Victory

I wrote about the need to remove the Pucker Street dam on the Dowagiac River in southwest Michigan over a year ago. Pressure makes diamonds, my friends. Through letters, emails and phone calls, the city of Niles is finally moving forward with the removal. This is going to open up miles of new water for steelhead and create overall better habitat for the trout of the Dowagiac system. Creating a river quite similar in tempature, flow, length and size of the Pere Marquette several hours north. This rivers best days are ahead. 

Niles Plans To Remove Pucker Street Dam

The Pucker Street Dam’s days appear to be numbered.

Jeff Dunlap, Niles utilities manager, said the city is in the process of writing grant applications for funds that would be used for the removal of the dam, located north of Niles on the Dowagiac River.

“That will go before council to submit the grant, or grants, at the next [Niles City] Council meeting,” he said. “We would anticipate council approval to move forward in the next stage to competitively make applications for all the available grants and funding.”

Dunlap said removal of the dam is in the city’s five-year capital plan.

“It is on our radar as something we will actively pursue with the best available resources and the least amount of tax dollars expended as possible,” he said.

Andy Selle, fisheries biologist, engineer and dam-removal specialist with Inter-Fluve, Inc., of Madison, Wisc., gave a presentation concerning the removal of the dam at Monday’s council meeting.

Selle said while it is difficult to predict the success of a grant application, there are a number of things working in Niles’ favor. One being, a recent study ranked the Pucker Street Dam as No. 1 in regards to being a barrier of fish passage in the St. Joseph River watershed. The other thing going for Niles is there’s currently a restoration effort underway of the Dowagiac River upstream in Pokagon Township area.

“That shows not only are we going to remove the dam and reconnect the river so to speak, but when the fish move upriver they will have some place to go that’s better than what it is now,” Sell said. “Those two factors in my mind would rank it fairly high in terms of grant competition.”

Removing the dam would benefit Niles and the surrounding communities in several ways, according to Selle and Dunlap.

Selle said the Dowagiac River without the dam could attract more water sport tourism and improve fishing.

From the city’s standpoint, Dunlap said the dam is a liability that has to be either repaired or removed. It was last used by the city as a hydroelectric dam in 1995, but has been around since the mid 1800s.

The cost to bring the dam back online was estimated at $3.5 million in 2009.

“It is cost prohibitive to restore it,” Dunlap said.

Dam removal comes with some risks. Selle said sediment collected behind the dam could flow downstream and cause some issues for the first couple years.

“If you look long term, in a scale of decades, the long-term outlook is you actually have a restored river flowing through that section again,” he said.

Special thanks to the good folks at dowagiacriverkeepers.blogspot.com for never giving up the fight!

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Get Your Fair Share

Photo By: Matthew Bruen - http://theslipperytrout.blogspot.com

Hey NY'ers... you have to fight for the right..... to party. Read below and follow the link below to voice your opinion on the upcoming Delaware River Water Release Plan. 

We're asking that you support the attached sign-on letter concerning our recommendations on a new Delaware River water-release plan that will go into effect on June 1, 2013.

HERE'S HOW TO SIGN ON: Please reply to this email with your organization's name, your title, and your name and we'll add you to the letter.

We invite everyone to sign: businesses, organizations, individuals.

We call our recommendations Fair Share 2013. We've attached the simple, one-page document. It has four modest but vitally important recommendations:

A formalized public comment period before any changes are made. This brings transparency to the process.

A one-year term for any change to the current flow program. We are concerned that the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) will lock into a long-term release plan (up to five years) regardless of changing circumstances, for example, the availability of additional water from Croton. We believe a short-term plan makes more sense, as explained in Fair Share 2013 (attached).

Any new flow protocols should include a provision to cushion the impact of sudden reduced flows ("directed releases") from reservoirs, which can have a jarring impact on the river ecosystem. All releases should be ramped both up and down gradually.

A formalized provision to alleviate thermal stress on the river ecosystem during hot summer months. Our scientific research partner, Dr. Peter Kolesar, has devised a simple solution to a longstanding problem, as detailed in Fair Share 2013.

As you'll see, the sign-on letter already has the support of a number of important groups, and we expect many more to join us. As you all know, coalition-building is key to gaining a voice with government agencies. The more support we have for this letter, the better the chance that our positions will be paid heed.

This is an urgent request to you. We will present our letter and list of signatories at a DRBC committee meeting on March 7 in Trenton, N.J. We will be giving testimony at that meeting, and the impact of broader support will serve as a megaphone for our voice. 

Thanks so much. Please let us know if you have questions or if we can provide further information. Note that if you'd like to send your own note in support of all our requests, we could send you a template letter. A list of DRBC committee contacts is attached.

HERE'S HOW TO SIGN ON: Please reply to this email with your organization's name, your title, and your name and we'll add you to the letter.

Delaware Watershed Conservation Coalition

DWCC Sign On Letter 

Fair Share 2013 

RFAC Contacts 

To actually do this you will need to go to this link and follow from there. Thank You!

www.fudr.org/blog/2013/03/01/fair-share-2013-we-need-your-support/

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America's Salmon Forest

Hip To The Sip will be doing more on this later in the month, but for now, I wanted to quickly post some quick vids for you. If you would like to add your voice to the growing number of businesses and individuals that support durable, fish-focused conservation of the "best of the best" trout and salmon spawning and rearing habitat in the Tongass National Forest, please take a minute or two and fill out the congressional letter of support at http://americansalmonforest.org/sign-on/

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Get Out and VOTE!!!

 

Howdy folks. I ran across this article on ranking the Presidents on their environmental records, and thought I would share it with you. Voting is very personal and I hope you all dive deep into your decision and exercise your right to vote. We have a lot of people out fighting for our country in order to protect this day for us. So take advantage of it and get out and vote.

One of the main things I base my vote on is a President's environmental record. Another fly fishing related topic that is important to me is what the candidates plan on doing with public land. Do they want to mine it? Drill it? Privatize it? None of those work for me and it is important for me to vote for the candidate that I believe will best protect these resources for us.

I hope you all think about what is important in your life and what you feel is important to protect. Then go out and excercise your right to vote. After all, if you don't, then don't bitch about what the government does with your resources.

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Sleeping With The Devil

So I was astonished when I recently read that the Boulder Fly Casters chapter of TU was hosting Todd Bryan of the Keystone Center later this month as a featured speaker. I first read this on MoldyChum, and for the sake of being "balanced", here is a link to response of the President of the BFC chapter to those at MoldyChum regarding their reasoning for hosting a Pro Pebble Mine Speaker.

That being said, I don't believe that this is an issue about "listening to all sides". We know the facts about this fight. We aren't going to learn anything more about the facts of this atrocity by listing to the rhetoric of a Pro Pebble Mine speaker at a TU sponsored event. If anything, they could even use this as more evidence of positive public view of the project. On BFC's own announcement (linked above) they refer to Todd Bryan as a "facilitator and mediator".... what a crock of shit. Todd is a nothing but a rhetoric spewing spin-meister for the Keystone Group, who I may add... IS A PRO PEBBLE MINE GROUP.

I have been a proud member of TU for over a decade. If my local chapter of TU held this, I would leave them and never give them another cent. They can twist this any way they want to, but there is zero reason to have a Pro Pebble Mine speaker at any TU meeting.

This is a battle friends. This is the most important issue facing the fly fishing community and one that will have massive impacts to the crown jewel of our sport. I have no interest in sharing tea with the enemy. I encourage those of you that may be due paying members of this chapter to tell your President to immediately cancel this event. Those of you that are TU members that are outraged like me, please send your thoughts to: boulderflycasters@gmail.com.

"THIS AGGRESSION WILL NOT STAND, MAN"

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In Case You Missed It

Watch Alaska Gold on PBS. See more from FRONTLINE.

We're getting some positive media attention for the Pebble Mine fight. In case you didn't get a chance to see the Frontline piece, here is the clip. Pass on the message to a friend and tell them to do the same. This is a huge fight that we MUST win. 

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Dam...

DamNation | Trailer from FELT SOUL MEDIA on Vimeo.

The dudes at FeltSoul did it again. It's a great time to be fly fisherman with the ongoing trend of tearing down dams going on throughout the country. But as they show in the new film, DamNation, there is a lot of work for us to do to free our rivers. 

Please take a moment to go to dowagiacriverkeepers.blogspot.com/ to lend your support to my pet project of a dam removal. In December 2010, a group requested that the town of Niles, Michigan consider removal of the Pucker Street dam in an upcoming vote. The dam has out-lived its usefulness and is in-operable. However, water quality and the dam's structure continue to degrade. Paid energy consultants report that dam restoration isn't economically feasible. Today, funds for the dam's removal are available. Check out the blog to learn the facts and seek lend your support in any way you can.

PS - If you live near Chicago and you are participating in getting this dam removed, then you shouldn't consider yourself a passionate fly fisherman. The Dowagiac River is a jewel less than two hours from you. If this dam is removed the river would eventually rival northern trout streams like the Pere Marquette and the White. That should at least pique your interest in checking out the link to find out why. 

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Wild Fish Matter

Homewaters Require Vigilance from Native Fish Society on Vimeo.

Take a moment to watch the video, then please take a moment to voice your opinion on the hatchery program on the Sandy River in Oregon by clicking on the link below. Even if you have never fished in Oregon, you never know if the opportunity will arise in the future. If it does, I hope there are wild runs of steelhead waiting for you. 

Save Sandy River Salmon and Steelhead

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Ok... I'll Be The One To Say It...

Okay.... as a precursor.... I will warn you that I am grumpy today. That being said, this is something that has bugged me for a long time. There are some things in the world that I just can't get past, and the "Michigan Mitt" is one of those things.

Almost everyone in the trout community is moving away from abrasive mesh nets for more "fish-friendly" options like rubber netting. This not only helps fishermen keep their hooks out of the net, but also dramatically improves fish mortality. Mesh netting pulls off the protective slime that covers our beloved trout and protects them from bacteria and infection.

So leave it to the rednecks of the world to use that same destructive mesh netting to create a mitt so they can grind on the tails of fish with it. It's ridiculous and about time we start ridiculing the people that use them. Furthermore, it is even more obnoxious when I see people using them on 10 inch fish. Those fish shouldn't even leave the water.

Exhibit A 

Don't be this guy.... you look like an idiot....

Rant concluded

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The Kindness of Guides

If the dudes at TroutHunter weren't already badass enough, these guys go out and make the rest of us look like we aren't doing our part. Thanks dudes... now the ladies are going to be telling us, "Why can't you be sensitive and caring like the TroutHunter guys?".

Thanks for making the rest of us look bad, fellas.

But all kidding aside, really.... Thank You Brad, Doc and Chris for showing that fly fisherman really are caretakers of the environment and the animals that call it home. You guys are awesome for saving Ozzie.

Check out the full story here.

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First Draft of The Bristol Bay Assessment Released

The draft of the assessment report for Bristol Bay was recently released. The entire report can be found here: Bristol Bay Watershed Assessment Report.

It's a very detailed report that is definitely worth the read when you have time, but if you want to see the short and skinny version, here is the executive summary: Executive Summary.

The report paints the dim fate that we all know would be inevitable if the Pebble Mine is not stopped. But our job is not even close to done. Our job now is to convince the Obama administration to act before January 20th, 2013. Please take five minutes to fill out This Online Action Letter that specifically cites the EPA Watershed Assessment and ask the President to initiate the Clean Water Act that will enable the EPA to limit industrial scale mining in Bristol Bay. Please ask your friends and family to do the same.

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River Cleanup Report

The South Platte River was a raving success. The river is as clean as I have ever seen it and I owe a great deal of thanks to all of you that came down and made a difference. 

 

We had really low flows this year, but The City of Denver was gracious enough to bump flows up to about 100cfs in order to get some of the smaller rafts and duckies going. Good times were had.

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Be at The Cleanup... or Mad Dog Will Kill You...

The first year I did the South Platte River Cleanup we cleaned up an underpass that was covered in empty cat food cans (food for Mad Dog, I presume), empty cans of 4Loko, naughty magazines and human feces in it. It had a spray painted sign over the top of it that read "This is Mad Dog's House. Don't Touch Mad Dog's Stuff or Mad Dog Will Kill You!" Well, Mad Dog was probably not happy when he came home to find nothing left but his feces (every river cleanup person has their limits). The South Platte deserves better than to allow Mad Dog ruin it. So if you ever plan on carp fishing on the Platte, or just want to help our coldwater fisheries, then join us this Saturday for the cleanup. Here's the info:

Help Clean Up the South Platte River and Bike Paths April 21, 2012 at Union Avenue Put In.
This is an Earth Day event in conjunction with the Greenway Foundation where volunteers picked up trash along the South Platte River and Bike Paths. We usually have between 150 and 250 volunteer rafters, kayakers, cyclists and pedestrians. In past clean ups we successfully removed an average of 1.5 TONS of garbage from the river and bike path each year. The event garners local and regional media coverage on Fox News and 9 NewsTV channels, as well as appearing in the Denver Post newspaper. We start at the Union Ave Put In, raft, kayak, bike and walk 6 miles of the S. Platte River and Bike Path finishing at Habitat Park.

Please contact the event coordinator: John Kahn, Confluence Kayaks,jkahn@confluencekayaks.com, 303-433-3676 for information about sponsorship, contribution information and details on how to get involved.

2012 Event
When: 4/21/12
Registration starts at 9 am
Clean Up: 11 am - 3 pm
After Party: 3 pm - 5 pm
Where: We will be starting at the Union Ave Put In, rafting, kayaking, biking and walking 6 miles of the S. Platte River and Bike Path finishing at Habitat Park. Put-In/Start: Union Chutes, On W. Union Ave. just west of S. Sante Fe Dr.
Take-Out/Finish: Habitat Park, S. Jason St. & Exposition Ave, Denver, CO 

What: If you’ve got a raft, bring it we will find people to float with you, bikes and your own feet are other ways to be involved. Please see our personal gear checklist for suggestions on how to be prepared for a float trip in April. 

At this time we do not have a sponsor who is providing shuttle service, so please plan accordingly.

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Back To The Start

Back to the Start from Comodín de la Helvetica on Vimeo.

WARNING - NON FISHING POST: Anybody that knows me knows how I feel about factory farming. It's why I don't eat fast food. It's why I eventually want to get back to my roots and live on a working, sustainable farm. Killing animals is how food gets on the table and I don't have a problem with that. What I do have a problem with is keeping 100 chickens in a small cage, stuffed together with all of their beaks cut so they don't kill each other. Beef is wonderful, but I don't want to participate in pumping cattle so filled with hormones that they become zombies. These are both examples of how your chicken McNuggets or Big Mac get onto your plate.

What I am getting at is this; I want to eat meat, but that doesn't mean that I want to torture animals. That is exactly what is happening in factory farms across the country. So one day, I would like to get back to where I know that the food I eat comes from animals that lived quality lives and were treated with dignity. If this still doesn't make sense, watch the video above (or just watch it if you like Willie Nelson) to see the difference between sustainable farming and the commercial slaughterhouses. Don't forget to turn off the playlist on the right, so you don't have two songs going at once.

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Sometimes We Need A Hero

Asian Carp are the biggest threat to the Great Lakes fishery there is. In these dire times, we need some heroes to step up and save humanity... The Peoria Carp Hunters may just be those heroes. Eradicating Asian Carp, one sword swipe at a time. We owe you a debt of gratitude, gentleman.

For those of you lacking in sword fighting ability, num-chuck skills, or just cant stay up on water skis, do your part by visiting freshwaterfuture.org to learn what you can do to stop these bastage fish.

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I'm Sorry New Mejico

I'm sorry New Mejico. Those were harsh words I said about you yesterday. After talking all day with the magistrate in Aztec, I finally got everything settled. All I had to do was sign a plea sheet and pay my fine online. So rational minds prevailed, and by no means was I looking to get out of my pfd ticket, I just didn't want to have to drive 14 hours round trip to do so.

So consider this my apology New Mejico. Thank you for all of your healthy trout, thank you for your enormous pike and most of all... thank you for the good friends that always end up fishing with me. All despite my blatant disregard of your pfd rules.

Cheers

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New Mejico Can Kiss My...

Ask anybody, New Mexico has some pretty cool fishing. There is a lot more to the place other than the San Juan, but right now, I am hating them. I got a ticket for not wearing my pfd in the boat (I had it in the boat, just not on) and now they want me to come back down from Denver to go to court. Aztec, NM is over 7 hours away from me. Are these people insane?

Furthermore, they have their priorities completely effed up. Here are the possible fines differences between my ticket and RECKLESS DRIVING!

No PFD = $500 and/or 180 days in jail. 

VS.

Reckless Driving = $300 and/or 90 days in jail. 

Something is soooo messed up about that. I'm not trying to belittle the importance of water safety, but for crying out loud,is wearing a pfd more important than stopping people from endangering others with reckless driving? 

But They do have this....

So they have that going for them... which is nice. 

I may be bringing my next post from a jail cell in Aztec. I hope they treat me well. 

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Seriously?

Seriously Winter? Where are my dry flies.... for Christ's sakes... where are my streamers?

What are all of these things you call nymphs? Call that that thing whatever you want.... it's still a bobber...

I am damn tired of the snow. Cracking ice out of my guides is for the flippin' birds. I swear, if I have to throw out one more roll cast of a bobber, lead and multiple nymphs... I will projectile vomit. Come on Spring... where the hell are you?
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Vote “No” on SB248

As the old adage goes, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". This is not only how I feel about this situation, but also how my friend Alex Cerveniak (alexkain.com) put it in the following article. So instead of re-inventing the wheel, I am simply reposting Alex's piece on this very serious public land grab situation in Michigan. Whether you plan to ever fish the waters of Michigan or not, please take a moment to read Alex's piece and consider emailing the representatives below. Because today it may be a public land grab in Michigan, but tomorrow it could be a land grab in your neck of the woods. 
Thanks,
Hip To The Sip



We all fish and/or hunt on publicly owned land.  And chances are good, if you’re like me, your favorite place in the whole world is on Michigan owned land.  Now imagine if the State had never bought it?  You would never even know it was there, or worse yet, you’d know about it and be unable to enjoy it.

Not cool, right?  Right.

Now, imagine all of the truly awesome places the State has recently purchased, and will purchase in the future.  Land that we all benefit from, and that our grandchildren’s grandchildren will have the opportunity to enjoy.  Now, one more time, imagine it becoming available for sale and the State not being able to buy it due to a cap on the amount of land it can own?

Not cool, right?  Right.

Yet that is exactly what might happen if certain political interests have their way.

From Michigan Trout Unlimited-

State Land Cap Bill Headed to Vote – Your Help is Needed Urgently!

Senate Bill 248, seeks to place an arbitrary cap on the ability of the State of Michigan to acquire any new lands in the future.  The bill is sponsored by legislators from the Upper Peninsula who believe there is too much public land in that part of the state.  Their proposed solution is to have the entire rest of the state also restricted from future land acquisition – despite the constitutional formed Natural Resources Trust Fund, voted on by the citizens of Michigan, which was created to provide means of acquiring land lands for our use.

TU participated in legislative workgroups with the bill sponsors, forestry stakeholders, local municipalities, and other conservation groups – at the request of the House Committee Chair Frank Foster.  We discovered that none of the mentioned impetuses for the bill are actually addressed by the bill!  We’ve proposed substantial amendments to the bill to help address problems and call for a more strategic and transparent approach to state land holdings – but all those attempts have been denied to date.  Now Rep. Foster is planning on moving the bill to committee vote next week on Tuesday December 13th.  For supporters of this bill, its more about politics than about creating good public policy.  Help prevent that from continuing.

TU opposes this bill for the following reasons:

- It will prevent the acquisition of additional state lands in the entire state, including southern Michigan where the majority of people live, and where public lands for recreation are limited.

- It would impact the acquisition of lands needed for providing access the waters of the state – thus preventing access to public trust resources such as coldwater fisheries.

- It seeks to limit or prevent the intended use of the Natural Resources Trust Fund, a legacy created by the citizens of Michigan for the benefit of future generations.

- Its contradictory in that it restricts the purchase of additional state lands statewide, but then offers exceptions for purchase of large tracts of retired commercial forest lands in the U.P. – the very place where the bill sponsors claim there is too much land.

- In the Lower Peninsula, state lands are used so extensively, that user conflict management is becoming a top problem.  If there are already excessive amounts of demand for this type of land for recreation, it does not make sense to prevent the strategic addition of more of it.

- The bill also adds provisions that can force the DNR to dump undesirable state lands onto the market for prices less than fair market value, the results of which will further cripple a struggling real estate market and economy.

- If you want to see our full testimony, visit http://house.michigan.gov/SessionDocs/2011-2012/Testimony/Committee22-10-11-2011-1.pdf

We need you to contact your representative by the end of Monday the 12th, to let them know you oppose SB248 and urge them to as well. It’s bad public policy and should not be given a pass.

Please pass this email along to anyone you know that is an angler, sportsmen, conservationist, or who uses state lands for their recreation or enjoyment.    This one is critical – it’s imperative you take the time to contact your representative.  Below is information for contacting your representative.

Ask Your Representative to Vote “No” on SB248 (Land Cap Bill)

http://www.house.mi.gov/mhrpublic/  - will identify your representatives contact information

If your representative is listed below as a member of the House Committee on Natural Resources and Outdoor Recreation, then your contact with them is even more urgent and critical.

Name	District	Phone	Email Address
Rep. Frank Foster, Chair	107	517-373-2629	frankfoster@house.mi.gov
Rep. Matt Huuki	110	517-373-0850	matthuuki@house.mi.gov
Rep. Holly Hughes	091	517-373-3436	HollyHughes@house.mi.gov
Rep. Joel Johnson	097	517-373-8962	JoelJohnson@house.mi.gov
Rep. Kurt Damrow	084	517-373-0476	kurtdamrow@house.mi.gov
Rep. Peter Pettalia	106	517-373-0833	peterpettalia@house.mi.gov
Rep. Wayne Schmidt	104	517-373-1766	WayneSchmidt@house.mi.gov
Rep. Harold Haugh	042	517-373-0854	haroldhaugh@house.mi.gov
Rep. Tim Bledsoe	001	517-373-0154	timbledsoe@house.mi.gov
Rep. Maureen Stapleton	004	517-373-1008	maureenstapleton@house.mi.gov
Rep. Dian Slavens	021	517-373-2575	dianslavens@house.mi.gov