Don Allenbaugh

See the update.

I received a call from Washington this morning from the congressman's office and I met with his local representative in Mountain Home. They are getting inundated with calls and emails etc and very much want to resolve this problem. Your help is greatly appreciated. I have now pushed it even further by contacting Congressman Womack of AR and Senators Proyor and Boozman. You people in MO need to call your congressmen: billy long and jo emerson and Blunt and McCaskill. The local congressman's rep stated he got a call from Washington and they are getting lots of calls and emails etc and they want this fixed. I think if we get the other congressmen involved and the senators from MO we will have a hoard of people putting pressure on the COE. Tell all your fishing and boating friends and don't forget the lake people as they need timely reminders of the elevation. We got this rolling and it is gaining momentum, keep it up and we can triumph. By the way I requested timely releases with CFS info.

The power of the internet: Representative Rick Crawford I want to thank everyone for their feedback about the need for timely and accurate information from the Corps of Engineers. I want to assure you that I will be looking in to this and I would also ask you contact Joeseph Didden in my Mountain Home office with your concerns so we can be sure we have everything we need. Here is Joseph's number that you can call: 870-424-2075. Thanks again for your input!

The link is: http://www.facebook.com/RepRickCrawford They do not like to be taken to task on twitter or facebook so this might help. Worth a few seconds of time.

I need your help. Many of you fish the White and Norfork tailwaters and have probably been as frustrated with the COE messages on the phone concerning water releases as I am. We get days when they are not updated and then days when we get simply "2 unit are on line" announcements. It is extremely frustrating trying to plan an outing with the current announcements and their lack of information. I would like to have current meaningful announcements that can let me have some idea of what is happening at the dam. I know we can go to the SWPA web site and look at the release chart but that is a little hard if you are on the water. I am tired of going to the COE office in Mt Home and asking them to do something and get a we will try answer. This brings me to asking each and everyone of you for help. It will only take a moment for your help. I have put a request on Congressman Rick Crawford's (the local congressman for Mt Home area) Facebook page requesting he do something about the recordings. If all of you would take a minute out of your day and get on his Facebook page and write something asking for his help, perhaps we can get this problem resolved. Please help me out, I know there are hundreds of you if not thousands who could overwhelm him causing him to help us out. The power of the internet is awesome. Thank you all so much.

Christmas came early for employees of the Norfork and Greers Ferry National Fish Hatcheries, as well as local trout fishing enthusiasts, when Congress approved the 2012 Budget. The budget includes a total of $7.2 million for the nine mitigation hatcheries which were defunded by the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service in their original budget request. According to Leon Alexander, a spokesperson for the local Friends of the Norfork Fish Hatchery, information submitted by Congressman Rick Crawford's office says the funding is $3.8 million by the Corps of Engineers who will in turn reimburse the Fish and Wildlife Service and $3.8 million from the service. The original request was for $6.9 million, so the $7.2 million covers full funding plus the remainder and additional funds from peripheral reimbursements will be for deferred maintenance. Alexander says this is really good news for the hatchery employees and all who depend on the Trout Hatcheries as a source of income and for Baxter County and the local economy, in particular, which relies heavily on trout fishing as a primary source of sales tax income. According to Alexander, this took a tremendous effort on the part of the Arkansas Congressional Staffs to accomplish this change in funding given current efforts to reduce all federal budgets. He says Crawford and Senators Mark Pryor and John Bozeman were tireless in their efforts to secure this funding for the Norfork and Greers Ferry National Fish Hatcheries. Alexander adds this caution that although the funding has been approved for next year, it does not include any provisions for future funding. He says there is still a lot of work to be done to secure future funds which will allow these important resources to exist without the annual threat of closure.

After running a jet for the past 7 yrs there are 4 things to always be on the alert for: 1. Constantly check the tell-tale discharge tube to make sure you have a steady stream of water. 2. Learn the sound of the engine and when it sounds different stop and check the intake. 3. When you are running and it does not seem to have the same amount of power, stop and check the intake you have picked up something. 3. Always have a screw driver with you to dig out flotsam and jamsam from the intake. Don't get crazy and try to run in water that is obviously to shallow for your boat and motor. A 48 supreme and 25 jet are heavy, know your running depth and don't tempt the gods. It only takes 5 seconds or so to fry your engine so when in doubt don't. The Little Red has a lot of grass now so always always kill your engine if you even think you might have clogged up the intake. Don't be afraid of it but be careful and it will do a great job of running in shallow water. That is a great setup and you will love it.

Dano, Hope all is well with your recovery. Perhaps if they turn off some generators this fall you can come over and fish the Rim with me.

The planned opening of the flood gates has been cancelled. 11May11 1400

Sorry, don't know what happened there.

http://ktlo.com/wire/newswed/02523_spillway_gates_to_open_at_bs_dam_093010.php

You can see the current weather information on the White River just above Rim Shoals by accessing my weather station. It gives current conditions and if you click on the summary you will get additional information. If you click on the map you can zoom in and see the exact location of my station (you can also click on satellite to see a picture). In addition there is a station in cotter that you can click on the map for current info at Cotter. http://www.weatherlink.com/user/donallen1/

Go to the below site and download the program for free. It will reduce the the file size and you can then download the photo to here. Program is real easy and you do not lose any of the picture. http://www.fotosizer.com/Default.aspx

http://www.swl.usace.army.mil/news&info/news/2011/036-11.html

News release from USACE: http://www.swl.usace.army.mil/news&info/news/2011/034-11.html