NEWSLETTER Little Red River Action Team Chapter 722 Trout Unlimited March, 2011

Hello Members Hope everyone has been enjoying plenty of wading lately! The river is at its lowest level in three years for this season. There are plenty of opportunities to wade the public access areas and the fish are biting. A Note: The new tail water reading for no generation has been changed to 266.3. The old reading was 265.8. Nothing has changed but a correction in measuring the recorded data. Members Meeting A members meeting of Chapter 722 was held February 19, 2011. We had a good lunch at Mack’s Fish House and several great door prizes were given to the members present. We hope by having Saturday lunch meetings we can attract members to the meeting along with a Saturday fishing trip. Check this website and emails for future meeting dates. Don Richardson, newly appointed commissioner by Governor Beebe to the Arkansas National Resource Commission, spoke about our water resources and the need of protecting our rivers and tail waters. See: www.arpanel.org   House Bills 1392-1396, 1399-1400 We welcomed Kim Dollins as a new board member and asked members to volunteer for positions on the board due to retiring board members. The following stepped forward: Adam Doty, Vivian Doty, Willem Debruijn and Lowell Myers. These members will be voted on at the March board meeting. New officers and members were elected for 2011 and assumed their duties in February. Officers and Board Members President………….. Greg Seaton Vice-President……. Tony Simmons Secretary………….. Bob Diel Treasurer…………. Jackie Finkbeiner Board members for 2011 are as follows: Matt Milner - Greg Holland Phil Landry - Clay McCastlain - Frank Barton - Kim Dollins - Chris Butts Don Brown - Larry Levine UPDATE: January 2011 Copy of report by Save Greers Ferry Lake, Inc. WELL TESTING / DRILLING IN AND UNDER GREERS FERRY LAKE Apparently the Secretary of the Army and the Corps of Engineers have  decided that gas revenues from drilling UNDER Greers Ferry Lake are  more important than protecting the water quality and natural shoreline  of Greers Ferry Lake. License No. DACW03-3-10-3297 was issued to  Chesapeake Energy Corporation to allow extensive "use and occupation of  the premises" from October 1, 2010 to September 30, 2011. No public  hearings were held, no public input requested, no public notification of  proposed licensing for in lake survey or drilling under the lake was  given. This is public property. Mineral rights (gas extraction)  permits would be, or have been, issued by the US Bureau of Land  Management Field Office in Jackson, Mississippi. So far, no response  has been obtained from John Dykes at that office. His phone number is  601-977-5427. 30 foot boats will be used to shoot 2000 psi air blasts into the water  for sensor recordings to be taken to determine potential gas well  drilling locations. Arkansas Game and Fish Commission representatives  will be present to determine harmful effects (turbidity, fish kill? etc)  and are authorized to halt the operations if damages are deemed  excessive. The AR Game & Fish Commission will build seven courtesy  docks to accommodate the seismographic survey boats. The docks are to  be accepted in lieu of a $42,250 easement payment. Construction of the  docks was to have been completed by January 31, 2011. Save Greers Ferry Lake, Inc is concerned that leasing the lake property  as a natural gas supply will be a potential threat to the water purity  of this Regional Water Supply and will have negative effects on real  estate values, tourism, retiree and vacation home interests, the  environment (air, soil, water), wildlife, and the quality of life that  has built this community. If you share our concerns, or have questions  about this extended activity, please contact Win Hargis, Greers Ferry  Lake Project Manager at the Heber Springs Corps Office, phone  501-362-2416, or Col. Glen Masset, Little Rock District Engineer, phone  501-324-5531. Also, ask your legislators to put clean water  availability over gas profits by denying UNDER the lake drilling.  Additional addresses are listed in the Reference section of this  website. Please help to protect the clean water and natural shoreline  of Greers Ferry Lake!! Below is the link to the Permit issued by the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers: http://www.savegreersferrylake.org/page4.php Public Meeting with Congressman Rick Crawford February 25, 2011 A public meeting with Congressman Rick Crawford was held at the Community Center in Heber Springs. Several questions were asked of the Congressman about the potential closing of Greer’s Ferry Fish Hatcheries and Congressman Crawford stated that he will fight to keep our Hatcheries open and running. He noted that Greer’s Ferry Hatchery was making money and paying for itself. He stated he would advocate not closing our hatchery since it is making money. The article below is what spurred all the concern. Copy of report by Arkansas Rivers Association ALARMING NEWS ABOUT POTENTIAL FISH HATCHERY CUTBACKS by ARA (Arkansas Rivers Association) Members and friends: We have received some alarming news that we need to pass on to you. In the proposed budget that will be on President Obama’s desk Monday there will be suggested budget cuts. This is not a bad idea. However one of the suggested cuts is for 7 million dollars from the Department of the Interior and we are also told that the Dept of the Interior plans to help meet those cuts by reducing the fish hatcheries in the Southeast Region. This would in effect close down the Greers Ferry Hatchery and perhaps the Norfork and others. We are not against budget cuts, however the trout fishing industry in Arkansas returns a great deal more economically than the costs of operation. If we lose these hatcheries, trout fishing in Arkansas will be devastated and the impact to our economy will be huge. It does not make sense to cut out funding for programs that return far more than they cost. Whether or not you fish or not, this is not a good decision. Please contact your Senators and representatives and let them know how you feel about this issue asap.   John Boozman – 202-224-4843     boozman.senate.gov/contact_form.cfm Mark Pryor  – 202-224-2353    pryor.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=ContactMe   Rep. Rick Crawford (R-1st) * 1408 Longworth House Office Building (202) 225-4076; 225-5602 Jonesboro: (870) 972-4600   Rep. Tim Griffin (R-2nd) 1232 Longworth House Office Building (202) 225-2506; 225-5903 Little Rock: (501) 324-5941    Rep. Steve Womack (R-3rd) * 1508 Longworth House Office Building (202) 225-4301; 225-5713 Fort Smith: (479) 424-1146    Rep. Michael Ross (D-4th) 314 Cannon House Office Building (202) 225-3772; 225-1314 Pine Bluff: (870) 536-3376 Congressman Crawford was also asked about his position on the drilling for gas under Greers Ferry Lake. He stated that he had just been made aware of this and would look into it. Our only concern is a statement made by the congressman that he felt like the gas industry as a whole was trying to comply with environmental issues. He was asked not to take this for granted since we have had issues with some of their practices in this area and feel that they should be heavily regulated to protect Arkansas’s natural resources.   Gas Drilling using water from the River The board has been busy addressing the issue of diesel pumps being put in the river to pump water for gas drilling use. The local board's opinion is that the cold water from the 31 mile dedicated trout water should not be used for this purpose and that riparian land owners should not profit by selling this water to the drilling and fracking companies. They are being able to do this by use of an archaic water use law that has been on the books since the 1800's when water use was for life sustaining reasons. The fact that a few persons are making a substantial amount of money selling the general public's recreational water does not seem to be in the fishery's best interest. If you feel that you agree with this stance, you should let your local state congressman and the governor know your opinion. Public opinion is our best defense for our rivers. Thru meetings with the Arkansas Natural Resource Commission (ANRC), we have brought attention to this matter and studies are being made to at least limit this extraction of water to high water periods. We are at this time going to take members of this commission on a tour of the river to point out brown spawning areas and other problem areas for water extraction. A working relation with the state agencies in charge of permits for water usage is essential to our river's well being. Update: Greg Seaton and Chris Butts took members of the ( ANRC) on a tour of the river and pointed out the brown trout spawning areas and low water areas of the river. The members were very receptive to protecting the river in these areas and during the spawning season. We feel that this was a good beginning to a better relationship with this department. Their knowledge of the river’s needs is essential to the protection of our river. At this time there are no new reports of pumps being used on low water conditions. This does not mean that their use has been entirely stopped. We may see them again as soon as generation is used on a regular basis in the tail water. If you see any pumps being used on the river, please report them to president@troutunlimited722.com and we will check for permits.   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. Update: Richard Mays is at this time seeking approval from Trout Unlimited National’s legal department to file suit in the name of Trout Unlimited to have the Little Red River declared federally navigable.

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