The recently completed barrier on Alamitos Creek suffered a major setback in early August when the creek was hit by major flooding.  According to Arnold Atkins, the flood washed out the gabion structure after filling it with dirt, rocks, and debris from upstream, diverting the entire creek, which is still in flood, through the hole in the gabion and down the native creekbed into the La Sierra Acequia a few hundred yards downstream.
This barrier was put into place to protect a population of pure Rio Grande cutthroats …

TAOS, NM — Sportsmen commended U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Lujan Tuesday for introducing legislation in the House of Representatives to permanently protect 236,000 acres of prime hunting and angling habitat along the Rio Grande in northern New Mexico.
The measure, a companion to the Río Grande Del Norte National Conservation Area Establishment Act sponsored by Sen. Jeff Bingaman and co-sponsored by Sen. Tom Udall in the Senate, would protect an area of public land surrounding the Wild and Scenic-designated Rio Grande …

Sens. Bingaman and Udall introduced legislation yesterday to transfer management of the Valles Caldera National Preserve to the National Parks Service.
Trout Unlimited, along with other sportsman’s groups and many others, asked that management of the Valles Caldera be transfered to a federal land management agency in order to lower costs and increase public access opportunities.
The Caldera has been run by an appointed board. Many New Mexicans were frustrated by the Board’s attempts to make money from public access, including high-dollar elk tags and fee-based fishing.
Bingaman and Udall’s bill ensures that …

The Sportsmen’s Forum for State Land Office Candidates will be held in Albuquerque on Wednesday, May 12.
No single elected office has such a direct impact on wildlife and hunting & fishing opportunity as the Commissioner of Public Lands. They single-handedly can make decisions affecting 9 million acres of public lands in New Mexico. This is an important race for sportsmen to pay attention to.
The forum will be held in Albuquerque on Wednesday May 12 from 7 – 9:30 p.m. at the State Bar of New Mexico Auditorium at 5121 Masthead …

There is an article in the Santa Fe New Mexican today about John Wright of the Truchas Chapter, and his efforts to educate youth on the biological, ecological and recreational value of trout and New Mexico’s streams.  Check it out.
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When: 6:00 pm May 14th
Where: Sagebrush Inn, Taos NM
What to Expect: Dinner, live and silent auctions. We have three great grand raffle prizes as well. For tickets, raffle tickets or questions contact Mike Ritterhouse, ECTU Treasurer 575-770-2628 mhritterhouse@yahoo.com.
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The Red River Restoration Group (R3G) is holding a public information session and comment writing workshop today and tomorrow for those interested in submitting comments on the EPA’s proposed plan for cleanup at the Molycorp mine in Questa New Mexico.
Open House sessions
Mar. 15
Taos Convention Center – El Alcalde Room
12-4:30 p.m.
Mar. 16
Questa Forest Service Office
12-4:30 p.m.
Comment Writing workshops
Mar. 15
Taos Convention Center – El Alcalde Room
6-8 p.m.
Mar. 16
Questa Forest Service Office
6-8 p.m.
Comments on the plan are due Mar. 23.
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On Saturday, over 30 TU members and fisheries agency personnel gathered on the campus of New Mexico State University to form a new TU Chapter.  The Gila/Rio Grande Chapter will serve TU members in the southern part of the state ranging from the Sacramento mountains to the Gila Wilderness, and also TU members in the El Paso area.
Speaking at the meeting were Jerry Monzingo, Fisheries Biologist for the Gila National Forest, Matt Schultz with the New Mexico Surface Water Quality Bureau, Tawnya Brumett, District Wildlife Biologist for the Wilderness District …

Update: Map to the meeting has been posted here.
We are holding an organizational meeting for a new southern New Mexico/El Paso TU Chapter.
February 27th, 2010 at New Mexico State University, in Las Cruces. 3-5 pm
Meeting will be at the Chemistry and Biochemistry building on the North Horseshoe.
Join us to discuss the the chapter and meet with Matt Schultz from NMED and Jerry Monzingo and Tawnya Brummett of the USFS to talk about potential stream projects. Refreshments will be served and there will be door prizes.
Please RSVP if you are …

The annual Gila Trout Recovery Team meeting was held on December 17th in Albuquerque. This is a meeting where all the agencies and NGOs that work on Gila trout gather to review the work of past year, and the work plan for the next yer is laid out. There were several interesting items that came out of this year’s meeting that I’d like to share with you.
Regarding restoration efforts on the core conservation populations, the biggest project over the past several years has been the recovery of the …