Local chapter of fishing nonprofit formed in Aspen in early 1970s

On her own, Mother Nature is the perfect architect, carving out mountains and valleys, and infusing them with roaring rivers, serpentine streams, and babbling brooks.

Within these waterways lives a complex and delicate ecosystem that, without the meddlesome hand of man, does very well on its own.

But all too often, these perfect systems are tinkered with, sometimes with devastating results.

That’s where conservation-minded nonprofit groups like Trout Unlimited come in, helping to enhance streams, clean rivers, and perhaps most importantly to educate people about the beauty and fragility of nature’s design and encourage them to love and respect it.

Locally, Trout Unlimited has a storied history dating back to the early 1970s, when a group of sage fishermen and women made the first steps toward ensuring the magnificent rivers and streams in the Roaring Fork Valley Watershed be protected, celebrated, and kept wild.

The headwaters of a movement

In 1959, a group of Michigan anglers grew tired of stalking stocked fish in streams and rivers where they knew wild trout could flourish, if only given the chance to do so.

These fishermen knew that nature itself could revitalize the native trout populations in these cold, clean bodies of water, yielding stronger specimens than the “cookie-cutter” fish that the state provided.

Trout, Unlimited (the comma was later dropped) was formed with the noble task of “ensuring that wild and native trout populations were allowed to thrive, as nature intended.”

The nascent outdoors group was founded on the principle that if you “take care of the fish, then the fishing will take care of itself.”

That ideal allowed Trout Unlimited to flourish over the next half-century, with chapters springing up across the U.S., including several on Colorado’s Western Slope.

According to its national website, TU now has more than 150,000 members in approximately 400 chapters that work to “conserve, protect and restore North America’s cold-water fisheries and their watersheds.”

It didn’t take long for TU’s vision to take off in Colorado, where the high-country lakes, streams, and rivers of the Rocky Mountains were already teeming with native trout, all in a surrounding as wild as any angler could dream of.

According to the Colorado TU website, there are now 24 chapters in the state, with more than 10,000 members, who contribute around 44,000 volunteer hours each year toward restoration, education, and other conservation projects.

The nonprofit organization has completed countless stream and river improvement projects in Colorado over the years, as well as introduced the love of fishing to new generations.

Protecting a local resource

The Cutthroat chapter in Denver became TU’s seventh iteration (007) in the 1960s, and the Ferdinand Hayden chapter (008) surfaced in the Roaring Fork Valley in 1972.

The local chapter is named after geological surveyor Ferdinand Vandiveer Hayden, who led expeditions in Wyoming, Colorado, and Idaho, and whose work led to the establishment of Yellowstone National Park in 1872.

Both the Denver and Roaring Fork Valley chapters were founded by local fly-fishing legend and author Chuck Fothergill, who moved to Aspen in 1965.

He and local Jim Ward opened Chuck Fothergill’s Outdoor Sportsman in 1970, in the space that is now Boogie’s Diner on East Cooper Street in Aspen.

Fothergill has been hailed as one of the valley’s first conservationists, for having the foresight to push for catch and release fishing in the Roaring Fork River, knowing that the valley’s trout were a valuable and limited resource that must be protected.

He’s also known as the father of the “high-stick nymphing method,” as well as the modern-day, fly-fishing vest.

“He basically invented the modern vest, but he never patented the damn thing,” said Ken Neubecker, Colorado TU northwest regional vice president.

Paula Fothergill, Chuck’s former wife, and Neubecker’s spouse, said she plans to donate a few of the original vests to the Aspen Historical Society.

Woody Creek resident Bob Jenkins, who joined the Ferdinand Hayden chapter in the 1970s, said Fothergill’s foresight to protect the trout in those early days has paid dividends, making the Roaring Fork Valley the world-class fishery it is today.

“The stretch of water from the upper Woody Creek Bridge through the Slaughterhouse Bridge is the oldest piece of publicly accessible catch and release fly-fishing water in the U.S.,” he said. “Through the influence of Trout Unlimited, Chuck Fothergill was a leader in changing the [modus operandi] of the fiy shops in converting to the catch and release [philosophy]. … The whole concept of catch and release is why the fishing is still so great here in the valley.”

He did note that there were other catch and release waters in the northeast at the time, but they were all on private land.

Jenkins added that most of the water in the valley was open to the public in those days, and only later did people buy up riverside properties and make them off-limits to fishing access.

“That all happened after our watch,” he said.

Jenkins, a life member of TU for over 30 years, said a key to convincing the tourists to embrace catch and release, was to make sure all the guides kept cameras on them, so the visiting fly-fishers could have proof of their catch. He said Fothergill and fellow fishing legend Georges Odier made sure the guides all had cameras, and impressed on people that it wasn’t about the amount of fish you took home, but the enjoyment of being on the river and immersed in nature.

“Georges would say, ‘It’s not about getting there and rushing to the river, it’s about enjoying the day and the preparation of the equipment,’” he said. “Counting the number of fish you catch is not what fly fishing is about. It’s about watching the ducks and eagles, and the entomology. That was the ethos we tried to teach.”

As president of Ferdinand Hayden, Fothergill worked with Colorado Division of Wildlife to bestow “Gold Medal” water designation to the Fryingpan and Roaring Fork rivers, further helping to protect the native trout population.

Jenkins said that the conservation efforts helped to keep more wild trout in local rivers, thereby leading to a more intelligent fish, or the Ph.D trout, that elude so many seasoned fisherman to this day.

He added that it makes him proud to see the spirit of conservation alive and well in the valley’s fly shops today, and stressed that new fishing technology makes it so that caught fish don’t even need to leave the water.

“We were honored to be here, and we tried to set a high bar and promote the ethos of the [conscious-minded fisherman],” Jenkins said. “We were lucky enough to be here on the front end. It was a great time, and the guys in the fly shops are a product of that.”

Bunny Bashes and stream improvements

In the early 1970s, Fothergill set up fly-tying and fishing clinics specifically for women, who took to the sport like it was second-nature.

Aspenite and TU life-member Bill Gruenberg said the events, known as a “Bunny Bash,” were a lot of fun, usually involved a large barbecue, and were a great way to open the TU chapter to women.

“Yeah, I was involved in the now politically incorrect Bunny Bashes,” he said with a laugh.

But Gruenberg said that the river improvement projects were what enticed him the most about being in TU in those early days.

“We did several river-restoration projects, which interested me,” he said. “We put in drop structures in North Star [Nature Preserve] and [numerous other stream improvements].”

But he said in recent years he’s faded away from TU, and focuses his efforts more with the Roaring Fork Conservancy on conservation easements and stream monitoring.

“But Trout Unlimited is a great organization,” Gruenberg added. “They’re great state-wise and nationally.”

Rick Lofaro, executive director of the Roaring Fork Conservancy and a board member with Ferdinand Hayden for around a decade, noted that from time to time, the chapter has its ebbs and flows in activity, but is overall a “good chapter.”

He said that TU is very fortunate to benefit from its partnerships with conservation groups in the valley.

“The fishing club aspect is great,” Lofaro said. “But the chapter really takes it up a notch by working for conservation efforts.”

Jenkins said that both the chapter and Neubecker’s work have been very important over the years in keeping effluent out of the rivers, allowing the bug life to thrive.

“That’s huge having such clean, freestone rivers,” he said. “It’s critical to why we have such a great [fishery here].”

New blood needed

Around 2000, three local TU groups merged, with the Eagle Valley and High Country Anglers chapters joining in with Ferdinand Hayden, which now has 338 members.

But in recent years, the local nonprofit has fizzled a bit, with a sharp decline in activity and no meetings taking place in more than a year.

However, a revitalization effort is under way for the chapter, which hopes to spawn enhanced enthusiasm this year.

“We’ve been sort of dormant in the last few years,” said Neubecker. “But we’re getting the chapter revitalized, and getting a whole new slate of board members and officers in there.”

The new board appointments are set for 6:30 p.m. on May 7 at the Carbondale Branch Library, and Colorado TU’s Rendezvous takes place April 17-19 in Redstone, attracting fishing enthusiasts from across the state to the Crystal River Valley to attend workshops, presentations, make some new friends, and maybe catch a fish or two.

“Our chapter kind of fell by the wayside here for a little bit,” said Paula Fothergill, who was a past president of Ferdinand Hayden. “So now we’re reorganizing. I think we have seven new board members, potentially, and there’s a core of us. … It’s kind of cool. We have all this fresh blood, and we have a healthy treasury right now.”

Neubecker, who is a past president of the Eagle Valley and Ferdinand Hayden chapters, and an active volunteer for 21 years, said TU has a long history of conservation-minded projects in the valley, and hopes to see that tradition continue.

He noted that the chapter started the Roaring Fork River cleanup, and has since watched similar efforts spread throughout the valley with conservation groups taking the reins in different areas, including the Roaring Fork Conservancy starting its own clean-up on the Fryingpan River.

He said there are generally bases of operation for the Roaring Fork clean-ups in Glenwood Springs, Carbondale, Basalt, and Aspen, each of which sees varying degrees of participation.

“We’d get 150 people out cleaning up the river in the fall,” he said. “We always had a good turn-out in Glenwood and Carbondale, some in Basalt, and almost regularly nobody from Aspen. They just wouldn’t do it.”

Neubecker said that a project the chapter aims to accomplish is the addition of Americans with Disabilities Act-approved access to the Fryingpan River near the Ruedi Dam.

He noted that there’s an existing concrete ramp and path at the site, but that the cement is in very poor condition, making it difficult for anyone in a wheelchair to reach the river.

“The concrete’s busted up, and there’s willows growing in the middle of it,” he said. “It needs some serious work.”

But that project must be approved by the U.S. Forest Service, which would have to run it through the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process to make a new access into a reality.

“Even though it’s something that’s already there, they have to make sure that it’s not a sacred Native American archaeological site, or no rare plants [are on-site that could be affected],” he said. “It just takes a while, because they’re pretty short-staffed. Their budgets have been slashed for years, so you’ve got to have some patience to do that, but that’s something we still want to do.”

Also on the horizon are plans to take kids out fishing on Lake Christine in Basalt this spring, as well as participate in the Healing Waters program, which focuses on the physical and emotional rehabilitation of disabled veterans through fly fishing.

Paula Fothergill added that fishing excursions to the Gunnison and San Juan rivers are also being mulled for this year.

Redstone Rendezvous

The tiny hamlet of Redstone will be Fishing Town, USA next weekend, as fly-fishers from across the state converge on Colorado TU’s Rendezvous 2015 event.

The event’s theme is “REDDStone, Hatching Colorado’s Trout Future,” and will include a presentation about Colorado water from Neubecker, who is also executive director of the Western Rivers Institute.

“It’ll be a crash course on how water works in Colorado,” he said.

Also speaking at the the event will be fishing guide and fly-tyer from Montrose Joel Evans; James Eklund, director of the Colorado Water Conservation Board, and Eric Kuhn, of Colorado River Conservation District, both of whom will discuss Colorado’s first ever water plan, which is scheduled for completion later this year; Doug Krieger of Colorado Parks and Wildlife; author of “52 Rivers” Shelley Walchak; arts and crafts demonstrations and casting clinics; and TU staff from across the country to answer questions.

Paula Fothergill will also host a women’s fishing course to help raise money for Casting For Recovery, a nonprofit that “combines breast cancer education and peer support with the therapeutic sport of fly fishing.”

“That’s for some of the wives who are coming up, and it will help support Casting For Recovery,” she said. “It’s just a little two-hour, basically get equated with the river type of thing. We’re not going to get into a lot of detail, but it’s about getting out there, and just learning the skills it takes to catch a fish.”

Fothergill, who guides for Alpine Angling in Carbondale and Roaring Fork Anglers in Glenwood, has supported CFR (www.castingforrecovery.org [1]) for years and hopes to bring a retreat to the Western Slope.

“It’s for women survivors of breast cancer,” she said. “It’s really an amazing process for these gals who come to Casting For Recovery, because … they pay no money, and not only do they learn fly fishing, and we provide all the gear for them so they can be comfortable on the river, but we also bring in medical oncology professionals, and psychological/social therapists, so they have access to these professionals to get their questions answered.”

She said the retreats take place at North Fork Ranch outside of Bailey, and usually entail around 14 women having the time of their lives on the water. She added that the act of casting is one of the most therapeutic things a woman can do following surgery for breast cancer.

“It’s a great weekend for them. It’s fun, and they get a chance to be with all these other ladies [who have endured the same illness],” Fothergill said. “We’re highly sought after, because it’s such a wonderful experience for the women, and they get a chance to leave this other part of them in the shadows and actually get to move beyond their thoughts.”

collin@aspendailynews.com

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