NEWSLETTER Little Red River Action Team Chapter 722 Trout Unlimited May, 2010

Hello Members, Your board apologizes for the delay in getting the newsletter out to the members. It seems that this duty got laid by the wayside while other matters were being handled. We plan to handle this better in the future by making this a quarterly report unless an urgent matter needs to be addressed. This being said let’s get you updated on what’s been going on. Officers and Board Members New officers were elected for 2010 and took over their duties in February. These are as follows: President………….. Chris Butts Vice-President……. Jeff Hawthorne Secretary………….. Don Brown Treasurer…………. Larry Levine Board members for 2010 are as follows: Greg Seaton Alex Finkbeiner Jamie Rouse Jackie Finkbeiner Joe Rath Bob Diel Matt Milner Greg Holland Tony Simmons Phil Landry Clay McCastlain Frank Barton Cow Shoals Pipeline Issue (Left to right) Chris Butts, Governor Beebe, LouEllen Treadway and Greg Seaton We’re happy to report our chapter led a successful campaign to stop a natural gas pipeline from crossing the river at Cow Shoals. Since this is one of the main spawning grounds for our brown trout (which are not stocked, but depend on this spawn to sustain the population in the river), we felt that this was a stand that had to be taken to protect the river. We would like to take this opportunity to thank Ted and LouEllen Treadway for their diligence and help with this project. We would also like to thank Governor Beebe for his help in calling a meeting with the Arkansas Game and Fish and Chesapeake Energy to correct this problem. This was a prime example of the need for our members and the public to take an active interest in our natural resources and protect them. We would hope that in the future we will be able to work with all parties in protecting our lakes and rivers. River Conditions: Good News!! We are having a normal spring in Arkansas. So far, we have had about normal rainfall and the lake is handling this very well. At this time the lake is about four tenths of a foot high. This is based on the summer top power pool of 462.4 which is maintained during the hot months of summer to provide additional water to control the temperature of the river’s trout habitat. The level returns to 461.4 in the fall when the temperature is below the danger level for the trout. When the level is at or below this top power pool the generation will be on a electrical power demand only with window for wade fishing as well as boat fishing. Southwest Power has been using mostly afternoon and early evening generation and this has allowed windows for fishing all areas of the river. Things are looking up with the river returning to normal and the fish seemed to have weathered the high water in good shape. The fish are biting and the river is recovering well. Check the generation schedules and come enjoy. Navigable River Issue: Since the Corp did not respond to the Richard Mays’ request on behalf of the TU board to declare the Little Red River navigable from the dam to Searcy, the board has hired the Richard Mays firm to go forth with legal procedures to get a decision on this matter. This will hopefully establish a source to help with problems such as irresponsible developments, drainage, erosion and channel blockage on the river. At this time there is no agency to address any of these problems.

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