The reception is open to all. Drag along a nonsuspecting non-TU member if you like.
The book is a collection of short essays, stories, and poems written by Idaho members of Trout Unlimited. Proceeds from book sales will benefit Idaho Trout Unlimited.
Readers will recognize a couple of famous names among the set of authors. Former Idaho Governor Cecil D. Andrus contributed an essay and will be at the reception.
Another famous writer is the late Ted Trueblood, and the book includes one of his stories on salmon fishing on the Weiser River.
Other local writers who made a contribution include Dan Scott, Perry Marlette, Keith Kiler, John Taylor, Daniel Arguedas, Tom Governale, Roger Phillips, Bill Eastlake, and Andrew Stokes.
Many of the contributors will be at the reception, so please come out to meet them, celebrate their good work and purchase a copy of the book.
NOVEMBER 14 CLUB MEETING PROGRAM
Bear Valley Creek is 110 miles from Boise, and is a headwater tributary to
the Middle Fork Salmon River. Despite the distance, our two clubs have a
long history in the area. In 1991 the Boise Valley Fly Fishermen used an
Adopt-a-Stream grant from Idaho Division of Enviornmental Quality to help
improve the riparian areas impacted from decades of grazing. In 1992 the
Ted Trueblood Chapter of Trout Unlimited began working on riparian projects
on Bear Valley Creek in cooperation with the Boise National Forest.
As the riparian areas have improved the salmon spawning habitat over time, attention recently turned to the resident native fish in the area, in particular the westslope cutthroat trout. In 2000 the Boise National Forest and the Ted Trueblood Chapter received a Trout Unlimited Embrace -a-Stream grant to study migratory behavior of cutthroat trout in Bear Valley Creek.
Caleb Zurstadt from the Forest Service led the cutthroat study and will present a program at the November meeting that tells the story of cutthroat in Bear Valley Creek. In September 2000 scientists and volunteers caught 30 cutthroat trout, implanted radio tags in these fish, and released them back to the stream.
Over the next several months these fish were tracked with radio telemetry equipment from the ground, but significantly from fixed wing aircraft along the Middle Fork Salmon River. Information on cutthroat movement was posted at www.cutthroatradio.com.
Just what happened to these fish during the year makes for an interesting story you will not want to miss. If you ever have fished the Middle Fork Salmon River or Bear Valley Creek you will certainly learn a thing or two about these fish that may help you on your next fishing trip to the area.
Caleb Zurstadt recently moved from the Lowman Ranger District of the Boise National Forest to McCall to work for the Payette National Forest. He coordinated all facets of the study over the past 18 months. Please be sure to welcome our out of town guest.
DIRECTIONS: Garden City City Hall Auditorium, 201 E. 50th Street. Drive west on Chinden Boulevard from downtown Boise. If you get to the Fred Meyer by Glenwood, you've gone too far.
Boise River Side Channel Project Moves Forward
Progress continues on the project to restore a side channel to the Boise
River to restore trout spawning and rearing habitat. The 1/2 mile long side
channel will be constructed along the north side of the Boise River within a
future city park at Harris Ranch, running from just below historic Barber Dam
and reentering the Boise River at Eckert Bridge.
The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation in August approved a $20,000 grant for the project. This grant represents the largest single contribution to date for the project.
Other funding sources on board so far include the City of Boise, the Trout Unlimited Embrace-A-Stream program, and funds from the Ted Trueblood Chapter of Trout Unlimited. In-kind contributions of goods and services from Idaho Department of Fish and Game and Boise Parks and Recreation will also be part of this partnership effort. We are also working with the Army Corps of Engineers to help on planning efforts for the side channel.
Fundraising and planning continues on this project, which will probably cost between $80,000 - $100,000. You can rest assured that volunteers will be needed to see this project become reality.
This project will be very convenient for Boise area member participation with channel restoration activities such as placement of habitat structures and planting vegetation. Stay tuned for future information.
National Convention News
The Trout Unlimited National Convention was held in Portland, Oregon in
August. About 200 people from across the nation attended, including five
people from the Ted Trueblood Chapter. Trueblood Board member Rick Williams
spoke on one of the panels concerning the Columbia River salmon and steelhead
conservation.
For the fourth year in a row Idaho was in on one of the national awards. State Council President Bob Dunnagan received a Distinguished Service Award, given to volunteers who day-in and day-out giver their time and effort to make TU's conservation successes possible.
The national convention was an excellent opportunity for us to meet others who are dedicated to fish conservation efforts across this nation, and to meet the national staff. It was truly impressive to see the great work being done by TU. And it was also nice to be able to brag about all the great fishing we have in Idaho (without being too specific where).
ORGANIZATIONAL CRISIS LOOMS
Previous articles in the newsletter have eluded to the need for more people
to step up and help. Perhaps we have been too subtle. OK then. If we can't
find five people by Christmas to become volunteer leaders the good works of
this Chapter stand a strong chance to dissapate under burnout.
You don't need to hold an office to be a leader. But you could help. Email tutedtrue@aol.com or call Richard at 853-7788 if you are ready to step up and help.
The Ted Trueblood Chapter is a study of sharp contrasts:
At more than 700 members, we doubled our membership over two years ago;
We ended this fiscal year with more money in the bank than ever;
Our signature Trout in the Classroom enters its fourth year;
A half-mile side channel restoration project on the Boise River will soon
commence.
But such good works are not sustainable because the Trueblood Chapter suffers from lack of new blood coming into the ranks. It's up to you to help.
SOUTH FORK SNAKE NEWS
Idaho TUers:
I just wanted to let folks know that Matt Woodard is up and running in Idaho
Falls as our new Project Manager for the South Fork Snake River Home Rivers
Initiative. Matt hit the ground running working with local members and IDFG
on a very successful fish salvage operation last Saturday.
He's spending quite a bit of his time on start-up, but should have a computer
and office within the next couple of weeks to a month, and is getting to know
(or in Matt's case, merely getting re-acquainted with) many of the "players"
in the South Fork Watershed. As soon as he gets settled in, he'll send out a
broadcast email regarding his permanent phone number, email, etc... Until
then, Matt can be reached at 208-523-8048.
Cheers,
Scott Yates
TU's Western Native Fish Guy
Bozeman, MT
Ted Trueblood Chapter News Published 10 times a year.
Editor: Andy Brunelle Comments and articles may be emailed to tutedtrue@aol.com
Ted Trueblood Chapter Idaho Trout Umlimited