Jerry Burton, Ron Loehman, and Art Vollmer of Trout Unlimited met with the SFNF Supervisor, Maria Garcia, her Deputy, Joe Norell, and Alan Setzer, the acting ranger on the Jemez District at the SFNF offices in Santa Fe on May 24. The FS requested the meeting to address our objections to the New Mexico Meadow Jumping Mouse (NMMJM) decision and to try to convince us to withdraw those objections. We discussed the jumping mouse issue with them for more than three hours and hammered out the agreement. The New Mexico Trout Board accepted the agreement by email vote. In my ... Read More
May 27, 2016
Our annual member BBQ will be held on Saturday, June 4 in conjunction with a work project on the Rio Cebolla. We have worked with Santa Fe National Forest staff to identify a three-part project that will provide important benefits to the Rio Cebolla.
- Planting willow cuttings along the Cebolla inside one of the areas fenced off as NM Meadow Jumping Mouse habitat.
- Building vehicle barriers to protect stream banks that are eroding sediment into the Cebolla.
- Removing campfire rings inside the newly-constructed vehicle barriers that are too close to the stream and are an additional source of stream pollution. We will ... Read More
May 27, 2016
From the May/June 2016 Newsletter Fly, Notes and Photos by Charlie Craven and Greg Garcia Used by Permission Hook: TMC 100SP-BL #14-18 Bead: Green Glass Seed Bead 15/0 size Thread: 10/0 olive to secure the bead, then 8/0 Black for the rest of the fly Abdomen: Black Superfine Dubbing Underwing: Pearl Krystal Flash, Red Krystal Flash and Pearl Mirage Strands Overwing: Bleached Elk Hair Hackle: Grizzly Dyed Brown Rooster Saddle or Neck Hackle The MDC is a stroke of genius and is becoming a hugely popular pattern. The addition of the small glass seed bead at the bend ... Read More
May 1, 2016
The East Fork of the Jemez, Jaramillo Creek, the Rio San Antonio, and the Rito do los Indios are open to fishing year round, as long as they are not frozen. Vehicle access requires a Backcountry Vehicle Permit, and 35 permits will be issued daily on a first-come basis at the Valles Caldera visitor center until 30 September. The free permits are for general access to the backcountry and there is no special quota for anglers. There is no additional cost for the Vehicle Access Permit beyond the general entry fee for the Preserve. A valid New Mexico fishing license ... Read More
May 1, 2016
Our next conservation project will be on June 4, 2016 at a site still to be decided along the Rio Guadalupe/Rio Cebolla corridor. Forest Service staff need to do some more field work to decide the best project for that date. The project will also include our annual conservation barbecue ... Read More
May 1, 2016
The Forest Service has issued the final Environmental Assessment (EA) of its plan to protect NM Meadow Jumping Mouse (MJM) habitat along mountain meadow streams in the Jemez Mountains. The final plan bans non-consumptive recreation (as well as grazing) from MJM habitat for at least 10 years. Background In 2014, the Meadow Jumping Mouse was listed as an endangered species. Its endangered status is attributable to destruction of its mountain meadow stream habitat by years of excessive cattle grazing on Forest Service grazing allotments. Even though there is no evidence for damage to MJM habitat from non-consumptive recreation, such as ... Read More
May 1, 2016
NMT has reserved 20 slots for a day of fishing at Cow Creek Ranch on June 1st. Ten of the slots have been reserved for the Board of Directors and Board Program Directors. The balance of the slots will be filled by lottery and are only open to New Mexico Trout members. To participate in the lottery contact Jerry Burton at jera10@aol.com before the next general meeting on May 10th. At the meeting we will draw the names of the winners. Jerry will contact all the winners by either email or phone with details about the outing, where and when to meet ... Read More
May 1, 2016
Twenty-one New Mexico Trout members turned out on Saturday morning, April 9, 2016 for our annual trash cleanup along FR 376 above the Gilman Tunnels. That road parallels the Rio Guadalupe, which is our home water and one of the best brown trout fisheries in New Mexico. FR 376 is also the most heavily traveled of all the roads on the Santa Fe National Forest and it receives about 100,000 visitors in a typical season. Unfortunately, all those visitors leave a lot of trash over the course of a year. Doing these annual cleanups is one way we can express ... Read More
May 1, 2016