Daughters of Trout Unlimited:
Hillary Walrath

Salinity Control coordinator for the Henry’s Fork of the Green River (daughters Aven and Susie)

• Samantha Carmichael
• Maggie Heumann
• Tim Romano
• Hillary Walrath
• Donna Marcotte
• Dustin Wichterman
• Beverly Smith
• Ode to a fish loving father

My husband and I both work for TU in Green River, Wyo. We have two daughters, Aven (7) and Susie (4). I was fortunate enough to have been raised by amazing parents that immersed my childhood in the outdoors, so it has always been a must when raising our girls. Nick and I are very intentional with including our children in our outdoor activities. As long as it is safe, they go with us. We often have to adjust our expectations, pack way more food than you would think possible and plan a little ahead of time. But it is always worth it to have them with us. We want to raise them with confidence and respect for these wild places. We are fortunate that our jobs allow us to implement conservation projects in the community that we live in. Our daughters get to see the benefits of TU’s efforts in their rivers that they love. They are often involved with our projects—sometimes tagging along with dad to watch a trackhoe make “fish houses,” hiking with mom to track trout movement and bouncing down a ranch road to check on a diversion during high flows. Despite all of that, when asked what mom and dad do for work Susie will usually respond with, “fish.” Aven gave us hope that some of it might be sinking in when she wrote, “I like your job because you get to work with fish! You work in the Green River and Sedscidy (Seedskadee National Wildlife Refuge) and help native fish.” She decorated this statement with hearts. They may not fully understand exactly what mom and dad do yet, but they know the river is a special place, a place that they feel at home. And isn’t that where all great loves start?

This series of stories about daughters originally appeared in TROUT Magazine.

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