greatest river education facilities. They built the Headwaters Center as a meeting place for events, river summits, and other related topics. On the ground floor of the Headwaters Center is a 4,400 sq. ft. interactive river museum called the Headwaters River Journey. In the first organizational meeting to create the museum, Suzanne requested that the theme follow the TU documentary Tapped Out. This film emphasized the importance of rivers to us and to all life and the impacts we as humans have on our rivers, both negative and positive. The Fanches went to Europe to see some of the world's most impressive interactive museums and hired a consultant from Iceland who had created their favorite museum. They also hired ECOS out of Boulder as the general contractor for this most impressive interactive river museum. If you haven’t experienced River Journey, put it on your bucket list. Education is our most effective tool in protecting our rivers, and Bob and Suzanne have given Colorado the country's most effective river education museum.

 Colorado Trout Unlimited appreciates all of the Fanches' efforts on behalf of Colorado’s rivers and was grateful for the opportunity to recognize them with our 2024 River Stewardship Award. 

AvidMax's Coffee Break Features CTU Camp

Coffee Break is an ongoing series at AvidMax where they talk about fly fishing, which sometimes includes supporting local fishing communities. In this episode, Noah sits down with TU member Barbara Luneau to learn more about the annual youth event, Camp, hosted by CTU. Camp is an amazing event for high school students that takes place here in Colorado and aims to teach students conservation and fly fishing. If you are interested in helping support the event or know a student between the ages of 14-18 interested in attending, please visit the CTU Camp Webpage.

We would like to thank AvidMax for their continued support of Colorado Trout Unlimited.

February 2024 Currents

THIS MONTH’S ISSUE OF CURRENTS FEATURES CTU River Stewardship Gala, Protect Colorado Waters & Wetlands, STREAM Programs, and More!

Protecting Colorado Waters and Wetlands

On May 25, 2023, the US Supreme Court issued a ruling in Sackett vs. EPA that sharply reduced Clean Water Act protections for wetlands vital to healthy and functioning watersheds. While not directly addressed, the decision also appears to put streams that don’t have year-round flow at risk of losing Clean Water Act protection, as well.  Those ephemeral and intermittent streams represent a majority of Colorado’s waterways.

With federal protection for most of Colorado’s waterways jeopardized under the Court’s decision, we need the State to step up and ensure our waters remain protected.  Water quality protection must start at the source. If the wetlands, headwaters, and other feeder streams are opened to degradation, all of our waters will suffer along with the fish, wildlife, and communities that depend upon them.

The good news is that the Colorado Water Quality Control Act already covers direct discharge of point-source pollutants at the state level.  The bad news is that dredging and filling of waters – the kind of activities managed under the Clean Water Act’s 404 permitting program – do not have any state program in place for permitting, leaving a massive gap in the protection of our state’s watersheds.

Speaker of the House Julie McCluskie is working with the Polis Administration on a bill that would create a new permitting program for dredge and fill activities within the Colorado Water Quality Control Division.  Colorado TU and other conservation-minded partners are providing input to try and ensure that this bill provides adequate protection, at least as strong as what was in place before the Sackett decision. 

So, what would be some of the key ingredients in making a good bill? Some of the elements Colorado TU is recommending include:

• Ensure that the state program is no less protective of Colorado waters and watersheds than the federal programs that were in place prior to the Sackett ruling.

• Recognize the importance of protecting ephemeral and intermittent streams, given their critical role in shaping the health of downstream waterways.

• Incorporate protections for rare and ecologically important wetlands including fens, playa lakes, and wet meadows – for their importance to watershed health and fish and wildlife habitat.

• Use the tried-and-true Clean Water Act approach of first avoiding, then minimizing, and finally mitigating impacts, recognizing that prevention of impacts is always preferable to remediation.  Where less impactful alternatives are available for a proposed project, they should be used.

• Offer a streamlined and low-cost general permit program for activities with minimal adverse impacts individually and cumulatively. These permits can set appropriate terms and conditions to ensure that activities being approved are completed in a minimal-impact way.

• Ensure that compensatory mitigation – where impacts cannot be fully avoided – addresses not simply the replacement of wetland and water acreage but replaces the lost wetland functions, recognizing that newly constructed wetlands often function less effectively and may require more than a 1-for-1 replacement rate to offset wetland losses.

• Respect long-standing exemptions under the Clean Water Act for standard farming and silviculture practices to avoid creating new burdens on farmers and foresters.

• Include effective enforcement to ensure dischargers comply with the program’s protections for Colorado wetlands and waters.

 Look for more information and opportunities to weigh in with your elected representatives as that bill is introduced and moves forward.

Save the Date for 2024 STREAM Programs!

We are excited to announce several STREAM Programs in 2024!

STREAM Programs are incredible environmental education programs for youth, families, and the community that incorporates river conservation, outdoor exploration, and fly fishing skills. We take the traditional STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) educational model and add recreation and arts to create STREAM. CTU works closely with TU Chapters and Partner Organizations to make these programs possible.

Check out our upcoming 2024 STREAM Programs below!

Please note that some of these programs are open to the public for registration and some are in partner events that serve a specific audience. Click the links below for more information.

• 4/23 - STREAM Program in Colorado Springs, CO

  • More information coming soon!

• 5/4 - STREAM Exploration Program in Erie, CO

  • More information coming soon!

• 5/10 - STREAM Girls in Pueblo, CO

  • More information coming soon!

• 5/11 - STREAM Girls 2.0 in Fort Collins, CO

• 6/15 - STREAM Keepers in Avon, CO - Contact Walking Mountain Science Center for more information.

• 7/9 - STREAM Explorers Program in Littleton, CO

  • More information coming soon!

• 7/20 - STREAM Girls 1.0 in Littleton, CO

• 7/21 - STREAM Girls 2.0 in Littleton, CO

• 7/23 - STREAM Keepers in Delta, CO - Contact The Nature Connection for more information

• 7/24 - STREAM Keepers in Hotchkiss, CO - Contact The Nature Connection for more information

• 8/10 - STREAM Girls 1.0 in Steamboat Springs, CO

• 9/21 - STREAM Girls 1.0 in Fort Collins, CO