Take Action Now to Save the Fraser River and Colorado River Headwaters

To ensure sustained flows and healthy habitat that support fish, wildlife, and local communities, please ask Denver Water and the US Army Corps of Engineers to require mitigation for the Moffat Firming Project.  

Read more about the proposed Moffat Project and how you can go on the record to help save the Fraser River and Upper Colorado River headwaters.

Also, don't forget to join the "Save the Colorado River--Don't Flatline the Fraser" Facebook Group!

Auction Up!

Now you can support CTU when you bid on - or buy - items on eBay, courtesy of the eBay Giving Works program.  Its so easy an angler can do it!

Get your feet wet. Click here to bid or buy.

Are yours the ties that bind? Or do they come unglued under a heavy load? 

Whether you’re a novice or master caster, the annual West Denver TU fly tying clinic is where you need to be, Sat. Feb 13. From 8:30am until 3:00pm, 57 of the west’s finest fly tyers will show off their skills and wares at the Jeffco Fairgrounds (6^th & Indiana).

But there’s more! How about free casting tips from expert flycaster Jonathon Walter? Or fine bamboo rods made by 2009 Bamboo Rod Maker of the year, Alan Kube.

Proceeds benefit the chapter’s conservation and youth education programs, so get out there! Kids 12 and under get in free. The rest of us will ante up $10 – or better yet just 8 bucks if you pick up a discount coupon available at local fly shops.

Chris Wood to Become New CEO of TU

After 18 years, Charles Gauvin is stepping down as Chief Executive Officer ofTrout Unlimited. His successor is Chris Wood, who served most recently as TU’s Chief Operating Officer.

Gauvin will continue as an at-large member of the TU Board of Trustees. When Charles was appointed CEO in 1991, TU had a membership of 50,000, an annual budget of $2.5 million and a one-person conservation staff. Today, TU has 140,000 members, a staff of more than 130 working in states across the U.S., and an annual operating budget of $26+ million. 

Chris Wood has been with TU since 2001, after holding the position of senior policy and communications advisor to U.S. Forest Service chief Mike Dombeck. 

CTU Annual Dinner & Gala:  March 19, Arvada  Center

Let’s Give ‘em the Business

They are the businesses and individual donors who support the CTU auction every year by donating trips, fishing gear and other merchandise, making it possible for us to pursue our mission. They deserve all the support we can give them in return. So click here and save this list on your computer. Use it when you’re trying to decide where to go to take a trip, buy some gear, or need a gift for a special occasion.

Clean, Green and Sometimes Mean

At first splash, hydropower seems like the perfect alternative energy source. It doesn’t pollute, it’s easy to boost power output when you need it, and once you’re finished building a rather expensive facility, the electricity comes pretty cheap.

The fact that it’s so easy to imagine hydropower as “perfect” also makes it easy to overlook some of hydropower’s potentially terrible impacts on rivers, fish and riparian habitats. Read the short list of our concerns

Moffat: It doesn't have to be that way

Drew Peternell, director of TU's Colorado Water Project, recently wrote about Denver's proposed Moffat project in the Denver Post:

"It's true that many conservation groups oppose Denver's Moffat project as it is currently envisioned — and for good reason. Denver already takes 65 percent of the natural flow of the Fraser River. Under the Moffat proposal, Denver would take another 20 percent of the Fraser's water. It's also true, however, that the Moffat project offers an opportunity for Denver to embrace a balanced water solution, one that meets the needs of Denver's citizens while preserving rivers and communities on Colorado's Western Slope."

Read the full story here!

We'll miss you, Charlie

We’re sad to note the passing of Denver Post outdoor writer Charlie Meyers. (left, with Chris Crosby of the Silver Trout Foundation) Charlie was a great writer, committed conservationist and a fine man. It’s hard to imagine picking up the Sunday Post and not seeing his byline, learning about another spot in Colorado you hadn’t been, or feeling great when Charlie told it like it was to the powers that be.

Over the years, Charlie received awards from national TU, CTU and the Silver Trout Foundation, three among what must have been so many. Whatever one’s outdoor proclivities, there was never any doubt that Charlie was "one of us." Read the Denver Post tribute.  We've also set up a tribute page of our own where you can share your thoughts about Charlie Meyers, or read about what others are saying. Click here.

You don't hear much about it nowadays, but whirling disease is still prevalent in western streams - and still being studied for solutions. The recent report, “Whirling Disease in the United States-A Summary of Progress in Research and Management, 2009,” prepared with support from the TU Whirling Disease Foundation is available for download. The report was authored by Leah C. Steinbach Elwell, Kajsa Eagle Stromberg, and Eileen K.N. Ryce.

"We hope the court will direct the Department of Interior to cancel the Roan leases, refund the lease money and consider technological changes that would allow the industry to extract the bulk of the natural gas." Read the full Sentinel editorial.

Need a diversion?

Read Chris Woodka's history of Colorado's transbasin diversions in the Pueblo Chieftain.

New York Times Discovers There's No Place Like Roan

"Standing in a canyon in hilly terrain, [CTU President] 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.... "

Read the rest of the story

Watch the [excellent] NY Tiimes video piece on the Roan

“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.”   Read more

Welcome to the Future of Conservation

Sure, we’ve done a lot of protecting, conserving and restoring over the past 50 years. But we’re still facing the same old threats – stream depletions, haphazard development and invasive species – and a few new ones like climate change. It’s pretty clear we need a 21st Century approach – one that helps determine the best and most timely use of our limited financial and resources. Guess what – we already have it! It’s called the Conservation Success Index and it’s already helping us create conservation strategies for the future. Read more

National TU 50th Anniversary Video Now Available

The 50th Anniversary video, shown at the National Banquet August 22, is available for you to show to your chapters and councils.  Please contact Andy Snyder (asnyder@tu.org) to obtain a copy.

Why Do You Volunteer? Read Paul Prentiss' Reasons Then Tell Us Yours