CCTU Conservation Projects executed for 2017 included…
Saturday, April 22 – Earth Day Bear Creek Conservation Project and Fishing Contest (Bear Creek Lake & Greenbelt)
In spite of a snowy start, over a dozen CCTU members and friends were ready to work with the City of Lakewood to help restore neglected lower Bear Creek on April 22. As the sun broke out into a beautiful spring day we helped Lakewood Rangers plant 700 saplings of native dogwood, chokecherry, and plum along the stream. For more info, check out the CCTU website at http://www.cutthroatctu.org/?p=12647. CPW is so encouraged by the results that they plan to electro fish survey this urban stretch for the first time on September 12, 2017.
Saturday, August 5, 2017 – Hayman Fire Rehabilitation, Horse Creek CCTU and CUSP Joint Project (South Platte near Deckers)
On August 5th eleven members of the Cutthroat Chapter worked with the Coalition for the Upper South Platte on Horse Creek, near Deckers. The Horse Creek drainage was devastated by the Hayman fire of 2002 and continues to dump tons of sediment in the South Platte River each year. On this day we set out to clean up an illegal campsite and build a buck and rail fence to discourage future illegal camping and keep the trash out of the stream. We were able to clean up the trash, reseed the area and erect the fence in just a few hours. The CUSP crew was prepared, and had all the required tools, materials and experience to pull this off.
Thursday, August 31, 2017 - Rock Creek Greenback Cutthroat Reintroduction
On Thursday, 8/31, five members of the Cutthroat Chapter Ready Response Team and nine other members of CTU joined together near the town of Jefferson in South Park. The team headed by Jeff Spohn and Paul Winkle of CPW were working on the second phase of reintroducing our endangered state fish back into Rock Creek, part of the South Platte River watershed. Last fall CCTU gave $4000 for the planning of a fish barrier on Rock Creek that will protect the Greenback Cutthroat Trout from invasion by competing fish and disease. On Thursday, the volunteers got to see the completed barrier and they helped in removing non-native fish in preparation for stocking Rock Creek with Greenbacks. The waters must now be monitored for whirling disease for from three to five years and when the waters are deemed safe the Greenbacks can be returned to their original home. In the meanwhile the connecting Black Canyon Creek is being readied and work may begin there sometime next year.
Tuesday, September 12, 2017 - Urban Bear Creek Electrofishing Project…Hidden in Plain Sight: Anatomy of an urban fishery
On a cool morning in September, a group of volunteers and Colorado Parks and Wildlife(CPW) personnel thread their way between homes and condominiums and adjacent to a golf course. Their destination is Bear Creek, a small tributary of the South Platte River in the Southwest metro Denver area. It is a small drainage, averaging only fifteen feet in width. It is considered a transitional fishery, as it is a combination of cold water and warm water habitat for fish. It is supported by stocking of fingerling brown trout, which thrive in the temperatures in this habitat. This group is there to conduct an electrofishing survey to gauge the health of the fish population.
A project like this is an example of cooperation between a cold water conservation group like Trout Unlimited (TU) and Colorado Parks and Wildlife. The event was organized by Cutthroat Chapter, a Littleton, Colorado TU chapter. The volunteers range in age from 16 to 76. This project is an integral part of Cutthroat’s aggressive conservation agenda.
The day starts with the CPW personnel forming a phalanx across the stream with their electrodes that will stun the fish nearby. The TU volunteers man nets and floating fish carts to store the fish as they are recovered. Two reaches of the stream are sampled, each approximately 100 yards long. The stream seems narrow and shallow in many places, but there are some surprisingly deep holes, some as deep as 5-6 feet. As the electrodes are passed through the water, fish start to float to the surface, stunned by the electric current. They are carefully netted and passed to a floating net. They are then placed in a larger holding net for counting. The CPW personnel carefully measure length and weight and the fish are released. The results of the survey are surprising. Out of this little urban stream we have collected three brown trout between 18 and 19 inches – beautiful buttery brown healthy fish. We also collected more than a dozen other brown trout between 14 and 18 inches. Also present were a group of Colorado native fish – longnose dace, whiter sucker, creek chubs, and longnose sucker. These minnows provide an ample food source for the brown trout.
The results of our survey revealed a thriving brown trout fishery in the middle of a suburban setting.This stream had not been electrofished by CPW previously, so they are encouraged by our findings. Joggers, walkers and bikers pass the stream on a regular
Saturday, September 16, 2017 – Clear Creek Clean-Up Project (Idaho Springs).
The Watershed Festival had been cancelled and there was a change in venue due to road construction. The day began with wind and rain. In spite of that 43 volunteers from three TU chapters and other sources gathered at Anderson Park in Idaho Springs to carry on a two decade old tradition of conservation effort. The clouds parted and a beautiful fall day resulted allowing the Clear Creek Clean Up on September 16 to be a tremendous success. Seventy contractor bags of trash and countless large discarded objects found their way from the creek to the roadside where they could be properly disposed of. Ray Carney of CCTU, who originated this effort long ago and still runs it tirelessly with Jim Klug, has nothing but praise for all the generous folks who took the time an effort to help this little jewel of a stream.
All of us at CCTU would like to thank the City of Idaho Springs and Clear Creek County for their continued support over the years. Local merchants such as Starbucks and Beau Joe’s Pizza helped feed the workers. Mile High Rafting, Clear Creek Outdoors, Colorado Adventures, and Orvis Park Meadows supplied raffle prizes. The West Denver TU. Cherry Creek Anglers TU, and CCTU all provided raffle prizes and workers. Without the generosity of all these people this event would not be possible.
Saturday, October 28, 2017 – Hayman Fire Rehabilitation, Horse Creek CCTU and CUSP Joint Project (South Platte near Deckers)
The scene was eerily appropriate for the weekend before Halloween. Charred skeletons of trees stood like tombstones against the barren soil. It is one thing to see the Hayman Burn from the highway as one speeds to a new fishing spot near Deckers. It is quite another thing to be standing in the middle of the Hayman Burn and taking in the immensity of the destructive power of fire. On October 28 a crew of 16 CCTU volunteers and 16 volunteers from UCD joined together to help a small part of that area to recover. After a 4x4 trip of about a mile, and with the help of our partners at CUSP, we seeded drainages that have yet to recover from that 2002 fire. The rains of fall and the snows of winter will help nourish the mix of quickly sprouting sterile oats and native grasses that we sowed over almost two acres. These grasses will help stabilize the soil and stop a portion of the tons of silt that annually wash down the slopes into Horse Creek and then move on into the South Platte River. There are hopeful signs of progress. In some spots the native grasses and shrubs have begun to return on their own. The occasional young fir tree can be seen among the charred trunks. With our help and the steady progress of nature this area will eventually recover.
