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Purgatoire River FinalAssessment of Current
River Condition & Fisheries
Enhancement
Potential
Click
Here to read the report
This article taken
from Colorado Trout Unlimited, Currents, Winter 2010
Issue.
Chapter Spotlight
A
Small Town With Big Plans For Their River
By
Joanie Muzzulin, Purgatoire River Anglers Chapter Secretary
Southeastern
Colorado and the town of Trinidad have been known for many things
through the years, but a popular destination for fl y fishing was
not one of them. A
group of passionate community members and a new Trout Unlimited
Chapter are determined to change that.
Seventy-five
years ago it was written in the local newspaper that water and
fishing could be a good tourist draw for Trinidad. But through the
years the Purgatoire was plagued with floods and drought. In 1975 the Trinidad Lake
Dam was built, controlling the floods but creating high summer
velocity and very low winter flows in the river. About the time the dam
opened, the last of the coal mines closed, and the economy of
Trinidad faltered. No
one seemed to care about the Purgatoire, and many had come to use it
as a dumping ground.
But
a few, like Chapter President Howard Lackey, could see beyond the
trash and invasive plants and envision the potential of the
Purgatoire River as a trout steam. Howard’s grandfather taught
him the best way to recover from a stressful day of work is to take
out the fly rod, and that is easier to do with a stream near where
you work and live. The
Trinidad Community Foundation was founded in 2006, with a mission to
improve the quality of life in Trinidad and Las Animas
County.
Howard was on the board of directors, and one of the first projects
tackled was improving the river corridor. The Foundation began a
spring clean-up of the river corridor. They partnered with The
Comcast Foundation, and this spring over 230 people volunteered at
the Comcast Cares clean-up event.
Howard
Lackey, President of the Purgatoire River Anglers Chapter, leads a
tour of the chapter’s proposed restoration project along the
Purgatoire River.
Members
from Chapter 509 Southern Colorado Greenbacks in Pueblo had become
interested in the Purgatoire River a couple of years ago, and toured
it with city offi cials
and Kim Pacheco Schultz, the Executive Director of the Trinidad-Las
Animas County Chamber of Commerce. They were excited by the
possibilities but knew it would be diffi cult to work on a project 75
miles away. Chapter 509
generously off ered to allow a new TU chapter to form in their
southeastern Colorado
territory. A meeting was held in September 2009 to measure the local
interest, and Chapter 100, Purgatoire River Anglers, came into being
that night.
A
year later, Chapter 100 has over 50 members in this sparsely
populated area. The
first Embrace-a-Steam grant was applied for before the chapter was
even fully chartered. Pete Gallagher of Fin-up Habitat Consultants
was hired and has completed an assessment and a preliminary plan for
a demonstration project in the center of Trinidad, where the
Purgatoire River crosses under Interstate 25, past Cimino Park. It appears that funding for
the initial phase will come this spring through generous donations
from several partners, too numerous to mention in this limited
space. Eradication of the invasive trees, mainly Russian olives, is
being done by the State Forestry Service. Hopefully the fi rst phase
of the Purgatoire River Project will be completed by next
winter. When the
highway overpass replacement is fi nally finished on Interstate 25,
travelers on their way into or out of Colorado will be able to look
down at an inviting Purgatoire River and maybe consider stopping to
fi sh awhile.
The
community has rallied around the river project. No one says “no” when they
are asked if they would like to help. They can envision the
Purgatoire River as a beautiful asset to the community and are
stepping up to make that dream happen.
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