Board and Officer Elections Held

At the February Member Meeting bi-annual elections were held to assist our incoming President Joe Lepley for the next two years.

The results are as follows:

  • Vice President: Cal Pasvogel
  • Treasurer: Jim Clark
  • Habitat Improvement: Mike Jeresek
  • Membership Coordinator: Ryan Frick
  • Communications: Justin Carroll
  • Secretary: Vacant

The New Board Members:

  • Mark Reisetter, Mark also sits on the MNTU State Council
  • Jim Grannom
  • Chuck Bently
  • Carl Miene
  • Mike Trok
  • Tom Stevens

I’d like to take a moment to thank those who have served on the board for several years and continue to volunteer their time, without the consistent effort of several of your officers and board members the Win-Cres chapter would not be what it is today. We would like to also collectively thank those new members to officer and board positions. Ryan Frick has taken on the Membership Coordinator role, Ryan has been fishing the Winona are for a long time and enjoys catching trout and pike on the fly. Carl Miene joined our Board as a new member and is a Winona native, Carl lives in La Crosse Wisconsin but fishes his home waters in Winona, Houston and Fillmore Counties often. Tom Stevens also joined our Board of Directors, Tom works in Winona but lives near one of our project sites and will be a great asset to the chapter. Again a heartfelt thank you to those new to Officer and Board positions, we appreciate your commitment to our organization and resource.

Justin Carroll

Communications: Win-Cres TU

Monitoring Station Platform Installed!

The Garvin Brook Water Monitoring Station is moving forward. Thanks to the help of our dedicated volunteers we recently installed the platform to support the monitoring station that will be arriving soon. With this critical step completed we will be able to install the monitoring station as soon as possible. Thanks to Jim Clark, Mark Reisetter and Mike Jeresek for making this happen despite the cold weather. Nice work guys!

Moving Forward: Garvin Brook

We here at Win-Cres are excited to announce that with the approval of our grant funding from the MN Legislature we are beginning to move forward with our project plans. We have updated the web page and added a Garvin Brook Project page for you to learn more about the project. You can visit this project page for updated information, as things progress we will add photo’s and other documents pertaining to the project to keep you and the public informed of the work going on. If your interested in contributing to the project we encourage you to email us at: wincrestroutunlimited@gmail.com

Garvin Brook Project Page

Garvin Brook Project Site

 

Ferguson Creek Workday 6/25

  Win-Cres Volunteers

Saturday June 25th saw Win-Cres volunteers meet early in the morning to make their way to Ferguson Creek for a day of debris removal and general stream clean-up. Volunteers met and worked from 7:30am to after 12noon clearing the stream to a fishable state. We would like to thank those of you who attended this workday and our Habitat Improvement Chair Mike Jeresek for making it happen. Check your email for more Workday Opportunities, if your not recieving Win-Cres TU Chapter emails and would like to please send us a message at wincrestroutunlimited@gmail.com

Take-A-Kid Fishing 2011

Trout Bring Smiles

The annual Take-A-Kid Fishing event at Whitewater State Park was a great success bringing together Win-Cres volunteers, kids and families to enjoy an excellent morning of trout fishing. Win-Cres believes it is important to encourage youth and families to engage our natural resource in Southeast Minnesota so they may learn to love and take care of that resource in the future. We would like to thank Dick Shira for his years of hard work organizing food and volunteer guides for this event. We would also like to thank Dave Palmquist and those at Whitewater State Park who put this event on.

Pickwick Workdays

  Volunteers working Onsite

Win-Cres volunteers are back at it again working hard to see habitat improvement projects in the area move forward. Several days in May and June have been dedicated to building structures and supporting the Hiawatha chapter project on Pickwick creek in Southern Winona County. This reach will see over a mile of habitat improvement which will include significant bank sloping and seeding as well as instream cover. We would like to thank our hard working volunteers for their time and effort to help see this project move forward. If you would like to participate on workdays but are not getting the workday emails please let us know by emailing wincrestroutunlimited@gmail.com

Veterans Family Picnic and Trout Fishing Extravaganza

Teaching Vets to Tie Flies

On April 30, 2011 the Win-Cres and Hiawatha Chapters of Trout Unlimited along with the Lanesboro Fire Department sponsored a Veterans Family Picnic and Trout Fishing Extravaganza.  While the weather was not tops it did stop raining for most to the picnic.  The chicken and hogs bought and cooked by LFD were smoked and roasted to perfection.  There was much camaraderie between Hiawatha and Win-Cresmembers as they coached and taught veterans, their families, and boy scouts on the finer points of fly casting, tying, and rod building.  All in all it was a great event and hopefully, next year it will be even better. -M. Trok

Win-Cres would like to extend a big thank you to all the volunteers who drove from all over the state to attend this event. We would also like to recognize Mike Trok for his hard work and many hours spent to see this event happen and finally the Lanesboro Volunteer Fire Dept. for the excellent food.

Veterans' Family Picnic and Fly Fishing Extravaganza

This past winter, the Frozen River Film Festival in Winona highlighted the therapeutic value of fly fishing for military veterans by the inclusion of several films documenting this phenomena.
    On Saturday, April 30, 2011, the Win-Cres Chapter of Trout Unlimited in conjunction with Rochester’s Hiawatha Chapter of TU will host a free Veterans’ Family Picnic and Fly Fishing Extravaganza at Sylvan Park in Lanesboro, MN, from 10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m.
    The Lanesboro Fire Department is providing a complimentary Hog Roast in conjunction with the event.

See attached brochure for more information.

Veterans’ Picnic & Fly Fishing Extravaganza

Garvin Brook Parking Lot Sign Placed for Opener

Last summer saw Win-Cres petitioning the MN DNR Divisions of Fisheries and Forestry to put in a parking lot off HWY 14 outside of Farmer’s Park in Winona County. Prior to this lots construction anglers and others were forced to park off the side of a busy highway. This lot was badly needed for the safety of those who wished to enjoy the state forest and the stream that runs through it. Win-Cres would like to thank those from MN DNR Fisheries and Forestry along with those from MN DOT who made this parking lot a reality. Recently the lot received it’s new sign, payed for by the Win-Cres chapter, with the help of Mark Reisetter and Mike Jeresek. Stop by and check it out if your in the neighborhood, this lot is the first step in a potential project on Garvin Brook and will provide the access we need.

Support the MN DNR

Minnesota Hunting and Fishing Fee Increase

If we value the management of Minnesota’s outdoor heritage — the management of our outdoor resources — we need to let our lawmakers know we support an increase in hunting and fishing license fees. Please contact your state legislators today to let them know you are an outdoorsman and you want to protect Minnesota’s outdoor heritage and support the Minnesota DNR.

The Minnesota DNR has proposed a new fee structure for both resident and non-resident hunting and fishing licenses. I believe that we as outdoorspeople need to stand behind the DNR in this proposal and voice our support now! The timeframe on this support is urgent with the legislature in session right now, and we need to let our legislators know that we support the proposed fee increases — sooner than later. I understand that with the rising costs of….well, everything, that it’s tough to stomach the idea of yet another increase in the price of anything. Looking at the numbers within the DNR’s proposal, fishing and hunting is still some of the cheapest entertainment around.

Like all of our own personal costs of living, the DNR’s costs of operating have increased in the past 10 years. Gas, supplies, etc. — all has become more expensive for the DNR like everyone else. The basic costs of hunting and fishing, however, have not. There has not been an increase in Minnesota hunting and fishing license fees for 10 years. At the current rate, the DNR’s budget will go negative by 2014. 

What do license dollars do?

  • Pay for managing the habitat we hunt and fish
  • Pay for managing the species we hunt and fish
  • Pay for the conservation officers we need
  • Pay for the infrastructure (trucks, offices, stocking, staff)
  • Tax/lottery dollars are only a small part of Fish/Wildlife/Enforcement operations

Why is it in sportsmen’s best interest to support the license fee increase proposal?

  • Despite many cuts within the DNR, costs will exceed revenue
  • Fee proposal will enable DNR to continue to deliver high quality services we already expect
  • New fee structure will actually provide new cost-saving and convenience options for those who rarely hunt or fish and for those who hunt and fish a whole lot.

In a nutshell, the proposal increases the resident fishing license from $17 to $24, resident small game to $22, and resident deer to $30.

Contact your senator

Contact your representative

Don’t know who they are? Find them here.

Minnesota DNR fee proposal specifics

Minnesota DNR Bottom Line