NMT Conclaive '10
01/30/2010
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Conservation Program
New Mexico Trout's mission is to preserve and enhance trout fishing in New Mexico’s waters by restoring riparian habitats and by educating the public about trout fishing and the value of trout habitats. Each year we organize a broad program of activities to support our mission, ranging from targeted donations to worthy projects, to hands-on volunteer work on area streams, to educational programs for the public. Our activities this past year included the following:
Hands-on volunteer work
Rio Guadalupe cleanup and informal campsite remediation
Cattle fence building and educational kiosk installation, upper Cebolla
Cattle exclosure construction and riparian restoration, upper de las Vacas
Comanche Creek restoration, Valle Vidal
Educational activities:
Kids Fishing day support, Seven Springs hatchery
Volunteer fly tying and casting instruction throughout the season at Tingley fishing ponds
Mentoring and guiding Boy Scout troop for fly fishing merit badges
Beginner instruction (with emphasis on youth) at Fly Tying Symposium
Periodic fly tying instruction at Sportsmans Warehouse
Interpretive kiosks on Rio Cebolla (both funding and installation)
Funding and other activities:
Interpretive kiosk construction, $6500. To Jemez District, US Forest Service
Materials and supplies for Comanche Creek work; $2500. to Truchas Chapter, TU.
Gila trout reintroduction on Willow Creek (Gila NF); $4165. to USFS
Support for publication of book on riparian restoration; $3000. to Quivera Coalition
Support for American Fisheries Society Meeting, Albuquerque; $250. to AFS
Letters to USFS supporting old Forest Road closures to reduce stream impacts
Letter supporting RG Cutthroat reintroduction on Rio Indios in Valles Caldera
We fund these activities primarily through the proceeds from the annual Conclave, which this year will take place at Sandia Prep on Jan. 31. Plan to attend this year’s symposium and support future conservation activities. Also consider volunteering for one or more of the projects that are described elsewhere in the newsletter. The projects provide a good learning experience and it’s always rewarding to get out and work with fellow NMT members.
Rio Grande Cutthroat Trout Restoration in Capulin Creek
Ron Loehman, Conservation Chairman, ronloehman@gmail.com
On April 30 I hiked into lower Capulin creek with two staff from the NM Game and Fish Department to assist in an electroshock survey of its native Rio Grande Cutthroat population. Capulin Creek originates on the Santa Fe National Forest in the Jemez Mountains south of SR 4 and flows through the Bandelier National Monument backcountry on its way to the Rio Grande. The part we surveyed lies in the National Monument four miles and 2000 feet down into Capulin Canyon. The stream averages about six feet in width with occasional knee-deep pools bordered by banks heavily vegetated with box elder, New Mexico olive (forestiera neomexicana), and other riparian vegetation. The water temperature was 52°F when we were there.
Aquatic life in Capulin Creek was destroyed by the 1996 Dome Fire that burned over 16,000 acres. In 2006 the NM Game and Fish Department stocked the creek with 100 pure-strain native Rio Grande Cutthroat trout taken from Canones Creek in the northern Jemez. Our objective was to sample a measured section of the creek to determine whether the trout have survived and are reproducing and to estimate the present size of the RGC population. Happily, the trout seem to be doing well. Fish ranged from about two inches to over seven inches in length and represented several age classes. Based on the survey results, Kirk Patten, the NM Game and Fish biologist, estimated a present population of over 2000 native RGC trout in Capulin Creek. For now the creek is closed to fishing, but with continued recovery we might hope one day to be able to fish this beautiful, remote canyon stream.
Polvadera Creek Volunteer Project
Volunteers are needed to assist the Española Ranger District in
constructing cattle exclusion fences along Polvadera Creek (see attached
map) out of steel pipe near one known camping area, and the remainder out of
four strand barbed wire in the rest of the affected area. Also, a
cattleguard is being installed to control livestock in the holding pasture
of the Polvadera Creek grazing allotment.
Polvadera Creek is in the north part of the Jemez Mountains SW of
Abiquiu, accessed south from SR 96. See the accompanying map. Primitive
camping is available at the site. See this map for project location.
The purpose of the project is to improve and protect water quality for Rio
Grande Cutthroat Trout since Polvadera Creek is listed as impaired stream
for temperature by the New Mexico Environment Department. These actions
will lead better shading and narrowing of the stream channel, which should
lead to lower stream temperature and better trout habitat. Volunteers from
Youth Works in Santa Fe, a group of motivated young adults will also be
participating. Polvadera Creek is in the north part of the Jemez Mountains SW of
Abiquiu, accessed south from SR 96. See the accompanying map. Primitive
camping is available at the site.
Bring Work gloves, sun and rain protection, wear sturdy shoes.
See Don Serrano, Espanola
Ranger District office (505) 753-7331, cell (505) 660-3077 or contact Ron Loehman for more details.
Comanche Creek Restoration Workshop
General Contact: Ron Loehman, Conservation Chairman, New Mexico Trout
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