Conservation:

Conservation is the Protect, Reconnect and Restore part of TU's Mission. The Hemingway Chapter partners with Individuals, Businesses, Non Profits and Government agencies to accomplish its missions.  

Projects

Projects are how we positively impact our local cold water fisheries and are a way for TU members to be involved.  There is nothing quite as fulfilling as working on a meaninful project with others, knowing you have helped make a difference.  Projects and Conservation opportunities vary in size, purpose and scope, from acess to fish rescues to stream restoration.  Come Join us on the next project many of these only involve the time commitment of an afternoon or day.  

Silver Creek Restoration:

On October 8th,  Hemingway TU volunteers gathered at Silver Creek Preserve to partner with The Nature Conservancy  planting native plants of various sizes to help protect and restore areas of the preserve. Dayna Gross the Preserve Manager oversaw the plantings and lunch was provided for all the workers.  It was a rewarding day for all the participants.  Their will be more opportunities for planting and stream restoration in the future. Dave Spaulding, our Project chair coordinated and participated in this restoration effort.

Upper Big Lost Restoration:

 Hemingway TU Partner with TU's Idaho Water Project  to harvest Grow and Plant 750 willows on the Upper Big Lost River.   This part of the Project is completed and appears to have a high survival of willows.  Small log barriers were also removed to allow Trout to migrate and return habitat back to its natural state.  This part of the project was completed in 2008.  2011 will see a fencing of the area to protect it from Cattle.

Penny Lake Fishing Platform:

This project was done in Partnership with Sun Valley Adaptive Sports, USFS, Brian Poster Construction:

A fishing platform for Special needs persons and youths was built at Penny Lake on Warm Springs.  This platform provides improved  fishing access, and  protecting the stream banks from erosion.  It is rewarding to see how much this platform is used and enjoyed.

This project was  completed 2009 however  additional access paths and habitat improvement may be a future project

 Box Car Bend Maintenance:           

Thank you to all the volunteers who joined us for the Box Car bend Project on June, 18 2011.  We placed new erosion control barriers and steps on the trails,  Cleared access points, cleaned up trash and pulled bags of noxious weeds

Hemingway Chapter has adopted Box Car Bend and partners with Wood River Land Trust In 2006.   Each year we provide maintenance to the accesses and trails at Box Car Bend on the Big Wood River.  This portion of river is used by many locals and visitors.  The contact for this project is Carmen Northen at flyfishngirl@cox.net 

Our Chapter has completed several fall projects and conservation efforts this fall please see completed projects and conservation for details. 

 With winter on it's way we will be planning  new up and coming projects, once they are determined.   We will post the information when it becomes available

Fish Rescue

For the last five years The Hemingway chapter of TU has been rescuing Trout, which become trapped in the canals along the Big Wood River and Silver Creek, once the water is shut off.  Volunteers showed up on a last minute notice for the rescue.  We held fish rescues on four different days at different locations and rescued a total of nearly 5,000 wild Trout.  We partner with Idaho Fish and Game {IDFG] , the Water Master, Canal companies and private land owners to make this happen.  This year we had a wonderful addition to our rescue efforts.  John and Daralene Finnell, donated a Fish Transport Tank to the Hemingway chapter.  John an active member saw the need for better way to transport the fish back to the river, so he researched and built a Fish Transport Tank system.  An aerating stone used to deliver oxygen to the water was donated by IDFG. The transport system improved the survivability of the rescued fish and allowed for more efficient use of volunteer resources.  Thanks to the Canal Company, this year, at our request they did a slower draw down on the canals, which allowed most of the larger fish to transition back into the Big Wood River.  This was a successful technique and we hope to continue the practice in future years.   Our fish rescue efforts are headed up by Carl Evenson,  who is our Conservation chair person.