Rise - May, 2019 by coldwaterpress

MAY 2019

Volume 1 • Number 3

LAND O’ SKY TROUT UNLIMITED — Serving Members Across Buncombe, Madison and Yancey Counties In Western North Carolina

MAY 2019

CONTENTS 3 4 6 10 2

May 2019 Volume 1 • Number 3

Lines & Leaders Kids’ Fishing Day Conservation Outlook A Positive Troutlook

MAY 2019

14 16 18 20

Chapter Meetings Delayed Harvest Stocking We, We, We On The Calendar

LAND O’ SKY FAMILY &

LINES LEADERS

few weeks ago, the board accepted the resignations of three chapter officers: President Cliff Albertson, Vice-President Reba Brinkman, and Secretary Patrick Brady. We’re grateful to them for their service to Land O’ Sky, and we know you join us in wishing them well as they look to full lives, demanding careers and other service opportunities. Our volunteer leaders are the heart and soul of Land O’ Sky TU, but life takes some twists and turns, priorities change and sometimes folks just need to move on whatever the reason. Leadership changes, both planned and unplanned, are a natural part of the life of every organization. The current members of our board — Curt Campbell, John Miko, Jay Hawthorne, Brown Hobson, Andrew Kabel, Neal Labrie, Trent McDevitt and David Vigue — continue to provide trustworthy leadership and capable guidance. As our chapter bylaws direct, they’ve met to consider interim appointments to fill the vacant officer positions and a nominating committee has been formed in advance of our regular elections in the fall. Looking forward this presents us with a challenge, and an opportunity, to refresh and renew our leadership team. Our new leaders will arise from among you, our chapter’s vast and committed volunteer reserve. Some are already serving on our board and in leadership positions with our chapter, others have expressed interest in stepping into more committed chapter roles and responsibilities, and still others have emerged as we’ve considered the next steps in our chapter life and who’d be best able to lead us forward. There’s a lot to be excited about at Land O’ Sky, in North Carolina and as a member of Trout Unlimited. Our chapter is vigorous, our membership is growing.

We’re financially strong, and our conservation programs are expanding in scope, service and capability. Under new leadership, our state council has been reinvigorated and will be offering expanded services and engagement opportunities to its membership (that’s you!), and the national organization continues to invest significant resources in the Southeastern United States, and in particular in western North Carolina. Our programs for the summer are locked and loaded. June 1 is Kids’ Fishing Day, in July and August we’re all set to work in GSMNP on some fantastic brook trout projects with the folks from the park service (check the article later in this edition for more details). And the speaker for our May 14 meeting is our own Brown Hobson, who’ll give us some great advice on wade fishing the Watauga and South Holston Rivers during the summer. So there’s an awful lot to look forward to not only a ways down the road, but right around the corner. If you’re interested in serving on our board or as a chapter volunteer leader, we’d love to hear from you. Our nominating committee is made up of friends you know well: John Miko, Curt Campbell and Jay Hawthorne. Contact one of them if you’re interested in stepping up to lead the charge forward as an officer, program coordinator, or board member. There’s never been a more exciting time, or a better opportunity, to take the next steps in your TU experience. Even if you’ve never been a volunteer leader before our chapter, council, and the “mothership” organization have a lot to offer to help you succeed and enjoy a rewarding and challenging role in chapter leadership. We hope you’ll join us. MAY 2019

Kids’ Fishing Day T

n Saturday, June 1, volunteers from chapter will once again be pitching at the US Forest Service and North Caro Commission host the 2019 Kids’ Fishing D Powhatan.

The event is open to kids 12 years of age gate opens at 8:30 a.m. and the fishing kic the handicap fishing dock near the lake. T a souvenir t-shit, and fishing poles/equipm provided.

We’ve heard Smokey Bear is in the area a appearance and steal a hot dog or two, so a friendly furry fella in blue jeans and a ra 4

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Takes Place June 1

m the Land O’ Sky g in to help our friends olina Wildlife Resources Day to be held at Lake

e and under. The cks off at 9:00 a.m. at The first 150 kids get ment and lures are

and will likely put in an o be on the lookout for anger hat! So there’ll be

plenty to do, including a fishing activity for the kids hosted by the River Rangers. And nobody will go home hungry because as in the last several years the Land O’ Sky Chapter will purchase hotdogs and all the trimmings, baked beans, chili, cole slaw and service items to feed the 150 or so hungry young participants and their families. Volunteers from the chapter cook up the dogs to plump, juicy perfection (guaranteed to bring ol’ Smokey a-running), set up the service line and dish out the grub to kids and their families for lunch — which is served starting around 11a.m. Last year’s volunteers included Curt and Karen Campbell, Charles Dauphine, David Vigue and Ron and Pat Gore. This year’s volunteer slate is pretty much full, with Ron, Pat, Charles,

David and Christine Vigue stepping up for the chapter to cook them up fresh and serve them hot. We could maybe squeeze in one more, but space is pretty tight. Thanks to our fantastic event volunteers for representing us so well, and for showing our community how much we care about our future angler-conservationists, and to our chapter members and those who make sure we have the resources available to continue this wonderful program year after year. We appreciate all of you very much! If you’re connected to a child 12 or younger, give some thought to spending a little time fishing together, getting a picture with everybody’s favorite ranger and making new friends at Lake Powhatan on June 1. MAY 2019

CONSERVATIO F

or the past two summers, our LOS TU chapter has supported brook trout restorat

population sampling in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (the Park). Last y

members spent 120 hours doing fishery science and impacting our native brookies in a v

Under the direction of Matt Kulp (“Uncle Matt”), Supervisory Fishery Biologist, and Caleb

Biologist, chapter members participated in restoring brookies in Little Cataloochee Creek needed data in several other mini-watersheds in the southeast corner of the Park. Those of you attending the March chapter meeting heard Caleb explain the mission and

of the Park Fishery scientists. He also showed results from that work which is used to un

improve fisheries throughout the Park. His description of the efforts was accurate from m

volunteer and his thanks to us were very genuine….. ”we could not have gotten so much TU volunteers from LOS and other nearby chapters”.

In particular, TU volunteers understand streams, aquatic insects, stream morphology, and h and work in the habitat. Some of this work requires hiking real trails and other minimally

and possible long days of population sampling by electrofishing. But it yields valuable infor

determine which streams are restorable for the native brookies and the work load is sha terrific young people.

MAY 2019

ON OUTLOOK

Jay Hawthorne, Program Chair

tion and fish

year, nine chapter

very positive way.

b Abramson, Fishery

k and in generating numerous activities

nderstand and

my viewpoint as a

h done without the

how to safely wade noticeable trails

rmation used to

ared with some

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Those terrific young people (“kids”) are mostly 20-30 somethings, men and women, who are seasonal National Park Service fish technicians and summer interns. Many of them are in college or graduate school or BS/MS graduates getting into the field of fish and wildlife services. These “kids” wrote an article after last summer’s work, and it’s coming up in just a page or two. They have a wealth of academic knowledge which they are eager to share. (I thought a crayfish was a crayfish. But I learned that there are multiple crayfish species within the Park and where they hide is species-specific…. who knew?) The “kids” also have varied personalities, but I can tell you from many work days and campfire nights that I have not 8

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met one of them who is not an outstanding individual. Matt and Caleb have a great reputation for their trout restoration accomplishments and their scientific publications. I believe that they get to select the ‘best of the best’ for these internships. So, what do the TU volunteers do? We help with electrofishing doing 3-pass depletion studies netting, measuring, and releasing all three species of trout. To do this, we hike trails and sometimes work through rhododendron-choked creeks (the fly-eating bush of the Blue Ridge). Some of the work can be a little strenuous, but the “kids” do most of the hard stuff. We also do IBI (Index of Biotic Integrity) sampling which seeks to biologically quantify the health of the stream with special focus

on fish diversity. There may be o Fishery crew involved in some s meals and even wash the dishes

This summer, our chapter is ste you to be part of it! We have s activities to support including p restored Little Cataloochee an last year. In addition, we want t sampling on two watersheds w to determine another creek fo and descriptions follow, and sp of volunteers for each activity. Uncle Matt’, please contact ‘rec

overnight camping with the situations, but they prepare our s.

epping up and we want selected three varied population sampling on the nd an IBI study like we did to support a high elevation where we hope to be able or brookie restoration. Dates pots are limited for number If you want to ‘sign up with cruiting officer’ Jay Hawthorne

at johnjhawthorne@gmail.com as soon as possible to get committed to the activity you wish to join. (Once you commit, I send a list of our members to a TU Volunteer Coordinator for the Park and he will need some paperwork from each of us completed to participate.)

1 2

J uly 18 • Cataloochee Creek: one day, large stream IBI sampling on Cataloochee Creek.... no overnight required. J uly 22-25 • Little Cataloochee Creek: four days doing population sampling (electrofishing) on a brook trout restored watershed. This work is similar to what was first rained out and then rescheduled last summer.

Some strenuous activity involved with long hikes possible. (But an old man like Jay can do it.) Three nights camping like last year.

A ugust 19-20 • Bunches & Flat Creek: two days of high elevation, population sampling (electrofishing) and may require one overnight.

If you have questions or concerns about the work or what you need to bring (basically, comfortable outdoor clothing, waders, plastic water bottle, sunglasses, hat, raincoat, and camping gear if your activity includes an overnight), please connect with Jay for those questions as well. Uncle Matt is looking forward to your involvement! MAY 2019

Restoring th Editor’s Note: This story, written by Hailey “Hailstorm” Goyette, first appeared in the Fall 2018 edition of “The Stream Guardian”, a seasonal publication of the Fishing Division of The Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The story is published here in full for your enjoyment, with their permission. We know you’d enjoy reading the whole publication, available for download from our chapter’s website. It’s packed full of great information, and really well done. Our thanks to Hailey and the Fisheries Division for allowing us to share it with you.

MAY 2019

THE P O

nce upon a widely distri cold, clean streams w incredible fish were p they were built to sur

As timber companies

he Brookies

POWER OF A POSITIVE TROUTLOOK

time the Brook Trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) was abundant and ibuted within eastern North America. These fish thrived in the where they reigned as the only native salmonid in Appalachia. These perfectly adapted for life in these watersâ&#x20AC;Ś until the very waters rvive in began to change

s and settlers changed the land around them by logging and farming, the loose soil once held by roots was washed into the streams, and the cool waters once shaded by the trees became too

warm without the dense canopy to protect them. In addition, logging companies and the National Park Service (NPS) stocked over 1.4 million non-native rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) into park streams, which outcompeted and further displaced native Brook Trout populations. Since the 1900s, the Brook Trout, which were once abundant, declined by 75% in Great Smoky Mountain National Park (GRSM) due to logging practices performed before the creation of the park in 1934. Even as the the forests began to grow back, the sky above became polluted from the gas released from factories, cars, and power plants. The rain that once brought relief to the drying earth below, now brought an assault of acid that altered the chemistry of the soil and the streams making them inhospitable to Brook Trout. The hardships that came with the changes to their habitat were only compounded by the introduction and expansion of non-native Rainbow Trout from the West. With their habitat altered by humans and new competitors dominating their territory, Brook Trout populations continued to decline through the mid1900s. The NPS sought to restore the Brook Trout not just because they are native to the local streams and rivers where they have dwelled for millennia, but because these fish are intertwined with southern Appalachian heritage. These Brook Trout are the descendants of those who saw the first European settlers arrive in Tennessee, the same lineage as those who supported Native American settlements for centuries, and of the same blood as those who knew these waters when they were fed by the glaciers covering North America.

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ANTHONY CREEK 2016

2017

In 2016, the NPS began efforts to restore Anthony Creek by dividing the stream above a barrier mill dam into 34, 100-meter sections and removing nonâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; native rainbow trout using the 3-Pass Depletion method and backpack electrofishing units. Backpack electrofishing units send 600-700 volts of electricity into the water, which stuns the fish, and allows backup netters to net and capture the non-native Rainbow Trout. Each section is worked through three times to ensure a high capture rate. Using this method 2,284 Rainbow Trout, or 99.3 percent of the trout population, were removed in 2016.

In 2017, the NPS conducted a second effort to remove Rainbow Trout from the area, which resulted in the capture of an additional 52 Rainbow Trout. Following the re NPS began the reintroduction of Brook Trout from collected 269 Brook Trout from Bunches Creek an of establishing the Brook Trout population. Bunche selected for the source stock as the stream lies wi as Anthony Creek and the Brook Trout were know drainage fish.

LITTLE CATALOOCHEE 1

2 Native fish are removed from the stream and held in an inflatable tank

3 Antimycin is applied to the water

4 The antimycin infiltrates the water treating as it flows downstream

2017 The restoration of Little Cataloochee Creek began in 2017. Due to the large size of the stream, holes over 3-4 feet deep, and the generally complex habitat in Little Cataloochee a different removal method was necessary. Instead of backpack electrofishing, the EPA approved piscicide Antimycin A, was utilized to remove 12

MAY 2019

Rainbow Trout from a 3- mile section of stream. Antimycin A acts by inhibiting cellular respiration of fish, including Rainbow Trout. One 8-hour treatment of Antimycin A depleted all Rainbow Trout within the restored section of Little Cataloochee Creek. Below the barrier waterfall at the lower end of the treatment zone, the

antimycin was neutralized using potassium permanganate (KMnO4); once neutralized, the antimycin becomes ineffective and no fish are killed downstream of the barrier falls. Given Little Cataloochee Creek included both Rainbow and Brook Trout, prior to Antimycin A application, a significant effort was made to remove

all ba tan wa the ne

2018 In 2018, the NPS continued reintroduction efforts by capturing approximately 230 Brook Trout from Deep Creek and Sahlee Creek within the Deep Creek watershed (also a genetically pure Little Tennessee tributary). With the help of our friends from the NPS trails crew and their trusty mules, the fisheries crew were able to haul the trout safely up the mountain trail, and from there transport them to Anthony Creek. If all goes as planned, these new recruits will disperse, multiply, and reach carrying capacity within 3 years. For more about out adventure with the mules visit: https://friendsofthesmokies.org/bloghave-you-ever-beenfishing-with-a-mule/

emoval of all non-native Rainbow Trout, the m local source streams. The first reintroduction nd relocated the fish to Anthony Creek in hopes es Creek, located near Balsam Mountain, NC, was ithin the same Little Tennessee River watershed wn to be genetically pure Little Tennessee

5 Exposed fish are killed

Brook Trout from the treatment sections with ackpack electrofishing and hold them in a large nk or untreated headwater areas until treatment as complete. Once treatment was complete, e captive Brook Trout were redistributed to the ewly reclaimed stream segments.

Brook trout are reintroduced to the treated stream

At the end of the treatment area, the antimycin is neutralized to make it safe for fish downstream

2018 In 2018, the stream was monitored to evaluate the condition of the reintroduced Brook Trout. An additional 151 Brook Trout were captured from Correll Branch and transported to Little Cataloochee Creek to augment the existing population. The 2018 Brook Trout population surveys indicate Little Cataloochee Creek is

recovering very nicely and should be back to carrying capacity within three years. The successful restoration of Little Cataloochee Creek brings the total number of Brook Trout streams restored within GRSM to 13 and includes 30.5 miles of stream habitat MAY 2019

CHAPTER MEETINGS A Fine Turnout For Our April Chapter Meeting volunteer opportunities that may be available to our members, particularly in the area of sampling for certain invasive species when we go out for a day on the water. Many of us are aware of the terrific job the department does in balancing angling, hunting, and conservation priorities. The stocking programs continue to be a huge financial and popular success, providing angling opportunities for many who otherwise couldn’t get out on the water. But a lot of us weren’t aware of the department’s brook trout restoration efforts and the significant work and research being done to support our native and wild fish population. Jake is, of course, right in the thick of it and was able to share a lot of insight into the plans for the future. But we couldn’t pry the locations of those restored streams out of him. He told us quite a bit about the new tools the department is bringing online through its revamped website: http://ncwildlife.org/trout. Everything from a hatch chart designed in partnership with NC Trout Unlimited to stocking schedules, the state’s trout management plan to stream conditions to a roadmap for brook trout conservation. Check it out when you have a chance!

hanks to the 40+ who turned out to hear Jake Rash from the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission speak on a variety of 14

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topics at our April chapter meeting. It’s exciting to hear about the many things the department has up its sleeve, and some interesting new

Our thanks to Jake for his time and energy, and for a great presentation.

Chapter Member Brown Hobson To Speak At May 14 Chapter Meeting

oin as at REI, upstairs in the community room, at 7 p.m. Tuesday night, May 14 as we gather for our last regular meeting of the 2018-2019 chapter year. Our own Brown Hobson will be the featured speaker, and his topic will be “Wade Fishing the Watauga and South Holston Rivers in Summer.” As DH fishing winds down, tourist season gears up and many of us are wondering “where-d-h”

to fish this summer, Brown’s presentation couldn’t be more timely. These fisheries are easily accessible from Asheville. There’s a lot of wadeable water, home to some monster trout, and Brown is an expert in fishing it. Brownis the owner and head guide of ORVIS Endorsed, Brown Trout Fly Fishing LLC. He has guided the Western North Carolina and East Tennessee for the last 10 years. He now

primarily guides the Watauga and South Holston tailwaters. Brown is a former member of Fly Fishing Team USA and the North Carolina Fly Fishing Team. He is a Fly Fishers International Certified Casting Instructor. He was the 2015 ORVIS Freshwater Fly Fishing guide of the year.

MAY 2019

CHAPTER STOCKING PROGRAM Rick Miale, Program Chair

2018/2019 DH Stocking Draws to a Close

week or so ago, we finished up our final Delayed Harvest stocking event of the spring.

On Wednesday, May 1, the 'Spring Creek Regulars‘ (minus our leader, Rick, who was out of town on business) completed the stocking season on Spring Creek in and around Hot Springs. A crew of six put ~1200 brook, brown, and rainbow trout into designated locations along the creek from the Red Bridge upstream to end of the DH water. There were definitely multiple‚ piggie fish of all three species along with the usual, smaller 12-16“ variety. There was even a 'guest guide‘ appearance and coaching done after lunch on the stream...with success! On Friday, May 3, we had our last spring stocking of 2019 on the North Mills. A dozen or so folks, some new to the game and some not, showed up for what was to be a great day. We had 3 kids helping this time, all of which had a blast sending fish off. After sending the gator up the trail the crew manned buckets and stocked the campground area with a healthy assortment of brook, browns, and rainbows. After we completed this section we drove up to Trace 16

MAY 2019

Ridge and stocked fro Again, a healthy assort The weather was coo out. It was a wonderfu

Delayed Harvest has compromise” — one opportunities for angl native/wild fisheries, a sport while giving folk the table the opportu

Typically, our state’s DH a year-round or wild t their suitability as part excellent stocking pro state’s hatcheries. The incapable of reproduc the eggs at a critical st

For the most part, the refuge and other migr

om the falls down to the parking area. tment of fish were released this day. operative and we had a great group ul way to end our spring stocking.

s been described as a “brilliant that provides ample, accessible lers of all levels, takes pressure off and builds and sustains interest in our ks who like to take a few home for unity to do that, too.

H waters are incapable of sustaining trout population and are chosen for t-time fisheries, populated by the ogram delivered by the WRC and our fish stocked are “triploids”, rendered ction by introduction of pressure to tage in their development.

ere are natural barriers to thermal ration, so it’s best if these fish are

harvested in early June before the water heats up. But by then, catch-and-release anglers have had a chance to enjoy some success in waters they can get to easily, new anglers have experienced the thrill of catching and releasing perhaps their first-ever fish, and untold kids and adults have had a chance to turn off their phones and get outside. Please be aware of the change in regulations that takes place around the first weekend in June, aka “bloody Saturday.” These (DH) waters are closed to fishing between 30 minutes after sunset on May 31 and 6 a.m. on June 1. At 6 a.m. on June 1, 2019, these waters open to fishing for youths under 18 years old under Hatchery Supported Trout Waters regulations — no bait restriction, no minimum length limit and seven-trout-per-day creel limit. At 12 p.m. on June 1, 2019, these waters open for all anglers under Hatchery Supported Trout Waters regulations. If you enjoy fishing the DH waters from time-to-time, be

sure to thank our many chapter volunteers who pitch in to make sure the fish get distributed evenly and not just dumped into a convenient spot off the road, and our friends at NCWRC who work with us to make sure the program is a success for all involved. If you’ve never considered the effects our state’s fisheries management programs have on our economy, consider this from a 2014 study: Nearly 149,000 trout anglers fished approximately 1.6 million days in 2014, and the effects these trout anglers had on North Carolina’s economy totaled an estimated $383 million. In that mix are the nearly 400,000 days anglers spent on our Delayed Harvest waters alone. Thanks to our many dedicated volunteers on the bucket brigades for ensuring the success of this partnership with the NCWRC. Our fall stockings will be North Mills River on October 1 and November 14, with Spring Creek happening on October 7 and November 8. Hope to see you there! MAY 2019

WE, WE, WE. (With apologies to the three little pigs and other aggrieved parties.) by Charles Crolley Editor, “Rise”

s we prepare this last edition of “Rise” before our summer break, our chapter is in the middle of some changes — as you read in our “Lines & Leaders” column at the front of this edition. The days ahead are a good time for a pause to look back in reflection, and to look forward and plan for the future.

Years ago I heard a presentation by Bob Cranda then-CEO of American Airlines, on the challenge his business was facing.

He shared a couple of ideas I remember to this day: that llife sometimes gives us our greatest opportunities brilliantly disguised as insoluble problems; and that the written Chinese for “change” is a combination of characters meaning something along the lines of great opportunity with great risk.

In writing this I wondered: could his interpretatio be true, or was that just another pop-culture appropriation to support one of those posters … “Success”, “Teamwork” … which used to hang in the conference or break room of every office?

I revisited the internet, that oracle in all things and arbiter of all disputes, to see what it had to say. In its usually maddening and wholly unhelpf way, the internet lands on both sides of the fence at once, then denies the fence exists or that there is a side at all. Truly, a moment from “The Matrix.” As it turns out, near as I can tell the consensus is that the actual Chinese characters for change mean “in crisis there is a chance of danger.” If you’re fluent in Chinese, please be gentle with me because this is mostly Google’s doing; but

MAY 2019

all, es

… n

o ful

I like Bob‘s version better and it suits my point today so I’ll stick with it. Fact is while we’re good at adapting, we humans aren’t a species much inclined to embrace change willingly. Ask me which way to load the toilet paper, which one of my socks goes on first; do I shave, brush my teeth and then shower or vice-versa and I’m likely to have an answer and a system. Disrupt that routine and I’m liable to wind up bearded and toothless, smelling vaguely of diseased yak and scouting the bathroom magazine rack for something without slick pages. I guess that’s human nature. We are creatures of our habits; at peace with our surroundings and counting on the routine in our lives to sustain us through the true weirdness life lobs at us every single day. As you get older it gets weirder, not better. Things you know are taken away and things you don’t understand take their place. As I’ve studied the issue of climate change to decide what my own response should be, I’ve become more aware of “the butterfly effect”, which is a simple model of chaos theory: can a single butterfly flapping its wings set off a series of micro-events that eventually cause a tornado half a world away? What if a bunch of butterflies, millions of them, happen to take off at the same time from a field in Texas? Will the small changes to wind patterns manifest themselves as a typhoon in Asia? A little existential, perhaps, but fascinating. A slight change here causes a major one there. Maybe we’re not meant to understand the serious implications of simple things like turning left

instead of right, choosing this over that, or leaving the house five minutes earlier or later and what difference these make in the course and outcome of our own lives and those of others. Did you ever look at a pitted-out stream, pockmarked with litter and trash and wonder why somebody didn’t do something about it; or a creek that’s been denuded of its native brook trout habitat and its fish population depleted and wonder: why don’t they fix it? Take that problem of climate change I mentioned. We’ve let our politicians and talking heads hijack this and turn it into a third-rail issue sure to zap the living bejeezus out of anybody who touches it. I published a column in our council magazine and had people compliment me on my courage; like it took some real gumption to just share an obvious scientific truth. Because the truth is our climate IS warming. Whether that’s a natural thing or cyclical or because of man’s activities, a result of cow flatulence or Al Gore jetting around the country carping about climate change, I’m not smart enough to know. Call me an environmentalist whack-o, but I tend to believe radical fringe groups like NASA when they tell me I ought to be concerned. We can debate causalities and the part man plays, and we can’t heat our homes with wishes and ride around on moonbeams; but I think we all ought to do what little things we can to make a difference, to flap our own small wings. Because I want — no, I have — to believe that working together, doing small things in our daily

lives and being more considerate of our world, we can make a change for the better. And I’m a member of Trout Unlimited because it forms the connective tissue between us as volunteers, I support our volunteer leaders who are the beating heart, and I believe in each of us and the important parts we have to play in keeping that chapter heart pumping and its willing hands working. In the fall, as our bylaws require, we will conduct an annual meeting to elect new chapter officers and leaders. We. It’s one of those words that’s inclusive and exclusive at the same time. As the person writing this article, you may take it that (forgive the grammar here) “us” are speaking to “them” when in fact, “we” are speaking to “we.” We are “somebody.” We are “they.” We are “us.” We includes you, me, our chapter board, the state council, the national leadership council, and everyone from the janitor to the CEO at Trout Unlimited. We are all in this same boat, sometimes cruising in calm waters, but more often buffeted by winds and waves from a series of events and decisions that happen sometimes outside our own control and move us off our carefully-plotted course, but to which we can and must adapt. We are together in this enterprise of changing our waters and our world for the better, a little at a time, believing the effects of our efforts will reverberate — like the flapping of butterfly wings half a world away — in ways we can’t possibly predict and can’t yet imagine. Have a great summer, everyone. MAY 2019

ON THE CALENDAR June 2019 S

July 2

Kids’ Fishing Day at Lake Powhattan Kids 12-andunder fish for free, and the first 150 receive a souvenir t-shirt. LOS volunteers are serving lunch to the participants. See article in this newsletter.

, 7:00

May 14

eeting Chapter M e community th in ng ti ee Chapter M EI, Biltmore Park. R room at speaking son will be Brown Hob auga and at W e th hing on wade fis . See article in this on South Holst wsletter. ne

23/30

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Sedimentation Survey Training TU’s Andy Brown conducting sedimentation survey training at the Wildlife Education Center (Setzer Hatchery) in Pisgah National Forest. See this month’s “The Mend” for more details.

Backcountry Blitz at Wilson Creek TU is hosting a combination campout, fishing trip and survey of natural barriers to fish passage in the Wilson Creek watershed. See article in this newsletter.

GSMNP Project — Little Cataloochee Creek four days population sampling (electrofishing) on a brook trout restored watershed. Three nights camping. See article in this newsletter.

GSMNP Pr — Little Catalooch Creek four days population sampling (electrofis on a brook trout resto watershed nights cam See articl newslette

May 17

2019

roject

Free F3T Screening Oskar Blues in Brevard

August 2019 4

Cataloochee Creek one day, large stream IBI sampling on Cataloochee Creek. No overnight required. See article in this newsletter.

GSMNP Project — Little hee Cataloochee Creek four days n population sampling shing) (electrofishing) k on a brook ored trout restored d. Three watershed. Three mping. nights camping. le in this See article in this er. newsletter.

F Did you miss the FlyS Fishing Film 3 Tour when it was at Highland Brewing? If so, or if you want to see it again – here’s some great news! Pisgah TU has teamed up with Oskar Blues for a free screening at the Oskar Blues brewery in Brevard on Friday night, May 17. The chapter will be raising money through a raffle, and Oskar Blues will donate a portion of the proceeds from the night’s beverage and food sales to the chapter to support its conservation work.

The O/B ChubWagon will be on hand with burgers and hot dogs, and they usually throw 17 down a tasty fried trout platter with all the trimmings just for the occasion. The movies are shown outside so bring a lawn chair and soak in some great films, excellent beer, tasty grub and cool, clean mountain air. All are welcome, including friendly dogs. Raffle ticket sales start around 6 p.m., the films around 8 p.m.

GSMNP Project — Bunches & Flat Creek two days of high elevation population sampling (electrofishing) and may require one overnight. See article in this newsletter.

30 MAY 2019

Land O’ Sky Trout Unlimited https://landoskytu.org Land O’ Sky Trout Unlimited P.O. Box 117 Asheville, 22 NC 28802

MAY 2019