Pine River Trout Unlimited Banquet-Conservation at Work

Direct Results on the Betsie River
This past Saturday I had the wonderful opportunity to attend the annual banquet hosted by the Pine River Chapter of Trout Unlimited. The event was held at Caberfae Peaks and there were a great number of prizes and auction items up for raffle and bid. These types of grass roots and national organization efforts are of great importance to having projects done on local waterways and streams. Many of the projects on streams in this area are direct results of conservation groups such as Trout Unlimited.
The Conservation Resource Alliance had a representative on hand to provide the audience with a powerpoint presentation on many of the river erosion and restoration projects performed locally with funds coming directly from the Pine River TU Chapter’s past fund raising efforts. One of the highlighted projects is the Dair Creek Fish Passage on the Betsie River that will greatly help to facilitate cold water temperatures through the summer months for better trout survival in the Betsie River was started with funds that were donated by this local chapter of Trout Unlimited. This presentation was very important in taking a look at many of the erosion sites and areas that have been rehabilitated by Conservation Resource Alliance, the DNR and Trout Unlimited. Check out some of the projects at http://www.rivercare.org/.
On trout opener, I had the opportunity to fish the Betsie River with a client that recently purchased 180 acres from Home Waters this past year and he is looking into putting a portion of the property in a conservation easement. We found a few steelhead that were pretty hot to handle, but what were really surprised by was the quality of the trout fishing. Until the banquet presentation, I had not really given much thought to the trout fishing on the Betsie River, but witnessing it first hand was incredible.
It’s really rewarding to see direct results of these streamside restoration projects and be a part of responsible river stewardship as a real estate agent and member of groups such as Trout Unlimited. That is one of the many things that separates the agents and philosophy we share at Home Waters. Not only are we concerned about the waters we represent, but we all take active roles in the conservation organizations and are able to give a bit back to the resources we are able represent as sales agents. It was great to see such a nice attendance at the Pine River TU Banquet and raise some monies for coldwater conservation projects. It was great to catch up with some clients and visit with everyone at the banquet