Celebrating Bud Isaacs, and Reconnecting the Colorado

Bud Isaacs, a longtime advocate for the Upper Colorado River and past recipient of the Silver Trout Award passed away last month. The Colorado TU family will miss Bud, but his legacy will live on through the Colorado River Connectivity Channel that he helped champion for many years. CTU Past President Tony Kay shared this statement at Bud’s memorial service.

 To my Dear Friend Bud,

Kaye asked me to explain the reference made to UCRA in the memorial notice and obituary and why it was so important to Bud. 

Bud and I shared a lot of interests. Hunting, fishing, tennis, to name a few, but above all, we shared a passion for preserving and restoring a small piece of the Colorado River.

Before I unravel UCRA for you I would like to talk about Bud, Bud the boy, and Bud the man we all came to know and love. Bud was a naturalist in the truest sense of the word. He loved the natural world and everything in it, all its inhabitants, bugs, birds, animals, plants and all the other wonders of nature. Growing up in Sumatra, Indonesia he knew jungles and the wonders they hid. Getting to interact with a baby tiger as a boy, may have been the spark that lit his fierce devotion to nature. He loved the outdoors. He was truly a man for all seasons.

 A consummate fly fisher, hunter, skier. Upland bird hunter with his beloved dogs, Pebbles and Riva. Everything about nature captivated him, whether he was fishing the Amazon, Iceland, Alaska, Mexico, Christmas Island or Chile. Africa was a favorite of his not to mention he and Kaye’s beautiful garden. Above all Bud cared about Colorado, his backyard and felt it was something he could do something about and he did.   

UCRA is the acronym for the Upper Colorado River Alliance. I am going to give you a little history on how it came to be. 

In 1998, Bud contacted me as he knew I was in my ex officio role as President of Colorado Trout Unlimited and was working hard to try to mitigate what was turning into an environmental disaster on the Upper Colorado River. We were losing all of the Colorado rainbow trout, due to the impact of whirling disease precipitated by a small dam just below Granby called Windy Gap.

Bud recognized the problem early on and we joined forces to help deal with it. Together we set up meetings between the relevant authorities and the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District, who owned Windy Gap, to see what if anything they were willing to do to mitigate the problem.

Just to illustrate how long this process took, the proposed solution, which was to take Windy Gap offline and re-connect the river, was begun 24 years ago . We had willing participants and in early 1999 had our first engineering drawings to re-connect the river completed.   By the summer of 2001 we had made a lot of progress and just prior to an Intergovernmental Agency agreement being signed by all parties,  9/11 happened which among things put the project on hold.

Around 2010, Bud got wind of changes that the water buffaloes wanted to make, relative to their water rights on the Colorado River.  He sprang into action and hired the finest water lawyers to represent us. New research that he managed to obtain showed the river to be in far worse shape than we originally thought. The section of river below Windy Gap had lost 6 species of Mayfly and their prized Stoneflies in the short space of 20 years, and Windy Gap reservoir was to blame.

We began the hard fought battle of legal and public pressure to push our proposal to take Windy Gap offline and re-connect the river.  We began looking for allies.  Trout Unlimited National Office decided we needed help and assigned their resident legal expert to aid in our cause. Grand County, Colorado Parks and Wildlife and the Colorado River Headwaters Chapter of Trout Unlimited pitched in to help. In further meetings with all the parties involved, they soon learned that Bud was willing to do whatever it took and if need be, would fund it himself. Bud was a formidable adversary and with him leading the charge, a new agreement began to take shape.

In early 2011 we decided to form UCRA as a 501C3  non-profit corporation, dedicated to preserving and protecting the Upper Colorado River. We knew we would need help from our partners in the drainage and elsewhere and wanted to provide a mechanism whereby we could share the financial burden of the awesome task we had undertaken. Bud along with well-known author Steve Grace decided to write a book about Bud and the struggle to preserve the river for future generations titled “Oil and Water”, the proceeds from the book go directly to UCRA.  

Bud’s last project was to film a documentary about the struggle to re-connect the river and documentary film maker Nickolas Barris is currently working on completing this.

The day Bud died was the same day all the stakeholders were meeting in Granby. The Project was now in the hands of the Natural Resources Conservation Service, a subset of USDA, and well on its way to completion. Bud was going to attend the meeting via Zoom as he and Kaye were in Florida. I was driving up Berthoud Pass on my way to the meeting, when Kaye called to give me the bad news. To break the news gently to me she said, Bud won’t be able to attend the meeting tonight, but he will be there in spirit. This was the final public comment meeting for those in support or against the project. There were no dissenters, Bud knew that we had succeeded and that what he had fought for so long and hard was soon going to become a reality

As always there are many folks who have been involved in this project and I know Bud would have wanted to thank all of you who helped get us to this point. You all know who you are.

In the future as you take the drive over Berthoud Pass, down  through Winter Park and the Fraser Valley, just past  Granby, you will see just over a mile of beautiful new river with public access that wasn’t there previously, adjacent to a much smaller Windy Gap reservoir. Stoneflies the size of swallows will be bouncing off your windshield and you will remember that Bud Isaacs made that possible and you will say:

Thank you Bud!

  - Tony Kay

Support Restoring and Reconnecting the Upper Colorado River!

The Windy Gap Reservoir was placed on the mainstem of the Upper Colorado River in 1984, blocking the passage of fish and aquatic insects, reducing water quality and habitat, and blocking natural river maintenance processes. Now, Trout Unlimited is working with Grand County and Northern Water to reconnect the Colorado at Windy Gap and create positive changes to the river’s health and the entire ecosystem. These efforts will improve downstream fisheries, enhance riparian condition, and create a new mile of public fishing access on the re-establshed river channel.

The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) has issued a Draft Plan and Environmental Assessment for the project and is accepting public comment through March 10. If the project is approved, work can begin this May and be completed by November 2023.

You can support restoration and reconnection of the Colorado River at Windy Gap by submitting supportive comments to the NRCS through our simple online action center.

Restoring Fish Passage at Canyon Creek

Canyon Creek flows from the Flat Tops and is a spawning tributary to the Colorado River located near New Castle - but much more of the stream could be available to fish coming up from the Colorado were it not for an existing box culvert structure under Interstate 70 that restricts fish passage into 10+ additional miles of available upstream habitat.

Now, spawning fish will have the chance to return to Canyon Creek thanks to a collaborative project developed by TU with in-kind assistance from Wright Water Engineers (WWE). Using a design for baffles and hemispheres to be placed along the floor of the culvert, the newly installed structures provide velocity shelters for spring-spawning fish making their way upstream at higher flows, and increase depth for those fall spawners moving upstream during lower flows.

This collaborative project was made possible thanks to technical and logistical assistance from Colorado Parks and Wildlife and the Colorado Department of Transportation, and generous financial support from the Colorado Water Conservation Board, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Colorado River Water Conservancy District, Trout and Salmon Foundation, and Trout Unlimited donors including the Eagle Valley Chapter.

Check out this video showing the project from pre-construction through design and to post-construction conditions, produced by our partners at WWE.

Youth Camp Applications Open!

Colorado Trout Unlimited will host the 17th annual River Conservation and Fly Fishing Camp for teen youth at AEI Base Camp in Taylor Park, Colorado, June 12-18, 2022. Since 2006, youth from across the state and beyond have gathered to complete a week-long program of STEM-based conservation education and instruction in the art of fly fishing. Youth 14-18 are eligible to apply for camp, chapters statewide provide scholarships to campers in need. In parallel with Orvis, we are working to achieve 50/50 gender diversity at camp.

This camp provides an unique immersive experience for teens interested in the outdoors, fly fishing, and potential conservation-related career paths. Campers participate in hands-on conservation activities and receive one-on-one and group instruction in the art of fly fishing. Their experience is enriched as they make lifelong relationships, "finding their people" and bonding with peers of similar interests. The program exposes campers to the complexity of water management in the west and its nexus with recreation. The diversity of the conservation program is designed so that participants can envision multiple education and career paths that align with their personal passion for the outdoors.

This summer, 22 upcoming youth leaders will come together to camp, fish, and explore. They will create a memory that will impact their lives for the decades to come. The words of Sam Goldstein, 2010 Alumni, encapsulate his experience: The opportunity to attend Trout Unlimited’s Fly Fishing Youth Camp came when I was at a crossroads in my life. I had been making poor choices as a young man and a very dear friend of mine took me fly fishing, presumably so the rivers might help straighten me out. As a result of his tutelage and kindness, I was awarded a spot in the upcoming Trout Unlimited Youth Camp. Being delighted to partake in the retreat, I soon learned many lessons that would stick with me through my years of fishing and adulthood alike. I have very fond memories of everything from learning different casting methods, tying basic fly patterns, and the joy that comes from showing off your catch! I will always be grateful for experiencing the fly fishing community through the Youth Camp the way I did. The biggest takeaway for me will always be learning how to take care of our rivers whilethey in turn, take care of us.

For more information or to apply for the 2022 River Conservation and Fly Fishing Camp, or if you are an adult and interested in volunteering with the camp, please visit our Youth Camp page here. Applications are due by April 10, 2022.

New Senate legislation to boost abandoned mine cleanups

Last Thursday (February 3, 2022), a bipartisan bill that would help address the chronic problem of pollution leaking from abandoned hardrock mines was introduced in the U.S. Senate. Lead bill sponsors Senator Martin Heinrich (D-NM) and Senator James Risch (R-ID) were joined by Colorado’s senior Senator Michael Bennet (D) as an original cosponsor, as well as Senators Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Steve Daines (R-MT), Jon Tester (D-MT), Mike Crapo (R-ID), and John Barrasso (R-WY). 

The Good Samaritan Remediation of Abandoned Hardrock Mines Act of 2022 would help address an estimated 500,000 abandoned mines - mines with no one remaining that is responsible for clean-up – 33,000 of which are known to be causing environmental damage. More than 110,000 miles of streams are listed as impaired for heavy metals and/or acidity, and abandoned mines are a major source of these impairments due to acid-mine drainage with toxic metals, such as mercury, lead and arsenic.  

“Abandoned mines represent the least addressed and greatest threat to water quality in the nation,” said Chris Wood, President and CEO of Trout Unlimited. “There is no constituency for abandoned mines and orange water, and we’re excited for Congress to take bipartisan action that will allow organizations such as TU to help protect our communities and clean our rivers and streams.”  

Under current law, Good Samaritan parties can and do voluntarily undertake projects to clean up “non-point-source” abandoned mine pollution, such as moving contaminated waste rock piles away from streams. However, under the Clean Water Act, groups wanting to take on “point-source” mine cleanups—where toxic drainage is discharging directly from the mine opening —face daunting obstacles, including complicated permitting and long-term legal and financial liability for any remaining mine pollution.

The Good Samaritan cleanup bill would establish a pilot program for a permitting process administered by the Environmental Protection Agency that would enable qualified nonprofit groups and other third parties to tackle cleanups of abandoned mine sites, in part by providing targeted, limited liability protection for these so-called “Good Samaritan” groups. State and federal governments have spent billions cleaning up leaking abandoned mines where current law allows, but there is much more work to do. Good Samaritan legislation would help get a handle on the problem by providing an alternative to relying solely on federal Superfund cleanups, which suffer from a lack of funding and capacity. Additionally, Superfund is not well-suited to address the tens of thousands of isolated, smaller mines that would not likely qualify as Superfund sites.      

The challenge of abandoned mines is very significant for Colorado. After the Gold King mine spill in 2015 that impacted the Animas River, numerous Federal and State agencies placed a greater emphasis on quantifying the scope and scale of draining mines in Colorado. A study by the State Division of Reclamation Mining and Safety showed over 250 draining mines in Colorado with 148 likely degrading downstream water quality.

“From the San Juans to the Mosquito range, Colorado’s mountains are dotted with abandoned mines that pollute many of our headwater streams,” said David Nickum, Executive Director of Colorado TU. “Under current law, watershed stewards who could help solve the problem instead would face long-term liability for problems that they had nothing to do with creating. We are grateful to Senator Bennet, and to lead sponsors Senator Heinrich and Senator Risch, for bringing forward common-sense, bipartisan legislation to empower Good Sams to start the important work of cleaning up these abandoned draining mines.”

Newly introduced federal legislation can help Good Samaritans tackle the pollution caused by abandoned mines in Colorado and throughout the West.

Coming Soon: A Home for Greenbacks in the Poudre Headwaters

This first major construction work for the Poudre Headwaters Restoration Project was largely completed just before the end of 2021. Contractor L4 Construction installed a fish barrier at the terminus of the Grand Ditch by La Poudre Pass. The barrier will isolate the planned Greenback cutthroat trout recovery area in upper La Poudre Pass Creek and Long Draw Reservoir from western slope waters intercepted by the Grand Ditch.

The Poudre Headwaters Restoration Project is an ambitious multi-year effort to create a stronghold for Greenback cutthroat trout in the headwaters of the Cache la Poudre River on the Arapaho-Roosevelt National Forests and Rocky Mountain National Park. The project includes establishing permanent barriers to safeguard the native trout recovery waters from invasion by non-native species, as well as temporary barriers to help break up the nearly 40-mile total project into smaller manageable pieces for reclamation and reintroduction of greenbacks. With completion of the Grand Ditch barrier, the first phases of fish reclamation to remove existing non-native fish can proceed in 2022-23 in collaboration with Colorado Parks and Wildlife, and then stocking of Greenback cutthroat trout can proceed in a first section of recovery habitat that will include Long Draw Reservoir and Neota Creek.

Installation of the Grand Ditch barrier created some real challenges as winter weather began to set in at the project site over 10,000 feet in elevation. L4 crews had excavated the area for the barrier installation to specifications from US Forest Service engineers who designed the barrier. Pouring the concrete for the barrier - in a series of three different pours for different portions of the structure - required both keeping the work area dry by blocking inflow above the site and pumping water, and maintaining temperatures for the concrete to cure properly by building a large tent over the site and using large heating units to blow warm air into the tent. Plowing snow to keep road access to the site safe for work crews and trucks delivering the concrete was another challenge.

Work on the concrete barrier was ultimately completed in the final week of December. Additional channel work is planned in 2022, and efforts will also begin on other aspects of the larger Poudre Headwaters Restoration Project. In addition to the Forest Service, Rocky Mountain National Park, and L4, key partners and funders for the barrier installation included Water Supply and Storage Company’s Long Draw Reservoir Mitigation Trust (providing mitigation funding for impacts of their reservoir), the Colorado Water Conservation Board, and the Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s Outdoor Fund. Partners in the broader project also include Colorado Parks and Wildlife and the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Colorado TU is grateful to all of those who are making this ambitious native trout recovery program possible.

Images below show the tented area and construction process, culminating in backfill material placed behind one of the wing walls for the new fish barrier.

Farewells to TU stalwarts

As 2021 wound to its close, Colorado TU lost two committed long-time volunteer leaders, both recipients of the prestigious Silver Trout award. In December, Michael McGoldrick and John Trammell passed away - but both left important conservation legacies.

Michael McGoldrick first engaged with Trout Unlimited in the midwest near his then-home in Chicago, but once settled in Colorado he stepped up and served as Colorado TU’s treasurer for multiple terms including at a critical juncture - through the market crash and recession of 2008. Michael’s background in finance equipped him well to provide leadership, and having earlier in his career seen financial debates distract other nonprofits from their core mission, he worked hard to ensure that CTU’s finances were stable and not a source of disruption from the organization’s mission. His wise and thoughtful financial stewardship ensured that CTU did not see its assets undermined by the market crash of 2008.

Michael had diverse charitable interests from the arts to conservation, and his most lasting legacy with Colorado TU was in creating a stronger culture of philanthropy. With his encouragement, the annual auction was upgraded into a Gala with a greater emphasis on charitable support, sponsorships, and celebration of leaders in river conservation.

Michael was also a founder of CTU’s charitable donor society for those giving $1000 or more, the River Stewardship Council. From its humble beginning with Michael’s initial contribution, the River Stewardship Council has grown into a key sustaining funding source for trout conservation work in Colorado. Michael encouraged the RSC program to offer opportunities for donors to connect and engage, building a deeper connection with the work they supported through activities such as tours and fishing trips to experience waters benefiting from CTU’s work. He was a regular participant in RSC activities, and from his contribution as the first RSC donor through all of the years following, he remained a committed donor and conservationist.

Michael’s kindness and good spirits made him a well-loved presence through all of the many TU programs in which he took part. As his long-time partner Terry Galpin-Plattner said, he lived a life that was lively, loving, and curmudgeonly.

Michael McGoldrick - photo courtesy of Terry Galpin-Plattner.

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Over three decades, John Trammell provided volunteer leadership at all levels of the Trout Unlimited organization - from his local Grand Valley Anglers chapter to the National Resource Board providing the grassroots voice on TU’s national conservation agenda.

John’s professional background was as a geologist, and he brought a science-based approach to his efforts as a conservation volunteer and advocate. A prime example was the stream characterization study he conducted with his friend and colleague Dan Powell on West Creek in Unaweep Canyon – a highly detailed assessment that proved invaluable baseline data when a truck spill led to a fish kill in the creek some years later. His scientific knowledge and approach similarly helped inform a wide range of TU advocacy efforts.

John had a special passion for native trout. As an angler, he set out to catch all of the west’s native trout subspecies and add them to his ‘lifetime list’. As a volunteer, he worked tirelessly on projects to help restore Colorado River cutthroat trout in nearby home waters on the Grand Mesa and the Roan Plateau. From fencing and riparian planting projects along Trapper Creek to installing Whitlock-Vibert boxes in a converted refrigerator to jump-start cutthroat populations on the Grand Mesa, he brought commitment and creativity to native trout recovery.

In all that he did as a conservation leader, John worked with good humor and a kind spirit that earned the confidence and affection of all those who were fortunate enough to cross his path. He will be deeply missed, but his legacy lives on in the memory of those he helped inspire – including his daughter, native fish biologist Melissa Trammell – and in the home waters where his efforts helped secure native trout for future generations.

You can see some reflections on John’s involvement with TU native trout conservation in the short film Decades (available here) issued on Colorado TU’s 50th anniversary.  The segment featuring John and Melissa begins at 6:30.

John Trammell with a greenback cutthroat trout from spawn-taking at Zimmerman Lake.

A Legend Passes

Last night, long-time TU leader Fred Rasmussen passed away at his home in Salida at age 95. His ready smile, always offering a hug and a kind word, and his trademark white ponytail made him a readily recognizable figure within and beyond TU for many years. His lifetime of service made him a role model that those of us following in his footsteps can strive for even as we inevitably fall short.

While always modest about his service (“We were a bunch of scared kids just doing what we were told to do”) , Fred was a part of the “Greatest Generation” that helped America and our allies face down fascism during World War II. His hometown newspaper, The Mountain Mail, ran a story about his war experiences that you can read here.

Following the war, he went onto a distinguished career developing science curricula and co-authoring textbooks. He lent those talents to Trout Unlimited and his community, helping to develop the hands-on inquiry-based “Stream Explorers” curriculum that continues to be used for youth education activities with the Collegiate Peaks Chapter in his hometown and with others around Colorado.

Fred’s service to conservation and Trout Unlimited is extensive - from serving with his local chapter, to chairing Colorado Trout Unlimited, to serving on the National Trout Unlimited Board of Trustees and with his fingerprints on activities from his local chapter banquet, to on-the-ground restoration projects in South Park and the Arkansas basin, to leadership on vital issues like the fights against Two Forks and whirling disease. Perhaps his greatest mark, though, was with the many other TU leaders that he helped mentor over the years who were able to carry his example forward in their own efforts. He helped all of us keep sight of the fact that Trout Unlimited’s mission was coldwater conservation - and that if we didn’t rise to that challenge, who would? His commitment and leadership were recognized nationwide, as Fred was honored with lifetime achievement awards from Colorado TU (the Hoagland Award), the Silver Trout Foundation (Silver Trout Award), and National TU (the Mortensen Award).

As a soldier, educator, volunteer, leader, parent and grandparent, Fred left an indelible mark. To me, he will always personify that “Greatest Generation” not simply because of his distinguished war service, but for the legacy he built over the rich lifetime of service that followed. May his example continue to inspire all of us, and may he rest in well-earned peace.

David Nickum, Executive Director of Colorado Trout Unlimited

Jon Rasmussen shared the following as Fred was moving into hospice care at his home:

Fred is close to passing. He is comfortable, not in pain and surrounded by loving family. Thank you ( and all of his TU friends) for being such a fulfilling part of his life.

It will be hard to lose my best friend & fishing buddy.   But, Fred has helped lay the ground work for this joy to extend long into the future for my sons & I.

EQIP Sign Up Announcement: Colorado River Headwaters Project RCPP

The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) has announced the signup period for financial assistance for in-stream and in-farm practices within the Colorado River Headwaters project area, which spans along the Colorado River from the KB Ditch to Gore Canyon and along the Blue River from below the Loback Ditch to the confluence of the Colorado River.  Only projects within this geographic area eligible for funding and will be selected in accordance with ranking criteria established by the NRCS for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP).

The sign-up period begins on September 19, 2018 and ends on October 19, 2018. 

Information about the Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) project and this announcement, including ranking criteria, can be found at https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/co/programs/farmbill/rcpp/?cid=nrcseprd1326277.

For more information, please contact:

 Derrick Wyle

Soil Conservationist

NRCS

derrick.wyle@co.usda.gov

(970) 404-3441

Extinct no more! CPW discovers remnant San Juan trout

Colorado Parks and Wildlife has found cutthroat trout that are unique to the San Juan River Basin in southwest Colorado. Photo courtesy of Colorado Parks and Wildlife. 

Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) biologists recently discovered a unique genetic lineage of the Colorado River cutthroat trout in southwest Colorado that was previously thought to be extinct. The discovery was officially recognized earlier this year thanks to advanced DNA testing techniques. Eight small populations of these trout have been found in isolated habitats on streams of the San Juan River Basin within the San Juan National Forest and on private property.
 
Based on two samples from 1874 and housed in the Smithsonian, researchers from the University of Colorado previously identified a Colorado River cutthroat trout lineage with genetic markers unique to the San Juan basin. Unfortunately, no modern populations of the lineage were known to remain at that time.  CPW researchers and biologists, however, set out to test all the southwest Colorado cutthroat trout populations they could find to see if any carried the unique San Juan genetic fingerprint.  Their efforts bore fruit with this year’s discovery of eight such small populations.

““We always ask ourselves, ‘What if we could go back to the days before pioneer settlement and wide-spread non-native fish stocking to see what we had here?’” ”

— Jim White, CPW Biologist

 “Careful work over the years by biologists, finding those old specimens in the museum and the genetic testing gave us the chance, essentially, to go back in time. Now we have the opportunity to conserve this native trout in southwest Colorado.” said CPW biologist, Jim White.

Colorado TU and the Five Rivers Chapter stand to play a key role in the story of these fish going forward.  “This is far and away the most exciting thing to happen to southwest native trout in my lifetime,” said TU representative Garrett Hanks of Durango. “I am excited to participate in the future of the San Juan cutthroat trout – from headwaters to the high desert.”

TU has a track record of partnership in successful native fish restoration projects in the region, working closely with CPW and the San Juan National Forest.  Among other projects, the partners have collaborated to restore Colorado River cutthroat trout into the headwaters of the Hermosa Creek watershed – building barriers to secure fish from downstream invasion by non-natives, improving stream and riparian habitat, and helping with reintroduction efforts.  The discovery of remnant San Juan lineage fish opens the door for new restoration efforts into additional, suitable habitats.

“We’ve appreciated the chance to work with such great partners to conserve native trout in southwest Colorado,” said CTU Executive Director David Nickum.  “It is nothing less than remarkable to now have the chance to join them in restoring a fish we thought had been lost to extinction.”

Biologists have already had to sweep into action to protect the rare, newly-found cutthroats.  Two populations were in areas impacted by the 416 fire this summer, and fish were salvaged from those habitats to preserve their unique genetic stocks before they could be lost to post-fire ash flows.

A fish barrier installed to protect Hermosa Creek native trout, through a partnership including the San Juan National Forest, Colorado Parks and Wildlife, and Trout Unlimited.  More such projects will be needed to secure homes for the newly-rediscovered San Juan lineage cutthroat.

Resources

Official Colorado Parks and Wildlife Press Release