2024 Desert Fishes Council (DFC) Annual Meeting – Grand Junction, CO

2024 Desert Fishes Council (DFC) 56^th Annual Meeting – Grand Junction, CO

20-24 November 2024

The meeting will be held in the Grand Junction Convention Center in downtown Grand Junction, CO.

The City of Grand Junction sits at the confluence of the Colorado and Gunnison rivers — the titular ‘Grand Junction’ — at 4650’ elevation, where the desert meets the mountains. There are outdoor activities galore – fishing, mountain biking, rafting, hiking, skiing, golfing, and sightseeing.  The Colorado National Monument sits adjacent to town and provides sweeping vistas and red-rock canyons.

Drinking water, which originates as snow on the volcanic Grand Mesa National Forest, the largest flat-topped mountain in the world at 10,000 feet elevation (boasting over 300 lakes and reservoirs), was voted the second best tasting water drinking water in North America (best in the USA) in 2023.

Downtown Grand Junction was also voted one of the 10 best downtowns in USA Today Reader’s Choice Awards in 2024 (see also the 10 most charming main streets).

Try a winetasting tour through some of the 30 wineries in our wine country or simply stroll around and visit downtown Grand Junction’s many fine locally-owned shopping and dining establishments, which include several brew pubs. For an immersive overview of the area’s rich history, visit the Museum of the West, a few blocks from the Convention Center.

Grand Junction’s high desert weather is variable in November, very similar to Bishop, CA where we met last year. Generally, days are sunny (80%) with highs ~52^oF’s and lows ~29^oF’s. Average monthly precipitation for November is 0.7″, with ~3 days of rain and occasional snow flurries.

Accommodations for a block of hotel rooms have been made at multiple hotels Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. All hotels are downtown, within short walking distance of the Convention Center (~2 blocks).

• Hampton Inn (35 rooms at $107 per night)
• Tru by Hilton (40 rooms at $107 per night)
• Fairfield Inn & Suites (25 rooms at $107 per night)
• Springhill Suites (25 rooms at $119 per night)

To receive the negotiated rates, book by 21 October 2024.

In the event that the designated hotels are fully booked or other accommodations are needed, here is a link for other hotel and camping options in Grand Junction (see also RV camping).

Grand Junction Regional Airport (GJT) is served by Allegiant, American Airlines, Breeze, and United. Direct flights are available from Denver, Phoenix, and Dallas.

There is a 20-30 minute public transit (bus) route from the Airport to the Downtown Hampton Inn (Stop name is Mainstreet East of First Street), right next to the Convention Center (single ride cash fare $1.50). Last bus is ~8 pm Monday-Friday, and ~10 pm Saturday. Ubers and taxis are also available.

Car rental is available at GJT or at Enterprise which has a downtown location, 406 S 5th St.

Grand Junction is easy to reach by car given its location on Interstate Highway 70, a major east-west highway connecting Denver to Salt Lake City and beyond.

Closest major airports are Denver (DEN), ~4 hours; and Salt Lake City (SLC), ~4.5 hours. Driving routes from these airports follow major highways, but traverse high mountain passes that may be snowy and occasionally require tire chains or 4WD per state law.

Amtrak also stops in Grand Junction.

Watch for updates in this section and subscribe to DFC-L for information about ride sharing or room sharing.

If you are looking for a ride or room share, please feel free to post on DFC-L for this purpose.

Attendees might consider ride share from Salt Lake City or Denver or between GJT and downtown Grand Junction.

Payment of registration fees is required. Only current members of the DFC can present papers, nominate Executive Committee candidates, run for the Executive Committee, and vote in the business meeting.

Our Annual Membership page is where you’ll pay membership dues and then you can register on the meeting registration page. 

Become a life member and never worry about membership again!

Deadline for early registration is midnight October 7, 2024.

Registration fees:

• Latin member, professional – $65 early registration, $130 late registration
• Latin member, student – $45 early registration, $90 late registration
• Non-latin member, professional – $275 early registration, $550 late registration
• Non-latin member, student – $100 early registration, $200 late registration
• Non-member – $300 early registration, $600 late registration
• Banquet companion ticket (non-attending) – $45

Become an Officer! Help guide the course of Desert Fishes Council.

This year, the Member at Large position will be up for election.

Positions are two-years duration.

Candidates for Officers of the Council may be nominated in 3 ways: (1) registered members may nominate a candidate via email to the DFC Member-At-Large Lindsey Elkins (lindsey.c.elkins@gmail.com) at least 48 hours prior to the Annual Business Meeting, (2) members may nominate candidates from the floor during the Business Meeting, and/or (3) members may nominate a candidate via a nomination form placed in a nomination box at the registration desk during the annual meeting. Nomination forms will be included in the meeting registration packet provided to members attending the meeting.   All nominees must be registered members of the Council.  

The short program and long program are now available in pdf format.

Field trips, Sunday, November 24th:

Field Trips (more details to come):

• FWS Endangered Fish hatchery
• FWS Fish passage/screens
• Palisade High School Razorback Sucker fish hatchery
• Self-guided river walks
• Self-guided Colorado National Monument (no fishes)

Call for papers:

The call for papers is available on Easy Chair.

To be considered for presentation, all contributions, whether orally presented papers or posters, must be relevant to the mission of the Desert Fishes Council (DFC): “…to preserve the biological integrity of desert aquatic ecosystems and their associated life forms, to hold symposia to report related research and management endeavors, and to effect rapid dissemination of information concerning activities of the Council and its members.”

All presentations will be in person.

Before starting to write your abstract, please read and comply with our instructions to authors.

Submission of abstracts for oral and poster presentations will be conducted via the submissions page in Easy Chair.

The deadline for abstract submissions is midnight September 30, 2024.

You will need to first establish an account with Easychair.org. See our simple instructions for that.

• Complete your EasyChair profile (content of which is used in your abstract submission).
• Read the instructions provided in the form before entering content.
• Submission of an abstract will notify the DFC Program Secretary and all listed co-authors.
• Coauthors that have an EasyChair account will be able to edit the abstract.
• Editing of content will be possible until the abstract submission deadline (30 September 2024).

Each presenter is limited to a single oral presentation, but poster presentations are less limited and are encouraged.  Because program space is limited, order of receipt will determine acceptance and is influential in the programming of presentations (but special symposia and student awards are scheduled separately).

Area Reports – We invite anyone with relevant conservation or research projects to contribute to the Area or Regional report for your region. To do so, provide a brief account to the appropriate Area Coordinator.

Grand Rivers: Challenges and Opportunities in Conservation of Native Fishes in the Upper Colorado River Basin

Preliminary list of presentations:

• Dave Speas: Symposium/recovery programs overview.
• Kevin Bestgen: Status and composition of fishes in the Upper Colorado River Basin
• Cat Adams: Reducing entrainment through a fish-friendly canal screen
• Kayla Kelly: If you build it, will they pass? A systematic evaluation of fish passage efficiency for three large-bodied warmwater fishes
• Casey Pennock: Translocation in a fragmented river provides demographic benefits for imperiled fishes
• Tildon Jones: LTSP updates, role of floodplain wetlands in recovery.
• Kate Lawry: Management of smallmouth bass in the Upper Colorado River Basin, past present and future
• Kevin Bestgen: Flow spikes to disadvantage smallmouth bass in the Green River
• Koreen Zelasko: Bonytail news/propagation updates.
• Zach Ahrens and/or Brian Hines: PIT tag data use in HBC pop estimates
• Derek Elverud: Pikeminnow population trends in the Colorado River
• Mike Gross: Palisade High School Fish Hatchery

• File format for oral presentations should be PowerPoint (ppt, .pptx, .pps, .ppsx). 
• To ensure your presentation is loaded into the correct directory, please use the following format for your filename. DayStartTimeLastName.ppt.
  • Time should be in 24-hour format without a colon. 
  • Refer to the Short Program to make sure you get the date and time correct. 
  • Example – Saturday1600Hoagstrom.pptx
• Email your presentation file directly to the Program Secretary (Chris Hoagstrom) – ChristopherHoagstrom@weber.edu by 5 am the day of your presentation (earlier submissions will be appreciated).
  • If unable to email presentation, see Chris to load your presentation.
• Oral presentations should be timed to last 12-13 minutes.
  • This will allow time for questions and for transition to the next speaker.

Poster Presentations:

Posters should be 36 by 48 inches or less.

Implements needed to hang posters will be available at the conference.

Publication:

Abstracts from DFC2024 will be added to the Council’s online published index of abstracts.

Resolutions:

If you wish to propose a resolution that furthers the objectives of the Council, please submit the resolution to the DFC President Mike Schwemm (mike.schwemm@gmail.com) by the abstract submittal deadline. Proposed resolutions must be submitted with complete lists of proposed recipients of the resolution and all contact information for those individuals. Proposed resolutions will be reviewed by a committee of members appointed for this purpose. If deemed in compliance, proposed resolutions accepted by that committee shall be discussed by the assembled membership at the Annual Business Meeting and ratified by majority vote. The author of a resolution will report to the membership where appropriate.

Melissa Trammell – local organizer

• Melissa_Trammell@nps.gov

Chris Hoagstrom – program secretary

• ChristopherHoagstrom@weber.edu