Blog — Colorado Trout Unlimited

Giving Thanks

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What a year 2020 has turned out to be! As we head into this holiday season and begin to look forward to 2021, we at Colorado Trout Unlimited wanted to take a minute to thank YOU. In spite of the pandemic, we have many things to be grateful for this year!

  • First, a HUGE thank you to those who have served our communities in Colorado and across the nation this year! Our heartfelt appreciation goes out to our First Responders, Healthcare Workers, Essential Workers, and Fire Fighters – thank you for your efforts and dedication during this incredibly challenging year.

  • With the support of Colorado TU’s chapter leaders and volunteers, we successfully adapted our youth programs during Covid-19 to continue engaging kids with fish, rivers and the outdoors. STREAM Girls pivoted to a virtual learning opportunity with Girl Scouts exploring their local watersheds safely with family members; Trout in the Classroom teachers set up cameras so students could monitor their tanks virtually; and teens from around the state joined Colorado TU for an online lineup of fly fishing and conservation-related sessions through TU Teens LIVE.

  • The Great American Outdoors Act passed with broad bipartisan support and will provide needed funding for public lands, including permanent full funding of the Land and Water Conservation Fund. We are grateful to the hundreds of TU supporters who contacted their elected officials and to members of our Colorado Congressional delegation who supported this landmark legislation.

  • We’ve seen continued progress on Stream Management Plans for the Blue River, Gunnison River, and South Boulder Creek and new SMPs coming together on the Arkansas and Clear Creek, all in partnership with our local TU chapters.

  • We held our first-ever Digital Rendezvous with chapter leaders from around the state and excellent sessions on Stream Management Planning, engaging people of color in conservation and angling, TU’s mine reclamation work, the State of Colorado’s Fisheries, and more!

In a year like this, we couldn’t be more thankful for the support we have been fortunate enough to receive from all of you in the Colorado TU community. A big thank you to the following folks for their incredible generosity and ongoing support of our work for healthy rivers and trout:

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  • River Stewardship Council and Century Club donors, raffle ticket purchasers, and all of the supporters who make contributions in support of CTU's work;

  • Business Partners who contribute through our corporate donor program, support our events, and share our story with their customers;

  • Gala sponsors, auction donors, and attendees who have made CTU's largest annual fundraiser into a must-attend event;

  • Chapter leaders and grassroots members who changed direction and continued to serve their local members and communities from a distance;

  • Our dedicated volunteers who contribute countless hours in support of healthy rivers and wild trout;

  • Our National TU staff colleagues whose expertise and commitment help to make Colorado even better through mine reclamation work, advocating for our wild lands and water partnerships with Colorado’s farming and ranching community;

  • And last but not least, the Colorado TU Board who give of their time, talent, and treasure and are integral to CTU's continued success!

THANK YOU! Wishing you a safe and healthy holiday season!

- Annie, Dan, David, Geoff, Jen, and Shannon

The Colorado TU Team

The Sporting Diversity Road Tour Podcast Ep 3: The Animas

Check out this podcast discussing mining, conservation, superfund projects, Good Samaritan Legislation and trout fishing while sitting on the banks of the Animas River with Jeremy Nolan and Rob Peper of Heads Up Fly Fishing and Ty Churchwell of Trout Unlimited.

November Currents: A voice for Colorado's rivers

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Happy November! As we head into the last bits of fall, check out the latest from CTU. Stories include:

  • Colorado Gives Day: December 8, 2020

  • Despite COVID-19 impacts, youth programming adapts & continues

  • Ballot Measure 7a passes!

  • How to practice a straight cast

  • Rendezvous Recap & Survey

  • Tying the Sparkle Bugger

  • Habitat connectivity helps trout take care of themselves

and more!

Ballot Measure 7a passes

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Dear Trout Unlimited Members and Supporters,

While the nation awaits final election results on a sharply divided vote, Colorado’s western slope voters showed a broad and bipartisan consensus of support for investment in the Colorado River. With approval from more than 70% of voters, Ballot Measure 7A easily passed and will provide much-needed funding to the Colorado River Water Conservation District. The measure was supported by a diverse coalition of interests – including Trout Unlimited.

The voter-approved measure will increase property taxes by a half-mill – or an extra $1.90 per year for every $100,000 of residential home value. While a modest cost for property owners, the measure will provide nearly $5 million annual for the River District to invest in securing western slope water. Funds will be used for projects across five categories: productive agriculture, infrastructure, healthy rivers, watershed health and water quality, and conservation and efficiency.

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TU has partnered with the River District and other local water stakeholders across its boundaries on a range of projects that highlight the benefits the new funding can provide. From agricultural partnerships like those benefiting Tomichi Creek, to healthy river efforts such as restoring fish passage on key Colorado River tributaries like Elk Creek, Trout Unlimited has demonstrated the ways that collaborative water projects can benefit our fisheries, communities, and working lands across the western slope. With the passage of 7A, the River District will be able to continue to build on these partnerships for the benefit of all users within the basin.

In a period of great national divisiveness, it is great to see voters of all stripes joining together to support our Western Slope waters and the River District’s vital role in sustaining them. And Trout Unlimited is proud to be a part of those efforts building common ground around healthy and productive rivers and watersheds across western Colorado. Thank you to all of you who voted for 7A and who have helped support TU in our work to benefit west slope rivers!

Sincerely,

David Nickum

Executive Director, Colorado Trout Unlimited

 

Drew Peternell

Director, Trout Unlimited – Colorado Water Program

Despite COVID-19 impacts, youth programming adapts & continues

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Despite COVID-19 impacts, Colorado TU is excited to share some successes in the Stream of Engagement programming from this fall. The youth education programs faced challenges with many schools operating in new models and group gatherings limited by public health orders. To adapt to these challenges, Colorado Trout Unlimited and chapters across the state stepped up to continue to provide high quality educational experiences focused on water and fisheries conservation. Most notably, CTU is excited to share nearly a dozen Trout in the Classroom (TIC) sites kicked off and four STREAM Girls events were held in September and October.

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This year, 11 TIC sites received trout eggs from CPW in early through mid-October. This included several sites along Colorado’s Front Range, as well as sites in the San Luis Valley and Gunnison Gorge area. Of the 2020-21 TIC sites, chapters are supporting six new locations including one virtual community tank through a partnership between Denver TU and the Greenway Foundation. The 2020-21 TIC sites are listed below with their supporting TU chapters:

  • Academy High School – Denver TU

  • Angler’s Covey – Pikes Peak Chapter TU

  • Arvada West – Denver TU (New Site)

  • Cheyenne Mountain Junior High School – Pikes Peak Chapter TU (New Site)

  • Del Norte Jr/Sr High School – San Luis Valley TU (New Site)

  • Greenway Foundation Community Tank – Denver TU (New VIRTUAL Site)

  • Heaton Middle School – Southern Colorado Greenbacks TU

  • Hotchkiss High School – Gunnison Gorge TU (New Site)

  • Lyons Elementary School – St. Vrain Anglers TU

  • The Classical Academy – Pikes Peak Chapter TU (New Site)

  • Ute Pass Elementary – Pikes Peak Chapter TU

CTU is excited to see follow these TIC sites over the course of the year and hear what students are learning through the program! Additionally, CTU transitioned to raising trout eggs provided by Colorado Parks and Wildlife hatcheries. We hope this will increase the local partnership between sites and the state agency!

In addition to in-school programming with Trout in the Classroom, CTU hosted STREAM Girls programming through four virtual/self-guided events with the support of local chapters. To facilitate these programs, CTU staff and volunteers created and sourced instructional videos to support each of the six STREAM Girls activities. The four STREAM Girls programs engaged 59 girl scouts from across Colorado. After completing the session, Girl Scouts and Leaders have said:

“This is a great program to introduce girls to fly-fishing and knowledge of local streams. It was a well-thought out, self-guided program that covered a great deal of information. We had a fun time doing all of the steps.”

“It was really fun and would like to do it again in person. All the activities were awesome!”

A big THANK YOU goes out to Girls Scouts of Colorado, Pikes Peak Chapter, St. Vrain Anglers, Rocky Mountain Flycasters, Gunnison Gorge Anglers, Grand Valley Anglers, and all of the volunteers who helped support these events! Colorado TU was the first to pilot and host virtual/self-guided STREAM Girls events across all of Trout Unlimited. We are proud to have shared our success and lessons learned

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with TU Headwaters staff and state councils. We look forward to further developing these resources to help support in-person STREAM Girls events in the future!

As we transition into the winter months, CTU will be exploring opportunities to support ongoing engagement among the TU teens. Please reach out to Geoff.Elliot@tu.org, if you have any thoughts or feedback! We are especially interested in input from youth, so feel free to ask friends and family to share their ideas.