SFRED Weighs in on Oil Shale in the West

Commercial oil shale development in Utah, Wyoming and Colorado would require large volumes of water, threatening Western water supplies and jeopardizing fish and wildlife, according to a report released Thursday by Sportsmen for Responsible Energy Development (SFRED). According to the report, “Water Under Pressure: What Oil Shale Could Mean for Western Water, Fish and Wildlife,” a commercial oil shale industry would ultimately affect river flows and the habitat of native fish. Several important Western rivers – the Green, Colorado, White, Uintah and Duchesne – and the sportsmen who depend on them stand to see significant impacts from large-scale production. Whether it’s endangered and threatened species or the great trout fisheries beloved by anglers across the West, reduced stream flows will have negative repercussions for fish, sportsmen and the region’s outdoors-dependent economy.

An economically viable technology to turn kerogen – a precursor to oil – into a usable fuel is unproven, and the scope of the potential environmental impacts is unclear. But the Government Accountability Office estimates that industrial-scale oil shale production could require as much as 123 billion gallons of water – enough water for a city of more than 750,000 homes. Roads, new power plants and transmission lines would have to be built, causing significant land disturbances and further carving up wildlife habitat already pressured by oil and gas drilling.

“For a resource that lies in the midst of the semi-arid West, with sparse precipitation and few large rivers, it is not clear where the water would come from or how it would affect fish and wildlife,” said Brad Powell, senior policy director for Trout Unlimited’s Sportsmen’s Conservation Project. “With the region’s water supply already strained and facing continued population growth, finding another increment of water for oil shale, while protecting native and sport fisheries, may be an insurmountable challenge.”

Additional research will be needed to determine whether or not oil shale is economically and environmentally feasible.

To read the full article, visit this link.

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Reach 4...A Healthier Purgatoire River

The Purgatoire River is a major headwater tributary of the Arkansas River, draining a large portion of southeastern Colorado.  From the headwaters on the eastern slopes of the Culebra Range, the river flows east for approximately 50 miles to the City of Trinidad.  Trinidad has through its history been plagued by several damaging flood events, and in 1958, the US Congress authorized construction of the Trinidad Dam and Reservoir (Trinidad Project) under the Flood Control Act of 1958.  The primary purpose of the project was to provide flood control, as well as storage for irrigation and recreational use. The Trinidad Project dam and reservoir have dramatically altered the natural flow regime of the Purgatoire River.  The pre-project river hydrology was principally snow-melt driven, with additional influence from high-intensity, short duration storm events during the summer monsoon season.  Prior to construction of the reservoir, the Purgatoire River typically experienced peak flows during the snow melt run-off in May and June, with additional storm driven peaks in July and August.  Base flows typically occurred from mid-September through early April.  Reservoir operations have flattened out the annual hydrograph, limiting the peak run-off flows below the dam, and significantly extending the period of higher than natural flows beginning earlier in the spring through the late summer into fall.  Releases from the dam correspond to a designated irrigation season, and flows during the non-irrigation season are limited, with the only flow in the river downstream of the dam coming from Raton Creek and a few other intermittent tributaries.

In 2010, the Purgatoire River Anglers Chapter of Trout Unlimited contracted with Fin-Up Habitat Consultants, Inc. to conduct an assessment of existing aquatic habitat conditions and a feasibility study for a cold water habitat improvement project on a segment of the Purgatoire River within the City of Trinidad.  Funding for the assessment came from a Trout Unlimited Embrace-A-Stream grant the Chapter had applied for in the 2010 grant cycle, as well as a small contribution from the Cheyenne Mountain Chapter of TU in Colorado Springs.  The purpose of this assessment was to evaluate the existing condition of the river, including available habitat for resident trout, to identify segments of the stream for restoration, and to develop a planning document for future projects.

The assessment was completed during the summer of 2011. The results of the assessment indicated that the severely reduced winter flows below Trinidad Dam are likely to limit the potential fishery in the Purgatoire River through the City of Trinidad, Colorado.  Interviews with long time residents and local fisherman, did indicate that a remnant population of trout does persist in the study reaches, and many of the river’s stakeholders in the region are convinced that the creation of an urban recreational fishery is in the best economic and social interests of the community.  Although a self-sustaining population of trout might be difficult to establish, there was an opportunity to create a seasonal “put-and take” fishery within the city limits of Trinidad, which would provide recreation enhancements including easier and more controlled access to the river corridor for residents.  While an enhancement project of this nature could not address the limited flow issue, the work would provide velocity shelter and in-channel holding cover for stocked fish during the sustained higher flow period.  A project could provide seasonal fishing opportunities from April through October each year, and would address many of the access, dispersed recreation, and bank stability issues.  Following this enhancement concept, the assessment analyzed the potential of each reach for a project of this type.  Concept plans for Reach 3, 4 and 5, in the central downtown area of the City of Trinidad were developed, and are described, in order of recommended priority.

The stakeholders for the Trinidad / Purgatoire River effort include a diverse mix - Purgatoire River Anglers – Trout Unlimited, The City of Trinidad, Pioneer Natural Resources Company, The Purgatoire River Water Conservancy District, The Trinidad Community Foundation, and Colorado Department of Parks & Wildlife.  The project stakeholders agreed that Reach 4 would be the first priority, and would be used as a demonstration project to assess the value of creating a “put-and-take” fishery in the heart of downtown Trinidad.  Planning for implementation of the project began in the summer of 2011, with a target date of completion by early summer in 2012.  Construction of the Trinidad / Purgatoire River Reach 4 Demonstration Project began on February 23, 2012.  The project began with the stockpiling of 600 tons of boulders at two sites near the upstream and downstream boundaries of the reach.  Boulders were then distributed to the individual habitat feature locations within the river channel by a loader.

Construction then began at the upstream boundary of the reach, under the I-25 bridge, and worked downstream to a point just upstream of the Colorado Division of Water Resources stream gauge at the North Commercial Street bridge.  Heavy equipment construction of in-channel habitat and stream-bank stabilization features was completed by Friday, March 9, 2012.

Following the heavy construction activities in the river and along the access trail, the Purgatoire River Anglers chapter of Trout Unlimited organized a volunteer workday in the project reach on April 15, 2012.  Eleven volunteers worked to clean up the boulder stockpile sites, reseed disturbed areas, harvest willow cuttings, and plant willow and sedge along the newly constructed bank-full riparian benches.  A total of 41 hours of volunteer effort were utilized to put the finishing touches on the river work.  In early May, members of Trout Unlimited completed the final phase of the project, with the stocking of several hundred catchable rainbow trout throughout the project reach.

Article and photos courtesy of Pete Gallagher, Fin-Up Habitat Consultants, Inc. To read the full project report, please visit this link.

The Blue nets a Gold

Colorado has over 9,000 miles of rivers and creeks, but only 168 miles of these are considered “gold medal water,” making the Blue River an extremely special asset to Summit County's loyal anglers and general local economy. To earn the rating, rivers and streams must meet the official criteria for gold medal water: 12 trout per acre over 14” or 60-pounds of trout per surface acre. Blue River going through Summit and Grand counties features gold medal waters from Dillon Reservoir to the Green Mountain Reservoir inlet.

“That's a ton of fish,” said Erica Stock, Trout Unlimited outreach director. “That's what makes up the bulk of the Blue River fishery. To have fish that size, you need a healthy ecosystem. They live on bugs. In order to have diverse bug life you need a relatively healthy stream.”

The Colorado Wildlife Commission has designated these stretches of water as offering the greatest potential for trophy trout fishing. An ecologically healthy river is one that retains its major ecological features and functioning similar to the way it did prior to settlement and which would be able to sustain these characteristics into the future. Healthy streams promote aquatic life and nurture surrounding lands.

“You can tell that a river is viable when there is a healthy trout population,” Stock said. “You need to have good oxidation of the water. That comes from having good hydrology. When there's oxygen going into the water trout can grab their food sources.”

To read the rest of the article, visit the Summit Daily's "Wild Colorado: Gold-medal waters in the Summit."

Working Together to Protect Fishing and Hunting

During the second Presidential debate, Governor Romney and President Obama engaged in a heated exchange about energy development on public lands.  My ears perked up and my eyes went from my hunting area maps right to the TV. But I didn’t find enlightenment. The candidates simply said what we already know.  Both Governor Romney and President Obama support energy development on our public lands.   That’s no surprise, and it is going to be an important part of our domestic energy policy in the years to come.  The question for hunters and anglers is:  How do we ensure that development proceeds in a manner that protects our hunting and fishing resources?

Traditionally, sportsmen’s groups, conservationists, and environmentalists have focused on influencing policy in Washington D.C. and influencing land management decisions by federal agencies to reduce the impacts of oil and gas development on public lands.  That still may be an effective means to an end.  But here at Trout Unlimited (TU) we think there is a better way.  We are trying to work directly with oil and gas companies to help them develop energy on public lands in a way that protects the places that you love to hunt and fish.

We believe that working with energy developers is the best way to protect our resources for two primary reasons.  First, we think energy companies want to do the right thing.  Many of TU’s members work in the oil and gas industry or depend on the oil and gas industry for their livelihoods.  Moreover, many of the people we have met that work in the energy industry love to hunt and fish.  They choose to work in the energy industry in part because it allows them to be near public lands and chase deer and trout in their free time.  It stands to reason that these folks want to develop energy responsibly so they can make a living while preserving habitat for hunting and fishing.

Second, we believe that if you want something done, you should talk directly with the people that can do what you want done.  For example, my neighbor’s dog wouldn’t stop barking last year. All day, all night.  I had a few options. I could try and organize the neighborhood to help pass a city ordinance banning dogs. I could call the city authorities and lodge a complaint under the noise ordinances.  Or I could walk over to my neighbor’s house and talk with him about the problem.  I chose option number three, and it worked.  Ninety nine times out of a hundred it would work, and my neighbor would  address the problem.  He kept the dog inside at night and took it to obedience school.  If I had called the authorities or tried to pass a ban on dogs, however, I would have created animosity with my neighbor and that could have lead to a host of other problems.

Sportsmen, anglers and the energy industry are, as a matter of law and fact, neighbors on our public lands.  At TU we are focusing our efforts on talking with our neighbors about our concerns, and it’s working.  We have begun to collaborate with a number of companies in the Rocky Mountain West on responsible energy development.  Shell Oil has been an early leader - working directly with TU on its energy development proposals in Routt and Moffat Counties in Colorado.  So far, Shell Oil has incorporated wildlife protections that TU supported into a drilling proposal in Routt County, agreed to implement a groundwater monitoring program proposed by Routt County, and gone above and beyond regulatory requirements to incorporate protective measures into its proposal based on citizen’s concerns.  Additionally, Shell Oil contributed $10,000 towards a river restoration project TU is spearheading on a nearby creek.  We are hoping to build on these successes and continue to work directly with Shell Oil to protect fish and wildlife in Colorado on a much larger scale.

Despite these early successes, we still have a long ways to go.  Energy development on public lands is expected to increase dramatically over the next 20 years, and we need more energy companies to work with us.  Some conservationists have been calling the authorities and trying to ban their neighbor’s activities for years. Companies that have experienced this may be reluctant to trust our organization.  That’s why it’s important that we start to highlight examples where energy companies are practicing responsible energy development.  We want TU members to be able to recognize and support companies that are going the extra mile to protect their sacred hunting and fishing grounds.

---Shane Cross, Western Energy Counsel, TU's Sportsmen's Conservation Project