Middle Provo Boot Wash Station Project Update
Jayne Guyse, HCFF Conservation Committee, Chair
The purpose of the Boot Wash Station Project is to help control the spread of invasive species on the Middle Provo, including New Zealand mudsnails and the parasite that causes Whirling Disease.
In 2022, HCFF’s Conservation Committee began working with Paula Trater/Utah Reclamation Mitigation & Conservation Commission, and Mike Slater and Tyler Robinson/DWR to restart this project, which Bob Dibblee and Bruce Pope supported for many prior years. HCFF already had 5 boot stations, that were built for Bob Dibblee’s original project. These were located in several fishing access lots: River Road North (a.k.a. The Bunny Farm), River Road South, Cottonwoods (a.k.a. White Bridge), Legacy Bridge, and Charleston.
Initially, Paula asked HCFF to restart maintenance of the stations and monofilament line receptacles back in 2021/2022. None had been maintained for several years, all were filled with mud and trash, and they really were unwanted eyesores in the parking lots.
HCFF collected and washed the derelict stations back in July 2022 and stored them in Paula’s garage. Throughout Winter 2022/Spring 2023, we worked closely with DWR to determine the appropriate chemical and ratios to be used to kill the targeted invasive species, reinstate the required permit(s), obtain signage for the stations, develop maintenance instructions, and create a schedule for volunteers to maintain the stations every 2 weeks.
Finally, on May 4th, 2023, after a very cold Spring, HCFF met DWR at Paula’s office to load the boot wash stations in pickup trucks, delivered them to the access parking lots, and set them up for use. We also removed the monofilament containers completely. After the initial set up, we had some repairs on a couple of the stations to fix leaks, but with those couple little bumps, the project was off to a good start. On several occasions when I myself have been cleaning the boot stations, fishermen have stopped me to say thanks for setting the stations up again and that they are using them regularly. Based on all the mud at clean up time, I’d say A LOT of people are washing their boots this summer.
The HCFF Conservation Committee is responsible for organizing the volunteer labor. Many thanks to the HCFF leadership, particularly Kevin Parsons, Tom White and Bill Quapp, for your support and encouragement throughout this effort. A special thanks to our sister club, Bonneville Fly Fishers (Fly Fishers International) in Salt Lake for contributing many, many volunteer hours maintaining the stations. Also, a shout out to Timpanogos Future Farmers of America (FFA) for volunteering to maintain the stations once per month from May thru September – we couldn’t have gotten this done without Hope Blackburn and her fellow FFA teachers. And, lastly, thank you to Fishheads Fly Shop in Heber, which has also offered to support the maintenance efforts going forward.
The project does need additional maintenance volunteers throughout August and September. Please contact Jayne Guyse if you are able to help with this effort.
