Giving Back Cleaning Up and Volunteering

 

How we treat our land, how we build upon it, how we act toward our air and water, in the long run, will tell what kind of people we really are. — Laurance S. Rockefeller

Quoted by Terry Tempest Williams in The Hour of Land:  A Personal Topography of America’s National Parks

One of the guiding principles the shop lives by is giving back to the community.  That principle can be seen carried out in a handful of ways throughout the year – whether it’s with the Fly Fishing Film Tour and supporting Project Healing Waters, volunteering time and effort with the Pikes Peak Chapter of Trout Unlimited, or working with others to preserve and conserve our local fisheries.  Check out these opportunities to get involved and give back!

North Slope Recreational Area

Our annual Pikes Peak clean up is in conjunction with Creek Week and the Fountain Creek watershed. We will be cleaning the North Slope recreation area including Crystal Reservoir, North and South Catamount and the surrounding parking and picnic areas.  This is a fun family friendly event, and a great way to show the little ones how to care for our resources. This year, the clean up is part of the community-wide INSPIRE project.

Registration is required so we can anticipate the number of bags and materials to bring. Email Jon at jon@anglerscovey.com for questions or to register.

Deckers Clean-up

On October 6, anglers and others will converge on the Decker’s area for a South Platte clean-up. Colorado Trout Unlimited, the Coalition for the Upper South Platte, and the U.S. Forest Service are asking local outfitters and the general fishing public to join in on this project.  The clean up will happen from 9:00 am until 3:00 pm.  More info here.

Recent clean-up efforts on the Dream Stream.   Top photos: John Houck does the dirty work. Bottom photo: a 50-gallon drum pulled from the Stream.

Pikes Peak Chapter of Trout Unlimited

A great way to be involved and give back is through the local chapter of Trout Unlimited.  PPCTU’s annual election is coming up on September 25.  The Board has several positions it will be filling this year as one-half of all positions are up for election each year.  See their website fora list of positions and duties.    Not interested in a Board position but still want to volunteer?  Check out these activities:

• PPCTU offers casting classes, fly tying, and more to local area schools.
• PPCTU also supports Casting for Recoveryby hosting a fly tying night.  On October 23, local tiers will come together at Red Leg Brewing to tie flies for that important cause!
• PPCTU has ongoing projects throughout the year, too, from river restoration to fence repair to Greenback Cutthroat Trout relocation.  Check out all of the volunteer opportunities on their website.

Living in the Pikes Peak region with the vast number of outdoor recreation opportunities and fly fishing destinations available within a two-hour drive 365 days out of the year, we think it’s important to give back. We hope you will join us and devote one, two, or three days to help preserve, conserve, and maintain our local fisheries so that the other 362 days of the year are enjoyed in a healthy and clean recreation area.