Hello chapter members, I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year with your family and friends. This year ended with a bang for us as we were named the winner a Silver Trout Award “Chapter the Year” by the Wisconsin State Council of Trout Unlimited. The award will be presented at the Council’s annual meeting that will be held in February of 2023. The new year will began in much the same way we ended it in 2022, with the announcement of another major award. This time, long-time KIAP-TU-Wish member and current vice president Gary Horvath, received Fly Fisherman Magazine’s 2023 Conservationist of the Year award.
In our chapter’s 50th year (2022), we won the Wisconsin TU Chapter of the Year Silver Trout Award! Michele Bevis and Missie Hanson wrote the submission letter for the award. Thanks to them for doing such an awesome job. This award goes out to all of our members. You are the reason this chapter has been going strong for 50 years and will continue to do so. We are a chapter of do’ers. You keep showing up for Randy’s work days ensuring that our past projects remain accessible and assisting the DNR with pre and post work on new restoration projects. We are a watchdog in our chapter’s watershed, keeping tabs on dams, biodigesters, manure spills, and crazy racetrack/housing developments. We monitor the area streams for temperature/nitrate levels and assist the DNR with fish counts. You continue to educate the next generation about the importance of cold water conservation, helping out with Trout and Bugs in the Classroom, Rocky Branch ECO Day, River Falls Fly Fishing Clinic, and Stream Girls to name a few. You keep showing up for meetings either in person or on-line and keep supporting the chapter’s two major fund-raisers, the Hap Lutter appeal and the on-line auction. I could go on and on. Take a bow KIAP-TU-WISH members, you deserve it!!!
