The conservation committee continues to be busy in many long-term planning activities, but on the ground efforts are also picking up and opportunities for volunteerism are opening.
Mayfly Sensors, LHWC Collaboration, Grants
Brian Conley and Barbara Luneau have been active in a coordinated effort to incorporate water quality data collection and local collaboration into our conservation activities. This has culminated into a successful working relationship with Left Hand Water Center (LWC) – many brainstorming sessions! – and very recently in the decision to procure and install 4 Mayfly Sensors in our watershed. Mayfly sensors collect data on gauge height (correlated to flow), temperature, conductivity, and turbidity. They can do so continuously and upload real time data in areas with cellular signal access! The St Vrain Anglers TU chapter will manage these 4 sensors and collect supplemental data at these sites. We imagine these 4 sites as a pilot project that will build our internal competency and allow us to target many more sites in the future. Eventually, we can contribute to a more comprehensive real time monitoring of our watershed that will allow us to stand firmly behind policy recommendations and advocate for our fisheries and watershed as a whole. Brian and Barb Sheedlo are finishing a grant application to Colorado TU to help fund this long-term view and approach.
Balarat Outdoor Education
Bryce Larson has been leading the effort to provide content for education signage that will be constructed on the Balarat education site in Jamestown. Balarat is already set up as a mine reclamation site. We’ve committed to helping the national TU organization this spring and summer with a project there that continues the reclamation process but also that improves the educational opportunity. Bryce is helping to create the signs and learning a lot about Colorado’s mining history. We will be helping seeds and restore some areas after construction is finished as well and will need volunteers. Please mark your calendars for Lauren Duncan’s Browns N Brews talk on April 19th. Lauren is the national TU lead for the Balarat Project and will provide context for the work at the national scale and locally.
Stream Cleanups
St. Vrain Anglers continues to be boxed out of the SH-7 canyon where our traditional clean-up site is. However, we have approached Alpine Anglers (Estes Park area) about collaborating on some cleanups. We have been invited to the first one on April 30th on the Big Thompson and hope to get several volunteers out. Being visible on the streams and picking up trash is one of the simplest and most effective conservation activities we can do. Stay tuned for more information on signing up!