Want to get to know the natives better?

We can help! There are a few spaces still available for the 2012 Wyoming Trout Unlimited Cutt-Slam fundraiser. This year’s mountain fishing conditions are shaping up to be much kinder than last year’s and WYTU’s tireless volunteers are gearing up to assist anglers on this grand August 15th-19th adventure. If you know anyone who might be interested in this great trip that benefits coldwater fisheries conservation in Wyoming let them know about it.

Don’t miss this one. It’s going to be one heck of a great time.

The film highlights the incredible Flaming Gorge Reservoir and Green River fisheries and the potential devastating effects of the proposed Million Pipeline. Under the proposal, 81 billion gallons of water would be diverted annually from the Reservoir and the Green River causing a potential domino effect of negative impacts to local fisheries and economies.

Imagine the world-renowned section below the dam whose emerald waters produce an epic experience hobbled by low and inconsistent flows. Or the trophy-class populations of kokanee salmon, lake and rainbow trout produced in the reservoir potentially trashed by dramatically lower water levels.

And for what? Simply to pipe water 560 miles to the Front Range of Colorado, likely requiring hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars to build and operate.

Seem like a bad idea? That’s exactly what we thought.

Join us for a showing of “Green with Envy,” and help stop this reckless proposal that could ruin of a world-class fishery and at best be a costly boondoggle.

Tuesday, March 13, 6 p.m.
Jackson, Wyoming
Wort Hotel
50 North Glenwood St.

Free admission, refreshments and giveaways including a chance to win a guided trip down the Green River.

We hope to see you there!

We again need your help today to ensure that Wyoming has the protection from aquatic invasive species that it needs!

Thanks to your help and the foresight of Wyoming’s state senators, SF 71 has currently passed the Senate and is scheduled to have it’s first reading on the House floor today. We need your help to keep this bill moving forward as engrossed with the money and staff dedicated to keeping Wyoming free of aquatic invasive species. The bill simply cannot be implemented without these resources and we want to make sure they don’t get amended out as the bill makes it’s way through the House. You can make a difference by again contacting your representatives and positively supporting this bill as engrossed! You can also pass this information along to all parties you think might be interested in helping move this bill forward by contacting their representatives.

If it passes the first scheduled reading as engrossed, there will be a second and a final third reading during which the bill can be ammended. If you are not able to comment today you can still support the bill by contacting your legislator through this week!

Important points that we believe might help move this bill forward:

*This bill is about keeping Wyoming free of aquatic invasive species, particularly zebra and quagga mussels, for all surface water users ranging from industry to recreationists to municipalities.

*Support for the bill as engrossed will give Wyoming the staff and money providing the best level of defense against aquatic invasive species. Investing now is the best line of defense Wyoming can have against these invaders and is much less costly than the exponentially greater expenditure of mitigation if they get in. This is prevention for an illness that cannot be cured if it makes it’s way here.

*This bill cannot be implemented without the full funding. Don’t let Wyoming’s waters be compromised.

Please consider again contacting Wyoming’s representatives by email today in anticipation of the upcoming vote. With your help as Wyoming voters and constituents we can ensure that Wyoming’s has the best level of defense against this threat to our waters!

The bill is co-sponsored in the House by the following Representatives: Blikre, Brown, Byrd, Craft, Lubnau, McOmie, Patton, Roscoe, Vranish and Zwonitzer.

The new quarterly Jackson Hole TU newsletter is hot off the presses! JHTU has a fantastic upcoming schedule of events including a screening of TU’s movie Green With Envy coming up on March 13th. The newsletter also has updates on their Spread Creek and Flat Creek projects and more. To read the entire newsletter grab this PDF version or visit the JHTU website.

It’s your last chance to get a ticket to the highly lauded UBRTU Banquet!

From UBRTU Secretary Jim Hissong:
“Today is the last day to purchase banquet tickets for the premier conservation banquet in Evanston! With only 8 days until the banquet, we need to get a meal count to the caterer.

So, contact Mark Tesoro at 679-6316, Mike Jensen at 679-4297, or Jim Hissong at 780-6670 to arrange for tickets.We have an incredible amount of prizes for raffles, a ton of silent auction items, and, of course, artwork up the ying-yang for live auction. We hope to see you on March 10th.

Tight lines!”

There is no doubt that Scott’s book A New Generation of Trout Flies changed fly fishing forever. Flies made of foam? You bet. Rabbit? You bet. Anything you can get your hands on that works? You bet. Join Upper Green River TU and Scott on March 13th and to hear Scott’s presentation “A Year of Fishing in the Jackson Hole Area” If you’re lucky you might just learn how to tie the now infamous Double Bunny!

You can also click this link for a copy of the flyer.

Click 2012 Cutt-Slam Poster for a PDF version of the announcement. Sign up while there is still space available!

Thanks to your help and the foresight of Wyoming’s senators SF 71 has made it through the first reading on the Senate floor! However, there is more we can do. It is likely that the bill will head back to the floor for the 2nd reading on Monday and it is important to keep this legislation moving forward as currently amended with the money and staff dedicated to keeping Wyoming free of aquatic invasive species. The bill simply cannot be implemented without those resources and we want to make sure they don’t get amended out during the second reading. If you live in Wyoming you can help keep our waters clean by again contacting your senators and positively supporting this bill as currently amended! You can also pass this information along to all parties you think might be interested in helping move this forward by contacting their senator.

Important points that we believe might help move this bill forward:
*This bill is about keeping Wyoming free of aquatic invasive species for all surface water users ranging from industry to recreationists to municipalities.
*Support for the bill as currently amended with staff and money allocated to help give Wyoming the best level of defense. The investment we need to make now in giving Wyoming the best line of defense against these invaders is money well spent, and is much less than the exponentially greater amount have we’d have to spend if they get in.

Please consider again contacting Wyoming’s senators today in anticipation of the upcoming vote. With your help as Wyoming voters and constituents we can ensure that Wyoming’s has the best level of defense against this threat to our waters!

Want to make a big difference this morning to help coldwater fisheries in Wyoming? This is your chance.

Senate File 71 is a bill currently in front of the Wyoming State Senate that could help Wyoming have a better line of defense against aquatic invasive species. Wyoming Trout Unlimited supports this legislation and could use your help in writing emails to your legislators today in support of SF 71. This legislation essentially adds money to the current Game and Fish budget to keep AIS out of Wyoming and moves check stations from a launch point inspection system to a port of entry inspection system. We believe that is is a sound approach in the long run and one that will help Wyoming’s waters stay clean, beautiful, and healthy coldwater fisheries.

Unfortunately there isn’t much time. This bill is likely to go to the floor for a vote sometime today. If you could please let your Senators know today via email that you support this legislation it could help tip the balance in favor this important program.

The bill and it’s fiscal bottom line can be found here:
(the bill)
(fiscal note)

Writing an email to your Wyoming State Senators and positively urging them to support this bill can help Wyoming have the resources it deserves to keep these invasives out of Wyoming!

You can find a list of your senators here.

The Denver Post also ran a story on the bill that has some more useful information.

The effects of invasives such as zebra and quagga mussels are devastating to fisheries as well as agricultural irrigation. G&F has done a great job thus far and will require more funding to keep Wyoming’s waters healthy!

We’d appreciate the help.

Check out the awesome new Popo Agie Anglers website. Nice work Anglers!