The River Keeper - 2016 If You Take Care of the Fish, the Fishing Will Take Care of Itself
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THE RIVER KEEPER - 2016 IF YOU TAKE CARE OF THE FISH, THE FISHING WILL TAKE CARE OF ITSELF THE DROUGHT OF 2016 INSIDE THIS ISSUE PROTECTING TROUT IN A CHANGING CLIMATE PRESIDENT’S LETTER PAGE 2 BEN WOOD PROJECT PAGE 3 INTERNSHIP IMPACT PAGE 4-5 UPCOMING EVENTS PAGE 6-7 DOWN WITH DAMS PAGE 8 BUILDING RESILIENCY PAGE 9 VOLUNTEER WORK PAGE 10 A TU COMMUNITY PAGE 11 CHEERS TO YOU PAGE 12 AN ANGLER’S EYE Lawrence Frank, a professional photographer and Mianus TU board member, brings our JEFF YATES PHOTO story to life through images. To say that Lawrence Frank Thirteen inches. In pretty much any standard of has made an impact on the measure, it’s a small amount - a trifle. Mianus Chapter would be to When talking about rainfall however, in a state that diminish the true depth of receives just 50 inches of rain annually, it’s fair to support he has given to our say that being short by thirteen inches is significant. chapter over the years. Long before he joined our As we enter winter still in a state of extreme board of directors, Lawry’s drought, a drought that began in late June and has skills as a photographer gone unabated all summer and fall with mandatory made it easy for us to tell water conservation measures put into effect in our chapter’s story and grow Greenwich, Stamford and Norwalk, the question on our community of members many anglers minds is “Have the trout survived?” While we can hope that this year’s drought was a and volunteers. Let’s start with the short answer - yes, trout have one-time event, the odds are that in this rapidly His ability to capture the survived the drought in all of our local trout changing climate we will see more frequent and true essence of what it streams and in the states larger rivers, like the more severe droughts on a recurring basis and we means to be a TU member, to share a passion for fishing Housatonic and Farmington. Populations have been need to prepare our rivers for them. and conservation, and a love hit hard, many adult fish were lost, and it will take To combat this, our chapter is working to plan for of our local rivers is beyond time for our rivers to recover, for the population a hotter, drier future. In the following pages, you compare. densities to be restored and for fishing to feel more will read how we are planting more trees to shade Thanks to Lawry, we can like normal on many local streams. and cool the rivers, narrowing stream channels to share vibrant images of our A single, prolonged drought can devastate a trout provide deeper low-water refuge pools for trout, members and friends making stream, but it typically does not destroy it. The real removing dams and looking to reduce flooding and sure our rivers are in better threat comes with successive, severe low-water increase the resilience of our rivers. We hope shape for generations to events which diminish multiple generations of trout. you’ll join us in this important work ahead. come. We are lucky to have his support and talent! PRESIDENT’S LETTER CONTACT US DOUBLING DOWN TO PROTECT LOCAL RIVERS OFFICERS One of the best parts of being a PRESIDENT Mianus Chapter member is the Tony Hill - Norwalk [email protected] knowledge that together we are (203) 854-4788 making our local rivers healthier and engaging more area children VICE PRESIDENT in environmental education! Dean Keister - Wilton [email protected] You should all be proud of what (203) 834-1528 you’ve helped make possible in TREASURER this past year. From more than a Jim Bakal - New Canaan mile of stream restored and im- [email protected] proved, to over 1,000 students (203) 966-8685 inspired by our education pro- SECRETARY grams, our impact is strong and Paul Harvey - New Canaan growing! [email protected] Mianus TU President Tony Hill, measures culverts during a training on assessing And while we were as active as (203) 966 - 7608 barriers to fish passage in streams with the state of Connecticut fisheries biologists. ever in our river restoration and youth education projects, this have pitched this plan to major things together. was also a year when we began funders in the region. DIRECTORS In this newsletter, you will find an planning for much bigger things to Milton Buchta - Norwalk All of these planning efforts were envelope to send a donation to Ben Couch - Wilton come. made with an eye towards one Mianus TU. I hope you will join Lawrence Frank - Wilton We conducted flow and tempera- Jim Glowienka - Norwalk goal - to tee-up opportunities for hundreds of others in making a ture analysis on a native brook Jeff Yates - New Milford some major projects in 2017 and contribution - no matter what the trout stream hampered by drink- beyond! size - as all donations go directly ing water withdrawals in the into our important conservation And with your continued sup- hopes of starting a dialogue to and youth education work. port, we will. This year, you con- ABOUT US improve that stream. tributed over 6,000 volunteer What’s more, you can rest as- The Mianus Chapter of Trout We funded sediment sampling hours and donated over $90,000. sured that your donations are Unlimited conserves, protects and behind a dam on the Norwalk leveraged even further by the As an all-volunteer organization, restores the coldwater rivers and River with the expectation of thousands of hours of volunteer accomplishing all that we have, streams in lower Fairfield County. beginning the process of planning effort that go into each and every and growing into a larger and We are a community of anglers its removal with the landowner. project that we take on. who share a passion for fishing more impactful group takes an and protecting the rivers we fish. We assessed the health and habi- incredible amount of time, and Whether you make a financial With more than 600 members tat of more than six-miles of the dedication. We are blessed to contribution to help us grow our living in Greenwich, Stamford, Norwalk River and identified a have so many active volunteers, work in the year ahead, join us at Darien, Norwalk, New Canaan, need for increased deep pools members and supporters that a river cleanup or restoration Ridgefield, Wilton and beyond, and log structures throughout the help drive our work forward. project, or both, thank you for all we lead restoration projects and system. that you do for Mianus TU! cleanup events on local rivers, It is our privilege to be able to promote educational programs in We developed a proposal to share this love of rivers, this deep Tight Lines, schools, host fishing outings for begin reducing polluted storm reverence for trout and this belief Tony Hill members and collaborate on con- water from reaching the river and that we can accomplish great President servation programs across the region. We host free monthly meetings on the second Tuesday VOLUNTEER, LEAD, DONATE - WE NEED YOUR HELP & SUPPORT of the month September through From members stepping forward to pick up trash, plant trees and teach kids to fish and tie flies, to April at Waveny Mansion in New volunteers willing to lead a committee or plan an event - we need all sorts of help to grow our impact Canaan. Doors open at 7 p.m. this coming year. Please consider how you can help Mianus TU do even more in 2017. Then contact us Learn more at: www.mianustu.org and share your idea or offer. In our all-volunteer group, every helping hand is incredibly valuable. 2 The Mianus Chapter of Trout Unlimited • PO Box 475,Wilton, CT 06897 • www.mianustu.org THE BENNETT WOOD STEWARDSHIP FUND HONORING BEN’S LEGACY WITH INAUGURAL PLANTING PROJECT TONY HILL PHOTO The tragic loss of Ben Wood, the Mianus Chapter intern who died in February at the age of 23, left our community reeling and tore a hole in the hope we had all shared for the bright future ahead for a remarkable young man who cared deeply about rivers. Out of the loss, however, Ben’s family had a beautiful vision of a way to honor their son’s life and his passion for conservation. The Bennett Wood Stewardship Fund will help JEFF YATES PHOTO JEFF YATES PHOTO support important river restoration and internship work for decades to come. To date, nearly $60,000 has been raised. In October, the Wood family and more than 100 of their friends and Mianus Chapter members planted over 1,000 native trees and shrubs along the Norwalk River. Not only was the project the first to be funded with the stewardship fund, it was also the last project planned by Ben during his internship. ANNE DOWLING PHOTO ANNE DOWLING PHOTO More than 100 volunteers helped plant over 1,000 native trees and shrubs along the Norwalk River at the YMCA The project, which helped restore over 500 property in Wilton this fall. The project was a poignant event as it completed an effort that started with Ben feet of stream bank, will make habitat better Wood, who planned and designed the restoration as a Mianus Chapter intern prior to his death in February 2015. for the wild brown trout that spawn in the help filter polluted stormwater runoff before students from the local high school across Norwalk River. By stabilizing the riverbank to it reaches the river, improving water quality the street in monitoring and maintaining the prevent erosion, shading the river to keep it not only for the trout, but also for the entire restoration project site and its impacts.