The Greenbacks of Trout Unlimited are excited to announce the third annual Surface Film event, showcasing top professional fly-fishing photography from across the country. It will be held at the Anthology Fine Art gallery on Thursday Feb. 7, 2013.
Framed prints will be available through a silent auction to benefit the Greenback’s work to conserve Colorado’s cold water fisheries and recruit the next generation of Trout Unlimited Members.
WHEN: MONDAY, JANUARY 7, 2013, 6:30 PM-8:00 PM
WHERE: REI ~ Boulder @ 28th & Walnut
Steve Schweitzer has been involved with the fly fishing industry and conservation groups for well over 20 years. He has authored many articles in various fishing magazines, provided illustrations for how to fly fishing books, developed a wide range of popular flies, was a founding member of Global FlyFisher, and has undertaken numerous marketing research projects for members of the industry.
Some 10 years ago he started working on his latest project, A Fly Fishing Guide to Rocky Mountain National Park. Released in 2010, it is the ultimate resource on where to go and how to fish RMNP. Steve has personally visited and fished each of the locations detailed in his book.
Anyone attending Steve’s presentation will come away with a lot of in-depth information about the Park and the adjacent Indian Peaks area.
Steve will have plenty of copiers of his book….if you don’t have one this is your chance to get an autographed copy.
by Mark Riley
Here is an email from Mark Udall’s office regarding the above EPA policy. Great news for CO and the work TU does.
Good Morning ~ Below is a press release from Mark Udall about a breakthrough with the Environmental Protection Agency to help Good Samaritans clean abandoned mine sites. This is an issue he has worked on for many years. Please email me if you have any questions about the new policy. The announcement and local stories are below. Warm Regards, Tara
Tara Trujillo
Colorado Outreach and Strategy Director, U.S. Senator Mark Udall
Follow Mark Udall on his Website | Facebook | YouTube | Twitter
Sign up for Mark’s Newsletter
Udall’s Leadership Leads to New Policy to Help Good Samaritans Clean Abandoned Mine Sites
Udall’s Longtime Efforts, Outreach to EPA Led to New Policy
Mark Udall thanked the Environmental Protection Agency for standing with him and Good Samaritans today by issuing a new policy to give groups additional protections as they help clean up the more than 7,000 abandoned hard rock mine sites located in Colorado and thousands more throughout the West. Today’s announcement follows more than decade’s work on Udall’s part to unleash the power of local groups and volunteers who want to help clean up old mine site.
“This new policy, which follows a multiyear effort I led, is welcome news for my constituents and Good Samaritans everywhere. Abandoned mines in Colorado and across the West threaten our waterways and the environment,” Udall said. “I am glad the EPA has partnered with me to develop this policy, which will free up Good Samaritans – like Trout Unlimited, the Animas River Stakeholders Group and the Willow Creek Reclamation Committee – to help protect our streams, waterways and drinking supplies. We still have work to do to address these abandoned mines, but this is a welcome step in the right direction that will unleash the power of local groups and volunteers.”
Specifically, the policy clarifies that:
“I commend the EPA and Administrator Lisa Jackson for joining with me to leverage the resources of groups committed to cleaning up abandoned mine pollution. This policy clearly demonstrates their desire to protect Western watersheds. I look forward to working with Good Samaritans to evaluate the effectiveness of these clarifications and determine if other improvements are needed,” Udall said. “In the meantime, I plan to continue to work to secure additional federal funds for mine reclamation and the cleanup of abandoned mines.”
“Abandoned mines represent the single-greatest, least-understood threat to clean water and fish in the West,” said Chris Wood, president and CEO of Trout Unlimited. “The otherwise outstanding laws of our land, the Clean Water Act and Superfund, actually prevent third parties – Good Samaritans – from entering into cleanup projects because of the liability risks they place on would be helpers, such as Trout Unlimited. Today we commend EPA for taking this important step to provide appropriate protection for Good Samaritans, and we applaud Sen. Udall’s efforts to get this problem fixed.”
Udall, who serves on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, has been one of the leading voices in Congress on cleaning up and remediating abandon mine sites since he joined Congress in 1999. The EPA’s memo stems from Udall’s work over the past two years to find a way to give Good Samaritans additional protections as they continue their important work.
Udall also recently visited a mine site in San Juan County to hear about how additional legal certainty for Good Samaritans would help local groups remediate mines.
Last month Udall implored the U.S. House of Representatives to take up the legislation he co-sponsored that will allow Colorado and other states more flexibility in utilizing federal funds to clean up abandoned hard rock mining sites. The legislation, S.897, would allow states like Colorado to use funds that were previously only available for the reclamation of coal mines to be used for hard rock mines as well.
Boulder Creek just below the bridge at 38148 Canyon Blvd
We have had some concerned fly fisherman ask us about the project going on above the Red Lion on Canyon Blvd. This project was approved on Sept 24, 2012 by the Boulder Public Works Development Review staff as a Wetland Permit. The utility work will relocate new 24″ pipes (old ones with holes seen in picture) five feet under the streambed. The pipes will continue to mitigate water from the Orodell Hydroelectric Facility down to the Four Mile interconnect site. They do have plans to clean up and re-vegetate the area. Katie Knapp of the Public Works Dept will address your concerns at 303-441-3273 or [email protected]
A copy of the wetland permit is available on page 19 at http://www.bouldercolorado.gov/files/10.4.12%20PB%20Packet%20Final_revised%205A%205D.pdf
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It is December and the Upper Blue River watershed is out of water. This may have been a mistake by snowmakers who work in the middle of the night, are under pressure by the Broomfield corporate office to make as much snow possible, and need to hype-up nonexistent snow for holiday sales. Or, it might have happened naturally due to the severe drought situation (Not!). Either way, those fish needed water to live. http://www.summitdaily.com/article/20121206/NEWS/121209901/1078&ParentProfile=1055
It seems the snow industry is deeply concerned about their profits. This is a report about the climate change and impacts to the ski / snowboard industry. http://www.nrdc.org/globalwarming/files/climate-impacts-winter-tourism-report.pdf
Who cares about the ski industry? Who cares about the fishing industry? It’s not about our personal desires or monetary economic needs. Colorado needs fresh water to live. In Colorado these decisions are only going to get more difficult. The Colorado Water Conservation Board will ultimately be the ones making water storage and mitigation decisions that will effect our lives in Colorado. http://cwcb.state.co.us
CWCB meetings are open to the public, and I can tell you from personally attending, there are non enough non-consumptive citizens (recreational users of water) voicing their opinion. Agriculturalists, municipalities, industrialists are all getting paid to attend these meetings. They want water for their economic needs, the needs of the new people moving into Colorado, the needs of the cattle and crops we rely upon, and they want to buy more water rights and build more reservoirs (that nature won’t be able to fill). If you get the chance, show up for a roundtable meeting, tell them your a Boulder Flycaster, unofficially represent TU. Speak on behalf of fisherman. Don’t let fish kill stories like this become the norm. There are a lot of people working together on this state-wide problem. Compassion needs to lead the way, and I believe that ultimitely water rights will be donated for the good of the environment. But, without people speaking up, there is no obvious need, only greed. Please get involved.
CU graduate class of Environmental Engineering have conducted a field research and lab analysis on the cell count of live invasive Didymo cells over time for both felt and rubber soled boots. Didymo, also called rock snot, is an invasive species in our rivers that may harm the larger aquatic insects within an effected area (caddis, stoneflies, mayflies). The largest transporter of this disease is thought to be fisherman. The graph below demonstrates a larger likely hood to carry the disease underfoot while walking around a river with felt vs rubber soled boots. Live Didymo Cells Felt vs Rubber
by Mark Riley
The Greenbacks is a sub-organization of CTU with a focus on increasing participation and membership amongst young adults. They are hosting the film Low and Clear in Denver on November 29th, 2012.
WHERE: REI-Boulder at 28th & Walnut
BUSINESS ITEMS
Elect New Board of Directors and Officers: We’ll have some current members coming up for renewal and some new members. If you’d like to be nominated for board membership, write to Mark Riley, President at:[email protected]
State of the Chapter: We’ll review accomplishments from last year, present a financial review of the chapter and discuss key initiatives for fiscal year 2012/2013.
Upper South Boulder Creek Restoration Project – Update
DOOR PRIZES
At the end of our night, we’ll have a door prize giveaway of several items from Montana Fly Company
AFTER THE MEETING
We’ll have a social hour at the new BJ’s Brewery just south of REI on the east side of 28th ST.
See you at the meeting!
Boulder Flycasters is working through one of its long term members, Ron Donahue, to assemble flies for use by two very worthy organizations. Project Healing Waters who sponsors outings for military personnel and veterans. Their program is specifically designed to help our American heroes get back on their feet physically and/or emotionally. Reel Recovery that helps men with all forms of cancer share their stories, learn how to fly fish, form lasting friendships, and gain renewed hope as they confront the challenges of cancer.
“We started out a month ago with Project Healing water and the response was very strong. As such, we decided that it would be appropriate to extend the coverage to another group, Reel Recovery, that the BFC has helped in the past….Ron Donahue”
Ron is doing his level best to match every 6 flies or more flies tied by the participants. If you are interested in helping Project Healing Waters click here or Reel Recovery click here. If you want to do something for both just signify this in the comment section. The value of this kind of gift is immeasurable.
IF YOU DON’T TIE FLIES AND WOULD STILL LIKE TO PARTICIPATE, WE CAN SECURE A SELECTION OF 1/2 OR 1 DOZEN PATTERNS FROM A COMMERCIAL SOURCE AT COST. SIMPLY FILL OUT THE SAME FORM AND DESIGNATE THIS INTENTION IN THE COMMENT SECTION. YOU WILL RECEIVE A CREDIT CARD BILLING VIA EMAIL FROM THE BFC.
These hardy volunteers braved wind and cold to support Colorado DOW with counting fish in upper South Boulder Creek and Jumbo Mountain and Moffat Tunnel:
Allen Nakagawa, Bob Bush, Greg Biesecker, Greg Nelson, Ron Anderson and Vince Kotsubo
Thanks for the help!
