NW CT Chapter of Trout Unlimited

Minutes of Meeting

March 5, 2013

 

The March meeting was called to order at 7:30 PM at the Torrington Elks Club by President Jim Fedorich.  There were twenty-one attendees.

 

The Secretary’s report for February was read by Secretary Bob Hart and was accepted as read. 

 

The Treasurer’s report was read by Jim Fedorich.  There is currently $4698.50 in the treasury, of which $250 is slated for TIC.  The Treasurer’s Report was accepted as read.

 

Jim Fedorich reported the Regional TU meeting was to be held July 19th, 20th, and 21st in the Catskills.  TU will help fund this meeting by $125 per person.  So far, Darlene Ostrosky, Evan Williams and Rob Redman have signed up.  There is room for up to two more people, if interested.

 

The Annual Naugatuck River Cleanup will be held in conjunction with the Torrington Conservation Commission on Saturday, June 1st at the Sullivan Senior Center from 9:00 AM to noon.

 

Jim reported there is a $5MM project on the Tinque Dam in Seymor to build fish ladders to help fish move upstream.  The project is due for completion by 2014.

 

Mike Beauchene, CT DEEP, is organizing a Free Kid’s Fishing Day on May 11th, 2013 from 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM at Kent Falls.  He is requesting assistance from our chapter regarding fly casting demonstrations and fly tying demonstrations.  Anyone interested should contact Jim Fedorich.

 

Representative Elizabeth Esty has written a bill to install hydroelectric power generation on two dams on the Farmington River in the Canton/Collinsville area.  TU supports this “green” initiative but wants to make it clear that we want natural flow to continue at all times and also that we want fish ladders installed to help fish migration up the river.  Bob Hart was asked to draft a letter to Daniel Esty of the CT State DEEP.

 

Bob has also written letters to voice our chapter’s opposition to the MDC diverting 2MM gallons of water from the Northwest Connecticut watershed for use in UCONN, and a second letter in opposition to budget cuts that will force the closure of the Kensington Hatchery.

 

Ron Leoni and Bob Hart talked to Joan Kirchner from Harwinton on the planning and construction of a greenway path along the Naugatuck River in Harwinton.  Our Chapter offered its services to help with some of the organizing and work details to make this happens, once her group identifies what it wants done.

 

Our program for the evening was a talk by Tim Barry, CT DEEP Biologist.  Tim stated the stocking program was underway with most of the TMAs to be stocked by mid-March.  A total of 700K trout are planned to be stocked by the end of May, and the fall salmon stocking program was on target.  Tim mentioned again about the budget cuts affecting the Kensington Hatchery and asked for support to state legislators to help save it.  Fishing license sales have been down, and with more baby boomers retiring, that number will only decrease, so there is a push to try to get new people supporting fishing through license sales.  Finally Tim talked about a new program to access culvert crossings to help trout.  The DEEP is looking for groups like ours to access and record culverts on small streams.  This data will then be used to prioritize projects and money to help better design culvert crossings to make it easier on the trout.

 

The meeting ended at 8:45 PM.

 

Our next meeting will be held on Tuesday, April 2, 2013 at 7:30 PM at the Torrington Elks Club in Torrington, CT. 

 

Respectfully submitted,

Bob Hart

Secretary, NW CT Chapter of Trout Unlimited