Sunday, March 8, 1992

Scout leader dies in accident

Expert buried in snow cave

By Michael Booth
and Woody Mitchell
The Denver Post

An Arapahoe County Boy Scout leader died yesterday after a snow cave he and his 12 year-old son were building collapsed during a winter campout on Kenosha Pass.

Despite desperate efforts by his son and other Scouts to dig him out and revive him, Gary Fletcher, 50, died at noon yesterday, 18 hours after snow buried him inside the cave.

A longtime Scout leader and backcountry survival expert, Fletcher was airlifted out of the 10,000 foot-high pass Friday night to Swedish Medical Center in Englewood.

Fletcher, a psychiatrist, was building the cave with his son and another young Scout on the first night of the annual Arapahoe District Klonderee, a winter campout held in Park County. The outing is held to teach Scouts about outdoor skills, including survival techniques.

Fletcher and his son had planned to sleep in the but that night. They had piled up a mound of snow and Fletcher was scooping out the cave from inside when it collapsed about 6:30 p.m., said troopmaster Gary Zollinger. Fletcher's son, Christopher, frantically began digging for his father while the other Scout shouted for help.

When Zollinger arrived, Christopher had located his father, and Scout leaders including Zollinger pulled him out of the light, flaky snow and tried to revive him. Rescue leaders estimate he was buried under the snow for three to five minutes.

"We didn't get responses to CPR," said Zollinpr, one of many leaders on the scene trained In first aid response.

"The snow was light and dry, and there wasn't a lot on top of him," said family friend Bob Bills. "He was found on his back with his arms by his side."

Troop leaders and rescue officials kept the dozens of young Boy Scouts nearby away from the scene.

Fletcher was moved out to U.S. 285, then flown by helicopter to Swedish. His family kept an all night vigil at the hospital, while Boy Scout members and leaders from around Arapahoe County waited anxiously, Zollinger said.

Park County Deputy Coroner lay Hutchinson would not speculate on the cause of death before in autopsy but did not rule out the possibility of a heart attack.

"Gary was a tremendous man, and our Scouts are very sad. It's very difficult for these young men," Zollinger said.

The Scout troop, sponsored by the Willow Creek stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was scheduled to remain at the campout through today, but leaders brought them back Friday night.

Fletcher's family is devastated by the loss, Zollinger said. "He was a very good father to his children, and he was a very important person in their lives."

Fletcher throw himself wholeheartedly into new ventures, said Bills, a leader in Fletcher's church and longtime friend. "Gary's the kind of guy no matter what he was asked to do, he did It, and with excellence," Bills said. When he was asked to become a Scout leader years ago, he not only joined, but earned the top leadership badges.

Fletcher also was an avid gardener, and welcomed new neighbors and church members with warm overtures. "When someone new moved into the neighborhood, he and Mary would invite them for , dinner and make them feel welcome," Bills said.

The bishop of the local church, will talk to Scout members today to help console them and answer questions they may have, Zollinger said. �We don't have the answers; we don't understand why things happen, but we do have strong faith,� he said.

Fletcher is survived by his wife, Mary, a daughter, Allyson, 20; four sons, Ryan 17, Jon 14, Christopher, 12, and Daniel, 7; and his parents who live in Fort Collins.

SAN FRANCISCO Mono County District Attorney Stan Eller has joined the ranks of Pete Wilson, Jerry Brown, Rick Lehman and Alan Cranston by receiving Caltrout's distinguished Golden Trout Award for 1991.

California Trout, Inc., one of the most influential fishing and wildlife lobbying groups in the state, honored Eller this month as the public servant who has made the most significant contribution to protecting the state's environment and trout resources.

Eller received the award because of his hard work in getting the East Walker River restored and the Owens Gorge rewatered. During the past three years, Eller has filed separate court actions against the Walker River Irrigation District and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power in efforts to get the former prize fisheries restored to their past glory.

�If we had 50 Stan Ellers around the state, we'd be out of a job.�' said Richard May, president of Caltrout. �Stan has been one of a kind.�

Eller said that when he heard the news about the award: �I was flabbergasted.�

Eller, an adamant animal wildlife lover, joked �I don't even know how to fish.�

May said Eller is the first district attorney ever to receive the Golden Trout award.

�We've never given it to a district attorney before. Frankly, none has ever deserved it before,' May said.

Other well-known individuals honored with the award in years past include Wilson (who received it as a U.S. Senator), Senator Alan Cranston, former Governor Jerry Brown and Congressman Rick Lehman.

Eller's first case was sparked by an August 1988 incident in which the WRID drained Bridgeport Reservoir, dumping tons of silt into the East Walker River and suffocating thousands of fish.

Eller filed criminal charges against the WRID, then he and Department of Fish and Game officials entered into protracted negotiations with the district to try and settle the case without going to court.

After several months of negotiations, talks fell through and Eller went ahead with the criminal case. Finally, in January 1990 - a full 16 months after the incident - a Mono County jury returned a guilty verdict agains the WRID,

Still, Eller's work wasn't finshed. The WRID appealed its conviction, and in July 1991 this conviction was upheld by a three-judge appeals panel. Finally, nearly three years after the reservoir was drained, work began on restoring the river in September 1991. Much work still remains to be done, but the first steps in bringing the East Walker back to its former condition have been taken, due in large part to Eller's perseverance.

Eller said he never considered giving- up on the East Walker case, though at times he grew very frustrated with the WRID, which was not very cooperative.

Coincidentally, DFG Game Warden Dick Padgett, who was also heavily involved in the East Walker River case, was recently named the DFG "Game Warden of the Year."

The Owens River case began back in March 1991. A. DWP power pipeline - or �penstock," as it is called - in the Gorge ruptured, then collapsed from a massive "water hammer� caused by a mal. functioning valve.

The DWP shut off the flow of water down the penstock,, but a small amount of water continued to trickle through the Crowley Lake Dam and from springs in the upper reaches of the Gorge. Rather than allow this water to flow down the Gorge - which had been dry for decades � the DWP instead diverted the water into Lower Rock Creek.

Soon after this incident, in April 1991, Eller filed a law suit in Mono County Superior Court asking for an injuction forcing the DWP to rewater the Gorge and asking for changes in the agency's (S)tate Water Resources Control Board permits, requiring the DWP to rewater the Gorge.

After meetings between Eller, officials from DWP and DFG and special counsel Jeff Ross, are agreement was reached in May to send the spring flows and dam seepage down the Gorge. In June, the DWP released the water down the Gorge as dozens of cameramen and photographers recorded the heavily publicized event.

Though the fisheries in the East Walker and Owens Gorge have not been fully restored, these two famed waterways are clearly on their way back, thanks to the efforts of Eller and numerous others.

Eller to Receive CalTrout ConservationAward

Cited For Being �At the Forefront�

As California's environment deteriorates and Time Magazine dubs the Golden State �Paradise Lost,� Mono County District Attorney Stan Eller continues to make contributions toward protecting our precious resources.

Every year, California Trout (an organization committed to environmental conservation particularly the wild trout and steelhcad populations) selects a public servant to receive their Golden Trout Award. This year, Eller is the recipient of the honor due to his precedent setting water cases in Mono County.

Dave Baker, Region 3 manager for CalTrout said �Stan Eller has been at the forefront of water rights issues and the protection of fish and wildlife. He has done an excellent job for nature conservation since 1985, and recently has worked hard to protect the fisheries of the East Walker River. We commend him.�

The East Walker River case Baker referred to is one in which Eller is working with the East Walker River Irrigation District concerning a shortfall on an agreed dredging operation. The dredging began as a result of a California Trout complaint that over 300 tone of silt was being dumped into the river and destroying its fertile fishery.

�Seventy percent of the sludge and silt they dumped in the river still has yet to be removed.� Eller said. �No one even fishes in the river any more.

Eller's relationship with California Trout spawned during the East Walker case and continued to grow. Eller was pleased to be recognized by the conservation group and called it �an honor to be rewarded by such a significant organization in the State of California.�

Eller, who insists that he is first and foremost a criminal lawyer, began his environmental fights on behalf of California's fisheries with a lawsuit against the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power in 1985. LAPWD had diverted water from Mono Lake and into Rush Creek, and then allowed the creek to dry up, thereby abandoning the fishery established during the time water flowed.

Eller prosecuted the case against the powerful LADWP and emerged victorious. A precedent was set, stating that those who divert water retain a responsibility for maintaining healthy fisheries below that diversion. The case remains instrumental in determining water diversion responsibilities today.

Currently, Eller is in the process of negotiating an agreement with LADWP and the California Department of Fish and Game concerning the re-watering flows in the Owens River Gorge. Eller had brought charges against LADWP last year alleging they violated Fish and Game codes.

Last week, the three parties met for a Approximately six hours and LADWP agreed to release what Eller called �a significant amount of water down the Gorge.� (The river's flow will increase to 80 cubic feet per second.) The agreement will go into affect over the next two years.

�I think they [LADWP] saw the writing on the wall,� Eller said, �and they did not want to be involved in a lawsuit they could lose.'

Ironically, Stan Eller does not fish - at least, he hasn't in over eight years anyway. However he will not stop championing on behalf of the environment

"Most of my work as the Mono County District Attorney has nothing to do with environmental law,� Eller said. �Here in the Eastern Sierra, however, we have a responsibility to preserve and protect the fisheries."