Please see this short video on our Rio Grande Cutthroat
HISTORY, PROJECTS & ACTIVITIES
TROUT UNLIMITED, ENCHANTED CIRCLE CHAPTER
Trout Unlimited (TU) founded July 1959
Enchanted Circle Chapter (ECTU) founded 2007
Mission carried out at grassroots level:
- Protect (native & wild trout watersheds)
- Reconnect (watersheds by removal of migratory barriers)
- Restore (habitat, flows and water quality)
- Sustain (by land conservancy, youth education & membership development)
Projects & Activities
- Red River Angling Park & Hatchery Barrier Project
- Restoration in vicinity of Questa Ranger Station
- Reconnect sections of the Red River near Hatchery Cost = $800,000; $5,000 ECTU seed money; $60,000 Questa Economic Development; $5,000 TU Truchas chapter; $210,000Fed Fish & Wildlife 3 to 1 matching funds = $280,000. Balance from Habitat Stamps
Columbine & Hondo Tributaries
- Columbine Creek enters Red 5 +/- mi. upstream from Questa
- One mile upstream of confluence w/Red has genetically pure strain Rio Grande Cutthroat (RGCT)
- Project to increase barrier (waterfall) depth to keep RGCT isolated
- Work crew included chapter members, Taos High students, & USFS personnel
- Hondo project to protect genetically pure RGCT near Taos Ski Valley
- ECTU volunteers working with USFS & Village of TSV ECTU engaging professional engineering help to design barriers
- Once barriers are established on these two tributaries, hope proposed Rio Hondo habitat and angler access improvements in the Village can proceed.
Cimarron River
- ECTU is a member of Cimarron Water Alliance (collaboration of agricultural, municipal & recreational water users)
- ECTU partners with Philmont Scout Ranch in “River Corridor as a Classroom: Engaging Communities in the health of the Cimarron River Watershed”.
Trout in the Classroom
- Programs in Cimarron, Red River, and Taos.
- ECTU provides aquariums, water chillers, related equipment
- Students rear trout from egg to juvenile then release into streams
Taos High School Science Project
- Working with science teacher & students at Taos High School to establish a Trout in the Classroom project.
- ECTU funding a water quality & biological sampling program
- Data will provide baseline info to ECTU and resource agencies
- Data will assist in evaluation of effectiveness of stream habitat restoration projects
Water Quality Sampling & Testing
- Coordinate with other volunteer sampling groups (e.g. Water Sentinels)
- ECTU has active water sampling & quality testing
- Volunteers trained to sample local streams on regular basis
- Collected samples sent to certified labs for analysis
River Clean-up
- Organizes or participates with other groups in periodic river clean-up
- Support provided by USFS, BLM, NM Department of Game & Fish
- Past projects – Red River, Rio Hondo, Rio Fernando, Rio Grande
Project Healing Waters
- Serving disabled military men and women veterans.
- Monthly meetings for fly-tying, casting lessons & outings
Casting for Recovery
- Serving breast cancer survivors at all stages of their recovery
- Annual retreat for 14 women at no cost to participants
- Introduces participants to fly fishing, provides health & community support
Board Meetings, Social Events & Fund-raising
- All meetings open to public
- Offer periodic social events with expert presentations on angling topics
- Two fundraisers per year
- Annual Banquet (Dinner, Raffle, Silent & Live Auctions) Friday, May 19, 2017
- Fall Fishing Tournament (guided 2-day tournament, 3 person teams)
- Donation of funds always welcome; significant amounts may be designated for specific purposes.