BRTU E-News
Because there's more to fishin' than just fishin'!
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February 7, 2021
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Trout in Bitterroot Classrooms!
Thanks to the volunteer efforts of the BRTU Education Committee, engaged high school teachers and funding from several grants, there are now Trout in Bitterroot Classrooms! This is no mean accomplishment give the ongoing challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Trout in the Classroom is one of TU's most enduring and successful youth programs. For BRTU it is a logical extension of our flagship Bitterroot Buggers program, providing continued conservation and environmental education opportunities for Bitterroot students. As part of the TIC curriculum, the students
- Raise trout from eggs to fry.
- Monitor tank water quality and temperature.
- Engage in stream habitat study.
- Learn to appreciate water resources.
- Foster a conservation ethic.
- Grow to understand ecosystems.
- End each program by releasing the trout in a state-approved location.
The classroom of Hamilton High School teacher Vanessa Halflich is one of the 2 sites for TIC this school year. Vanessa reports that 2 freshmen have really taken a great interest in the program and have been checking the water chemistry and health of the tanks each week. Dave Ward provided the accompanying photos and the students provided the following impressions:
Student Mya Winkler: "In caring for these fish, I have learned just how important it is for aquatic organisms to have a healthy water system to survive. If the water chemistry is off even a little, there can be a dramatic impact on the fish health. This program has taught me just how fragile wildlife can be."
Logan Harrison: "Conducting water quality tests and taking care of these fish is probably the thing I looked forward to the most every week. I am now interested in possibly pursuing a related career because of this project."
As should be apparent, this is a consequential program and our chapter is committed to expanding Trout in the Classroom to others schools. If this is a project in which you might be interested in supporting or helping out with, please contact Dave Ward or Greg Chester.
We look forward to featuring impressions and photos from Jeff Kaiser's Corvallis High School TIC project in a future newsletter.
Thanks are due to Hamilton High School teacher Vanessa Halflich, Corvallis High School teacher Jeff Kaiser, BRTU Education Committee members Greg Chester, Dave Ward, Donna Haglund and Marissa Sowles as well as TU National staffer Christine Brissette, MFWP's Leslie Nyce and the local Rapp Family Foundation.
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2021 Montana Legislature.
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Many decades ago, an old Bitterrooter told me "Neither man nor beast is safe when the Montana Legislature is in session." Each bi-ennial session brings its own bi-partisan axes to swing at fish, wildlife, habitat, access, streams, and the environment. This session looks to be a doozy, but there are also some encouraging signs.
The short session is such a blur - there are so many bill requests, committee hearings, and caucuses, not to mention the smoke-filled maskless backrooms. Luckily, Montana Trout Unlimited has Clayton Elliott as its Conservation and Government Affairs Director. Clayton publishes Legislative updates and Action Alerts.
If you are not receiving these, you can contact Clayton or simply check the 2021 Montana Legislature button on the Montana TU website. If you go to the latter, you can see a tabulation of the bills that MTU is supporting, following or opposing.
Monitoring the legislature and alerting TU members of emerging issues is something that no individual chapter could do, so if you recognize how crucial this is, please consider a contribution to Montana TU!
For a flavor of what is going on, here is Clayton's Feb. 5 Legislative update.
Dear Trout Lovers,
The 2021 MT Legislative Session is underway and Montana Trout Unlimited is your voice in Helena, working with elected officials to further our shared mission: to conserve, protect, and restore Montana's coldwater fisheries and defend our best-in-the-nation stream access law. We're in the Capitol every day of the session, advocating for coldwater fisheries and the resources and funding on which they depend.
Here are our Big Three Priority Issues and ACTION ALERT for the first week of February 2021:
Funding Conservation and Habitat Improvement
A priority every legislative session is making sure our state fisheries, water quality, and water quantity programs are fully funded. Recently we made progress on a number of budget and appropriations efforts.
We are supporting DNRC budget categories that include funding for Conservation Districts, Water Resources Division, and forestry/trust lands. Similarly we’re seeing good progress on the budget bill (HB5) that funds Habitat Montana, all FAS, Future Fisheries Improvement Program, and State Parks capital improvements, to name a few. Last week we helped move forward HB6, HB7 and HB14, which include all state funding for the habitat restoration projects that TU does around the state.
Support for "Big Three" Agency Directors
Since our last update we offered support for Governor Gianforte’s appointments of Directors for the big three agencies – DNRC, FWP and DEQ. These appointees are all committed to scientific management of MT’s natural resources and continuing to support a robust public process in management decisions. We look forward to working with in-coming DEQ Director Chris Dorrington, FWP Director Henry ‘Hank’ Worsech, and DNRC Director Amanda Kaster to fulfill our mission to conserve, protect, and restore Montana's trout waters.
We are also pleased to see long-time MTU Stewardship Director K.C. Walsh as one of Gov. Gianforte’s new Fish & Wildlife Commission nominees. We will work with the MT Legislature to approve these nominations.
Licensing, licensing, licensing
Montanans take changes in hunting and angling licenses very seriously. When licensing changes potentially impact fisheries budgets and management, we do, too. That's why we support HB260, sponsored by Scott Berglee (R), to create a one-day fishing license for non-resident anglers.
The fiscal note on this bill reveals that allowing non-residents to buy one-day licenses, which they can do in multiples for consecutive or non-consecutive days, will increase revenue for FWP to sustain and manage MT’s fisheries, especially the state’s world-renowned wild and native trout fishery.
Do you know places where anglers would benefit from a new Fishing Access Site (FAS) or do you have a favorite FAS that could use some upgrades? If so, now’s the time to act!
We need your help to increase funding for FAS acquisition and maintenance. Please contact the members of the senate subcommittee listed below. They will be making important decisions on the amount of funding for maintaining and acquiring new FAS in the near future. Let them know what a critical investment this is. Direct links are included.
Members of the Joint Subcommittee on Long-Range Planning:
This year our MTU team makes it easier than ever for you to be informed and involved. MTU’s 2021 Legislature webpage now features BillTrack50 that allows you to follow the bills we are monitoring in real time. BillTrack50 provides up-to-the-minute status updates, including MTU’s position on each bill, links to full bill text and supporting documents, and contact information for your legislators. In short, this is your fast and easy way to help trout during the 2021 session.
We'll send another update in a few weeks to let you know how things are progressing. We'll reserve action alerts for only the most urgent legislative decisions and votes.
We're always available if you have questions, so please keep in touch and we'll do our best to keep you well informed and energized to speak up for trout. You can reach me directly at clayton@montanatu.org.
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2021 BRTU Officer Elections.
Due to the ongoing disruption of the pandemic, BRTU was forced to hold our first-ever officer elections by mail.
The Nominating Committee, chaired by Donna Haglund, sent a ballot and a self-addressed stamped envelope to every member of BRTU with an active membership. There was a single nominee for each position and a line for write-in candidates. Roughly, 30% of the ballots were returned and the results were as follows:
- President: Jeremy Anderson - 104 votes
- Vice-President: Dave Ward - 106 votes
- Secretary: Marissa Sowles - 108 votes
- Treasurer: Keith Mullan - 108 votes
Congratulations to the new officers. Their contact information is tabulated at the end of the newsletter. Details about our regular monthly ZOOM board meetings can also be found there. Finally, individuals desiring to be considered for a position on the board, should send a letter expressing their interest to Jeremy.
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This week's picture was submitted by my good friend Dave Rivera.
Dave caught this chunky brown on the Big Hole last July on a Green Drake dry fly. Based on the prominent kype, I suspect that this bruiser has been around for quite a few seasons. I haven't caught many fish that size on the Big Hole, but based on the very few I have managed to hook, I imagine Dave had an extended exchange with this one!
Dave prefers to release the fish while they are still in the water, but he wanted to get a photo of this battle-scarred veteran. We should all try whenever possible to release fish while they are still in the water and get a photo in the net.
If you want to learn more about the "Keep 'Em Wet" program and the principles that under pin it, here is a nice article from a few years ago and a piece from Orvis on the same topic. The latter is notable for sharing the location of my favorite stream - "The Drunk fork of the Anheuser." Seriously, we should all endeavor to minimize stress on fish. Tom Morgan once told me that he once got berated by a good friend on Odell Creek for horsing in a big brown across a favorite wide corner pool on that legendary stream. He just shrugged, released the trout one handed and promptly caught another in the undercut.
Please send any photos of fishing, fish or other cool stuff to me. I will try to include them in the BRTU Picture of the Week spot.
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There were a lot of entries for this BRTU Puzzler, but no one came up with the wining combination. Les told me that the real puzzle was not the name of the fly, because he hasn't named it, but the materials. They are
- Hook Shape - Limerick vintage style
- Thread - brown
- Hackle - black laced brown hen
- Body - peacock sword and black krystal flash in the belly
- Tag - red wire
There will be a new BRTU Puzzler in the next issue.
This week's BRTU Puzzler was submitted by the indefatigable Les Korcala. The puzzle is an unusual trout fly.
To win the Puzzler, you must guess the name of this fly and all the materials used to dress it.
Chuck Stranahan has generously offered a prize to all winners of the BRTU Puzzler. The winner will be able to can claim a prize of hand-tied trout flies by contacting Chuck.
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TU Stream Champions.
Over the last few years, National Trout Unlimited has periodically featured "Stream Champions" in TROUT Magazine. These are individuals whose contributions to the mission of Trout Unlimited and support for our coldwater fisheries and streams in a specific watershed or region merits special recognition.
This is a wonderful program, and has highlighted some really hardworking men and women. I was somewhat embarrassed to learn that Montana TU had nominated me for this honor and that I had been selected. The Stream Champion article ran in the Fall 2020 TROUT Magazine.
I feel very privileged to receive this recognition. However, no one person earns an award like this and I want to stress that I actually share it with a legion of fellow TU members, angling cronies, agency professionals, and other conservationists.
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Monte Dolack BRTU prints
now available at Joe's Studio.
A small number of Publisher's Proofs of the limited edition "Bitterroot River-Lost Horse Bend" by Monte Dolack are now available at Joe's Studio. BRTU commissioned Monte Dolack in 2007 to create this iconic print of the Bitterroot River.
The remaining Publisher's Proofs are $375 and all proceeds support BRTU efforts to protect trout and streams.
Joe's Studio, a regular sponsor of our banquets, is located in Hamilton at 220 Marcus Street (961-4586, joesstudio@aol.com)
The "U" in BRTU
Unlike many groups, BTRU has no paid staff. We are an entirely volunteer organization. We are always looking for new members to get involved in projects or to join our board and assist with maintaining our focus on native fish, clean healthy streams and education. If you would like to help out, please contact BRTU Chapter President Jeremy Anderson. We could sure use your help!
In other words, how about putting a little "U" in BRTU?
If "U" are not already a member, "U" can join TU today by going to the the BRTU website. chapter number is #080. If you have a question about your membership, please call Clayton at 406-543-0054.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, BRTU board meetings are now being held virtually on ZOOM. They are open to all BRTU members. Date and time vary, so please contact Jeremy. if you would like to log in and learn what is going on.
The BRTU Mission statement is "To conserve, protect, and restore the Bitterroot River and it's watershed," directly in line with the Montana TU mission statement.
For your information, here is a tabulation of our current hard-working BRTU officers and board members.
BOARD OFFICERS
BOARD MEMBERS
Gavin Marston (student board member)
GENERAL FACTOTUM AND NEWSLETTER PUBLISHER
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