Fishing’s been really good the last couple of days…  I’ll let the photos do the talkin’…

Enjoy!

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The Friends of the White & North Fork Rivers are hosting a special event that I thought you might be interested in, should you be in the area on March 6th.

Check out the announcement from their president, Jane Darr, below:

Friends of the Rivers schedules Urban Streams Program

Friends hosts speaker, Steve Filipek,
Assistant Chief of Fisheries,
Arkansas Game and Fish Commission
Tuesday, March 6, 2012 – 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
ASUMH Campus, McMullen Lecture Hall, Dryer Hall

Steve Filipek, Assistant Chief of Fisheries for the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission will talk about ways to preserve the natural flow and design of urban streams while saving small towns and cities thousands of dollars.  The event is scheduled for Tuesday, March 6 at 5:00 p.m. with program to start at 5:30 in McMullen Lecture Hall in the Dryer Hall on the ASUMH campus.  All interested citizens are invited.  For information call Friends of the North Fork and White Rivers at (870) 430-5777 or visit www.friendsoftherivers.org.

The Goal of the event is to initiate a fresh conversation with key citizens in our watershed on the role of the urban stream in non-point source pollution, storm water runoff and development issues. Steve’s power point will provide numerous visuals of creative (and not so creative) choices made in Arkansas.  He will highlight the work of various partner organizations and touch on some of the funding opportunities available.

Thank you, Jane Darr.

<end announcement>

Every 3 years, ADEQ (Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality) must review its water quality standards and make revisions if necessary.  During this process, they get input from a wide range of interests, including the general public.

Our good friends with the group “Friends of the North Fork & White Rivers” are passing the word for these upcoming meetings, and I am passing the info along to you.  Please consider checking our their organization and joining; they do a lot of good here, folks! Here is the info from their latest e-blast…

<begin Friends article>

Public Listening Sessions for Triennial Review
Revisions to the Water Quality Standards in Arkansas (Regulation No.2)

Citizens care about water quality for a variety of uses – for drinking water, recreation, agriculture and more. Those perspectives should be considered when reviewing the Water Quality Standards. ADEQ must review its water quality standards (Regulation No.2) every three years.  During this process, ADEQ may make revisions, if necessary. The Department wants to hear from a wide range of interests and concerns, reflecting all the ways that water is used in Arkansas.

In short, the listening sessions provide an opportunity to all stakeholders (including citizens) to express their viewpoints and  have them considered in any revisions to the water quality standards.

Click here for a complete copy of the regulation.

Feb. 9 ADEQ, Commission Room, 5301 Northshore Dr., North Little Rock 2:00 p.m.
Feb. 15 Clarion Inn, 1255 S. Shiloh, Fayetteville 6:00 p.m.
Feb. 16 University of Arkansas Community College, 2005 White Drive, Batesville 6:00 p.m.
Feb. 21 Eugene Woods Civic Center, 212 W. Polk, West Memphis 6:00 p.m.
Feb. 23 Arkansas Oil and Gas Commission, 2215 W. Hillsboro, El Dorado 6:00 p.m.

Impaired Waterbodies
In mid January, The Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality announced that the Draft 2012 Impaired Waterbodies List (commonly called the 303(d) list was available for review.

The 303(d) list is developed by ADEQ every two years under provisions of Section 303d of the Federal Clean Water Act. ADEQ assesses water quality monitoring data from numerous locations around the state and utilizes a comprehensive assessment methodology to determine which waters are not meeting their designated uses as listed in the Arkansas Water Quality Standards

ADEQ will hold a public hearing to receive comments on the Agency’s proposed 2012 Impaired Waterbodies List (303(d) List).

The public Hearing will be held at 2:00 p.m., Tuesday, February 7, 2012, Commission Room,
ADEQ headquarters building;
5301 Northshore Drive
North Little Rock, AR

Public Comment Period Ends: Friday, February 17, 2012

Both oral and written comments will be accepted at the public hearing, but written statements are preferred in the interest of accuracy.

Click this link for complete information on, “What Is The 2012 Impaired Waterbodies List (303(d))?”, How To Provide Input, How To Obtain More Information, and Maps By County For Impaired Waterbodies

<end article>

I came across another great article from the folks at Ozarks Water Watch in their most recent newsletter…

NW Arkansas Land Trust: The Beginning and the Vision

by Guest Contributor, Nicole Hardiman, NW Arkansas Land Trust Executive Director

In 2003, the Northwest Arkansas Land Trust (NWALT) was established by a group of local community leaders who were interested in addressing conservation needs within the Northwest Arkansas region.  The idea among the group was to apply the “land trust” concept locally, which previously has been a highly successful conservation tool across the nation. Because Northwest Arkansas experienced intense urban development over the past 20 years, the founding Board of Directors identified a need to preserve the region’s quality of life, existing green space, and natural resources.

Fast forward to 2011 and NWALT is established and gaining momentum, even during what has been tough economic times for conservation-focused non-profits. As of 2010, the all-volunteer Board acquired conservation easements on 93.5 acres within the Beaver Lake watershed, a few acres of which were part of a stream bank restoration project in partnership with Beaver Water District and the Watershed Conservation Resource Center.

Beaver Lake (one of NWALT’s target watersheds)

In the Illinois River watershed, the 120-acre Wilson Springs Conservation Area was recently donated to NWALT, making the organization part of the planning team for the on-going wetland prairie restoration project.  This project was spearheaded by Audubon Arkansas through funding provided by Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.

Most recently, NWALT appointed its first-ever Executive Director, Dr. Nicole Hardiman. Nicole previously worked to establish the newly formed Beaver Watershed Alliance, a watershed protection organization focused on maintaining water quality in the Beaver Lake/Upper White River watershed. Nicole received her Ph.D. in Biology at the University of Cincinnati and has worked in water resource and quality issues over the last three years. Nicole is a Northwest Arkansas native, a fourth-generation University of Arkansas graduate, and spent many, many weekends swimming in Beaver Lake as a child.

Land conservation, in the form of conservation easements, land donations, and bargain sales, has been shown in recent studies to be a cost-effective and necessary tool for natural resource protection.  The Beaver Lake Watershed Protection Strategy (WPS) and the Illinois River Watershed Partnership’s draft management plan currently recommend forest and pasture conservation paired with streamside management zones as methods to protect against streambank erosion and to provide pollutant and/or nutrient filtration opportunities.  NWALT hopes to work within the Northwest Arkansas community to advance awareness of the relationship among water quality, economic development, and land conservation, as well as educating landowners on available conservation options.

West Fork Streambank Restoration

(photo courtesy of Watershed Conservation Resource Center)

By allowing land owners to take advantage of tax incentives for conservation easements and donations while still maintaining the desired use for their land, NWALT’s ultimate goal is to maintain Northwest Arkansas’s beauty, natural resources, rural culture, and quality of life. The NWALT Board recognizes the difficult decisions landowners face in regard to their land and the future use of their land and strives to maintain relationships with landowners that are built on integrity, honesty, and transparency.

A “deer pasture” on one of NWALT’s conservation easements in Rogers, AR

In the coming year, NWALT plans to develop the organization through diverse fund-raising and community outreach strategies, which are the first, necessary building blocks for any successful land trust. With support from the NWA community, NWALT will work towards effective implementation of Northwest Arkansas’s regional natural resource protection strategies.

Although you may not be able to attend, I thought I’d share with you the announcement of the upcoming AGFC meeting later this month.  AGFC has, over the years, implemented what they refer to as their Trout Management Plans for each of the different tailwaters they manage.  Each gets revisited every few years.  The studies that happen in between determine what action(s), if any, they will take during that time. 

We will report to you any significant outcomes from this meeting, but if you are in the area, please plan to attend!

Jeff Williams (our AGFC Trout Biologist) email below…

<begin Jeff’s email>

All,

We are planning to hold an informational meeting for Bull Shoals and Norfork Tailwaters on February 6^th from 6 -7:30 pm in the McMullin Lecture Hall on the campus of ASU-Mountain Home.  This meeting will provide us (AGFC) to update the public on current monitoring efforts (population samples, creel survey, etc.) of some of the management strategies implemented in 2007-2008 when we developed the management plan.  We will also discuss plans for upcoming projects.  The first half of the meeting will be a presentation of our monitoring data and the second half will be an opportunity for attendees to ask questions.

I think this will be a very informative meeting and I encourage everyone to attend.  We will be advertising this through the normal media outlets, but feel free to pass this e-mail on to anyone that may be interested in attending.  Thank you.

Jeff

Jeff Williams

Trout Program Coordinator

E: j_williams@agfc.state.ar.us

<end Jeff’s email>

Just got off the phone with Leon Alexander, spokesman for the Norfork National Fish Hatchery, and he had an update about the progress of the installations of the Diffuser units.

(To read more about the Diffusers and what they do, please read our previous post…)

Norfork National Fish Hatchery Diffuser Unit

As of December, there are 16 Diffusers that are completed and ready to install.

The holdup for final installation was a shortage of 6″ PVC pipe and 6″ PVC elbows.

Finally, the parts have arrived and the first 16 diffusers are scheduled to be installed after the first of the year.

8 more diffusers (for a total of 24) are still scheduled to be built and installed sometime after the first of the year.  The materials for these last diffusers have already been ordered.

Installation of these diffusers will help ensure our trout grow fast and are as healthy as they can be so they can be put in the river for YOU!

If you haven’t stopped by and checked out the hatchery, make it a point to do so on your next visit to the White River!  The hatchery is only 20 minutes from His Place Resort, and you can get a fun & educational tour, and see where our trout come from!

We got some great news about the Norfork National Fish Hatchery.  I don’t know if you remember, but we did a story earlier this year, and put up a webpage about the proposed budget cuts for 2012 that threatened to cut all funding for the Norfork National Fish Hatchery.

(If you’d like to read all of that information, you can visit our main website at http://www.hisplaceresort.net/TroutHatcheries.htm. )

Anyway, Leon Alexander, spokesperson for the local Friends of the Norfork Fish Hatchery, reports that we did indeed get funding in the 2012 budget.  The budget includes a total of $7.2 million for the nine mitigation hatcheries which were de-funded by the US Fish & Wildlife Service in their original budget request.

According to Leon, information submitted by Congressman Rick Crawford’s office says the funding is $3.8 million from  the Corps of Engineers, who will in turn reimburse the Fish & Wildlife Service, with the remainder coming from the Fish & Wildlife Service in the amount of $3.388 million.

(Some interesting things to note:  The Fish & Wildlife Service, who had permanently de-funded all hatchery mitigation, was basically forced by Congress to put that money back into the budget…  The original amount requested was $6.9 million, so the remainder of the $7.2 million will go back into the “deferred maintenance fund”, which was depleted covering operational expenses to date.  Some other funding has still not been reinstated; the TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority) for example, has not recommitted to mitigation funding.  Since they are not a governmental agency, they cannot be forced to start paying again…  they saw the opportunity when USFW Service de-funded mitigation money to follow suit…  and they did…  it will be one of the ongoing fights for the future.  To read the FY 2012 Final consolidated Appropriations Bill, click here. )

Leon says this is really good news for the hatchery employees and all those who depend on the Trout Hatcheries as a source of income, and for Baxter County and the local economy in particular, which relies heavily on trout fishing as a primary source of sales tax income.

Leon goes on to say that this took tremendous effort on the part of the Arkansas Congressional Staffs to accomplish this change in funding given current efforts to reduce all federal budgets.  He says Congressman Crawford and Senators Mark Pryor & John Boozman were tireless in their efforts to secure this funding for the Norfork and Greers Ferry National Fish Hatcheries.

We still have to remember that even though the funding has been approved for this year… We still have the same problem that we had before.  There is still not a permanent provision for future funding.  Until such funding is permanently earmarked, we’re going to come up against this threat every year.

However, we do need to enjoy this victory today!  Thanks to everyone who helped to make this happen, and regardless of where you live, take a minute to thank Congressman Crawford, Senator Mark Pryor, and Senator John Boozman for helping us out…  here is their contact information:

US Senator (from Arkansas) John Boozman (contact)
US Senator (from Arkansas) Mark Pryor (contact)
US Representative (from Arkansas) District 1 – Rick Crawford (contact)

Do you want to help more?  Join the Friends of the Norfork Hatchery!

We all need FRIENDS!

In closing, we want to wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

see you on the river…

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!  We are still eating leftovers…

We always try to keep you updated on things that we think will be interesting to you, so this week I want to talk to you a little bit about what’s going on at the Norfork National Fish Hatchery.

If you remember, last year we dodged a bullet when the threat of Federal budget cuts threatened the operation of the hatchery itself… We appreciate those of you who took the time to write, call, and basically help us raise holy H**l, in addition to offering to come out and help work the hatchery yourselves…

Anyway, this posting is good news!  I’m taking a snip from the November issue of the hatchery newsletter to share with you about the diffuser installation currently underway.  Enjoy!

Friends of the Norfork National Fish Hatchery – The Raceway – November, 2011

Diffuser Installation in Progress

Norfork National Fish Hatchery Diffuser Unit

Great News!  Given the generosity of our benefactors, construction of 16 diffusers to be placed on Raceway Banks A & B is in full swing.  Our goal is to provide a total of 24 diffusers for banks A, B, C & D.

There has been $7183.70 spent out of the diffuser funds during the past month.  Starting out prior to the purchase of materials, there was $9685 in the account.  Funding analysis of recent and anticipated donations indicates that, with just a little more support, our initial goal for 24 diffusers will be achieved.  The total expense for the 24 diffusers will be pretty close to $21,000.

The hatchery has provided funding for 24 professional six-inch quick release unions at $71 per unit.  A complete list of benefactors will be announced as soon as we achieve our goal for 24 diffusers.  The Norfork National Fish hatchery is very thankful to all those individuals, groups and clubs that have made this important project possible.  Additional material will be ordered during the week of November 14.  During the next stage of construction, an additional jig will be built in order to increase production.  Due to the standard daily demand for specific hatchery duties, the staff is not always available for consistent production.  One or two more volunteers would be most appreciated

Construction of each diffuser is very labor-intensive and time-consuming.  Hatchery staff members, Doug Anderson, Doug Beard and Dale Plumlee, along with FNNFH VP, Joe Salisbury, began work on November 3.  An internal baffle assembly jig was refined and 100 24-inch perforated baffles were cut out from ten 4 x 10′ sheets.  A complete internal baffle component requires about two hours for one person to assemble.  Each completed internal baffle consists of eight baffle discs, four 6-foot rods, 72 nuts, 72 washers, 64 Teflon washers and 72 lock washers.  Four support legs and two cross beams are cut from 16 foot long angle iron.  Outside shells, 5 foot long, are cut from 20 foot, 24 inch tubing.  Six-inch piping is utilized to attach the completed diffuser to the water source.  Each diffuser is designed to manage and treat over 400 gallons of water per minute.

The diffuser’s primary purpose is to dissipate supersaturated nitrogen levels, increase dissolved oxygen, separate and remove sulfide and manganese through the entire year, creating the healthiest environment possible in order for the trout to mature to their healthiest level.

<end of article>

Hope you enjoyed the article…  see you on the White River soon!

As predicted, the lake levels at Bull Shoals have now returned to target level and below.  This has meant significantly lower flows.  Many of you have asked if this has meant “dead-low” water; to answer your question, No, it has not been dead-low, but it has been fairly “wadeable” in the mornings.  Norfork has been off quite a bit, too.

Here’s a look at what it’s been doing for the last several days…

<photo not available>

As you can see, they’ve been running some, but not nearly the amounts they’ve been running through the summer.

As far as what to use?

For our fly fishers, quite a few things have been been working.  Folks are having the best luck with woolly buggers, and red San Juan worms.  Especially in the morning, when the levels have been a little lower, bead head midges have been working as well.

For our spin fishers, even with the lower water, things have not changed too terribly much.  The same white/hot pink mice tails have still been the most productive thing going.  Several of our guests have also reported good luck with the larger nightcrawlers, too.

For those who like lures, pretty much any kind of gold or copper Colorado/Buoyant spoon, or Blue Fox has been producing really well.

The weather has been cool in the morning, and warming up nicely in the afternoon.  It’s a great time to come fishing on the White River, and I hope we see you soon!

I got an e-mail from Jeff Williams, who is our Chief Trout Biologist for AGFC.  From time to time, AGFC requests help from the public for certain projects related to trout management.

If you’re going to be in the area from October 11-13, this marking project is a great way to get involved and learn more about the awesome trout that get put into this River…

If you want to participate, contact Jeff directly at j_williams@agfc.state.ar.us.

Here is Jeff’s e-mail below to tell you a little more…

Hello, everyone:

We will be marking the 2011 cohort of brown trout at the Norfork National Fish Hatchery October 11-13.  These fish will be distributed among the Spring River and the Beaver and Norfork Tailwaters.  If you are willing and able to assist, we could sure use the help.  We will get started on Tuesday, October 11th.  All you will need to bring is rain gear and a lunch.  We will have plenty of water and Gatorade on hand.

Please let me know if you plan on helping so I can schedule.  Also, if you know of anyone else that might be interested feel free pass this e-mail along to them.  Thanks.

Jeff Williams, AGFC

The event will take place at:

Norfork National Fish Hatchery
1414 Highway 177 South
Mountain Home, AR 72653-9799
Phone: 870-499-5255
Fax: 870-499-7755