Truchas Chapter TU News

Brian O'Keefe will be Guest Speaker at Truchas Chapter Annual Banquet, April 10, 2010

noreply@blogger.com (J. Salas) — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 12:55:00 +0000

If you've seen cover photos on Field & Stream; Outdoor Life; Fly Fisherman; Fly, Rod and Reel; Fly Fishing Salt Waters; Fly and Fish Magazine; Outside Magazine and Mens Journal, then you've probably seen some of Brian O'Keefe's work.

A fly fisher from a very early age, Brian has traveled the world in search of good fish and for the past twenty years, great photos. He is a master level certified fly casting instructor (FFF), dynamic speaker, and a tackle rep for Scientific Anglers in Washington, Oregon and Alaska. We are very pleased he will be visitng from his home territory in Oregon to be speaker at our annual Banquet.

Expect great raffle and silent auction prizes, good food and excellent company. Stay tuned: We'll have more on Banquet plans as they develop.

TCYEP at Fenton Lake for Free Fishing Day

noreply@blogger.com (J. Salas) — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 14:26:00 +0000

Join us September 25th (Friday) and 26th (Saturday) at Fenton Lake
9 am to 4 pm NMDGF Hunting & fishing Event at Fenton Lake.
Shooting,Archery, and fishing.

Saturday is free fishing day.

For more information contact at 505-603-7952

Postponed Peralta project now scheduled for May 30-31

noreply@blogger.com (J. Salas) — Wed, 20 May 2009 23:12:00 +0000

Plan to come on May 30 and 31 to New Mexico Trout's annual volunteer barbeque and volunteer project weekend. This year it will be on Peralta Creek, a beautiful little Jemez mountain creek that flows through a lush canyon south of NM Highway 4. Peralta is home to a population of native Rio Grande Cutthroat trout and the Jemez District of the forest service has made restoration and protection of the creek one of its top priorities for this year.

The snow and mud that forced changing the original date are gone and the weather should be great for the 30th and 31st. If you cant make both days, come to either one, well have plenty for you to do and youll learn an area you might not know about.

We need lots of NM Trout volunteers for this project to work on the following:

Construct bollard fence around the parking lot that will define end of road for vehicles
Build elk fence riparian exclosure
Pile trees that were cut for meadow restoration - possibly jackstraw them near the stream to limit cattle access
With enough volunteers, possibly building livestock exclosure fences
Possible willow planting if the forest service has the materials in time

The club will provide an excellent streamside barbeque lunch for Saturday (leftovers on Sunday). The Forest Service will reserve a loop at the Jemez Falls campground for members who want to camp Friday and/or Saturday nights.

We will put out a final notice next week to give directions and to ask you to RSVP so we can plan the food and the number of reserved camping spots.

Spring Pecos River Cleanup, Saturday, May 30th

noreply@blogger.com (J. Salas) — Thu, 14 May 2009 01:49:00 +0000

On Saturday, May 30th the Upper Pecos Watershed Association is having its annual Spring Pecos River Cleanup. The event is being sponsored by the Truchas Chapter of Trout Unlimited, U.S. Forest Service, Tas no Mas and the New Mexico Department of Game & Fish. Volunteers will meet at the UPWA office located at 78 S. Main Street in Pecos (La Paz Plaza) at 8:30am for coffee & pastries and to get assignments. The Cleanup is from 9:00am – 12:00pm and following the Cleanup, from 12:00 – 2:00 pm, there will be a free barbeque picnic at the Jamie Koch Pavilion. There will be prizes for the volunteers and a bucket raffle with some really great items (tickets $1). For more information, or to make a charitable donation, please call the UPWA office at (505) 757-3600 or email upwa@cybermesa.com. Hope to see you there!

Click here for more information

Comanche Creek Volunteer Weekend, August 21-23, 2009 (tentative)

noreply@blogger.com (J. Salas) — Sun, 10 May 2009 10:58:00 +0000

The weekend of August 21-23, 2009 (tentative) has been selected for a free hands-on restoration workshop in the Valle Vidal this summer. The primary focus of the workshop will be placing in-stream structures along the upper reach of Comanche Creek to protect severely eroded banks. If time and number of volunteers permit, we may also work on maintaining grazing exclosures to protect woody vegetation and planting willow cuttings.

We are hoping for a large volunteer turnout this year. Volunteer help is especially important this year given the US Fish & Wildlife Service announced that the Rio Grande cutthroat trout (RGCT) be formally proposed for protection under the Endangered Species Act. The EPA grants that have helped fund this project in recent years have ended. However, the Truchas Chapter has received a TU Embrace-A-Stream grant to help fund this year’s work to restore RGCT habitat. This grant will require our matching the funds received with volunteer in-kind labor. So this year more than ever we need you to volunteer to help continue TU’s efforts with this multiyear project.

This is a great opportunity to learn first-hand about stream restoration from professionals. You can also view the fish barrier TU helped fund a couple of years ago. (NM Game & Fish hopes to be able to reintroduce pure RGCT to Comanche Creek above the barrier this summer.) After working on the creek, you can take the opportunity to fish for rainbows, cutthroats, and cutbows in the Rio Costilla or for 20” rainbows in Shuree Ponds. Please consider staying for the weekend and enjoying the beautiful Valle Vidal while helping to restore RGCT habitat. As in the past, the USFS will allow us to camp for free near the lodge at Shuree Ponds Friday and Saturday nights.

If you are interested in volunteering for this project, please contact Art Vollmer by phone at 505-476-6004 (days) or 505-474-1495 (evenings).

TU Regional Meeting, May 8-9, 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Karen Denison) — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 02:46:00 +0000

The New Mexico Council of TU is hosting a Southwest-Rocky Mountain Regional Meeting on May 8 and 9 at Hotel Santa Fe in Santa Fe. TU volunteer leaders from eight states will attend two days of presentations and discussions on the future of TU, the relationship between TU national and TU chapters, how to improve TU's youth programs, and how to make TU's science research usable by TU chapters.

Several senior TU national staff members will attend the meeting, including the Vice President for Western Conservation, the Vice President for Volunteer Operations, and TU's Senior Scientist. Altogether, we expect about 30 to 35 people at the meeting.

All TU members are welcome to attend the meeting. There is a registration fee of $150 per person. For more information, contact Kevin Reilly or Bill Schudlich.

Annual Banquet March 21st

noreply@blogger.com (Karen Denison) — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 15:42:00 +0000

Author: Bob O'Connor
Article reprinted from February newsletter

Dave Whitlock, world-renowned author, teacher, illustrator and fly tyer extraordinaire, is the keynote guest speaker for the 2009 Truchas Chapter Annual Banquet on Saturday, March 21st.

Dave Whitlock, as most of you know, is an expert on trout and the aquatic foods that make up their diet. As one of the sport's leading fly tyers, Dave is also expert at creating innovative new fly patterns and casting presentations to imitate the naturals that are the key to success on any water.

Dave's program this year is EL SALTAMONTES: A CHILEAN HOPPER PARADISE as he takes us on an entertaining slide tour of Chile. It's a visual feast that includes the dramatic flight over the Andes, a stop at Puerto Montt, views of the mountains, the ranch, the alpaca, the local gauchos and the ox-drawn carts as well as some of the most exciting and explosive hopper fishing you can imagine.

Please take note. Unlike years past, the Banquet will be held at the Inn and Spa at Loretto (not at the Santa Fe Hilton). Cocktails will start with an open cash bar at 6:00 pm. Dinner will be served promptly at 7:00 pm with Dave Whitlock beginning his talk and slide show presentation around 8:00 pm as dessert is being served.

The Banquet is our primary annual fund-raising event to support projects throughout the year. As always, there will be plenty of silent auction items including exclusive guided fishing trips, artwork, jewelry, custom-made fly rods and other fishing equipment. We will also have the ever-popular Checkerboard Auction as a separate bid item. And for the first time, we will hold a live-auction at the Banquet to allow this year's guests to bid on the spot for a very unique fly fishing excursion.

See more on our website on our Annual Banquet page.

Rio Grande Gorge Trout Stocking

noreply@blogger.com (Karen Denison) — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 15:39:00 +0000

Scheduled for March 4, 2009

As in years past, our friend Eric Frey at New Mexico Department of Game and Fish is asking for volunteers to help with transplanting trout into the Rio Grande Gorge. New this year is that they will be transplanting 3-4-inch Rio Grande Cutthroat Trout rather than Brown Trout fry.

From Eric: For those of you that have volunteered in the past it all will be the same. We will pack the fish in plastic containers or bags onto frame backpacks and hike them into the Wild and Scenic portion of the Rio Grande. The hike (down, stocking, and back up) normally takes about 3 to 4 hours. Volunteers should plan to bring warm clothes, good hiking boots, and water. I will have plenty of frame packs, fish, and water containers. We will plan to meet at the La Junta trailhead at 10 AM on March 4. To get to the trailhead from Questa: go north about 3 miles on NM522, then turn west (left) onto NM378 through Cerro. Follow 378 into the BLM Wild and Scenic Area and follow the road to the La Junta trailhead.

For questions or more information, contact Eric at eric.frey@state.nm.us.

TU's Silver Trout Award

noreply@blogger.com (Karen Denison) — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 22:44:00 +0000

Author: Kevin Reilly, V.P.
Article reprinted from November newsletter

At Trout Unlimited’s annual meeting in September, Truchas Chapter was awarded the “Silver Trout” Award. This award is given to the chapter or chapters which have made the most noteworthy contributions to the cause of coldwater conservation. This year, the competition for the award was particularly strong, with over thirty chapters nominated for the award and the related Gold Trout Award. One chapter won the Gold Trout, and two—including our chapter—won the Silver Trout.

Our chapter won because of its strong support for Rio Grande Cutthroat Trout restoration efforts and for our great working relationship with the state and federal agencies involved in those efforts. Our chapter’s nomination was supported by glowing letters from the U.S. Forest Service, the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and TU national staff. Corbin Newman, the Regional Forester of the Southwest Region of the Forest Service, wrote that “the outstanding efforts of the Truchas Chapter enabled the Forest Service to plan and implement on-the-ground projects for many miles of coldwater streams and to conserve native New Mexican trout.”

For those of us active in the chapter, our real reward is seeing the projects we’re involved with getting done on the ground, but awards such as the Silver Trout are a reminder that, despite the frustrations we all feel from time to time, our efforts are making a difference.