Wyoming Trout Unlimited

Upper Bear River Trout Unlimited has announced their fantastic annual banquet. Come join them for a great night in Evanston and support fisheries conservation in southwestern Wyoming!

In southwest Wyoming on Wed. night? Come hear about the Wyoming Council’s work on Yellowstone Lake and meet some passionate advocates for Wyoming’s fisheries!

Every year EYTU in Cody begins it’s annual fall fish rescue program as soon as the local irrigation ditches turn off. This year the fun has already begun and the following is a message from EYTU President Rich Hostettler on how to get involved.

Rich writes: “The East Yellowstone Chapter of Trout Unlimited will begin its annual “Trout Rescue” from irrigation canals on Thursday, October 20, 2011. The rescue operation will run intermittently through the first week in November depending on closure times of the canals.

Anyone wishing to volunteer can contact our Conservation Chair Bob Capron at 587-2456, or check our web site at www.eastyellowstonetu.org for up to date information on rescue dates.

“Trout Rescue” can be physically demanding, but is extremely rewarding. Volunteers are encouraged to bring waders. EYTU has some additional waders if needed. Our chapter also provides lunch for all volunteers. On rescue days, we meet at the Rocky Mountain Sports parking lot, 1526 Rumsey Ave., at 8:00 AM and disperse to the rescue location from there.

The Best Western Sunset Motor Inn has provided a government rate of $75.00 a night, not including tax, for TU members. The best Western is located at 1601 8th Street. They can be contacted at 307-587-4265. Tell them you are a TU member attending the “Trout Rescue” to obtain the government rate. The Comfort Inn and Holiday Inn have provided a government rate of $84.00 a night, not including tax, for TU members. The Comfort and Holiday Inns are located on the N/E corner of Sheridan and 17th Street (directly across the street from our meeting location). The Comfort Inn can be contacted at 307-587-5556, and the Holiday Inn at 307-587-5555. Tell them you are a TU member attending the “Trout Rescue” to obtain the government rate. The Best Western and Comfort Inn provide a Continental Breakfast.

Any volunteer under the age of 18 will require a signed release from a parent or guardian. The form will be provided at our morning meeting. Volunteers 13 years old and under will also need a signed release and the parent or guardian will have to attend rescue operations with them.

Again, “Trout Rescue” can be a physically demanding and tiring day, but is extremely rewarding when you watch those fish swim free back into the river at the end of the day.

We would love to have you come and join us. Hope to see you there.

Rich Hostetler, President
East Yellowstone Trout Unlimited”

Trout Unlimited’s Wyoming Water Project was recently recognized as the partner of the year by the Wyoming Wildlife and National Resources Trust. A big thanks to Cory, Jeff, Scott, Tommy, and Nick for their work on behalf of fisheries conservation across Wyoming!

Find out more here:

http://thewyonews.net/2011/08/17/natural-resources-trust-recognizes-trout-unlimiteds-work/

This past Thursday, August 18th, signaled a milestone in fisheries conservation in Yellowstone National Park.

Dr. Robert Gresswell of the USGS, with the support and encouragement of the fisheries team in Yellowstone, has launched a hydro-acoustic telemetry study on Yellowstone Lake. On this last Thursday the first of 140 hydro-acoustic tags were implanted in adult lake trout aboard the Sheepshead that were taken from the trap nets. Twenty six receivers will be deployed at depth around the lake this coming week to collect data and monitoring will begin. As these lake trout move, and especially as they congregate to spawn around the middle of September, their travel corridors and spawning beds will be located and confirmed. A portable receiver will also be deployed in a boat to further pinpoint these locations. This information will lead to more accurate gill net placements and targeting of spawning lake trout. The implementation of the study is great news for the effort to recover the Yellowstone Cutthroat trout.

This has been made possible by several groups coming together in support of the study. First, the NPS made $25,000 available to buy some of the telemetry tags and, in addition, donated man-power, equipment, housing, etc. to run the study; the USGS wrote the study plan and arranged for the loan of receivers that can be placed around the Lake to monitor the movements; and finally, the NGO’s committed to funding about one half of the telemetry tags ($27,000 from the Save The Yellowstone Cutthroat campaign spearheaded by the East Yellowstone Chapter of TU and supported by both the Wyoming Council of TU and several Wyoming Chapters) and to funding about $10,000 worth of travel costs and mooring hardware (Montana Trout Unlimited, Greater Yellowstone Coalition, and the National Parks Conservation Association). This cooperation is monumental and integral to future success on the Lake.

However, the study won’t end this fall. The hydro-acoustic tags have a battery life of three years so they will continue to “ping” for at least two more full seasons. The plan is to add 110 more tags next spring (cost: $44,000) and possibly 24 more receivers (cost: $33,600). Of course, support costs will also be required in subsequent years. Years two and three of the study will provide refinement and expansion of the data collected to be sure we have the entire system covered and all spawning areas identified.

WYTU is proud that the Save The Yellowstone Cutthroat fund is a major player in making this telemetry study a reality. Again, contributions allowed the fund to purchase 73 hydro-acoustic tags at a cost of $27,000. Without your support, this study would not be happening.

However, we need your help as our financial commitments to aid in this valuable effort have just begun! To enable years two and three of the study, private individuals and groups are being asked to “buy” a single or multiple telemetry tag(s) at a cost of $400 each. Others can “buy” a receiver for $1400 each. If you value Yellowstone cutthroat trout in their native range, please consider making a donation to the fund. We’d like to thank those who have supported this effort in the past and encourage the future support of this pivotal study.

Donations are currently being accepted at:
Save The Yellowstone Cutthroat
PO Box 3008, Cody, WY 82414.

For more information contact:
Dave Sweet
Yellowstone Lake Project Manager for the Wyoming Council of TU
307-899-9959
davidps@tritel.net

or,
Scott Christy
TU Wyoming Coordinator
307-332-6700
schristy@tu.org

Update: Our 2 Shot Goose Hunt Auction is closed. Thanks to everyone who bid in support of WYTU and the 2 Shot! The auction was a great success and we’re hoping to collaborate on it again next year. Congratulations to Dave Sweet, of Cody, WY for winning the team!

What if you could hunt in one of Wyoming’s premier hunting events and raise
money for coldwater fisheries conservation at the same time? This is your
chance!

WYTU is proud to offer you the exciting opportunity to participate in
the 2 Shoot Goose Hunt in Torrington, WY on December 9th and 10th. The 2
Shot Goose Hunt has graciously donated a team, consisting of two shooters,
to WYTU and we’re going to auction the team spot off! To be clear, the
bidding is for the entire team. Learn more about the non-profit 2 Shot Goose
Hunt here: http://www.2shotgoose.com/about_us.htm. These are the final
spaces available in this year’s 2 Shot event!

Details of the auction:
* The opening bid for the WYTU 2 Shot team is $500.
* Bids will be accepted in the order that they come in to schristy@tu.org or to
the WYTU office at 307-332-7700 ex. 12.
* Bidding will close on Thursday August 25th at 5 PM MST.
* We’ll do our best to keep this website post updated with the highest current bid. When
bidding please include your:
1. Name
2. Bid amount
3. Phone #
4. Email address
* We will contact the lucky winner shortly after the close of the auction and
post the results on the same website.
* The winner of the auction will need to provide the names of both shooters
upon winning and payment will be requested at that time.

Thanks in advance for your support and thanks to the 2 Shot Goose Hunt for
this amazing opportunity!

Good luck bidding!

The LBHTU Chapter in Sheridan was just awarded a WY Game and Fish Commissioner’s License to benefit coldwater fisheries conservation in the Sheridan area! Joel Wilson, the LBHTU President, dropped us the following note about this exciting licence:

“I just wanted to drop you a quick note to let you know that the Little Bighorn Chapter of TU has been awarded a 2011 Commissioner License and to ask that you help get the word out. These licenses are provided to charitable conservation groups such as ours for fund raising. I am told that the best place to sell them is on e-bay and that they typically bring in about $8,500.
The license, which is now on e-bay , is valid for a specific region or hunt area to be chosen by the successful bidder. Winners can choose to hunt anywhere in the state with the exceptions of elk areas 75, 77 and 79 which are located within Grand Teton National Park and require a special park permit issued by the US Park Service. They must also stay within the season dates for the species they select. Anyone who acquires one of these licenses is also exempt from the provisions limiting the number of licenses an individual can possess in any one calendar year. That means, a person could purchase or win one of these Commissioner Complimentary Licenses, get drawn for a license in the drawing and keep both licenses!

The successful bidder is GUARENTEED the right to purchase a 2011 Wyoming big game hunting license and can use it for ELK or DEER or ANTELOPE provided they specify their selection at the time of license purchase. As you know, normal Wyoming big game hunting licenses are sold on a lottery draw system that is already closed for nonresidents. This guaranteed license avoids the application lottery system and guarantees the right to purchase a license.

Our bank account is running a little low these days and this has the potential making a huge difference. Please visit our listing entitled “Wyoming Game & Fish Dept. 2011 Commissioner License ” on e-bay. Please forward this e-mail to anyone you feel might be interested in bidding on this license.”

Congratulations and good luck to LBHTU!

WYTU was pleased to hear that the Science Review Panel for lake trout suppression in Yellowstone Lake convened about a week ago. The Panel first met in 2008 and and was recently reconvened to advise the National Park Service on how to best handle restoring the Yellowstone cutthroat population in the lake system and suppressing the lake trout. Jack Williams, TU’s Senior Scientist, sits on the Panel and recently shared his thoughts on the meeting and current state of affairs in Yellowstone Lake with us.

“For those who could not attend, I wanted to briefly summarize the science review panel of the lake trout suppression program at Yellowstone NP. The session was held June 14-16 at Chico Hot Springs.

We had 3 charges:
1. Evaluate effectiveness of the current program
2. Review 2008 panel recommendations, assess progress to date, and
3. Provide guidance on future direction of the program

The new Park Superintendent Daniel Wenk specifically asked us to quantify what was needed to achieve a measurable improvement in 5 years. We provided feedback to Superintendent Wenk and his staff on the 16th. I think everyone felt very positive about the reception and interest level of the NPS staff. It was a much better environment than we faced in 2008 in terms of NPS dedication to solving the problem.

The bad news is that the cutthroat numbers, which is the ultimate metric of success for this program, appear to be at an all time low. Additionally, we also have made almost zero progress on two important fronts: a telemetry study to identify spawning areas for lake trout and reconstruction of the Clear Creek weir.

The really good news is that lake trout suppression efforts are increasing and we now have a much better understanding of the level of effort needed to achieve a rapid response within 5 years.

To the best that the panel could determine, we need an effort of 57,000 100-meter night sets per year to achieve a significant decline in the lake trout population. [to understand the metric, if you have 1,000 meters of gill net set overnight that would be equivalent to 10 100-meter net nights] Pat Bigelow estimated that with the increased effort this year, that the 2011 effort would be about 40,000 100-meter net nights. This compares to the previous maximum effort in 2007 of about 27,000 100-meter net nights. This is below the threshold number but is getting close. I would expect that the lake trout population might start to decline at this level of 2011 commitment, but more is needed.

We tried to impress on everyone that this is a very long term commitment. Even if we get significant declines in the lake trout population, it might still take 6-8 years to see a big improvement in returning cutthroat trout spawners, although we should see improvements in juvenile cutthroat survival sooner.

We also made big pushes for the telemetry work. Bob Gresswell has a big grant proposal in to USGS that would fund most of the equipment needs for this. But, it will take more funds to get this project off the ground.

I think funds are available for the Clear Creek weir, and NPS just needs to decide to do this. Hopefully, we provided some encouragement in this direction.

I think everyone felt more encouraged than we did in 2008, but it is clear that the NPS will need additional partnership help, including more funds, to achieve success. For 2011, the NPS has a total fisheries budget of $1.6M of which about 86% or $1.37M goes to the Yellowstone Lake efforts. In order to increase NPS capacity, I think TU will actively need to argue for increased Park budgets, for maintaining the focus on Yellowstone Lake, and to help raise outside funds.

I think all the work everyone did to comment on the native trout EA was a huge success (more than 10,000 comments were received and TU produced the bulk of them). In addition, our review panel will be producing a written report by October 1st. It also sounded like Sec. Salazar would be visiting the Park this summer and that the Yellowstone Lake situation would be on his agenda.

So, lots of work yet to accomplish, but some good reasons for optimism. –Jack

Jack E. Williams, Ph.D.
Senior Scientist
Trout Unlimited”

Thanks to Jack for representing TU on the Science Panel and his efforts on this important native trout conservation issue.

We’re starting to get pretty darned excited for the 2011 Cutt-Slam fundraiser at the end of July. With all this snow in the western Wyoming high country fish should be hungry this year and we’re looking forward to chasing our four native cutthroat sub-species with some new friends of WYTU. There are still spaces available to join us on this adventure to seek out your Wyoming Cutt-Slam for the benefit of coldwater fisheries conservation across Wyoming.

Contact us soon if you’re interested!

The Popo Agie Anglers, Lander Wyoming’s TU Chapter, sure love tradition. For example, every year they auction off a pie at their annual fundraiser, lovingly baked in years past by Helen Sebade, and currently made by Wyoming Game and Fish Lander Region Fisheries Supervisor Kevin Johnson. One year the pie sold for over $300 during a live auction. The event where this all takes place includes a typical fundraising mix of good food, raffles, local people, good cheer, and auctions and the Anglers have been holding it for the last twenty one years to benefit local coldwater fisheries conservation. Amongst all the Popo Agie Anglers traditions there is none as legendary as the hat.

The hat was the idea of former Lander game warden Bill Crump. In the late 80′s Crump decided to donate a warden Stetson full of flies to the PPA for auction. The lucky winner of the hat would be able to fish with flies from the hat for one year before returning it to be raffled off again. In addition, winners of the hat were encouraged to add a fly or two during their tenure as the keeper of the coveted Popo Agie Anglers icon. Over two decades later the hat is still going strong. In recent years, despite fierce bidding competition, TU member Paul Thompson has dominated the hat auction.

This last Saturday was no different. Fremont County can only wish Paul good luck again fishing with the hat for the coming year!