Jayne Guyse joined High Country Fly Fishers in 2019 because she wanted to fly fish. “My husband actually found Heidi Lewis’ group, Utah Women Flyfishers,” she said. “I went to the page, and it had a link to High Country Fly Fishers women’s fish days. I clicked on that, and it took me t o High Country.” The group, which included Utah Fly Fishing Hall of Fame inductee Pat Ronneburg, impressed Guyse, who had just retired from her career in mergers and acquisitions for United Health. “It was also the first fly fishing club I had ever been to, so I didn’t have anything to compare it with,” she said, laughing. “But they had trips centered around women, and they fished, which was what I wanted to do. I wanted to learn where to fish in Utah.” Guyse’s interest in fishing started before she retired. “I had gone fishing with guides, usually out-of-state while on vacation, and they told me I was really good,” she said. “So I thought I was — until I started fishing by myself. And that’s when I knew it was time to learn something.” At that time, Guyse also joined Bonneville Fly Fishers, a Fly Fishers International club in Salt Lake City, where she currently sits on its board of directors. “I saw there were a lot of overlaps in what these organizations do,” she said. Guyse’s involvement with High Country Fly Fishing, the Park City chapter of the environmental nonprofit, Trout Unlimited, led to her current duties as the organization’s vice president and conservation committee chair. “High Country is a very active conservation group, and we partner with various organizations in Park City and the area around here,” she said. The club works with Fish for Garbage, a nonprofit that cleans up waterways, and also does volunteer work for the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, Guyse said. High Country Fly Fishes also works with the division to build and maintain Weber River walkovers, which are metal ramps with handrails that help give fishers access to fishing areas, she said.  The club also formed a partnership with Summit County’s newly acquired 910 Cattle Ranch, said Guyse, who is a year-and-a-half in a three-year term with Governor Spencer Cox’s Blue Ribbon Coalition, a group that advocates for public lands. “We do different projects like willow planting to help rehabilitate rivers such as the Strawberry River,” she said. “We also do Trout in the Classroom with local elementary schools, and we help financially support groups like Sageland Collaborative.” One of High Country Fly Fishers’ current projects is the Soapstone Creek post Yellow Lake wildfire restoration, a partnership with Trout Unlimited, the U.S. Forest Service and the Division of Wildlife Resources. (See accompanying story.) “We are planting willows, reseeding native vegetation and other work,” she said. Guyse also runs fishing trips for High Country Fly Fishers.  “We created a ‘Walk Wade’ society,” she said. “The ‘walk’ part is our moving-water fishing group, and the other is a ‘still water’ group.” The ‘still-water’ group had already been in place and led by John Schultz, Bill Quapp and Dave Allison, Guyse said.  “There wasn’t a lot going on for those of us who like to stomp around in creeks, so we added that,” she said. “We can all go to the same place because anywhere there is still water, there is always running water going in and going out.” Ronneburg, who has known Guyse since 2019, said these trips have been “tremendously successful.” “They have drawn a lot of people who were inactive for long periods of time, which was Jayne’s post-COVID goal,” she said. While Guyse enjoys the work she does with High Country Fly Fishers, she relishes in the time she is able to fish. “It’s a mental thing,” she said. “When you get out on the river, you’re either fishing or thinking about whatever worries you have, and nine times out of 10, the river rinses it all away, and you have a break. It’s like outdoor therapy.”For information about High Country Fly Fishers, visit highcountryflyfishers.com. The post High Country Fly Fishers vice president oversees conservation efforts appeared first on Park Record. ...read more read less