Welcome to our summer newsletter! I hope this finds you all safe and healthy in these crazy times. Hopefully you have all been able to get out and social distance on the stream of your choice these last few months.
Although we have not been able to have a regular meeting since February, we have had a couple of virtual board meetings via Zoom and stayed in touch via texts and email. With the help of our board members we have been able to keep our projects moving although everything has moved at a slower pace during these times.
Unfortunately, the Rio Grande Water Festival and the Beaver Creek Youth Conservation Camp, two of the primary youth education events the chapter participates in, were cancelled for this year. Youth education is a primary focus of Trout Unlimited and we look forward to being involved in both events next year.
Kevin Terry was amazingly able to pull-off the Jim Creek Workday. I know it was not easy in these times of COVID-19 for Kevin to make it happen and all of us on the board appreciate the extra effort he had to go through! As you can see from the front page, we plan to hold our summer highway clean-up on Sunday, July 19th. It will be great to see as many of you as can make it.
With social distancing precautions the summer board meeting and float trip was help on June 25th. We floated from Wagon Wheel Gap to Palisades Campground and everyone caught some nice fish and had a great time. Thanks to Doug for graciously providing an excellent lunch and for Joel and Kevin’s help in making it happen.
The drought that began in early March continues to plague us and cause concern for our rivers and their inhabitants. As water levels drop and water temperatures rise, I encourage everyone to please follow the advice in the articles included in this newsletter. Let’s all follow these recommendations and encourage our friends and acquaintances to do the same. If you don’t have a stream thermometer please consider buying one!
I hope to see some of you at our September meeting but at this point in time we do not know the status of our meeting. We will update everyone when possible.
I want to mention one last but very important item. We hold our elections for board members at our October meeting. I anticipate some vacancies coming up on our board so I have one request. Please, if you have ever thought about serving on the chapter board of directors, I ask you to give it serious consideration this year. Those of us that have served in the same positions for many years would be very grateful! I promise you won’t regret it; it is a fun and awarding adventure.
Please stay safe and well and get out and fish when you can! Thanks for taking a look at our newsletter.
Mark