CCTU APRIL CHAPTER MEETING

TUESDAY, APRIL 19, 7PM – IN-PERSON AT CRESTHILL MIDDLE SCHOOL & ZOOM SIMULCAST

PROGRAM 1 – DAVID NICKUM, CTU EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, THE STATE OF CTU & COLORADO PRIORITY WATERS INITIATIVE

We are lucky to have David Nickum with us for the April meeting.  If you’ve wondered what Colorado Trout Unlimited is doing on behalf of you and other members around the state, here’s your chance to get that picture in a nutshell. David will give a high-level overview of CTU’s efforts across the state, including a detailed perspective on the Colorado Priority Waters Initiative.

David has worked with National and Colorado Trout Unlimited for over 25 years. Under his leadership, Colorado TU has successfully reformed state whirling disease policy, secured passage of legislation strengthening Colorado's in-stream flow program, and conducted many on-the-ground restoration projects for stream habitat and native trout recovery. A graduate of Duke University, he enjoys fishing in the Rocky Mountain National Park area on both sides of the Divide, as well as hiking and camping in Colorado’s high country with his wife and two children.

PROGRAM 2 – DR. ASHLEY RUST, Colorado Parks & Wildlife, Wildfire Impacts on Water Quality and Aquatic Ecosystems and the Recovery That Follows

You may have read the Summer 2021 Trout Magazine article “Fish & Fire in the West”, detailing Ashley Rust’s research on fires and the impact on fisheries.  Her presentation will give a broad overview of how wildfires impact water quality in the western U.S. from two studies on over 150 fires.  She will also dive into field observations and data collected after two Colorado wildfires, the West Fork Complex Fire (2013) and the 416 Fire (2018).  She will share results illustrating how the fires impacted macroinvertebrates and fish and how quickly populations recovered.  Dr. Rust is a Water Quality Monitoring and Assessment Specialist for the Colorado Parks and Wildlife.  Prior to that she was a research associate at the Colorado School of Mines and earned a doctorate in hydrology. Ashley has a bachelor’s and master’s degree in fish ecology and has spent much of her career working on water quality monitoring and management to support fisheries in both public rivers and lakes. She has been a TU member, a CTU board member, and has served as a technical advisor for TU on multiple water policy issues.

 If you can’t make the meeting in person and want to join in via Zoom, go to…

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82147865436?pwd=YlFuS25LdWRIaDBPdDd6Njk4eHM1dz09

or go to www.zoom.com and use Meeting ID: 821 4786 5436, Passcode: Cutthroat