Category Archives: Conservation

The Greenbacks Present Low & Clear

  By kyleindenver | 26 November, 2012 - 6:25 pm | ,
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The Greenbacks TU group out of Colorado will hold the premier of Low & Clear this Thursday, November 29th at 7pm. Join us at the Oriental Theater, and get there early so you can grab a beer, meet and greet, and also get your raffle tickets for some great donations from our sponsors. This is an exclusive event, and we’re selling fast, so if you want to join the party, get your tickets HERE.

A documentary film by Tyler Hughen and Kahlil Hudson

During a winter flyfishing trip to Canada, two old friends, J.T. Van Zandt and Alex “Xenie” Hall, learn they’ve have grown apart in more ways than one.  J.T., the thoughtful even-keeled son of a songwriting legend believes there’s more to fishing than catching fish.  Short-tempered Xenie, a “firewood salesman,” sees it differently and fishes like it’s a race against the clock.  Their different approaches to fishing and life emerge and clash on the snowy river banks and damp hotel rooms of British Columbia in this true story of a friendship stretched to the breaking point.  An exploration of life in the disappearing wilderness of the West, Low & Clear unfolds with moments of humor and pathos, success and failure, as J.T. and Xenie find themselves on a fishing trip that could be their last.

EVENT DETAILS

Low and Clear will be showing at the The Oriental Thursday, November 29th.

Doors Open at 6:00

Tickets are $16.50 and should be purchased online at our Event Page.

If you are interested in learning more about the group please email info@thegreenbacks.org

As an added bonus – for every donation $100 or over, you’ll receive a limited edition Greenback Sweatshirt!

Additional science justifies action in Bristol Bay…

  By kyleindenver | 9 November, 2012 - 2:41 pm |
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From our friends at Save Bristol Bay:

By Shoren Brown

Today marked the long awaited release of the written summary of the peer review panel that took place in Anchorage back in August. To refresh your memory – this is an independent review of EPA’s science work and threat assessment of the Pebble mine.

Despite the fact that the Pebble partnership has continually tried to cast the EPA in a negative light, the document EPA released today continues the existing trend of the EPA’s work on Pebble mine – with a transparent process and good science.  That is why sportsmen, commercial fishermen and Alaska Native groups and corporations continue to support the work that EPA is conducting to figure out what long-term impacts would result from digging one of the largest open pit mines on the planet.

Here are a few choice quotes from the Peer Review document:

“…Make no mistake, we cannot have both mining and productive salmon stocks in the Bristol Bay watershed…”

“There is no question that a mine, especially of the type and magnitude analyzed in the Assessment, could have significant impacts and that if these impacts are not or cannot be properly managed and/or mitigated, the consequences could be profound.”

“The potential risks and impacts are fairly and succinctly stated. Given the extremely long-term nature of the projected Pebble project, and the irreversible changes which would be imposed to the region, the risks seem, if anything, understated.”

Try as Pebble might to spin this into a science controversy, the bottom line is this: the facts and the science are clear and no one has called EPA’s findings into question. In fact, EPA has done due diligence and at the request of these independent scientists, has provided even more information.

From the sound of it – we will be hearing more from EPA in the comings months.  For now – all you Bristol Bay faithful out there – please keep up the pressure on the President to protect Bristol Bay.

Shoren Brown is the Bristol Bay campaign director for Trout Unlimited.

 

1,000 Miles…

  By kyleindenver | 10 October, 2012 - 11:23 pm |
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1,000 miles of re-built fishable water – ONE THOUSAND MILES? That’s more from Denver to Oklahoma City (boomer sooner). That’s more from Denver to Bozeman! In other words, it takes a full day drive to cover that many miles.

So, I ran across this 1,000 Miles Campaign where TU and Orvis have teamed up to help restore and cultivate projects that are crucial from the east coast to the west. It’s designed to open streams blocked by culverts and restore fish habitat. And this includes everything from Brook Trout to Cutthroat to Salmon. Sounds like a good idea to me.

The kicker is that Orvis (and it’s commitment to donating 5% of it’s pre-tax revenue) has promised to match up to $90,000 dollars for each donation. Yep, put down $5, and they’ll match it. Put down 25k, and they’ll put down 25k. If I win the lottery tomorrow, I’m matching them, and putting up $90,000. For now, it might be a little less, but I’ll help.

See the Orvis 1,000 Miles Campaign here, read the information, and be sure to donate to the cause here.

Re-thinking Native Trout

  By kyleindenver | 27 September, 2012 - 12:19 pm |
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Courtesy Field & Stream

Quite the news this week, as a study surfaced about native Greenback Cutthroat trout in Colorado. The truth comes out in Kirk Deeter’s piece on Field & Stream. The Denver Post has an article on it, but fear not, Colorado Trout Unlimited is on the move. And Chapters are already grabbing shovels.

I’ve caught (what I thought were) Greenbacks in RMNP, but apparently these are now going to be renamed – interesting. I caught cutthroats in Bear Creek years ago, so maybe those were Greenbacks. It’s puzzling, but hey, the best science was out there at the time – now we’re learning more. These other Cutthroat strains are still admired, and should be, as they still can’t be found anywhere else (that I know of). Let’s work to get these native Greenbacks in Bear Creek protected and thrive.

From the Greenback Cutthroat Recovery Team:

New genetic research led by two University of Colorado scientists has produced several fascinating discoveries about Colorado’s native cutthroat trout – including the location of the last surviving wild population of the federally protected greenback cutthroat trout.

The research project, led by Drs. Jessica Metcalf and Andrew Martin, analyzed DNA extracted from wild trout and from museum specimens collected from sites around Colorado and New Mexico as far back as 1857. Researchers used the genetic data from the museum samples as a baseline for understanding the current distribution of Colorado’s cutthroat trout. The study was published Sept. 24 in the journal Molecular Ecology.
Based on their analysis, Metcalf and her coauthors conclude that the only population of true greenback cutthroat trout survives today in Bear Creek, a small tributary of the Arkansas River west of Colorado Springs. Further research suggested that the greenbacks, the native cutthroat of the South Platte, were likely stocked in Bear Creek in the early 1880s.
“We’ve known for some time that the trout in Bear Creek were unique,” said Doug Krieger, senior aquatic biologist for Colorado Parks and Wildlife and the Greenback Cutthroat Trout Recovery Team leader. “But we didn’t realize they were the only surviving greenback population.”

Read more here.

 

What’s your thoughts on this? I’ve heard many.