Notes-October-9-2007

Posted by Aaron Rubel on 9 October 2007 | 2 Comments

Tags: Paint Creek

Dear Membership and Partners,

As the traditional trout season came to a close this past weekend, plans were being finalized for the upcoming fall season of Trout Unlimited meetings. Looking back on this past trout season I can’t help but think about the progress made on the Paint Creek stream bank restoration project we participated in at the Dinosaur Hill location upstream to the Paint Creek Trail. We also contributed funds for conservation needs around the state and held an Introduction to Fly Fishing class during the Clinton River Days in June. There were some fond memories of fishing adventures this year too, but most of mine revolve around eight fish I lost over the span of three nights fishing the Hex hatch in June. So, to maintain what sanity I waded out of the river with that third night, I’ll choose to remember what we accomplished as a chapter this past summer!

The Officers and Board of our chapter are rolling out a new donation process that will provide distinction between donating to the chapter for direct funding of local conservation projects and the renewal of your membership to Clinton Valley Trout Unlimited through national. Yes, in order to be a member of Clinton Valley Trout Unlimited, each of us needs to sign up or renew through National Trout Unlimited and identify Clinton Valley Trout Unlimited as your chapter of choice. However, there are those of us inside and outside of the chapter that would like to donate to conserve, protect, and restore local coldwater fisheries and their watersheds. In January we will be rolling out a donation process that will streamline our chapter process and provide a recognition program that parallels other conservation organizations around the state. The process will be streamlined, because we will no longer need to cross-reference membership lists to identify whether the individual is seeking membership or making a donation to local conservation efforts. There will be a separate process for each. We have found that most individuals seeking to donate have done so at the $18 level and many donate higher amounts. Therefore, we will welcome donations of any amount, but starting at the $20 level we will bestow special distinction and increase the level of recognition at the $50, $100 and $200 values. We hope this will both challenge you to contribute as an individual under the new program and encourage you to speak to your employer about contributing toward our chapter goal of funding more projects with higher values in 2008. For any individual donating $20 or more directly to the chapter for local conservation efforts, we will award special merit printed in our newsletter. For any business contributing to the chapter, we will print our expression of gratitude in the newsletter and offer advertising space on our website. Classification titles for donation levels will be announced in the January newsletter.

I hope to see you at one of the fall events!

Best Regards,
Aaron Rubel – CVTU President