Get-A-Grant, Embrace-A-Stream
Trout Unlimited is accepting Embrace-A-Stream grant applications for eligible coldwater fisheries conservation projects. Last year, EAS provided $170,000 for nearly thirty projects that contributed to water and habitat quality improvements, native fish restoration, instream flows, youth education, fish population research, and chapter and council capacity building.
A section of the TU website is dedicated to the EAS program: it contains information on past grant recipients, an example of a highly-ranked past application, application instructions and forms. Note that applicants must contact their regional EAS representative by November 17, prior to filing an application by the December deadline.
National TU will host two Embrace-A-Stream online training sessions - October 15 at 10 am [MT] and November 19, at 6pm [MT]. You must sign-up in advance for these sessions by emailing Beverly Lane [blane@tu.org].
Go to the TU Embrace-A-Stream page
The Colorado Conservation Summit Starts Monday, Oct 6!
Our wildlife and habitat are increasingly at risk from population growth, development, resource extraction and climate change. Numerous organizations are working on minimizing and preventing those impacts, but let's face it, we're not on the same page. The first Colorado Conservation Summit will begin to build a cooperative framework to preserve our wildlife and habitat over the course of the next 50 years.
More than 50 sportsmen's, environmental, agricultural, ranching and outdoor recreation groups have agreed to support the Conservation Summit, and government agencies on the local, state and national levels are providing technical assistance on complex issues.
Shouldn't you be there?
Click here for more about the Summit's Goals and links to the Summit home page
If you've tried previously to read the article below but could not access it, we apologize. The problem is resolved and the link is now working properly.
Udall and Schaffer - One on One
On November 4th, Coloradans will choose their next U.S. Senator. The major candidates are U.S. Rep. Mark Udall, (D-District 2) of Boulder, and former Rep. Bob Schaffer (R-District 4) of Fort Collins. Colorado Trout Unlimited submitted questions to both candidates on topics that included oil and gas exploration, the national debt, the endangered species act and their legislative priorities should they be elected. Read the candidates' responses.
TU Chapters across the country reported 618,510 volunteer hours last year. At the federal government's estimated hourly rate for volunteers, that's $11.6 million!
Fishing club – or conservation organization?
We've been kicking that question around for a long time. Most agree we're a little of both, but how much of either is where we don't always see eye to eye. An online survey of TU members earlier this year dug a little deeper into how we think about our mission and our organization. click here to see the survey
TU Chapters collectively generated $7.5 million in 2007
Oil and Gas Conservation Commission Backpedals on Setbacks
Imagine going into your back-cast, only to wrap your leader around a drilling rig. It could happen - if industry gets its way. In an editorial published in the Grand Junction Sentinel, CTU's John Woodling tells why the Colorado Oil and Gas Consdervation Commission needs to re-instate a 300 foot buffer proposal that was rescinded in the face of industry opposition.
Read John Woodling's column
CTU Files Suit Challenging BLM's Roan Plateau Plan
With BLM scheduled on August 14 to lease the entire Roan Plateau for natural gas development, CTU and nine other wildlife, recreation, and conservation groups have filed suit in Federal District Court challenging the BLM's Roan Plan and lease sale. Represented by Earthjustice and Western Resource Advocates, the groups have challenged BLM for multiple violations of the National Environmental Policy Act, Federal Land Policy and Management Act, and Clean Air Act. The suit became necessary when BLM repeatedly refused to consider alternatives that allowed for development of the Roan's natural gas without harming the valuable wildlife and cutthroat trout habitats atop the Plateau. Read more.
CTU Fights to Protect Streams in State Oil & Gas Rulemaking
The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission is in the midst of a rulemaking process to establish new protections for wildlife resources in their regulations on oil and gas development. Industry has launched an all-out assault on the rules, with full page ads and mass mailings across the state. Now streams are at risk, as the Commission's staff is proposing to roll back buffer strip requirements that initially were intended for all Colorado waters. Under their new proposal, only 5% of Colorado's rivers would be protected by setback requirements that keep oil and gas development a safe distance from the water. Read more.
Water Users, CTU Join to Support Historic Trout Restoration Project
After years of legal battling over "bypass flows" for Long Draw Reservoir, CTU and the reservoir's operator, Water Supply and Storage Company, have joined to support a mitigation program that would restore greenback cutthroat trout to 45 miles of river in the Poudre headwaters. Stretching across multiple streams in two wilderness areas and Rocky Mountain National Park, the project would be the largest native trout restoration effort in Colorado history. Read more.
New State Policy Means More Wild Trout Waters Are on the Way
The Colorado Wildlife Commission adopted a new Wild Trout and Gold Medal waters policy that include - in the words of the Daily Sentinel's Dave Buchanan, "much-needed changes that may see more waters added to the list of the state’s most productive fisheries...." The changes were developed through a cooperative effort between Division of Wildlife staff and CTU leaders. Read more. or Click here to read the June 28 Grand Junction Sentinel article.
Black Canyon Settlement to Restore More Natural Flows
Trout Unlimited and a coalition of seven other conservation groups recently announced a settlement to water court proceedings quantifying a federal reserved water right for the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. The agreement among the groups, water users, the State of Colorado, and the United States will provide a more natural flow regime for the Park and benefit its aquatic resources including the Gold Medal trout fishery. After more than 30 years, the agreement resolves one of Colorado's most contentious water issues. Read more.
Where TU Stands on Access Over the past six months, a lot has been said and written about TU’s position on public access to streams. Some of it has even been accurate. But a resolution – if not reconciliation – on the access issue was reached at TU’s national meeting in September. CTU’s national leadership council representative sorts it out. Read More.