COLORADO RIVER HEADWATERS CHAPTER OF
TROUT UNLIMITED
Accomplishments
Fiscal Year April 30 2021 to May 1 2022

Projects:

Because TU is a roll up your sleeves and get it done organization, the Headwaters Chapter had over 368 volunteer hours spent on projects this FY year plus project expenses.

Our Chapter is presently pushing 3 new stream channeling projects through the Learning By Doing process. 2 of these are on the Fraser River and 1 is on Ranch Creek.

In May of 2021 we harvested over 1K willow stakes that were planted on the Fraser Flats in June. 

In July of 2021 we conducted our stream temperature program. This program included posters, News ads and distributing key chain thermometers with temperature information on them. 

In October of 2021 we partnered with Colorado Parks and Wildlife to do a river cleaning project on the Kemp-Breeze Unit.

The main project focus in the headwaters of the Colorado River for National TU, Colorado TU and the Headwaters Chapter of TU is the Windy Gap Connectivity Channel. In February of 2022 we conducted a letter writing campaign during the public comment period for the Environmental Assessment. Several Board members also attended the public hearing.

In April of 2022 we partnered with Colorado Parks and Wildlife to harvest over 1K willow stakes and 200 cottonwood stakes to be planted in conjunction with CPW’s Kemp-Breeze Unit stream channeling project. 

Education Outreach:

We believe that the best tool for saving rivers is an educated public. Because of this, our chapter spent over 266 volunteer hours this FY plus funding for education outreach.

Some of these volunteer hours were spent keeping up our website, our Instagram account and keeping up our email communications. Other volunteer hours were spent on filming 2 different documentaries, public speaking engagements, and writing news articles.

In May of 2021 several Board members gave fly fishing lessons to Highschool students. The instruction equipment that we have invested in was used for this class.

In June of 2021 we assisted the Grand County Water Information Network with Water Science days.

In August of 2021 we held the Healthy Rivers Concert to educate and to distribute tickets to the Headwaters River Journey River Museum. 

In November of 2021 we purchased bulk river museum tickets to distribute to volunteers that work on our projects, fishing guides and other members of the public that we feel are important to help spread the river conservation word.

In April of 2022 we manned an educational booth at the Earth Day event at the Headwaters Center. The theme of our booth was the importance of Macroinvertebrates as an indicator species. Live bugs were on display. 

Advocacy:

We had over 137 volunteer hours devoted to advocacy in this FY. 

We had Board members who sat on Colorado Trout Unlimited’s Legislative committee, on Denver Water’s Citizen Advisory committee, on Learning By Doing’s Technical committee, on the LBD Operations committee, on the Grand County Water Information Network Board and on the Drought Preparedness Plan committee. All of these volunteer hours are spent so that we can be more effective in our efforts to protect and restore our local rivers.

Stream Monitoring:

Because the future of our rivers need to depend on science and not politics, we spend a large portion of our budget on monitoring the health of our local rivers. Last year over $12K was spent for this purpose. We helped fund sediment transport studies, macroinvertebrate counts, stream temperature monitoring and a real time temperature gauge on the Fraser River at County Road 83. We also helped fund a scientist to represent Trout Unlimited on the LBD Monitoring Committee.

Administration:

We are an all volunteer organization. Donations to the Headwaters Chapter come with no administration costs. Our Board had over 255 hours of volunteer time to keep the wheels of this machine well oiled. Time was spent at Board meetings, writing our strategic plan, updating our bylaws, organizing projects and fundraising. 

None of this work would be possible without the generous financial support that we receive from our community and the many volunteers who help.