Carlo Bongio, Steelhead Master, to speak at October 21, 2009 RETU Meeting in Santa Rosa
Please join us to psych up for the upcoming Steelhead season with Carlo's famous presentation on winter run Steelhead fishing tactics and techniques. Carlo will cover the best appoaches on our home waters, the Russian River. He will also discuss and demonstrate gear for use on our other wild rivers of the North Coast.
Wednesday October 21st
7:00-9:00 p.m.
Sonoma County Central Library
Third and E
street, Santa Rosa
PLEASE NOTE: The September 17 General Meeting has been canceled due to an RETU Board of Directors retreat in Graeagle 9/18 and the TU California State Council meeting 9/19.
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RETU members help Cub Scouts with fishing instruction
this summer in cooperation with National Marine Fisheries.
RETU members turned out at Riverfront Park this June to help out with a great Cub Scout event. Casting, fly tieing, even hook baiting were dem  onstrated. Cubbies earned the handsome patch shown at right. The event was in cooperation with National Marine Fisheries Service who co-sponsored the event.
Carlo Bongio learns how to bait a hook from a patient cub scout.
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RETU Board to consider Top Ten 10 Watershed Policy Goals
at first ever Retreat in Graeagle
The RETU Board of Directors will be meeting Friday 9/18 at our first ever retreat. The retreat will take place the day before the Fall TU California State Council meeting to be held Saturday 9/19 in Graeagle, CA. On the agenda will be the following DRAFT Top Ten Goals for RETU to set our long term watershed management policy goals for the Russian River. We hope this will stimulate some thinking, discussion and more participation from our chapter membership of 570 angler conservationists. Please review the list of goals below and send your comments via email to Mike Orton, RETU Chapter Secretary at mikeo707@sonic.net. DRAFT RETU Top Ten Long Term Watershed Policy Goals
2) Establish enforceable water budgets for the River's tributaries. Determine water inflow minus diversions and
amount left over for in stream flow for wildlife to insure restoration flows
for the tributary salmonid fishery.
3) Manage
releases from Warm Springs and Coyote Dams according to the natural hydrograph
in the winter months.
4) Establish 100-foot setbacks from the watershed's blue line streams and 200-foot
setback from the main stem as recommended by Sonoma County Planning and the
Citizen Advisory Committee in the General Plan 2020 process.
5) Build
the pipeline from Lake Sonoma to the SCWA water distribution system at Wohler
to reestablish natural flow in Dry Creek and the Middle Reach as part of a Dry
Creek Watershed Habitat Conservation Plan.
Eliminate the SCWA dam at Wohler.
6) Accelerate the Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) process on the Russian River to eliminate it's 7 impairments
using the Garcia River TMDL as a model: sediment, temperature, nutrients,
conductivity, pathogens, low DO and mercury.
7) Develop a Sediment Budget for the Russian River watershed and eliminate in-
stream gravel mining in the Russian River in Critical Habitat within the 200
foot riparian zone setback from the Main Stem and 100 foot setback zone in the
tributaries.
8) Eliminate direct and indirect wastewater
discharges to the Russian River main stem and tributary Critical Habitat in
favor of conservation and reuse.
9) Manage
the Willow Creek watershed as a wild Coho Salmon sanctuary to eventually
provide wild brood stock to reseed other restored Russian River tributaries
using hatch boxes.
10) Develop an Estuary Management Plan from Austin Creek downstream including the
tributary watersheds in this reach and eliminate artificial breaching of the
Russian River Estuary by elevating the 8 properties that "flood".
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 We want YOU, to get more involved!
Attend a meeting and find out what you can do to help RETU conserve,
protect, and restore
our Russian River steelhead fishery.Nominations are now open for the RETU Board of Directors and officers for 2009. The election will be held at the October 21 Annual Meeting. If you would like to get more involved, join the Board and join the fun!
The Healdsburg Wild Steelhead Festival will be here before we know it. It will be February 5 and 6, 2010. Would you like to help us do the planning or on the day of the event? More volunteers are always welcome! We would especially like to involve more high school anglers to help at the Trout Pond. Give us a call to sign up. This is your big chance to be a part a great event. Be sure Trout Unlimited National has your email address if you want to receive these Redwood Empire Chapter newsletters. We have 570 members in our roster but only 302 email addresses. For information on how you can get more involved with RETU please contact us through our website REDWOODEMPIRETU.ORG or call 877-TUOFCA.
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