t
Fred Bellmire was ap-
pointed to the West End
School Board at the June
21 meeting. Bellmire will
fill the vacancy which oc.
cured upon the resignation
of John Cain. Mr. Bell-
mire was sworn in at the
meeting and took his posi-
tion on the board.
In other board action, a
decision was reached con-
cerning contracting public
nurses for the school year.
Rachel Blair, of the Mont-
rose County Public Nurses
Office, advised the board
that a school nurse or
qualified professional is
mandated to perform
school screening of vision
and hearing, and assess-
ment of the handicapped
between 5 and 21 years
of age. The family plan-
ning program at the high
school is paid for by the
federal government and
not the school district.
Therefore the School
Board unanimously voted
to contract through Mont-
rose County with Rachel
Blair for 3/8 time during
the coming school year.
Ann Hemme will continue
to take the family plan-
ning program to the high
school.
Superintendent Larry
Swain updated the board
on the asbestos testing in
the District, on a new law
effective July 1 concerning
(Cont. on pg. 3)'
II
~i~~- .o~.
Thursday, June 30,1988 Issue 49 Volume 36
J
The Division of Wildlife
is stocking sterilized ko-
kanee salmon fingerling in
McPhee reservoir in an ef-
fort to produce lunker
sized salmon.
"Kokanee normally
mature in four years,
spawn and die. Because
they live such a short time
they don't get very large.
Their spawning success in
Colorado is limited and is
artificially maintained,"
according to Mike Japhet,
Fish Biologist for the San
Juan Basin.
"We expect these steri-
lized fish to live longer
than four years. Such fish
typically convert food into
body mass rather than re-
production and by living
longer they should be able
to reach lunker sizes."
"Yes, sterilized fish do
get larger," said Sherman
Hebein,. Fish Biologist for
the Gunnisorr Basin. He-
bein examined the new
301/2 pound state record
brown trout taken near
Gunnison last winter and
determined it was a sterile
female. Her ovaries had
never produced eggs. She
was naturally sterile."
The Divisio,; has sterili-
zed over 200,000 kakanee
salmon for the McPhee
experiment at the Roaring
Judy Hatchery north of
Gunnison. After the eggs
were spawned last fall they
were soaked in a very mild
solution of methyltestos-
terone, a male hormone.
After they hatched they
were fed a diet that had
minute amounts of the
hormone. Now they are on
regular food, growing and
will be ready to stock by
the end of June. The fish
will be small
"In another three
months there will be no
detectable level of the hor-
mone above what the fish
itself produces. The treat-
ment causes the gonads to
atrophy and become non-
functiorlal," according to
Hebein. He emphasized,
"The treatment is FDA
approved."
Japhet said, "McPhee is
and ideal reservoir for this
experiment. This species
of salmon require large
amounts of deep water.
Kokanee salmon have not
yet been introduced. Since
Kokanee feed primarily on
the zooplankton (tiny or-
ganisms), they will not
compete with the other
species of fish in the reser-
voir. Zooplankton in this
reservoir is very abundant.
This project will be
closely monitored by creel
checks and gill netting.
Japhet said, " We will
know in about four years
if we have been successful.
Until then we won't stock
anymore sterilized ko-
kanee."
The Colorado state re-
cord kokanee is six pounds
13 ounces and 27.5 inches
in length. Japhet said," We
really don't know how
much larger these fish will
grow. We have the opport-
unity to experiment and
see if we can develop a
trophy fishing opportunity
There is very little addi-
tional investment in these
fish, Even if the experi-
ment fails, fisherman will
catch some big kokanee in
another four years. If we
are successful then McPhee
could become a real
trophy salmon fishery in
.............
Bertha
Daniels
1988 Water
Days Queen
Bertha Daniels has been
selected as the Queen of
the ] 988 Water Days Cele-
bration. She will be riding
in Bob Schweikhardt's
1934 Ford Phaeton in the
parade on July 4.
Bertha, who is 86 years
young, first moved to Dry
Creek Basin in the 1920's
from Indiana. In 1928 she
moved to Nucla where she
has lived ever since, "ex-
cept for gadding around".
"Queen Bertha" has
been actively involved in
the Park Club for 60 years,
is a member of the Union
Congregational Church,
was a long time 4.H leader,
and is an avid card player.
For all her activities,
she still vividly recalls the
lifestyle of "pre-clitch"
days and has seen the
many changes that have
come about because of
water available to the
Park.
And that's what Water
Days is all about.
J
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