Ravalli County Floodplain - meeting Dec 13, 1:30 PM

Aerial view of Bitterroot River, Victor Bridge on May 22, 2009

The Ravalli Commissioners are having a meeting at 1:30 pm Tuesday, December 13 to discuss amending the floodplain regulations. Eric Anderson, Ravalli County Floodplain Manager, has been working with Dan Browder, Deputy County Attorney at Ravalli County Attorney Office, to codify the regulations along with all the other County regulations. Codifying basically means putting all the individual regulations into one large code of ordinances instead of separate stand alone documents.

Montana, Ravalli County Planning Department - Floodplain
www.rc13.mt.gov/planning/land.htm
See the link above for Ravalli County Floodplain Regulations - reposted 11/10/08

The floodplain regulations will be fully open to modification during this codification process. Anderson and Browder have been doing minor modifications to the regulations for the past few weeks, primarily to correct errors and to make the regulations more consistent with State and Federal law. At this point, no changes are seriously substantial, however, one is never 100% sure what’s going to happen during the meeting on Tuesday. It’s possible that the meeting might get a large turn out of people who would like more substantial changes to the regulations, possibly with less protection for the river. Attend the meeting if you would like to track the progress or make comment.

The meeting is scheduled for 1.5 hours and will likely be continued to another day for further discussion. The Commissioner decision is NOT scheduled to be made on Tuesday. It is simply the beginning of the process to open up discussion with the Commissioners. Anderson and Browder will be explaining all the changes they have made, point by point, to the Commissioners


It appears that the entire process is open to written public comment at any time.


If you are interested and have questions, contact Eric Anderson, see information below. Please forward this to anyone you think might be interested.

Eric Anderson, P.E., CFM
Ravalli County Floodplain Manager
215 S 4th St, Suite F
Hamilton, MT 59840
406-375-6530 phone
406-375-6531 fax
eanderson@rc.mt.gov 

A little humor - catch and release of an elk in CO

According to an email that was passed around, this guy from Texas was fishing on the Big Thompson outside Estes Park, CO. It was his first ever fly-fishing venture. A crowd gathered on the highway to take pictures, including a Denver Post guy. One of the pics is on the front page of the Denver Post. Click here to see more on the Denver Post website.

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Nov 17 General Meeting - Montana Water Project

Bitterroot Trout Unlimited November Meeting
Thursday, November 17, 2011, 7:00 PM
Hamilton Elks Lodge, 203 State St, Hamilton, MT (for directions, see below)

Pat Byorth
Trout Unlimited Montana Water Project
Montana Water Project: Saving Water with a Law Book

In old Montana, “Water is for fighting, whiskey is for drinking!” In today’s Montana, the Montana Water Project of TU National focuses on protecting and restoring coldwater fisheries by reforming Montana water law and policy while implementing on the ground instream flow and habitat projects with willing irrigators.

Please encourage your friends to come and learn from Pat Byorth how TU is changing the paradigm.

And, don’t forget! We will be having dinner with Pat at Spice of Life at 5:00 pm before the meeting. Long-time TU supporter Karen Suennen will be donating 10% of the proceeds to our club. So come join us for dinner.

Information for Spice of Life Cafe and Catering
163 S 2nd St Hamilton, Montana
(406) 363-4433
Directions | Menu | Hours

Information for Elks Lodge
203 State Street
Hamilton, MT 59840-2522
(406) 363-3031
Get directions

October 20 for the BRTU general meeting, Become an Outdoor Woman

Did you get this postcard in the mail? You should have. Please join us October 20 for the BRTU general meeting.

The meeting will feature Liz Lodman presenting a talk on “How to Lure Women Outdoors- Montana’s Becoming an Outdoor Woman Program. The meeting will start at 7:00 pm at the Hamilton Elks Lodge, 203 State St in Hamilton. The meeting is open to the public and there is no charge for admission.

Becoming an Outdoor Woman (BOW) is a nationwide program and the one that Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks operates is known as one of the best in country. According to the MFWP BOW website (http://fwp.mt.gov/education/bow/default.html), “Montana's Becoming an Outdoors-Woman (BOW) program has been providing women the opportunity to learn outdoor skills since 1994. BOW helps break down barriers that might prevent women from fishing, hunting, or pursuing other outdoor activities.” BOW holds workshops around the state to encourage women of all ages to learn about and to participate in fishing, hunting, canoeing, etc.

Liz Lodman manages BOW for the state of Montana and will present a great overview of the program with a special emphasis on fishing. Plan to attend and to encourage your friends to come learn about this program.

And, don't forget! We will be having dinner with Liz at Spice of Life at 5:00 pm before the meeting. Long-time TU supporter Karen Suennen will be donating 10% of the proceeds to our club. So come join us for dinner.

For more information, contact cassie.buhl@gmail.com or drtrout@mtbloom.net (363-3485)

A photo review of 2011 Bitterroot Trout Unlimited Banquet in September

This post has five albums from the 2011 Bitterroot Chapter of Trout Unlimited Banquet. If you did attend, you will enjoy looking through the photos and remembering the fun. If you didn't attend, you will see all the fun, amazing auction items and great people you missed.

1. A few well deserved awards were given out at the 2011 Bitterroot Chapter of Trout Unlimited Banquet

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2. Photos of Bitterroot Buggers - the wildly successful kids club - at the banquet. Great group of kids and volunteers who make this program as active as it is. Thank you to all!

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3. Action at the Auction - photos during the live auction

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4. Raffle and Auction Items at the 2011 Bitterroot Chapter of Trout Unlimited Banquet

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5. People and more people - photos taken at the banquet of people attending and mingling

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See BRTU photos:

BRTU online photo album at Picasa.com

Like BRTU on Facebook

Follow @BRootTU on Twitter

2011-2012 Program Schedule for the Bitterroot Chapter Trout Unlimited

Here is an exciting line-up of programs put on by Bitterroot Trout Unlimited. Click the links to read more about the topics. The public is welcome to attend all Bitterroot TU program meetings.

TWO programs are scheduled this fall, four are scheduled for this winter and early spring.

Unless noted, meetings are the third Thursday evening of the month, at 7:00 PM at the Hamilton Elks Club, located at 203 Bedford St in Hamilton. A tentative schedule (subject to change) is:

• October 20, 2011 – Liz Lodman, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, “Becoming an Outdoor Woman.” Visit http://fwp.mt.gov/doingBusiness/store/bow/ to read more about the program sponsored by Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks
• November 17, 2011 – Pat Byorth, TU Western Water Project, "Challenges to Restoration of Instream Flows for Montana's Renowned Trout Fisheries." Click Wild Trout VIII for a PDF document with more information about the project.
• January 19, 2012 – Mike Jakober, Bitterroot National Forest, “Fish and Fires” Travis Horton, Native Fish Coordinator, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks
• February 16, 2012 – Tim Linehan, Linehan Outfitting Company, “Fishing Northwestern Montana – The Kootenai and the Yaak.”Read more about Tim Linehan at Visit Montana - Linehan Outfitting Company.
• March 15, 2012 – Kris Kumlien, Montana Troutfitters, “Secrets of the Madison.” Read more about Kris Kumlien at Montana Troutfitters
• April 19, 2012 – Todd Koel, Yellowstone National Park, “Fisheries and Fishing in Yellowstone National Park.” Read more about YNP and fishing at Yellowstone National Park - fishing and fisheries science

To join or for additional information about Trout Unlimited, go to http://www.montanatu.org/, or contact or contact Greg Chester, 363-0033, gchester55@aol.com, or Marshall Bloom 363-3485, drtrout@mtbloom.net drtrout@mtbloom.net.

All are invited to join the speakers and BRTU members at Spice of Life in Hamilton at 5:00 PM before the meeting. Long-time TU supporter Karen Suennen, owner of Spice of Life, will be donating 10% of the proceeds to BRTU. Come on down and join the fun!

Information for Spice of Life Cafe and Catering 163 S 2nd St Hamilton, Montana (406) 363-4433 Directions | Menu | Hours

Upcoming Events in September

• 9/10 Bitterroot River Cleanup 10 am to 4 pm followed by BBQ for volunteers at Anglers Roost (south of Hamilton). Call Don at 406-363-3146 
• 9/14/17 National TU's Annual Meeting in Bend, Oregon Visit www.tu.org for details and registration.
• 9/23 32 Annual Bitterroot TU Banquet 5 pm at Bitterroot River Inn in Hamilton, Montana. Contact Marshall Bloom at 406-363-3485 of drtrout@mtbloom.net. 
• 9/24 Montana TU's State Council Meeting 9:30 am at the Double Tree in Missoula. Contact Kate Grant at 406-543-0054 or kate@montanatu.org.