Big changes happening with Sheridan TU Chapter

By JOHN MADIA President Powder River Basin Trout Unlimited Chapter

The Trout Unlimited (TU) Chapter in Sheridan has undergone substantial changes to better serve the cold water fisheries we represent. We started last Spring looking at our chapter membership rosters, and attendance at events, meetings and the like. Our chapter encompasses the five northeastern counties of Campbell, Crook, Johnson, Sheridan, and Weston, totaling almost 17,000 square miles of the 98,000 that make up Wyoming.

The research we conducted identified two issues. One, the chances of seeing members from Gillette, Moorcroft, Sundance, and even Buffalo are slim as we hold all of our meetings and most of our events in Sheridan. Two, we never hear from these other locations and do not know what their needs are, what fisheries need work, what members want, etc.

Our board started the process of reorganizing to address these issues. We changed our bylaws to add two executive positions to the board, including the Vice President of Operations for Johnson County and the Vice President of Operations for the East Counties (Campbell, Crook, and Weston). We have also created a director position for each vice president. These new positions will be the local face of Trout Unlimited in their respective areas. They will work with community officials, the U.S. Forest Service, Wyoming Game and Fish Department, and others to assess local issues and work to develop and implement solutions.

The board has filled the two positions in Johnson County and will be completing this task for the east in the coming weeks.

We are very excited about these changes and are hopeful that the two new areas will someday grow to where they can stand up their own chapters. We also believe that this can be a model for other chapters that cover a large geographical area.

Once the reorganization plan was approved and started to be implemented, it became clear that we needed to change the name of the chapter. The Little Big Horn River has its headwaters in extreme northeastern Sheridan County, starting near Medicine Wheel and flowing north approximately 10 miles into Montana. It gains fame from Montana history (Custer and the Little Big Horn), although it is a terrific cutthroat and brookie fishery on the Wyoming side. In reality, however, the area our chapter represents is more accurately known as the Powder River Basin of Wyoming.

Effective the first of the year 2023, we completed all the tasks required (bylaws, national TU notification and their help with the 501(c)(3) filings, bank accounts, etc.) to officially represent ourselves as the Powder River Basin Chapter of Trout Unlimited! We are still Chapter #615 for those of you keeping score.

Our Facebook Page (Powder River Basin Trout Unlimited) has been positively received, and a new website will launch very soon. We already advertise the new name with our current fly tying classes (February throughApril), the F3T film tour (March 11), and our annual banquet and elections (April 29).

We should unveil our new logo at the F3T film tour and will have it proudly on display at the spring council meeting in Rawlins.

Please reach out to me if you would like additional details or think a similar reorganization would be of benefit to your chapter. I can be reached by phone at (307) 763-6773 or by email at jfmadia@outlook.com.