The High Desert Angler will be going to our fall through spring hours starting next week. Beginning Tuesday September 4th, we will be open from 10am till 6pm Monday through Saturday and 11am till 4pm on Sundays.
The Upper Pecos Watershed Association now has an office open in the village of Pecos. They are located in the "old" Frankies space at 46 South Main Street. The office hours are 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday only. Stop in and meet the new administrator, Alexis St. James or call them at 505-757-3600.
Upper Pecos Watershed Association
46 South Main Street (the old Frankies)
Pecos, New Mexico
505-757-3600
Mailing Address:
UPWA
P. O.Box 339
Pecos, NM 87552
The Quivira Coalition is sponsoring one more event on Comanche Creek this year. This is an invitation only event. This workshop is a vital part of our effort to complete the Comanche Creek 319 EPA Rio Grande Cutthroat Trout Habitat Restoration Project. It is critical that we complete this project this fall as the 404/401 permit is due to expire early next year, and just as importantly, to have the structures in place to take full advantage of next spring and summer's high water events. To ensure the successful completion of this project, we need you (and your strong back!) to help with the installation of the remaining 33 vanes. Five teams of six people will trim, stage, and install posts for the vanes. These teams will rotate between two tasks: four team members will "pound posts" for vanes while two members collect rocks for additional bank support and assist where needed. The workshop will run from Wednesday, September 19th through noon on Sunday, September 23, 2007. Partial and day-only attendance is fine if you cannot join us for the entire workshop. Workdays will proceed as follows:
Wednesday, September 19: arrival and camp setup starts at noon. Post trimming will begin as participants finish setting up their camp.
Thursday, September 20: Trim posts and deliver to vane installation sites.
Friday, September 21: Teams install 13 vanes
Saturday, September 22: Teams install 13 vanes
Sunday, September 23: Teams install 7 vanes and decamp
All participants will receive a Quivira tee shirt and are invited to the "Pot Luck" dinner Saturday night. In addition to working with other dedicated conservationists on a very worthwhile restoration project, you will also have ample opportunity to observe bugling bull elk as they form their fall herds in the golden aspens of the Valle Vidal. To save your spot for this workshop, please RSVP Mike Bain, project coordinator, by the end of business on Friday, September 14. He can be reached at The Quivira Coalition, 1413 Second Street, Suite 1, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87505, Office:(505)820-2544, Cell:(505)795-1597.
Bob Gerding's Outdoor Adventures, along with other well known NM fishing experts and authors, will conduct full day fly fishing clinics for adults on Saturday September 8th and Sunday September 9th. These clinics consist of a half day of instruction which takes place at the lodge and includes tackle, equipment, stream insect sampling and identification, and casting techniques. Participants perfect their casting techniques on the Valle Grande, lunch is served, and the class heads out to the San Antonio River for an afternoon of putting new skills to the test. Having a fishing guide along makes for a special learning experience as well as a successful day of catching fish. The cost of the clinic is $150. Rental equipment is available for the day of the clinc for $30. The clinic runs from 8am till 4pm and includes a catered lunch. To reserve your space or for more information, please visit their website at http://www.vallescaldera.gov
The Valles Caldera Trust is seeking the public's help in developing a new long-term visitor access and use management plan. The Trust wants the public's ideas about visitor capacity of the Preserve, recreation and education programs offered to the public, and the types of facilities and infrastructure—such as roads, trails and buildings—needed to support public visitation and visitor programs. Truchas TU and TU National would like to develop a possible collaboration with the Valles Caldera to reintroduce native Rio Grande Cutthroat Trout (RGCT) into two select drainages in the VCNP without the use of piscicides. More detailed information, including the materials presented at previous meetings, will be continually updated on the Trust's website at www.vallescaldera.gov . The public can submit comments through the Trust's website (www.vallescaldera.gov ), by email to Marie Rodriguez (mrodriguez@vallescaldera.gov), or by letter to Valles Caldera Trust, P.O. Box 359, Jemez Springs, NM 87025. All comments should be received at Trust offices by September 21, 2007.
Limited angling opportunities for Gila trout began July 1, 2007, in select streams in southwestern New Mexico that have been closed to fishing since 1966, when the Gila trout was first listed as a federal endangered species. The State Game Commission approved the changes at its March 2007 meeting in Las Cruces, based on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service decision to downlist the Gila trout from endangered to threatened. The new regulations allow the Department of Game and Fish to open angling opportunities for Gila trout and open select streams that previously have been closed to all fishing. Limited angling will be allowed for Gila trout in Black Canyon Creek from July 1 through September 30 as a Special Trout Water. Fishing will be catch-and-release only with artificial flies or lures and a single barbless hook. Everyone who fishes in Black Canyon and Iron Creek must have a Gila Trout Permit along with a valid New Mexico fishing license. Permits are free and will be available June 1 on the "Buy licenses online" feature of the Department website, www.wildlife.state.nm.us.
Local conservation groups need volunteers! The Truchas Chapter of Trout Unlimited, New Mexico Trout, New Mexico Volunteers for the Outdoors, the Quivira Coalition and the U.S. Forest Service have an extensive list of projects to improve the health of our rivers and streams. These projects include fencing, trail maintenance, cattle exclosures and lake inventories. Again these projects are to improve the riparian health of our fisheries. Almost all of these projects are located near good fishing. Please, give some time to the cause of better fishing not only for you, but for your children as well. The following people are the contacts for these projects. Truchas Chapter; Art Vollmer 505-476-6004 or Dave Gratson 505-662-0707 x29, Jemez Ranger District; Derek Padilla, Amanda Webb, Chuck Dentino, Sean Ferrell, Mike Dechter, or Phyllis Martinez 505-829-3535.
