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Committed to
Protecting, Connecting and Restoring
Arizona's watersheds and fisheries
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Message from the President
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Welcome to the November Newsletter. This month marks the beginning of the holiday season with Thanksgiving just four-weeks away. We look forward to this time to be with family and friends. Perhaps the best way to spend time with friends is on the water. Several of us just returned from the San Juan River in New Mexico, where the Autumn angling is spectacular both in the fishing itself as well as the visual delight of the brilliant cottonwood trees. We have a number of updates we wanted to share Updates:
The Arizona Republic published a great 3-part series on the Colorado River between Glen Canyon and Hoover Dams entitled An Unnatural Wonder. They also did a video about the canyons, covering many of our interests and activities. The newspaper articles may be found here. And here is the link for the video
Public Policy Committee fka Legislative committee is monitoring several ongoing actions that have the potential to directly impact the state of our cold-water fisheries in Arizona. Read More
Nate Reese, TU Staff, shares some pictures of some recent conservation activities: Conducting habitat surveys and placing temperature loggers with the AZGFD on Frye creek; and Stocking 125 Gila trout on Chase Creek. See photos here.
Youth Fly Fishing Workshop: The program is evolving and expanding its outreach to others in the community. Please look for more to come with this exciting project.
Volunteer Training: ZGTU members Doug Bobb, Bill Laudenschlager and I spent a weekend of training with the Boy Scouts at their Camp R_C, near Payson. This train-the-trainer program gave us the tools for working with and recruiting additional angler instructors, and deliver the requisite training and education to adult scouters. The weekend also gave us an opportunity to "scout" portions of Christopher Creek and the Camp R_C fishing pond. The pond looks like an excellent conservation project. Stay tuned for more information.
Trout In the Classroom: The best guestimate for Egg delivery is now the last week of November, see Jim Walker's article for more information.
Please join us for our November board meeting
Thursday, November 1, 20187:00 - 8:45 PM
Bass Pro Shop
1133 North Dobson Road Mesa, AZ 85201 If you would prefer to attend via teleconference, please contact me at president@zanegreytu.org
And please stay tuned for exciting events coming up soon. Until then...
Tight Lines,
Alan Davis
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| Angler Nets a fish at Lee's Ferry |
See the
Arizona Republic's
article and
video.
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Don't Skip This Article!
Are you good at herding cats? Do you speak English fairly well? Is spell-check your best friend? Do you have a good sense of humor? Then you are the perfect person to help edit the Zane Grey monthly newsletter. You don't have to write the stories, you just
need
to remind others to get you their copy. The editor then massages the stories and puts them into place. Easy peasy.
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TU IN ACTION
Scenes from recent conservation activities
Fry Creek
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| Near the Chase Ck distribution |
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Trout-In-The-Classroom -- Egg Delivery Delayed
As reported last month, and much to the disappointment of the classrooms, the volunteers, and Arizona Game and Fish Department we learned Ennis (MT) National Fish Hatchery is delaying the trout egg shipment by about a month. The best "guestimate" from Arizona Game and Fish Department is late November, probably the week after Thanksgiving.
We'll be sure and let you know the new school "Delivery Day" for November
During the delay, we encourage the schools ensure the equipment, water and students are ready for the eggs and fish food delivery.
It is not too late to sign up to be a volunteer and deliver eggs in November to a participating school.
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Zane Grey TU Public Policy Committee
The Public Policy Committee fka Legislative committee is monitoring several ongoing actions that have the potential to directly impact the state of our cold-water fisheries in Arizona.
Key issues we are following:
- Land-Water Conservation Fund: The LWCF is a valuable program that for over 50 years has provided federal funds generated from off-shore oil and gas royalties to support conservation of public land and water assets. Congress did not renew the authorization for the program this year, and the program officially expired on September 30. House Bill 502, with Arizona Congressman Raul Grijalva as lead sponsor, would permanently reauthorize the LWCF and provide guaranteed annual funding. This bill passed from the House Natural Resources Committee in September 2018 and is awaiting action by the full House. A similar bill passed from the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee in early October 2018.
- Expanded Non-native Aquatic Species Management Plan in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area and Grand Canyon National Park: The 30-day comment period for public comments on the current draft of the plan closed on October 11. Thanks in large part to input from many TU members who attended public meetings, participated in a webinar, and submitted written comments, the latest version of the plan proposed a tiered response with a decreased emphasis on electroshocking, which reduces potential threats to the rainbow trout fishery. The National Park Service will now evaluate input and release a final plan and decision document to the public before the end of the year.
- Colorado River Drought Contingency Plan: Current projections show the water level at Lake Mead dropping to the first-tier shortage level as early as 2020. This will trigger reductions in the amount of Colorado River water allocated to Arizona and other Colorado Basin states. The State is now developing a Drought Contingency Plan to determine how to allocate reductions among different water users, and to avoid reaching the more critical shortage level at Lake Mead. The planning effort is led by a steering committee appointed by Governor Ducey and headed by the Arizona Department of Water Resources and the Central Arizona Project. Intent is to have a final DCP by the end of the year, and to then have the Legislature approve Arizona's participation in the broader Lower Colorado Basin Drought Contingency Plan in early 2019.
- Endangered Species Act: Both major parties have been calling for reform of the Endangered Species Act (ESA), although as might be expected, objectives for the reform differ. Most recently, in July the Western Legislative Caucus released a package of nine bills with a level of bipartisan support. Individual bills will streamline delisting, require a greater level of State participation in listing decisions, create stronger mechanisms for voluntary protections, and limit legal challenges to ESA decisions, among other things. The ESA in Arizona not only provides important protections for Apache and Gila trout and their habitat, but it also affects actions intended to protect cold-water fishes through regulation of other species within the same range (for example, humpback chub in the Colorado River, see item 2 above). We will be watching closely as these bills move through the legislative process.
Participation:
We invite members of ZGTU, interested in addressing Public Policy as it relates to cold water fisheries and their watersheds in Arizona, to join us. Please contact Tom Osterday at
tgosterday@gmail.com
for more information.
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REMEMBER:
Your Conservation License Plate Supports TU Programs
The Arizona Sportsmen for Wildlife Conservation (AZSFWC)
license plate fund is derived from the sale of wildlife conservation license plates and member organizations as well as non-member organizations are eligible to apply for those funds.
The Arizona TU Council and Chapters have received funds over the past seven years in support of the Annual Native and Wild Trout Conferences and the Trout-In-the-Classroom programs.
The next time your registration comes up for renewal, choose the conservation license plate option at
registration
to show your support for conservation and our projects.
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Arizona Flycasters Club
Monthly Meeting
Sunnyslope Community Center
802 E. Vogel, Phoenix
November 8
7:00 pm - 8:45 pm
"How I spent my Summer Vacation
by Barney Rouse
Join
Steve Galletta co-owner/outfitter of Bighorn Angler Fly Shop & Lodge in Fort Smith, Montana (bighornangler.com) discuss everything you want to know about the Bighorn, including seasons, stretches, techniques, equipment, fly patterns, and hatches.
For the past 15 years, Steve has honed his skills on one of the world's best tailwaters-the Bighorn River in southeast Montana. His book-Fly Fishing the Bighorn River-was released in July 2015.
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Looking for a Fishing Opportunity?
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Arizona Fly Fishing Portal
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Organizations
Below is a list of fishing organizations in Arizona. Feel free to join, explore, visit their websites or attend a meeting to find out more information:
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http://azfishbook.com/calendar/
Signup for AZFishBook Newsletter:
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Join Trout Unlimited Today!
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Combined Calendar
AZ Trout Unlimited & Chapters, Arizona Flycasters Club and several other area fishing and conservation calendars
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You may access our calendar
here.
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Have you visited us on our Zane Grey Chapter Facebook? If not, take a few minutes to check us out for more information on what is going on in Arizona.
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