The Little River Chapter of Trout Unlimited has grown significantly from the original seventeen (17) members who founded the Chapter in 1992 to over 270 members today. During this time, the mission of the Chapter to conserve, protect, and restore the coldwater fisheries and their watersheds in and around the Great Smoky Mountains National Park has remained constant. Accompanying this growth in membership has been an expansion in the diversity of our volunteer activities to include Trout in the Classroom, Pistol Creek Clean-up, and most recently Aquatic Organism Passage (AOP) Barrier Surveys.
In order to better support our increasing number of volunteer projects, the LRCTU Board of Directors has expanded the responsibilities of the Vice President, currently Bernie Maloy, to include the role of Director of Volunteer Operations. In this role, the Vice President will work directly with each Chapter Volunteer Coordinator to ensure frequent and consistent communication with our membership and volunteer base, and to provide a single point-of-contact for our new members to learn about volunteer opportunities. If you have any questions or interest in our volunteer opportunities, feel free to contact Bernie Maloy (52bazzman@gmail.com) or any of the volunteer coordinators listed below.
Tennessee GSMNP Fisheries – Richard Barnes (canceleer1@gmail.com)
Trout in the Classroom – Kim Emery (kim@topshelfedu.com)
Pistol Creek Clean-Up – Ernie Frey (ernest.frey@comcast.net)
AOP Barrier Surveys – Bernie Maloy (52bazzman@gmail.com)
Norton Creek Projects – Daniel Spradlin (danielspradlin93@gmail.com)
The March Chapter Meeting is our annual business meeting and will include a feature presentation from Headwaters Outfitters on fishing small mountain streams. The business portion of the meeting will be brief and is limited to election of officers and board members and a financial summary. The point is, do not avoid the Chapter meeting because of the word “business.” Headwaters Outfitters, located on the banks of the North Fork of the French Broad River near Rosman, NC, was a significant contributor to our on-line auction and will give us the western North Carolina perspective on small stream fishing.
Bob Bishop
President
March 2024 Newsletter
