Submitted by Brett.Prettyman on Mon, 2015-08-10 13:10 Conservation High Desert Anglers - 620 Wyoming Flycasters - 605 Wyoming At-Large - 748 Seedskadee - 533 Wyoming - 9WY The Front Porch Trout Magazine Wyoming Range Outdoor Communicators Vote Up Down +6 + TUAWARD.JPG Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative executive committee chairman Wally Johnson presented Trout Unlimited's Nick Walrath with the WLCI Partnership Award at the Gooseberry Creek project site. Photo courtesy WLCI. By Brett Prettyman Trout Unlimited doesn’t do projects to earn awards, it’s all about conservation, but it is always nice to be recognized for our efforts. Kudos are particularly meaningful when they come from partners. The Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative recently presented Trout Unlimited’s Nick Walrath with a partnership appreciation certificate. Wally Johnson, executive committee chairman of the Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative, presented Walrath with the partnership award at the Gooseberry Creek project site in the southwestern corner of the state. Trout Unlimited has partnered with the Initiative since 2008 and completed several projects. The Gooseberry Fish Passage Project, according to the Initiative, “is an example of [Trout Unlimited’s] conservation efforts to improve, protect and restore Colorado River cutthroat watersheds, one of Wyoming’s valued resources”. LittleMountainTour.JPG Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative members tour the Gooseberry Creek Project on the Greater Little Mountain Area. Photo courtesy WLCI. WLCI is an effort to assess and enhance aquatic and terrestrial habitats on a landscape scale in southwest Wyoming while also facilitating responsible development through local collaboration and partnerships. Partners of the WLCI include the Bureau of Land Management, Wyoming Game and Fish Department, Wyoming Department of Agriculture and Southwest Wyoming County Commissions, among others. The Gooseberry is part of a multi-project effort to improve the Sage Creek watershed on the Greater Little Mountain area, south of Rock Springs. Two fish ladders were built on Gooseberry Creek in 2013 to improve passage to spawning habitat. A series of step pools were also built to help fish navigate a steep portion of the creek. Brett Prettyman is TU's Intermountain Region (Wyoming, Utah, Nevada) communications director. He works from Salt Lake City.