The President's Message
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The Monthly Newsletter of the West Denver Chapter of Trout Unlimited, December 3, 2014, Volume 20, No. 1 The President’s Message Reminders If a survey were taken of WDTU members who fshed last 1. The Fly Fishing Show will be held on January 9th year, I would say that more than half fshed the upper through the 11th at the Denver Merchandise Mart. South Park basin. It is the headwaters of the South Platte 2. The International Sportsmen’s Exposition will be held River. It is the source of more than half the drinking water January (the 15th through the18th) at the Colorado of the State’s population. It has many miles of Gold Metal Convention Center. streams and some of the best lake fshing in the State. It is We will need volunteers for both shows. Volunteers get the home of large elk and deer populations as well as free admission and many opportunities to chat with deal- pronghorns and bighorn sheep. ers and other fy fshing enthusiasts. Recently, oil and gas exploration has started here. There For more information call Fred Portillo at (303)467-3890. will be drilling and fracking. The Bureau of Land Manage- ment (BLM) has agreed to a master leasing plan (MPL) for the area before any oil or gas leases are approved. The Wanted: Newsletter Editor MPL will discern potential conficts between interested For almost eight years, I’ve been the editor of the AN- parties and how and where development should and GLERS’ EDGE newsletter. It’s been a fun ride, with a few should not occur. road bumps along the way (along with a few awards). But, Thankfully, there is a grass root movement of concerned I think it’s time to call it quits and turn it over to someone citizens and environmental groups---Colorado Wildlife else. In terms of criteria or requirements needed to take Federation, National Wildlife Federation, and Trout Unlim- over this position, I can list a few: (1) knowledge of at least ited. One of the new groups that has been formed is the one publishing software program; (2) the ability/ motiva- Coalition for the Upper South Park. One of the founders of tion to solicit articles from members of the Chapter; (3) this group, TU’s Arron Kindle, will be our speaker at the the ability to edit other people’s work; (4) the ability to April meeting. He will bring other guests with him to write articles; and (5) the ability to aggressively solicit ad- speak on the future of the Upper South Park. If you fsh, vertising. hunt, live, camp or simply drive through the South Park I was fortunate that I had a spouse (Carolyn) who had ex- area, this is a meeting not to miss. perience with desktop publishing software—I could sim- The December meeting will have Jim Cox from the West- ply hand articles over to her, and she would, magically, ern Rivers Conservancy (WRC). Jim will be inform us on put everything together into a nice little package. If you what is new at WRC, and then talk about fshing for small- can fnd such a partner, so much the better for you. It’s a mouth bass on the John Day River in Oregon. We had Jim fun job---that’s why I stayed with it so long. However, I felt as a guest speaker last year, and he was a big hit. I’m sure I was getting stale and was afraid that staleness would he will be again. start appearing in the newsletter. Someone new can per- Tim Toohey haps inject some new energy and a new perspective into the newsletter. So, if you believe you may be interested in this position and/or know of someone whom you feel ! would be a good candidate, let me know. You can reach me at either 303-830-1609 or at K61L <[email protected]>. Jon Browns Canyon comes to Denver Colorado Sen. Mark Udall has introduced legislation that would designate Browns Canyon a national monument and Submitted by rscholfeld on Fri, 2014-10-31 14:52 protect—for all time—the 22,000-acre backcountry area Check this out: On a beautiful October evening, a crowd and its current mixed uses, which include hunting, fshing, gathered in downtown Denver to watch Browns Canyon hiking, camping, mountain biking, off-highway vehicle use, come alive on the façade of the McNichols Building, in an grazing, and horseback riding. Besides preserving vital fsh eye-popping display of light and images. The Oct. 17 event, and wildlife habitat, the monument designation would also called “Browns Canyon Live,” was sponsored by Sportsmen be an economic boon for the Arkansas River valley and the for Browns Canyon, a grassroots coalition of hunters and state, which depend on tourism and recreation dollars. anglers committed to preserving Browns Canyon as a na- The group also paid for two billboards along I-70 through tional monument. Here’s a recap video of the event: Denver from early September until the frst week of No- The group also recently bought billboards along I-70 as vember. One billboard features a striking image of an an- part of a larger campaign to raise public awareness in Den- gler fshing in the canyon, and another shows the canyon ver about Browns Canyon and the need to protect it. awash in a starry nightscape, with the message: “Monu- mental: Protect Browns Canyon.” The billboard messages “We just want to keep Browns Canyon the way it is—pris- will reach an estimated 180,000 people a day who travel tine and wild,” said Kyle Perkins of Trout Unlimited, who is this major east-west corridor. “We’re getting the word out: coordinator of the group. “Our goal with the video event We have to protect this place or risk losing it,” said Perkins. was to visually bring this amazing place to the heart of downtown Denver. We wanted urban residents to experi- For more information, go to ence some of the grandeur and awe of Browns and to sup- <www.sportsmenforbrowns.com>. port our efforts to protect it for future generations.” ! The group approached Ghost Pixel Visuals, a Denver group ____________________________________ of 3-D visual artists, motion designers, and music dj’s that create cutting edge, one-of-a-kind live “projection map- Guest Speaker for December---Jim Cox ping” events. Ghost Pixel’s multimedia artists combined Jim Cox is Director of Donor Relations for Western Rivers video and images of Browns Canyon with other light and Conservancy (WRC). He will be making a presentation enti- music effects and digitally mapped the exterior of the Mc- tled “Saving Rivers and Fishing Oregon’s Wild and Scenic John Day River.” Since 1988, WRC has protected more than Nichols building to create the live performance. 60 rivers in seven western states. The frst few minutes of Browns Canyon, on the Arkansas River between Buena the presentation will be an update on a few of WRC’s cur- Vista and Salida, has long been a favorite destination for rent projects across the west to protect and conserve vital hunters and anglers. The rugged granite cliffs and back- river ecosystems and to provide compatible public access. country provide critical habitat for elk, bighorn sheep, mule The bulk of the program will focus on fy fshing the Wild deer, mountain lion and black bear. And each year, thou- and Scenic John Day River in north central Oregon for its sands of rafters and anglers foat the upper Arkansas River world-class smallmouth bass fshery and its excellent run of through Browns. The canyon section is an outstanding wild wild summer steelhead. WRC was instrumental in helping create the new Cottonwood Canyon State Park on the John trout fshery that was recently designated Gold Medal sta- Day that opened in September, 2013. We hope to see you tus by the state of Colorado—part of the longest stretch of there. Gold Medal waters in the state. December Guest Fly Tier---Robby Capps WDTU General Calendar There’s a relatively new fy shop in the metro area—the Dec 2014 RISE, located on 12th Street in Golden. And, we’re fortu- nate to have the RISE’s fshing manager, Robby Capps, as 3 Tying Corner & Welcoming 6:30pm our guest fy tier for this month. As of this writing, Robby Speaker: Jim Cox, West. Rivers Conserv. wasn’t sure what he would be tying for us on December 8 Board Meeting, Room 300 CSM 3rd, but you can be assured that it’s going to be an en- 12 Christmas Party!!! lightening evening, for he’s an excellent tier. In fact, he See Page Xz was one of our fy tiers at our Fly Tying Clinic last year which featured about 60 of the best tiers in the Rocky ! Mountain region. You might want to arrive a little early Jan 2015 (i.e., 6:15-6:30) to get a good spot to see Robby work his 7 Tying Corner/Welcome 6:30 PM magic. Speaker: Pat Dorsey, Blue Quill 9-11 Fly Fishing Show-Denver Merchandise Mart 12 Board Meeting 7:00 PM, 300 HH, CSM* Volunteers Needed for River Watch 17 CTU Board Meeting 15-18 ISE-Denver Convention Center The River Watch program, under the auspices of the Divi- sion of Parks and Wildlife, is designed to monitor the wa- ! ter quality of various watersheds in the State. WDTU par- Feb 2015 ticipates in this program on a stretch of Clear Creek in the 7 Chapter Meeting Golden area.