Upcoming Events

Happy Holidays

from the Staff and Board

Happy Holidays 

Merry Christmas from the Henry's Fork! Currently, my children are worried about Santa and his sleigh because we have very little snow in Ashton. The November cold snap gave way to warm and rainy conditions that melted away below 5,500 feet, but snow this week has blanketed the lower country with a thin layer of white stuff the girls hope will last until Christmas. Luckily, the snow has continued to pile up in the high country, and we are off to a decent start on the water year. Thanks again for your commitment to the Henry's Fork and the Foundation as we work to ensure the health of its wild trout. I hope to see you all either on the river or stopping by the office in 2015. Many blessings to you and yours. - Brandon Hoffner
 

 

Please Continue to Give Generously

As a member of the Henry's Fork Foundation, you know we work hard to carry out our mission of conserving, protecting, and restoring the unique qualities of the Henry's Fork. We invite you to show your commitment to the Henry's Fork with a year-end gift, and as a thank you for giving $125 or more, we'll send you a gift. Read the details at http://henrysfork.org/2014-year-end-appeal. 

Resolutions for Members

We've enjoyed a very successful 30^th Anniversary year thanks to the support of generous donors like you. Now that it's nearly 2015, it's time to think about resolutions for the New Year. While the Foundation has achieved some great successes, we aren't satisfied we have done all we can. Our resolution is to be the best watershed organization in the country, and we look forward to sharing our plans with you. We can't do it without you! As you make resolutions of your own, here a couple of Henry's Fork suggestions to consider:

1. Reconnect with a Henry's Fork fishing friend that you haven't fished with in a while.
2. Introduce someone new to the Henry's Fork.
3. Fish a section of the Henry's Fork you have never fished.
4. Fish for a day only with flies you've tied (for some, this won't be anything new).
5. Send us your best fishing story to share in one of our upcoming publications.

Staff Update

The faces are changing at the Foundation office. Long-time bookkeeper and human resources manager Joan Rice announced her retirement in November, and her last day at work is Dec. 31. Her successor will be Tim Mauer of Ashton, who has volunteered for HFF and completed contract work on USFS RAC grants. Kennalee Howell, who has worked part-time while attending classes at BYU-Idaho, announced this week she plans to serve a mission for the LDS Church and will be leaving in April 2015. Matt Cahoon, conservation tech, left the Foundation in October to take a job as a dog handler with a private pheasant hunting club. We will miss Jon, Matt, and Kennalee here at the HFF office. Read the details at www.henryfork.org/blog.

 

Water Year Off to a Good Start

The warm, moist weather pattern that brought rain to California also brought precipitation to eastern Idaho. Island Park Reservoir has been filling steadily at around 380 acre-feet per day for over two months now. At the current rate, it will fill in March or early April. Read more about it on Rob's weekly blog at http://henrysfork.org/blog.  

Former Idaho Water Resource Board Chair and North Fork Reservoir Company President Dave Rydalch passed away December 3 at age 70. Dave was a long-time member of HFF and its advisory committee. The Bishop presiding at Dave's funeral last week summed up his life as well as any of us could: "I don't know if there are water resources that need to be managed where Dave is now, but if there are, I'm sure he is already at work on it. I don't know if there is fishing there either, but if there is not, then Dave is probably not very happy." Read more Rob's tribute to Dave at http://henrysfork.org/blog.

Read more about Dave's life at:

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/rexburgstandardjournal/obituary.aspx?n=dave-rydalch&pid=173380396.

Nearly 60 people from across the West gathered in Rexburg Dec. 9 for the annual Henry's Fork Watershed Conference hosted by the Henry's Fork Watershed Council. An impressive line-up of speakers addressed complex water management issues resulting from the historic Snake River Basin Adjudication, a landmark decision and the largest water-rights adjudication ever completed in the U.S. Notes from the meeting and copies of the speakers' presentations will be posted to Watershed Council's website at http://henrysfork.org/watershed-council.