White River

Day Three: Exploring Colorado’s White River Basin

Online Editors — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 16:58:35 -0500

by Kirk Deeter

On our third and final day of the adventure, we traveled far downstream from Meeker, past the trophy trout waters and into the epicenter of the latest drilling operations in the Mesa Verde Play in the northern basin of Piceance Creek. We brought along Scott Warner, an avid elk and mule deer hunter from Steamboat Springs, Colorado, who has hunted this specific area (Unit 22) for the past 15 years.

While this unit has traditionally been one of the hottest mule deer spots in the state (it is home to one of the largest migrating mule deer herds in America), Warner said he has seen decreased production as drilling operations have ramped up. As we stood atop the Cathedral Bluffs, a giant earth formation that towers over the creeks and draws that feed the White, Warner said: “You used to get on top of the mesa at night, and look east and see nothing but dark silhouettes of the rocks, and stars above. And now you see the twinkles of dozens of gas wells. The deer hunting is not nearly what it was--not even close.”

But the reality is that those oil and gas operations are needed. In many cases, energy companies are among the strongest allies (and funders) behind regional conservation efforts. And the energy they tap is vital--not only to the country, but especially those in Rio Blanco County. Seventy-five percent of revenues in Rio Blanco County are now energy related.

Kai Turner, a county commissioner, is also a fifth-generation resident of the area. He’s an outfitter and fishing guide as well. “There’s a special feeling you get when you’re in the White River Basin,” Turner said. “Whether you’re riding horses in the high country or fishing on the river. The Ute Indians called the White the Smoking River, and there’s still a spiritual connection that awakens the senses.”

There also happen to be billions of barrels of oil sharing reserve in the area.

“We, as a county, support multiple use philosophies,” said Turner. “And the decisions that get made, should be local decisions, made by those who live here. We worry about it. We care about it. And we see the value in all the resources.”

Trout Unlimited, for the record, is not opposed to energy development in the region. It’s a matter of ensuring that things are done with utmost concern for the watershed. And doing things “the right way” means considering the total watershed. After all, 88 percent of the species here rely on the riparian habitat, which comprises only one to four percent of the total land mass.

In other words--one way or another--the elk herds, the mule deer, the native trout, the people, as well as the lands and water, are connected in the White River Basin.

Especially in spirit.

Day Two: Exploring Colorado's White Water Drainage

Online Editors — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 10:09:57 -0500

by Kirk Deeter

We drove up the lone dirt road that shoots like a cherry stem into the heart of the many thousands of roadless acres in the Flat Tops Wilderness area. At the center of this region is Trappers Lake, one of the largest natural mountain lakes in the state (at five miles around, it is indeed small by natural lake standards in many states, but large in the mountain pothole context of high alpine waters). Trappers Lake is home to a resident population of Colorado River cutthroat trout, as are the myriad brooks and streams in this section of the high country.

The key issue in maintaining the pristine appeal in this section of one of the country’s Best Wild Places is maintaining a roadless policy, according to Aaron Kindle, Trout Unlimited’s field coordinator for Colorado. Off-highway vehicle use on designated trails and roads is something that Trout Unlimited actually supports and encourages. However, unlimited OHV use can threaten fragile spawning creeks that the rare populations of native cutthroat trout depend upon for spawning. Roadless areas also provide refuge and calving habitat for the massive elk populations that live in the region.

Traveling to Trappers Lake, one cannot help but notice the massive scars of burned trees all around. In 2003, the Big Fish Fire consumed over 23,000 acres of forest, and even claimed the historic Trappers Lake Lodge (which has since been rebuilt). I asked Kindle, pointedly, what damage OHVs could do in a roadless area that wasn’t already caused by the likes of a devastating wildfire.

“Ecosystems have evolved for fires, and in fact lodgepole pines need fires to germinate,” Kindle said. To further his claim, he pointed to the crimson patches of fireweed growing along the banks of Trappers Lake, as well as the green layers of undergrowth—“elk chow,” in other words—lining the hillsides and folds in the glacial moraine falling away from the lake.

We caught a number of native cutthroat trout by wading gingerly off the shoreline, watching for subtle rings on the early morning (near-windless) water surface and then throwing small caddis dry flies at the targets. Some of the fish were 20 inches long. But the most special fishing experience of the day was a hike up the South Fork of the White—where, as the sun started to set, I spotted a riser beneath a rocky outcropping and I dropped a small mayfly pattern in front of it. The fish made one false rise and then swirled back to inhale the fly.

It was a 19-inch Colorado River Cutthroat.

Caught on a dry fly.

In public water.

I decided that was without a doubt, my best fish of any species that I had caught anywhere this summer. This was partly because of how big it was; partly because it was a native cutthroat, but mostly because of where it lived. And it occurred to me that catching wild, native trout in a pristine wilderness stream—one we all own—is an experience we should endeavor to safeguard for future anglers, no matter what.

Day One: Exploring Colorado’s White River Drainage

Sarah Smith — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 13:17:20 -0500

by Kirk Deeter

On day one of our Best Wild Places adventure in the White River drainage of Colorado, Aaron Kindle, Chris Herrman and I went trout fishing on the upper-middle section of the main stem of the White River. This middle section meanders through a valley of expansive ranches. Indeed, private landowners control much of this water, and access is restricted. However, the Colorado Division of Wildlife has secured a number of quality easements, and there are state wildlife areas that afford access to quality trout water as well.

We pulled off by a bridge, slipped on our wades and hiked down to the river where we immediately noticed a number of small trout sipping dry flies in the shade of the bridge. The White runs clear and clean throughout the late summer and fall, and prolific hatches of mayflies, as well as hordes of grasshoppers are found in the tall brush along the bank.

I cast a small Parachute Adams in the riffle and connected with a 14-inch rainbow trout on the third cast. I released the fish back into the water and smiled at Hermann. That’s when I first heard the chop-chop-chop of a helicopter banking and turning over the hills. It buzzed directly over our heads and glided down for a landing at a nearby ranch.

Apparently one of the valley’s newest (and wealthiest) residents had popped in for a little fishing getaway. I asked Herrman about the influx of money in the region, and the way that changes the fishery, for better or worse.

Herrman--who handles TU’s outreach efforts to private landowners in the region, securing conservation easements and so forth--admitted that it is a good news-bad news situation. “On the one hand,” he said, “having river miles in the hands of people who care about the fishing, even for their own private use, is a positive thing for the system. We know that fish migrate throughout the river, and good habitat ultimately enhances the overall fishery, even in areas where most people will never wade.”

“On the other hand,” he continued, “building giant homes right along the river bank can destroy important riparian habitat. So we have to be diligent in working cohesively among all private and public interests to ensure things are done responsibly, with the big picture in mind.”

Herrman added that the same theory applies to the elk herds in the region that rely on the river valley as a winter range. Keeping open spaces connected (“connective corridors”) in a way that extends from the high country (summer range) through the valley floor (winter range) is vital to the overall health and populations of elk in the region, and private landowners—especially those with a vested conservation/outdoor interest—are vital to maintaining that system.

“It’s about balancing high impact and low impact activities with the issue of access and no access,” concluded Herrman.

Best Wild Places: White River Drainage, Colorado

Sarah Smith — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 15:22:13 -0400

by Kirk Deeter

Rio Blanco County in northwestern Colorado is just far enough removed from the Interstate highways, the ski resorts, the National Parks, that there’s still a palpable “Old West” authenticity here. There are few majestic granite peaks to lure tourists; the landscape is a more rolling, meandering array of sage, pine and aspen covered benches and bluffs. Nonetheless, beautiful for its lack of billboards, strip malls and hillside condos.

This region around the town of Meeker is deeply rooted in ranching, hunting and fishing. Each year the area records 64,000 hunter days; 75 percent of them focused on big game hunting (the largest elk herd in North America is in this region).

As for fishing, the White River runs unencumbered from headwaters in the high alpine Flattops Wilderness into a brushy coulee zone, and it’s filled with wild trout throughout this stretch (It eventually turns warmer and muddy, and flows into the Green River in Utah). The White may indeed be the most underrated fishery in Colorado. Together, hunting and fishing add $30 million in annual revenue and more than 300 jobs to the region.

But that merely scratches the surface (literally) compared to the real economic boom that’s happening here. There’s been a three-fold increase in oil and gas drilling in the White River drainage since 1997. And given America’s appetite for domestic energy, that promises to grow even more. For example, between 550 and 2,500 well pads might be developed within the next 15 to 20 years within the Bureau of Land Management’s White River Field Office area alone.

With the increased drilling activity also comes increased trucking and heavy-equipment operations— pipelines that intersect big-game migration corridors, as well as erosion and other threats to habitat for native trout.

The White River Valley is also seeing more real estate development, as working ranches are sold to investors and developers, some of whom are making riverfront trophy homes that destroy riparian habitat. Public access to fishing is therefore a prominent concern (As it is on any trout river in Colorado, where stream-access laws allow landowners to fence off their sections of the river to the public).

I recently spent a few days exploring the many facets of the White River drainage with Chris Herrman and Aaron Kindle, of Trout Unlimited. Together, we saw firsthand the raw, sheer natural beauty that earns this region a ranking as one of America’s Best Wild Places. But we also saw the evolving environmental and commercial issues that could pose a threat to the fishing and hunting heritage of the region. And we spoke with a number of outfitters, elected officials, and average hunters and anglers who are wrestling with ways to balance economic opportunity and protect the natural resources and outdoor culture that depends on them.