Animas Restoration Project Complete

From our man on the scene, Ty Churchwell:

After three years of raising money, advocating and planning, the largest and most ambitious 5 Rivers TU project to date is complete.  The entire chapter should be proud of our accomplishment.  This was truly a community project and our most valuable resource has been improved.

This project was born of our involvement with the Animas River Task Force, a citizen advisory council with representation by the chapter.  A City of Durango ordered river corridor assessment identified nine locations within city limits where sever riverbank degradation was occurring.  TU and Animas Riverkeeper representatives recognized the opportunity for a project and jumped at the chance.  A partnership was formed and planning began.

The section of the Animas below 9^th street, along Roosa Ave., was determined to be the highest priority, this due to its visibility and proximity to the downtown corridor and the tree assets in peril.  Additionally, trout habitat in this section was minimal and in need of improvement.  Many of our visiting anglers find this water to be the most convenient for their quick afternoon outings while the family shops.

Five Rivers and Riverkeeper began raising money in 2006.  An initial plan was designed and the City of Durango was approached for permission and potential partnership.  Our partners with the city were thrilled that a grassroots effort was forming and they signed on in support.  Financial assistance was offered and they acted as the contractor for grant requests and permitting.  The partners applied for and were awarded a DOW “Fishing is Fun” grant representing roughly 75% of the project costs.  Via the annual fundraising banquet, the chapter raised our commitment of $7000.  Once the 2009 city budget was approved, we were fully funded.

Numerous contractors were interviewed and we had a say in who was hired.  In Western Stream Works from Ridgeway, we found a passionate restorator who embraced our beliefs and vision for the project.  Contrived and man-made was not the look we were going for.  Quality habitat and long-term riverbank protection was the goal.  Thank you Bill!

Trout Unlimited: Upper Colorado ‘on the brink’

By Bob Berwyn
summit daily news

SUMMIT COUNTY — Increased diversions from the Fraser River, in Grand County, could put the entire Upper Colorado ecosystem at risk, a coalition of environmental groups warned Friday.

“We’re really nervous. The rivers are only so resilient,” said David Nickum, director of Colorado Trout Unlimited. “You can’t talk about these systems in isolation,” he said, referring to a Denver Water proposal to take more water out of the Fraser River and across the Continental Divide.

“Multiple water diversions have pushed the Fraser River to the brink of collapse,” said Kirk Klancke, president of the Colorado Headwaters Chapter of TU, based in Grand County. “This is a river on life support.”

Nickum and Klancke were referring to a draft environmental study on the Fraser River project. The conservation groups said they’ve already been talking with Denver Water, and that the utility is open to discussing the issues. The draft study was released by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Friday.

http://www.summitdaily.com/article/20091102/NEWS/911019987/1078&ParentProfile=1055

Upper Colorado River an ‘Ecosystem on the Brink,’ says Trout Unlimited

Ski-Hi Daily News

“We have already met with Denver Water’s staff, and they seem open to discussing some of these concepts,” said Mely Whiting, Legal Counsel for Trout Unlimited’s Colorado Water Project. “We hope the Denver Water Board seizes this opportunity to create a legacy, where water development and environmental protections can go hand in hand.”

 “Front Range residents must recognize the connection between our water use and the health of our rivers and streams, fisheries and wildlife habitat,” said David Nickum, executive director of Colorado Trout Unlimited. “We can’t continue to take and take from these rivers without accounting for our impacts. The glass is not even half full—it’s almost drained dry.”

http://www.skyhidailynews.com/article/20091102/NEWS/911029998/1079&ParentProfile=1067

Plan to Drill on Colorado Plateau Meets Resistance

By SEAN PATRICK FARRELL

New York Times

RIFLE, Colo. — Standing in a canyon in hilly terrain, Ken Neubecker cast his fly into a cold stream. Minutes later he had a bite. Thrashing at the end of his line was a speckled green fish, a scarce Colorado cutthroat trout.

Mr. Neubecker was fishing on the Roan Plateau, a high stretch of terrain beloved by hunters, anglers and hikers for its clear streams, herds of deer and elk, and rugged beauty.

“There just aren’t many places like this in the West,” Mr. Neubecker said. “It’s a real gem.”

But as the number of truly wild places in the United States dwindles, people like Mr. Neubecker, who is president of the Colorado chapter of a conservation group called Trout Unlimited, are arguing that the nation ought to recalibrate its view of what is worth saving.

This desire to preserve more land is running up against a powerful economic incentive to develop new supplies of oil and gas. In particular, the nation is undergoing a boom in natural gas drilling. New production techniques have expanded the country’s potential reserves of gas by 40 percent in the last few years.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/30/business/energy-environment/30roan.html?_r=1&pagewanted=print

Animas River one of our ‘greatest resources’

by Dale Rodebaugh
Herald Staff Writer

The quality of a community’s waterways reflects its dedication to the environment, says Buck Skillen, an inveterate fly-fisherman and board member of Trout Unlimited who keeps track of water quality for the Colorado Division of Wildlife.

Of particular interest to Skillen is the stretch of the Animas River from its confluence with Lightner Creek near the Durango Dog Park to the Rivera Crossing Bridge behind Home Depot. Since 1997, the division has designated that reach of the Animas as a gold-medal trout fishery – its highest rating.

But silt entering the Animas at Lightner Creek causes turbidity, which can compromise the quality of the gold-medal waters.

“The silt affects the fishability of the reach and the overall river experience,” Skillen said. “Further, it reflects negatively on our community’s stewardship of the river.”

http://www.durangoherald.com/sections/News/Earth/2009/10/29/Animas_River_one_of_our_greatest_resources/

Williams looks to help repair Clear Creek

By Charlie Meyers
The Denver Post

First, as a board member of West Denver Trout Unlimited, he [Miles Williams] served as director of the heralded Golden Mile project that breathed a $250,000 revival into the creek just upstream from the town of Golden. Work was completed last year.

Now he has taken the lead in a similar surge of fundraising for what will be the Courtney Riley Cooper Park in Idaho Springs.

http://www.denverpost.com/sports/ci_13605156

Meyers: Caraghar’s Clear Creek roots run deep

By Charlie Meyers
The Denver Post

“There needs to be some awareness. It’s a controversial little creek. There needs to be some regulations. Take Bear Creek, for instance. If it wasn’t for the work by Trout Unlimited to get catch-and- release on rainbows, it would be virtually sterile by now.”

http://www.denverpost.com/charlie/ci_13605158

River, Fooses Creek receive restoration

Audrey Gilpin – Mail Staff Writer

Habitat restoration was completed in August at Fooses Creek and the South Fork of the Arkansas River, which feed two antique hydroelectric plants operated by Xcel Energy.

During a tour of the restored sites last week, U.S. Forest Service fisheries biologist Phillip Gaines said the project began after studies found the sites east of Garfield and below Maysville had insufficient fishery habitat.

Collegiate Peaks Anglers and Cheyenne Mountain chapters of Trout Unlimited donated $5,000, Xcel Energy contributed $50,000 and the Colorado Division of Wildlife made in-kind donations to the project.

“Trout Unlimited really came to the rescue,” Gaines said.

http://www.themountainmail.com/main.asp?SectionID=4&SubSectionID=4&ArticleID=17539

Cutthroat competition

Durango Herald op-ed from Paul Sheppard, president of the Five Rivers Chapter of Trout Unlimited in Durango:

As part of the recent land swap discussion, we should consider values that do not equate well to dollars, as they are priceless.

The U.S. Forest Service recognizes articles identified in the Wild & Scenic Rivers Acts as “outstandingly remarkable values” or ORVs. These are features in the forest of such high value, the Forest Service is directed to manage them so as to retain their character. In order for the people to make more informed decisions about the proposed land swap, I feel it important to share these values.

http://durangoherald.com/sections/Opinion/2009/09/27/Cutthroat__competition/

Thanks to Coyote Gulch for the link!

Colo. water cleanups hobbled by ‘Good Samaritan’ legal risks

 Colorado Independent

 By Katie Redding

Trout Unlimited’s Elizabeth Russell advocates for federal “Good Samaritan legislation,” laws that would relieve groups like Lake Fork Watershed from liability. She said that in Pennsylvania, the only state with such laws, “clean ups are happening left and right.”

http://coloradoindependent.com/38169/colo-water-cleanup-projects-hobbled-by-%E2%80%98good-samaritan%E2%80%99-legal-risks