COLORADO RIVER HEADWATERS CHAPTER OF TROUT UNLIMITED
Activities Report
May 1, 2022 to April 30, 2023
The Headwaters Chapter of Trout Unlimited spent $33,190 in this fiscal year cycle on these conservation categories:
Conservation, Science and Monitoring; $4,039
Youth Education $7,336
Community Engagement $4,829
Program Services ( Stream Temperature Awareness etc.) $16,204
Fundraising (Banquet) $13,207
Administration $120
We had a total of 1,228 volunteer hours contributed to the health of Grand Counties rivers and streams in this fiscal year cycle:
Conservation, Science and Monitoring 220 hrs.
Advocacy and Lobbying 286 hrs.
Communication and Engagement 226 hrs
Youth Education 32 hrs.
Fundraising 174 hrs.
Board Operations and Management 290 hrs.
Activities
Projects
In this fiscal year the Headwaters Chapter approved seed money to move the Kaibab Park Stream Channeling project forward. These funds kick started the formation of a Learning by Doing Projects Committee charged with planning and finding grants for their priority projects. Kirk Klancke is a co-chair of this committee which was formed to increase the number of stream channeling projects in Grand County. Because of our seed money, Kaibab Park became their priority project for 2023.
In August we were proud to be at the groundbreaking for the Windy Gap Connectivity Channel and honored to have every one of the guest speakers start their speeches by thanking Trout Unlimited for being the driving force behind the most important project in the restoration of the headwaters of the Colorado River.
We also harvested willows in August that were planted in September by 40 volunteers from the Yale School of Environmental Sciences with Headwaters Chapter guidance.
In October we held a river clean up project that engaged the community and cleaned up 2 miles of the Fraser River.
Education Outreach
Because the future of our rivers is in the hands of the next generation, we made education outreach our largest budget item. Here’s where we spent that money and some of our time:
In June we spent a day with the Grand County 4 H club teaching fly fishing and talking about local river health.
In July we provided river museum tickets to everyone attending the Lions Club pancake breakfast at the Headwater Center. Also in July we spoke at the Water Education Colorado river tour. We also kicked off our Stream Temperature program using social media, newspaper ads and posters to educate fisherpeople when not to fish.
In October we sponsored the showing of a documentary called Watering the West at the Headwaters Center. Also in October we added more funds to go towards free admission for children at the Headwaters Center river museum.
In December, we had a wreath for sale at the Festival of Trees which gave us a chance to interact with our community.
We helped sponsor the West Grand Middle School science classes to attend a 3 day water seminar in February of 2023 which was followed up by a TU Board members classroom visit.
In March we made a donation to the CTU Youth Conservation camp in lieu of not finding a local participant to sponsor. March also had us planning our educational booth for Earth Day.
Advocacy
With 2 Board members working with CTU on legislative matters and another Board member sitting on the Denver Water Citizens Advisory Committee our influence on a State level has grown. In Grand County we have board members on the Grand County Learning by Doing Technical Committee, the LBD Operations Committee, the LBD Projects Committee, the Grand County Water Information Network board, the Grand County Drought Preparedness Plan Committee and the Drought Preparedness Plan Education Committee. We are also active stakeholders in the rewriting of the Grand County Stream Management Plan.
In October we formed a Uintah Basin railway committee to work towards getting environmental protections for the Colorado River in lieu of a proposed additional 350,000 gallons of waxy crude oil to be shipped daily along the Colorado River. By May of 2023 this campaign had made tremendous progress thanks to hundreds of volunteer hours from dedicated board members.
In November we helped fund the Drought Preparedness Plan Education Outreach Committee to help with their education outreach.
In January our Board started working closely with the Headwaters Land Trust and Colorado Parks and Wildlife to put river protections on a land easement that includes 2 miles of the Colorado River.
Stream Monitoring
Each year, we help to fund stream temperature, sediment transport and macroinvertebrate studies to assure that decisions made about our rivers are based on science.
Administration
While we had over 290 volunteer hours to run our organization, our administration expenses were less than .4% of our budget.
None of this work would be possible without the generous financial support that we receive from our community and the many volunteers who help.