Cutthroat Chapter Trout Unlimited, South Platte River Conservation Clean Up Project: by Jocelyn Mertens July 13, 2013 I headed out very early, as it serves no purpose to resist an opportunity to fish. Why is it the human condition, when we are deep in our “serious” lives to forget all the sensory beauty that coats us when we stand at or in the river? When we see an old friend, a true friend, we seem to be able to pick up where we left off and we wonder why we haven’t stayed in touch more. Each time I at the water, I have that feeling. The sun was shining on the very tops of the cliffs and trees, and underneath that horizon, mysterious mist tumbled and uplifted, creating wispy pillars and sky waterfalls of changing shapes. The road was wet from desperately needed rains, and every corner conjured a slight thrill on the slippery slope to Nighthawk. I wound past Deckers and way up top to the Wigwam Club fence where evermore eager men already cast their hopeful lines on the cool steamy river. After an annoying long tippet extravaganza, I waded in and cast, and felt my chest expand to breathe, the harmonies of terrestrials as my metronome. “The moment, the moment, the moment,” they seemed to hum.
All too soon (and fishless), my time was over and I raced down to meet the people who care about the same things I’ve described. Twenty-four men and women met at the Deckers store where Jim Klug and Jim Rasmussen collected all the necessary paperwork on each sunscreen smeared volunteer. Jason Agin handed out green CCTU Conservation Volunteer T shirts. Trash bags were distributed, maps examined, and the cars set out for their respective clean up areas. As we drove to the first stop I interviewed many trash mates on what they had found in the water and on shore throughout the years. One of them had a found a rusted motorcycle chassis, most had found dinosaur fossils of an automotive nature. All admitted to searching for man made flies hooked on willows and conifers but expressed disappointment at the result. One CU student actually pulled out his current collection of found trash from a few hours before and posed for a proud portrait.
We walked the roads and shores, we laughed, and we talked, mostly about fishing for some reason, and headed back to the Deckers store for more camaraderie. Volunteers made short work of bountiful lunch of fresh sub sandwiches, chips, cookies, and candy flown in from Denver by Jim Klug. Tickets to the Fine Arts Center in Colorado Springs were awarded to Jerry Bredahl for finding the most unusual trash….one and a half dozen brand new golf balls…..is there a Deckers course we don’t know about????
The group had collected a pickup load ( 27 bags!) of trash, not as much as the year before, but we also got some good amounts of bad weeds.
Lisa Patton, Colorado Coalition for Upper South Platte (CUSP) Volunteer Coordinator provided information on invasive species, with hands on examination of the plants that crowd out the natural grasses and plants. The noxious weeds of the day were Musk Thistle, Canada Thistle, Toadflax and Mullen. Lisa gave an optimistic update on the native grasses happily sprouting as the result of the reseeding project at the Dream Stream site that CCTU helped with earlier this year. She gave thanks and accolades to the people who keep showing up and making a positive difference to the South Platte Watershed. She even provided a home-made cake for Jason’s birthday. 
Many thanks again to all of our 24 volunteers who did an outstanding job of cleaning up 10 miles of South Platte River corridor along the road to Deckers. Each participant earned one raffle ticket making them eligible to win great fishing prizes at our Conservation Volunteer Awards Raffle at our October membership meeting Remember, you too can be eligible for prizes…come out and help with our next project, August 10th at Hartsel Depot. Keep an eye on our Web Site for unfolding details. A special "Thank You" to our photo journalist, Jocelyn Mertens for covering this project and producing this article.. Well Done!!!!!!!