The Middle River Group, LLC

fly fishing, conservation and politics.

Green River

The River – a Father’s wish

By

This week I got a note from Mark Greer, asking me to help pay tribute to his late son Anthony, who was an avid fly fisherman and a guide on the Green River in Utah. He included an essay written by Anthony, some photos of Anthony, and an article by Tom Wharton of the Salt Lake Tribune.

“Anthony had hoped to see one of his essays published. “The River” speaks to those of us who have spent time fishing, floating or sitting next to running water,” wrote Wharton.

Mark asked that I post The River on Father’s Day. I am delighted to do so. My own father is no longer alive but I know he would have liked this essay. As Anthony would have said, “Enjoy.”

The River

Where does one venture when the responsibilities of life weigh heavy upon the mind? The answer, of course, is very simple. We go to where no others bother to look. The places we visit, time after time after time. The River.

She’s always there. Always willing to share her bounty to the dedicated. The few. The ones who got the ‘bug’ early, and have never ceased to stop the quest for knowledge. The River, although a temptress at times, never ceases to amaze, and even if she takes your breath away … we always find ourselves coming back for more.

This, my friends, is not passion, hobby or sport. It cannot as easily be summed in those words. In a few enlightened anglers’ minds lies an addiction so deep, I dare say, that even after a lifetime of angling they would begin to feel ‘satisfied’.

Or maybe these are just the rants of one lone fish bum?

Sportsmen For The Green

By

Fishin' the Green

A couple of years ago I had the chance to fish the Green River with the Rivers of Recovery crew. At the time the notion of taking billions of gallons of water from the river and the Flaming Gorge Resevoir was a side conversation to the fishing and companionship of my colleagues, the guides and the combat vets we were fishing with.

The Green River, Flaming Gorge Reservoir and the surrounding public lands offer some of the best fishing and hunting in the West. There is an $118 million recreation-based economy in the region. Unfortunately the absurd idea of taking water from the Green and sending it via pipeline to Colorado has not gone away. A Colorado developer, Aaron Million, wants to take 81 billion gallons a year out of the Green River and Flaming Gorge, and pump it 560 miles to the Front Range of Colorado.

As Trout Unlimited’s Walt Gasson said, “You know, Million pipeline is a proposal that is elegant in both its simplicity and its insanity.”

Take a moment to watch the video on the Sportsmen For The Green website. It is a compelling look at the Green River, Flaming Gorge Reservoir and the people who live, work and play there.

When you come right down to it the sheer madness of this proposal should be enough to doom it. But these days it seems bat shit crazy is a virtue so we can’t just hope this one goes away. If you want to lend a hand then click on this Join the Fight link.

Facts courtesy of Sportsmen For The Green:

Initial construction costs for this project will exceed $7 billion, with annual operating costs totaling over $123 million. Yet that’s not the worst part. The Million Pipeline is a potential economic and environmental boondoggle that could unleash a host of destructive impacts on local communities, fish and game habitats, and taxpayers in three states.   A pipeline project of this magnitude has the
potential to:

  • Ruin world class kokanee salmon and lake trout populations by
    increasing water temperatures and raising salinity levels.
  • Destroy the Blue-ribbon fishery for trophy rainbow and brown
    trout in the Green River.
  • Harm critical mule deer and pronghorn habitat and hunting
    opportunity.
  • De-water wetlands in the basin and impede waterfowl hunting.
  • Impact Seedskadee National Wildlife Refuge, Browns Park
  • National Wildlife Refuge, Dinosaur National Monument, as
    well as Ouray National Wildlife Refuge.
  • Lower water levels significantly, making it virtually impossible
    to access the reservoir for recreation.
  • Further the spread of cheat grass, tamarisk and quagga mussels,
    which will harm hunting and fishing in the area.
  • Force the government to spend millions of dollars in taxpayer
    money to reconstruct boat launches, campgrounds, marinas,
    fishing piers and other access points.
  • Destroy a $118 million recreation-based economy the
    communities in the region depend on for their survival.
  • Slow the recovery of endangered native fish like the razorback
    sucker, Colorado pikeminnow, and bonytail chub. Until
    these fish are recovered and removed from listing under the
    Endangered Species Act, the area’s recreation-based
    economy will continue to operate with restrictions required
    under federal law.
Yup it sure is...