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Good Samaritans get to work
What’s next in tackling abandoned mine pollution
What’s next in tackling abandoned mine pollution It’s been 20 years since the New York Times wrote about how Trout Unlimited, by working with unlikely partners, surmounted hurdles to cleaning up abandoned mines. That story highlighted the ways that federal laws hold Good Samaritans liable for pollution they want to clean up—as if they were…
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A note from Chris Wood on elections and the work ahead
In 2016, Donald Trump defied the polls and became president. Some of you may recall what I wrote to you back then: This was an uncommon and rancorous election, but the outcome was not. As is the case every four years, many are excited about the prospects for the new administration, and many are afraid…
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This could be the most pressing threat to public lands yet
For many people in the western United States, public lands are a fact of life. They are places where families hike, float and camp; where hunters stalk big game and anglers pursue wild trout; where veterans can find solace in the outdoors. They also provide clean drinking water for communities, forests that store carbon, grazing…
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Blue Lines
When I was first introduced to fly fishing by my friend, Bill Sargent, in Vermont, I fell in love with a whisper of a stream that flowed off the Green Mountain National Forest. The brookies were rarely longer than six inches, but the scenery and solitude made up for the lack of fish girth. It…
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It’s official: Apache trout are back
FWS removes the native fish from Endangered Species list in a first for a trout or salmon species The survival of Apache trout is a testament to the wisdom of protecting, reconnecting and restoring river systems to recover native trout. First listed as endangered under the federal Endangered Species Preservation Act of 1966, they later…
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Not a fisherman but a fisher of men
Father Pedro Arrupe was the leader of the Jesuit Order who instructed that the purpose of a Jesuit education was to form people who would live for, and with, others. Fifty years ago, it was revolutionary thinking. “To be just,” he said, “it is not enough to refrain from injustice. One must go further and…
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A major victory on abandoned mine cleanup
Thanks to the bipartisan leadership of U.S. Sens. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) and Jim Risch (R-ID), we are closer than we have ever been to fast-tracking work on the scourge that is America’s abandoned mines. For the first time, after two decades of work, Good Samaritan mine cleanup legislation has cleared a full chamber of Congress…
Author
Chris Wood
Chris has worked at TU for 22 years, and is not the best angler, but he is among the most earnest.