State of TU in the West 2017 Accomplishments and the Year Ahead Phoenix, AZ 4/28/17 Rob Masonis and Jack Williams
NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENTS
Notable Achievements 2017 Water and Restoration Weber River (UT) Conejos River (CO) Upper Colorado Basin (WY, UT, CO) 3
Notable Achievements 2017 Water and Restoration First New Mexico Water Lease Submitted to State Engineer Upper Comanche Creek Restoration Grazing Management and Infrastructure on Santa Fe and Carson National Forests 4
Notable Achievements 2017 Water and Restoration Klamath River (CA, OR) - on track to remove 4 large dams in 2020 Russian River (CA) - removed dam causing highest priority fish passage barrier Carmel River (CA) - closed deal to convert golf course to park and retire its water right 5
Notable Achievements 2017 Protection Mining Withdrawal in the Kalmiopsis Region (OR) Mining Withdrawal in the Upper Methow River (WA) Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument Expansion (CA, OR) 6
Notable Achievements 2017 Protection 125,000 Acres of Native Trout Habitat Protected from O&G development (CO, WY) Defeated Proposed Constitutional Amendment Transferring Public Lands (WY) 7
Notable Achievements 2017 Alaska 2 million acres of prime Tongass NF salmon & trout habitat protected Proposed 300ft dam on major tributary of the Kenai River stopped 100 graduates of Bristol Bay Fly Fishing & Guide Academy 8
Notable Achievements 2017 Wild Steelhead Initiative Washington State embraces portfolio management Wild Steelheaders United hits 7,000 SF Smith River designated State (CA) Wild & Heritage Trout Water 9
Hands-On Science Opportunities tu.org/anglerscience Environmental DNA (edna) Steelhead Angler Science Stream Temperature Monitoring Culvert and Road-Stream Crossing Assessments Eastern Shale Gas Monitoring D3 - Discovering Didymo s Distribution Stream Water Quality Monitoring River s Calendar Angler Drought Survey TroutBlitz 10
TU Angler Scientists featured on PBS, bigly!
Yellowstone Lake Science Review -- 2017 366,000 LKT removed in 2016 Overall biomass of LKT decreasing but pop remains high Models suggest LKT pop peaked in 2012 at 960,000 Progress in decreasing older LKT but recruitment high Models predict LKT pop decreased by ½ in 2019 if netting continues at high level Netting >80,000 units in 2017 Opportunity to suppress eggs and limited spawning habitats 12
Satellite and Airborne Remote Sensing Applications Manuscript in review in Fisheries TU and University of Georgia Changes in riparian veg, stream temp and redband habitat over time
Southwestern Native Trout Existing and Proposed Temperature Monitoring and Fish Distribution
TU developed a new approach to trout population viability Helps answer our most basic question: How much habitat is needed for a trout population to persist for the long term? Prior to this project, we depended on basic rules of thumb such as the need for at least 500 adults in a population. But now we have access to remote sensing habitat data. Information is borrowed across many observations in space and time can extrapolate to poorly- or un-sampled populations This allows us to make estimates in locations with limited or no data and explore which variables across the landscape most affect viability including climate change 4 year project funded by NASA Research team includes Trout Unlimited US Forest Service US Fish & Wildlife US Geological Survey University of Georgia University of Montana Habitat data Climate data 15
2017 Priorities
Defending Federal Policies 17
Good Samaritan Legislation 18
Upper Colorado River Flow Restoration (CO, UT, and WY) 19
Salmon SuperHwy Stream Fish Passage Restoration (OR) Photo credit Amy Haak 20
Clark Fork Project (MT) 21
Rogue and Umpqua Rivers (OR) 22
NE Oregon Water & Habitat Project 23
Protect Bristol Bay: Headwaters to Ocean 24
Skagit River (WA) 25
Colorado River, Lees Ferry 26
Frank and Jeanne Moore Wild Steelhead Sanctuary 27
Environmental DNA (edna) Detect species presence with a water sample Simple Fast Portable Durable Cheap Rangewide Bull Trout Survey Tracking invasive trout
2016 2018 Fishy Book Projects Standing Between Life and Extinction: Ethics and Ecology of Conserving Aquatic Species in the American Southwest to be published by University of Chicago Press in 2018 Diversity and Status of Trouts and Chars of the World to be published by AFS in 2018 29
Quantifying the Values of Headwater Tributary Stream to Trout Strongholds and Rivers Project focus: 1. Maintenance of cold temperature 2. Spawning and rearing habitats 3. Flows, sediment, nutrient recycling 4. Remote sensing coupled with angler science www.tu.org 30
Tracking Climate Change Facts Rising temperatures Reduced snowpack Wildfire intensity Rising sea level Increasing ocean acidity Ocean warming Increasing storm severity Disease and parasites Reduced summer flows Drought and heat waves 2016: third year in a row for warmest year on record globally 31
INNOVATIVE CONSERVATION APPROACHES & TOOLS
Innovative Data Visualization and Mapping Tools Idaho Water Transaction Tool Tool for TU staff and partners to evaluate water transaction opportunities in locations where bull trout will likely persist under warming climate based on USFS Climate Shield data. By prioritizing restoration work within bull trout lifeboats, TU and partners can ensure a lasting impact of their work. Allows users to interactively query and filter for opportunities using criteria like bull trout status, diversion-related water use, and presence of public lands, then explore source data in a map viewer.
Innovative Data Visualization and Mapping Tools Story Maps Mix of photos, narrative, and interactive maps to tell the story of TU s work
Bringing Sonar to the Northwest Improved Run Size Estimates Better Accounting = Better Management Hoh River (WA) Smith and John Day Rivers (OR) 35
Bill Herzog Testimonial 36
GRASSROOTS/STAFF RECOGNITION
Outstanding Volunteer Recognition Jim Walker & Joe Miller Jim Walker Joe Miller 38
Outstanding Volunteer Recognition Erik Young 39
Outstanding Volunteer - Dick Hollenbeck & Terry Turner Dick Hollenbeck Terry Turner 40
Award Winning Staff Paul Burnett & Kevin Terry Paul Burnett Habitat Conservationist of the Year Kevin Terry Gila Trout Award 41
Thank you and happy trails, Dwayne Meadows! 42
Distinguished Service Bruce Farling & Tom Wolf 43
Happy trails, Dr. Jack Williams! 44
Questions? Photo credit Mark Lance