ECO-TERRORISM?
2007-06-26
Eco-terrorism!? Not people running around "protecting the environment" Monkey Wrench Gang style.... But folks in the profession of restoring rivers and lakes. You know that nature can heal itself don't you? Everyone should just leave everything alone. .......Right?
I can understand this line of thinking but there are some issues... Out here in the arid West - water IS gold. As the saying goes... Wiskeys for drinkin' and waters for fightin'! Throughout the settlement of the West, many have manipulated this precious resource... for mining, logging, agriculture (crop irrigation and producing hay for cattle), municipal water storage, electricity generation, navigation (for trading) and most recently for recreation and restoration. It is easy to put the typical poster child Dam blocking the fishes trek to die spawning and say THAT is bad... Is it? At least it is not so black and white.... the electricity generated by the Dam is not pumping a huge amount of carbon into our atmosphere - you know the stuff that is arguably changing the climate!
Anyway... yes, nature can heal - to a point. However, there are places that have experienced such change that they will never function the way they did prior to disturbance.... so, should we just let it go and let it be "natural" (it is such a pleasant sounding word....hmmmmm?) or should we try to put it back into balance?
This is not only the question for river restoration professionals - it is a question to all of us.... Are there ways to restore the climate?... or once it changes are we stuck with it and will have to make the best of it then? .........We'll all be eco-terrorists......
.......drift
First Dip
2007-06-25
Remember your first dip? Tentative?! Exciting... Will it be cold? ....I'm not sure that I'm going to do it... yes, yes I need to - or do I want to?
Water!!!! Ahh - I'm doing it! I'm in...Wow...so different yet sort of what I expected! Why was I so afraid to get in... It's so much fun.
Don't miss out on awesome life opportunities because of hesitation or irrational fear. Let it go! Get out there
drift....
Headwaters
2007-06-22
Headwaters....where rivers start... the beginning... small, quiet, seemingly powerless
Yet it's the start of big things to come!!!
...drift
Drift... Wordless Wednesday
2007-04-17
Beginnings
2007-04-16
The start of new things....exciting....nervous.....anticipation.... - a time for reflection? Ah, did I do everything right? Should it be starting now.... What am I doing, anyway?! Wow - all these emotions, all so vivid. LIFE! Giddee up! All things BEGIN....some beginnings are announced, others are realized long after...
Morning, crisp - the air with wisps of crystally fog... The moon not wanting to relinquish the night and the sun rising to stake its claim regardless. Months of preparation, measuring, monitoring, design, permitting ..... Now, just the quiet of the moment when the dawn of new things are coming....
The beginning of rivers flowing anew.... and smiling fish! YeeHaw.... Let's get it on!
....drift
Long Time
2007-04-13
It has been a long time.... I've been constructing fish habitat and river restoration on the Cache la Poudre River in Colorado. I will begin posts (and yes, some pictures) soon.... Thanks to all that have offered such nice comments and messages
Great to be a part of the Shoutpost community!
....Drift
Pools
2007-03-01
As usual, I was looking at a stream and thinking how life is a series of pools and riffles... sprints and rests... one minute you're so busy that you can't even imagine how you got that way and there are times when you really wish you could scare up something to do....
I've heard people say "When it rains it pours..." Yah that's called the riffles of life.
Famous(?) Folks and my categorization of if they are a riffle or a pool
Huck Finn - poolDonald Trump - rifflethe Roadrunner - rifflethe Coyote - riffleFoghorn Leghorn - poolHuckleberry Hound - poolTweetie - poolSylvester the Cat - riffleTom Cruise - riffleRon Howard - pool Morgan Freeman - poolAldo Leopold - poolAlbert Einstein - poolMean Joe Green - tsunami ...driftDrift... Wordless Wednesday
2007-02-28
Dedicated to Scribbles
Winding River
2007-02-26
The most efficient way to get from one place to another is to go in a straight line.... weird how not many things in nature are straight. The river winds...finds paths that are scenic...
...what that helps me to understand is... I may not get to the places I want in life quickly - it is the journey that is important. It will take me places that I never expected and THAT is what my life is about.... just taking the time to meander....
....drift
Longings
2007-02-21
How much time is spent reviewing history? Sitting back listening to stories of the "good ole' days"? Longing for the times recalled in fond memories... smells that take you back... wow! What if life was THAT simple, again?
Some dwell on what could have and should have been... others don't take notice of the past at all.... is it important? Can times be restored? Obviously, as time goes by we learn more, experience more, love and hurt more... and time moves ever forward. If we could remove the ever forward action of time, would it really make a difference? Don't we make decisions based on who we are and our experiences up to that point? Would a "second chance" really have different outcomes?
Much like our own existences, rivers cannot be "restored" in physical form. Too many things change, advance, and develop. Houses, roads, canals and ditches change how and what type of water gets to the river and when. Adapt.... yes, change - morph - reform... its the process of realizing what happened in the past as fact... and then looking forward to best utilize what IS. Rivers are much like our lives. Our physical natures cannot be restored no matter how much you spend... but the soul... the feeling... the essence... spirituality can be healed! Instead of longing for what was - long for what is yet to come....
Later! ....drift
Getting to the Other Side
2007-02-07
Bridges...decisions....more on this topic! One of my good friends posted this comment and I thought it was a good one.
"...its awesome if u decide to cross over in entirety...i couldnt do that...my mind crossed over, my body lies on this side of the river- tied to a lot of other things...n now the physical me is right in the middle of a lot of things that dont make any sense any more...and i have quite literally lost my mind to the other side! ..."
There are many times you cross the "river" with your mind, but how about the body...will it come, too? HOW? Yes - you've already come to the decision that you have to make a decision - and - you've done enough planning to get you mind over the hurdle...why is it so hard to get the body over? The body can't cross till the issues get worked out. There is work to do! If the mind decided that you are going to swim, then you have to get wet. But your body actually has to do it....How? Will it be cold? How will you dry off on the other side?... Can you find some stepping stones?
Details....always the details...In river restoration we call working through the details - "DESIGN" - All these details that need to get worked out so that you can accomplish the master plan. What is the Master Plan? ....It is the mind getting across to the other side.... DESIGN is the body getting across - going through the details...doing the hard work...answering all of the pesky little questions that life throws at you.... But what rewards wait at the other side!!!!
Bridges 2
2007-02-05
Bridges
2007-02-05
Decisions... lot's of choices... at the time all seem that they have good and bad things associated with them. How are you supposed to know what is the right choice? Is there a right choice? Why won't someone or something just tell you what is right?
Have you ever sat on one side of a river and wondered how you were going to get across to the other side? A simple version of the situation above...swim? ...walk to a narrow crossing - but the water gets fast - you may get swept away? ...if only there were a bridge. What is a bridge? I believe that it is a transition from one situation to another. A defineable link to get from one place to another. How do you find the bridge?
Many times it feels like the scene from an Indiana Jones film...there's a bridge...you can't see it, you just have to believe that its there. How do you know? What if its not? Can you increase the chances of it being there? I believe you can.....
Reflections
2007-02-03
There are times to sit back and reflect....memories...smells...laughter....pain...
What was real. Was the pain that bad? Were the memories that good? How well are you able to peer through the circumstances and see the truth? Is it based on feelings? Logic?....or is it something that cannot be seen ...something deep within you? ....Something large and awesome...something that allows the surface reflections to fade and the depths to be examined.
The Master Plan
2007-02-02
Want to be part of the MASTER plan? How about the Master's Plan? Come on.... is this the first step? All the books say that all I need to do is get organized. If you don't have a plan, someone will have one for you... So I've heard. Independance and all that... Why is it so hard to plan what you want to do? Maybe....we don't know the outcome. Yes - it is scripted...and we have free will. Weird! Not really. I mean if you know what's wrong...can't you help to fix it? Yes...that's the first step. No folks, the first step is to determine WHERE you are going...HOW you want to get there - you know...generalities. This is never fun and seems like a futile step...but a faithful, hopeful step. You have to put yourself out there - go for the deep water! Then assessment.....remember?
Now, the master plan. Once you know WHERE and HOW you're going, you can put together a master plan. A guide...not to rule you...but a mental note holder. A way to express some feeling - press the boundaries! This step is necessary to achieve great things. Once completed, it is a time to collaborate with others to get feedback...ah oh...more jargon...stay with me! The best things in life are rarely created or enjoyed alone...it takes more people...thoughts...energy, than one person can give. Yes! Now we're talkin'. Super, exciting, just-can't-wait things.
Works for your life and it works for river restoration....
Later!
Build Up
2007-02-01
I sometimes feel like everything builds up in me...like a dam...ready to expode. Little by little the ice builds...accumulates...reroutes the flow of my day -
I've been very sunny lately....no build up!
Later! drift
What's Wrong?
2007-01-31
It's virtually impossible to really fix what you don't know is wrong. I mean, how many things are so easy to fix that the answer is skin deep? Yah - so... many folks will offer up their opinion of the "magic bullet fix" by briefly looking at the problem - all the while they're just waiting slap you around with their amazing "foresight"...Another way to say it is: To a hammer, all problems look like nails...Don't let anyone help you with your problems unless they've listened and tried to understand what the problems really are...
This brings us to the second step of the river restoration process - assessment! There are many factors that influence trout habitat in rivers: depth of water, cover (trees on the bank), water temperature, speed of water, water quality, bug life....to name a few. To even begin to address these issues - they have to be measured - observed - seperately and in relation to each other. These pieces fit together in a puzzle that reveals the health of the river at the time of observation (this is important because just like our own personal problems - they change as seasons and circumstances change!). Only then, can one responsibly put together a plan for enhancing the river for trout!
We have to press past the cursory question of "What's wrong?" and move towards intent listening, patient understanding, and detailed observation... hard to do in relationships - easier with nature!
Later!
The Main Thing
2007-01-30
Have you ever been talking to someone about all the things going on in your life and the more you talk, the heavier all your burdens get, and the more confused you become?
The main thing is to keep the main thing, the main thing. 
Business is the same. When we do our first assessment of a river for a client, we start by helping them determine their main thing for their river. We call this the "vision". Yah, I know it's yucky business jargon - but you have to call it something! We also determine the "Critical Sucess Factors". These are the things that HAVE to happen or the project will be an absolute failure - it may be related to budget (what can you do for a buck?), schedule (it better be done by the time my family reunion begins), or quality (it can't fall apart tomorrow).
YES! If you're still reading, I haven't quite made your eyeballs roll back into your head! I'm going to take you through a typical fishery enhancement project - our steps - and more importantly why we do it. Try not to worry - I'm going to do my best to make it understandable and relate it to life and relationships. Let me know if you have questions or would like to talk about something more...hang with me - it will be fun! At least check back for the pics!
A jouney of a thousand miles begins with one step!
Later 
Icy Morning 3
2007-01-29
Icy Morning 2
2007-01-29
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