"The HATCH" -- January 2007 The newsletter of the Southwestern Vermont Chapter of Trout Unlimited Trout Unlimited's mission is the conservation, protection and restoration of North America's trout and salmon fisheries and their watersheds -- using science as our key weapon. ================================================================================ * Contents * News on the 'Kill Page 1 Twin Rivers Farm Project Update Page 1 January 30, 2007 Meeting Page 1 First Quarter 2007 Meeting Schedule Page 1 Start the New Year Off Right Page 2 Call for Submissions Page 2 TU Mission, SWVT TU Officers & SWVT TU Contact Information Page 2 ================================================================================ * News on the 'Kill * Vermont Fisheries Biologists submitted their final written proposal regarding management of the Batten Kill fishery to VT Fish and Wildlife Commissioner Wayne Laroche in December 2006. As of January 1, 2007, we’re still awaiting the commissioner’s final decision on whether or not the controversial stocking component will be included in the management plan for the Batten Kill. * Twin Rivers Farm Project Update * A progress update meeting on the Batten Kill Twin Rivers Farm restoration project was held on Dec. 12, 2006 at the US Forest Service office in Manchester. Those present were: Ken Cox - VT Fish and Wildlife Fisheries Biologist, Josh Gorman - VT DEC Watershed Basin Planner, Mike Kline - DEC River Management, Bill Bullock - Trout Unlimited, Cynthia Browning - Batten Kill Watershed Alliance, Shelly Stiles - Bennington County Conservation District, Steve Roy - Fisheries Biologist Green Mountain National Forest, Scott Wixsom - Biological Tech GMNF, and Ed Vallerie - Trout Unlimited. Phase one of the Twin Rivers project is now complete. Total channel length of work completed is 1344 L/F. Further surveys of this area will be done next summer to monitor the success of this project. Planning is under way for phase two of Twin River Farm project. Steve Roy of GMNF will be responsible for the engineering of the next phase and will provide a budget for the project. This work is planned for 2007. A more complete report will be presented at the next chapter meeting on Jan. 30, 2007. - Ed Vallerie * January 30, 2007 Meeting * Special Guest Speaker: Josh Gorman, DEC Watershed Coordinator. Josh is the new watershed coordinator for Southwestern Vermont. He is eager to join us and will be speaking on basin planning, the watershed coordinator’s role and community involvement. Josh is a recent graduate of Vermont Law School with a Master’s degree in Environmental Law. He received his Bachelor’s degree from the University of New Hampshire in Environmental Resource Economics and his work background includes: Trust for Public Land (TPL) in Montpelier, VT Fish and Wildlife, The Long Island Chapter of The Nature Conservancy (TNC), and Northcoast Environmental Center (NEC) in Northern California. These work experiences provided the opportunity to conserve riparian habitats and historic farmland, survey Vermont streams for fish passage, protect endangered coastal species and educate community groups and students about watershed pollution issues. Josh is looking forward to working with local communities and organizations to develop management strategies to protect and restore the waters in Basin #1 and Basin #12. Other January meeting agenda items: Chapter officer and director elections. All current chapter officers and directors are up for re-election. We will also be looking to expand our board of directors from four positions to six. One other item of business will be to officially adopt a revised set of chapter bylaws. If you wish to review the proposed bylaw changes prior to the meeting, you can view them online or download a copy from the chapter website, or contact chapter Treasurer Frank Nelson for a hard-copy. Additionally, Ed Vallerie will provide a more detailed report on the 12/12/06 Twin Rivers Farm Project meeting. The meeting will start at 7PM and will be held at the American Museum of Fly Fishing in Manchester, VT. See you January 30th! * First Quarter 2007 Meeting Schedule * - January 30, 2007 - General chapter meeting, with special guest speaker Josh Gorman, election of chapter officers and directors, etc. See above for more details. 7PM at the American Museum of Fly Fishing. - February 13, 2007 - General chapter meeting. Guest speakers have been invited. Additional details forthcoming. See the chapter website for up-to-the-minute details. Meeting location TBD. - March 13, 2007 - General chapter meeting featuring guest speaker, Lawton Weber, of Pleasant Valley Fly Fishing Guides, Jeffersonville, VT. Lawton will be speaking on fishing New Zealand. Meeting location TBD. (Page 1) -------- (Page 2) * Start the New Year Off Right * Take a few minutes and update your personal contact information on file with TU. If you have internet access, log in to the national TU website and update your mailing address, phone number, email address, etc. If you’re not online, you can contact the TU Customer Service Center at #800/834-2419 and verify that they have the correct information on file. * Call For Submissions * We need your assistance in keeping the content for our chapter website and newsletter interesting, entertaining, informative, educational, and current. Please submit your stories, articles, sketches, photos, cartoons, fly-patterns/tying-recipes, etc. to info TUSWVT org * The TU Mission * Trout Unlimited's mission is to conserve, protect and restore North America's trout and salmon fisheries and their watersheds. * SWVT TU Officers * - Eric Rickstad - President (President TUSWVT org) - Doug Lyons - Vice President (VP TUSWVT org) - Frank Nelson - Treasurer (Treasurer TUSWVT org) - Peter Bellamy - Secretary (Secretary TUSWVT org) Directors: David Carmona, Bill Bullock, Steve Hemkens, Scott McEnaney * SWVT TU Contact Information * Southwestern Vermont Chapter of Trout Unlimited URL: http://www.TUSWVT.org General Email: info TUSWVT org Mail: PO Box 88 Manchester Center, VT 05254 (Page 2) --------------- Happy New Year! 1/2/2007