CTU Names Eberle Vice President

At Colorado Trout Unlimited’s annual Spring Rendezvous last week, Sinjin Eberle was elected Vice President. Sinjin has been a CTU member for five years and previously served on the board as Secretary. It’s nice to see that his peers see the same enthusiasm and dedication that make him such a great director on the BPR stream restoration project. Congratulations Sinjin!

More information on CTU’s officers and directors is available on CTU’s website.

Rick Matsumoto
Communications Manager

Construction Plan Adapts to Changing Weather

Ok, so you knew the announcement that construction was starting on April 1 was a joke, right? No? Well, neither did we! Today, however, is a different story. Warmer weather has been steadily melting the abundance of snow and ice that was suffocating the river and our plans are changing accordingly.

Troy from ERC reports the work will officially begin on Monday, April 21. Construction begins with creation of the staging area, followed quickly by the delivery of boulders and riprap. I had to ask what “riprap” is, so now I can share that it is crushed rock. It is used in areas where we are trying to protect the stream bed from erosion.

Two trackhoes (backhoes on tracks) will be working in the water starting on Tuesday.  Between the later-than-expected start and the need to finish the major work before runoff becomes an issue, it was decided to use an additional trackhoe. Sinjin and I are going to the ranch on Thursday to see the action in person!

In other news, the City of Aurora is now showing some interest in addressing the cattle grazing problem more proactively. Though initially resistant to removing the existing fencing, which is very deteriorated, they now seem open to the idea. In addition, they are considering not allowing any grazing on BPR for the remainder of 2008. This would be fantastic as it would give our revegetation efforts a healthy chance to take hold.

Rick Matsumoto
Communications Manager

Weather Freezes Crews Out

Recent storms and cool weather have inhibited ERC from getting equipment and materials in safely (safe for the equipment and the health of the site). Looks like the weather will improve dramatically over the next week, so hopefully we can get rolling. It is not currently a huge concern – if needed, we could put two crews in the water at the same time to catch up.

As a result, we have not yet set a firm date for the first volunteer weekend, nor are we likely to until we get some rocks in the water. Here are some photos from last week.

Sinjin Eberle
Project Director

Lease Agreement Finally Executed

That’s “executed” in the everybody-that’s-supposed-to-sign-it-signed-it sense of the word. Even a fly fisherman is allowed to use legal jargon once in a while, particularly when it’s for the benefit of a fishery!

The lease agreement basically designates BPR as property with public access, which in turn allows the Division of Wildlife to proceed with the stream restoration project. The City of Aurora finally signed it on March 31st. Sinjin immediately added his signature and forwarded it to the DOW, just in time for our April 1st project start. Whew!

ERC did in fact start the project today. Sinjin and I are enjoying a glass of wine to celebrate – please join us! Equipment and boulders were mobilized to the site. The first step is to set up the staging area and get the lay of the land. The amount of snow and condition of the soil are factors in determining when the equipment is actually moved into the stream. Ideally, the ground remains frozen while much of the snowpack has melted. This would allow the heavy equipment to get into the stream with minimal damage to the banks. More on that as soon as we get a report from Troy at ERC.

Rick Matsumoto
Communications Manager