SWTU, P.O. Box 45555, Madison, WI 53744-5555 president@swtu.org

A Gift For the Future

(This message was emailed to members on November 30, 2020)
Our first and foremost hope is that every SWTU member and his or her family are staying healthy. With the COVID challenges in mind, we wish you a safe holiday season. 2021, we hope, will bring a return to normal as soon as possible.
While Chapter income is down, so are expenses. For now SWTU is in excellent financial shape. We have enough reserves to fund our programs when they resume and help our partners with worthwhile restoration projects next year. Let’s look a bit further down the road.
With a donation to our Endowment Fund, you can help SWTU improve and expand our conservation work in the coming years.

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New Members – December 2020

We’re pleased to announce the addition of the following new members to our ranks! Read More

Newscasts – September 2020

This issue has lots of great information, including:

 

Watch for virtual meeting news

Recordings and live virtual events in the works
We’ll stay fish-ically (physically) distant but socially connected through a variety of virtual events we’re developing for fall into winter. We of course hoped we’d be able to physically come together in some way, but that’s not in the cards and so we’re excited by some of the ideas and we’re exploring to bring to you.

Raise your virtual hand!
If you have any burning questions about the local watersheds, ecology initiatives or other outreach, please send them along to Topf Wells at topfwells@gmail.com and we’ll do our best to see they are addressed in an upcoming presentation.

Watch your email and we’ll “see” you soon! You can also keep connected through our website, Facebook page and Instagram.

Message from our new President

By Jim Hess

Please let me introduce myself. I have been a member of SWTU for 20 years, joining the chapter after moving to Madison in 2000 to be the director of Monona Terrace. Since retiring in 2010, I have focused my efforts on conservation issues, including volunteering at our workdays. I have been the Conservation Committee Chair for the last six years and really enjoy planning and organizing these events and getting know everyone. I previously served on the SWTU Board from 2013 to 2019. Read More

Good news comes in twos

There are two huge wins for conservation you may have heard about from SWTU or on your local news that we don’t remind repeating … and hope you don’t mind hearing about again. Read More

Klinkhåmer Special

Klinkhamer Special

Fountains of Youth – Classic trout flies that have withstood the test of time … flies that remain “forever young”

by Rusty Dunn

Emergence is a time of great peril for mayflies, as nymphs must ascend to the surface in full view of ever-watchful trout.  Nymphs that survive the ascent accum­ulate just under the surface, where they molt and tran­sition from the juvenile to adult stage.  The nymph’s thorax pierces the surface film, its skin splits, and the winged adult crawls atop the water, leav­ing an empty shuck behind.  Adults then expand their wings, wait for them to dry, and fly off to the safety of stream­side bushes.  Hatching can take several min­utes or more, and emergers are highly vul­nerable to trout the whole time.  The layer of water extending from the sur­face to a few inches be­low the surface is emerger coun­try.  Trout know it well, and so should you, for it is the most productive place to be during a hatch. Read More

Orvis Great Giveback Days

Do some good, get some goodies
Throughout September, when you donate $10 via the Orvis Great Giveback Days, you’ll get a

$10 Orvis Savings Card valid on any full-priced, in-store, or online apparel purchase!

Orvis is once again teaming up with TU’s Embrace A Stream program to raise funds for river restoration projects across the country! Embrace A Stream is a grant program to fund local TU chapter conservation projects. Since 1975, it has funded more than 1,100 projects with more than $4.75 million in grants.

It’s easy to learn more and give: https://www.orvis.com/great-giveback-days

See something? Say something.

You’re out on a stream see something that doesn’t look right. Maybe a feeder creek is throwing dark, cloudy water into the stream and, on top of that, there is a bad smell in the air. What do you do?

It’s as simple as dialing the DNR at 1-800-943-0003 as soon as you possibly can. This number operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Damage from a spill or other event can happen quickly, which is why the DNR needs to know about it and get on site ASAP.

Program the number into your phone so you’re ready in the unlikely event you stumble on something that doesn’t look right while you’re out exploring. It can make a real difference.

New Members – September 2020

We’re pleased to announce the addition of the following new members to our ranks! Read More