Hermosa Creek A ‘One TU’ Initiative
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Transcript Hermosa Creek A ‘One TU’ Initiative
Sustaining chapters through leveraging money,
partnerships and collaboration
Hermosa: For the next generation
of sportsmen and sportswomen
For habitat
For a creek
For cutthroat For a community
For wildlife
Forever!
A Question of Wild and Scenic
2006 - The San Juan Nat’l Forest Draft Plan
Numerous local rivers found to be ‘preliminarily
suitable’ for W/S designation
Hermosa Creek
Upper San Juan
Pine/Vallecito
Piedra
Upper Animas (Alpine Triangle)
Standard public comment sought by USFS
Colorado’s Constitution – trouble?
W/S is the river equivalent to Wilderness for public
land – prevents human development (dams)
W/S comes with an automatic Federal Reserve water
right – to honor the value being protected with W/S
To abdicate CO water to the ‘Feds’ is something our
Constitution, and water developers, can’t support
This is why the Poudre is our only W/S river
OH, NJ and even Puerto Rico have more W/S rivers
Conservation community wants W/S designations
Water development folks do not
What to do? Fight? Lawsuits?
Public comments sure to be conflicting
Thousands of comments likely
Time consuming for the USFS
Years of debates/fights
Costly!
Confrontational
Possible lawsuits costing agency more $
TU to the rescue!
A 5 Rivers chapter board member comes
up with a plan!
The Rivers Protection Workgroup (RPW)
Chuck Wanner goes to the CWCB, FS and SWWCD
“Let’s work this out as a collaborative, as stakeholders
and avoid the fighting, costs and problems”
Water developers, USFS and conservation community
agree – “WORK IT OUT”
A steering committee is formed
A process is created – ‘The Hermosa Process’
Outreach is performed
A workgroup is created
Funding must be obtained!!!
The ‘Process’
Anyone with an interest is welcome; ‘a stakeholder’
Open and transparent
Operate on consensus, not votes
Values-based decisions (what value are we trying to protect?)
Protect the value while allowing for water development to
occur or continue
Look for alternatives to W/S, if additional protections are
needed at all
Colorado River Cutts are the ORV
All “tools” available are an option, including W/S
Developers agree to support one W/S river, if other
development opportunities are not hindered
Each ‘suitable’ segment gets its own workgroup; 5 in all
Hermosa is first, the ‘test’
Putting TU’s chapter money to work
Locally raised money employed for local rivers
Seed money for a large collaborative effort
Partnering with others for our rivers & public land
Gov’t agencies (state, fed, county)
Water buffalos
Traditional enviro groups
Other user groups (OHV, mountain bikers, miners etc…)
Rivers being discussed are our “bread and butter”
Give the TU funders something tangible!!
Give your volunteers something to ‘work for, fight for’
Hermosa has long-been a focus for all of TU’s programs
‘ONE TU’
5 Rivers (Chuck and volunteers)
Steering committee member
Creator of the process
Funding source – 5 Rivers - $7000 over six years
Mely Whiting for CO Water Project
W/S rivers are her specialty, her objective
Our workgroup’s on-call water law advisor
Legislative drafting committee
Myself for Sportsmen’s Conservation Project
public lands program
wilderness/roadless objective
Leveraging chapter $$
‘Rivers Protection Workgroup’ needed funding
Facilitation can be horribly expensive
Five separate workgroups over six+ years
Cost $140,000
5 Rivers commits first - seed money - $1000
CWCB
SWWCD
Wilderness Society
San Juan Citizen’s Alliance
Nat’l Forest Foundation
S. Ute Indian Tribe
Hermosa – TU has been committed
SCP’s (then PLI’s) Hermosa Media Tour - 2008
Home to CPW’s most important and largest native CRCT
reintroduction program - (1991-present)
‘Outstanding Waters’ designation for highest natural water
quality (CWQCC) - 2009
‘On the Rise’ episode – 2010
Two, ongoing Embrace-a-Stream restoration projects – 5R
The poster child for CO’s Roadless Rule (largest in CO)
A primary source of diluting clean waters for the Animas’
metal-laden toxic mess
Advocacy for land swap of the only inholding - 2009
A Durango area recreational treasure
Hermosa RPW comes up with a
proposal – Consensus!
A public land proposal – SCP objective
A legislative protection proposal
It takes an act of Congress
Funders LOVE permanence (sustain Nat’l funding)
Locals see their money succeeding (sustain support
from local donors/retailers/members for chapter)
Big media opportunities
Social media fodder (Facebook highlights)
CTU, NTU and 5 Rivers blogs
“Keep TU relevant” in the news
Wild/Scenic component coming, SOON!
The Hermosa Creek Watershed
Protection Act - 2013
1st entire watershed bill, ever!
Basin divided into 3 zones
Special Management Area
Roadless Area
Wilderness
Set-backs for W/S designation
Honors historic uses
Mining claims grandfathered
Main trail stays ‘mechanized’
Win, win, win!!!
Sportsmen for Hermosa – will
Congressman Tipton listen to us?
TU leads a coalition of sportsmen in support
CTU/5 Rivers
SCP
BHA
TRCP
Bull Moose
Nat’l Wildlife Fed
Fly shops
Guides/outfitters
Rod manufacturers
Project Healing Waters
Another example from the Animas basin
Animas River Stakeholder’s Group
20 year collaborative working on mine restoration and
acid mine drainage – water quality
TU a long-time participant
5 Rivers
E. Russell’s mine restoration program
Sportsmen’s Conservation Project
Alpine Triangle
Partners of the ARSG –TU working
alongside agency, industry & miners
CO Water Quality Control Commission
BLM
EPA
Dept. of Reclamation, Mining and Safety
SW Water Conservation District
San Juan County
Sunnyside Gold Corp
Colorado Goldfields
Kinross
Mountain Studies Institute
San Juan Citizen’s Alliance
Chapter money partnered with
miners?
How to fund an Innocentive Challenge?
Three TU entities bring seed money
$2000
5 Rivers, SCP, Watersheds
Kinross matches $2500
TU as financial partners with one of the world’s largest
mining conglomerates from Canada
Working TOGETHER to resolve the Animas’ water
quality problems
Alpine Triangle Ranger (OHV)
Off highway vehicle patrol for one of
TU’s most important resources
5 TU entities help fund
GGA
5 Rivers
Lake City (defunct) chapter
Sportsmen Ride Right
SCP
Relationship builder w/ counties
Tom Reyburn is a life member of TU
and Backcountry Hunters/Anglers
5 Rivers putting money to work
The 9th Street Project
2009
Partnered with:
City of Dgo
Animas Riverkeeper
5 Rivers seed money
$8000
CWCB/Riverkeepers - $5000
Fishing is Fun - $85,000
City of Durango - $30,000
Share your successes!!!!
Stay relevant in your community!!!
Relationships are massively important!
Provide regular updates to local and regular funders
Make sure members and donors see your efforts,
successes and accomplishments
Seek regular media
Gotta Facebook, that’s just the way it is (for now)
Websites are static, not interactive, not visited
Can easily engage others who are not members
Blog, post, get photos up…
“Thank your donors and volunteers”
Questions?