From its headwaters in the high peaks of Colorado through the northernmost rift valley of New Mexico, a region known as Rio Arriba, the Upper Rio Grande is a fabulous fishing stream. For 200 miles, the river is filled with trout, pike, smallmouth bass, and carp. Major tributary streams like the Conejos, Chama, Red, Jemez and Pecos are superb fisheries themselves, along with hundreds of additional feeders, many
We are kicking off a monthly series focusing on our work in the Upper Rio Grande basin. This post educates readers to the work that has been done, work that will be done and introduces us to partners and staff who are dedicated to making this initiative successful across TU’s Protect, Reconnect, Restore and Sustain
Restoration work on the Upper Rio Grande that starts in southwest Colorado and flows on into New Mexico and beyond has been a focus of TU’s for multiple years.
The Upper Rio Grande Initiative aspires to leverage our ongoing and future efforts towards basin scale resilience. This vision not only entails the protection and enhancement of the Rio’s natural ecosystems, but its profoundly adaptive human resources as well. The Initiative acknowledges the interconnectedness of the basin’s ecosystems, its economy and culture. Thus, the ecological outcomes we achieve will not be at the expense of the cultural and economic resilience of our partner communities, but exactly because of it. Protect Protecting functioning streams and habitat–as in our efforts to secure Outstanding Natural Resource designations for several New Mexico streams–will be a top priority. Protecting the Pecos River basin from
by Mark Konishi Growing up in the San Luis Valley, I would hear rumors of cutthroat trout with vivid colors caught in secret waters. Cutthroat trout with orange slab-sides as brilliant as any goldfish. Many of these stories often came from my classmate Jim, relayed down through his extended family. It was difficult to pinpoint
What a thrilling prospect to catch native fish in a spectacular wilderness setting like in the picture above. That is what anglers’ dreams are made of. Years of hard work, planning and enduring partnerships strove towards this goal, but it’s still not quite a realized dream. In 2005, Fred Bunch, chief of resource management at Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve, hatched a plan
For two decades Trout Unlimited has worked to protect and restore one of the most unique trout sub-species in North America — the Rio Grande cutthroat — by engaging numerous partners in protecting, reconnecting and restoring coldwater habitats in the Rio Grande basin.
TU’s Winter Flow Program was established on the Conejos River in 2014, and since has grown to include five reservoirs and a diversity of water partners.
In the Colorado River, not far from Rocky Mountain National Park, wild trout are returning to a once-degraded stretch of water.
USFWS fish passage funding provided by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will support TU projects in Priority Waters across eight states
Rio Grande cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii virginalis) Species status and summary: Rio Grande cutthroat trout (RGCT) were first discovered in 1541 by Francisco Coronado’s expedition in the upper Pecos River, although they were not formally described until 1856. They represent the southern extent of the cutthroat trout species, historically ranging from the mountainous headwaters of
As you head north out of Santa Fe on US-285 there is a prominent overpass spanning the highway. Stamped deep in its massive upper concrete support beam, in big, bold letters that cover the entire length of the four lane interchange, are the words, “Tierra Sagrada,” – “Sacred Land.” The notion of honoring our land
In the Rio San Antonio, TU is working to restore a vital and vulnerable watershed.
You may think of the Land of Enchantment as a desert state – parched, bone-dry country where a fish has to take Uber to find place to swim. Not so, my friends, not so.
Region: Southern RockiesActivities: Hiking, fishing, rafting, hunting, mountain biking, campingSpecies: Rainbow and brown trout Where: The Rio Grande Del Norte National Monument is a swath of more than 240,000 acres of protected public land in Taos County, in north central New Mexico. Much of the land abuts about 50 miles of its eponymous river. The
