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For 15 years, the Tie-a-thon has helped those who help people through fishing
It started 15 years ago with a conversation in a car. Terry Wittorp and Tim Scott were on their way to a chapter meeting of the Kalamazoo Chapter of Trout Unlimited. "Man, I am worried that we aren’t going to have enough flies for our youth camp in Michigan this year," Terry said. Tim, who…
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Improving on the Global Deal for Nature
Protecting 30 percent of the planet by 2030 may not be enough. In 2019, a group of international scientists came up with the notion of a Global Deal for Nature. Their idea is straightforward, and very ambitious. To “save the diversity and abundance of life on Earth,” the scientists said, we need to “save 30…
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Best, maybe last, chance for salmon
One of the great mythologies in America is that conservation is a "zero-sum game"—a term used by economists when the gain of one person is offset by the loss of another. Conservation is often, for example, described as “job-killing,” or pitting fish and wildlife versus people. Congressman Mike Simpson’s (R-ID) proposal to re-imagine the relationship…
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Looking back, looking ahead
Engaging with young anglers about conservation, policy and people It is easy to get cynical about the future, until you spend some time with it. I recently had a great time virtually speaking with over 100 college students who belong to our TU Costa 5 Rivers clubs and agreed to post my answers to their…
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Helping trout and helping America
As he was sworn in as the 46th president of the United States this week, Joe Biden made a powerful call for unity as the necessary foundation for tackling our nation’s challenges. Many celebrate and welcome the change. Others are angry and frustrated. Here is what I wrote four years ago when President Trump was…
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It’s time for the lower Snake River dams to go
“It is our collective opinion, based on overwhelming scientific evidence, that restoration of a free-flowing lower Snake River is essential to recovering wild Pacific salmon and steelhead in the basin.” So reads a remarkable letter recently sent to the governors of Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana by 10 of the finest and most-respected salmon and steelhead scientists in…
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How conservation can save our politics and save America
Wednesday afternoon, a day that America won’t soon forget, I was on a phone call just across the river in Trout Unlimited's Arlington, Va., headquarters. A group of us at TU were talking about recovering Snake River salmon populations in the Pacific Northwest when my phone began blaring with a message from the mayor of Washington, D.C. In response to the attacks on the Capitol, she was ordering a city-wide curfew in three hours. TU staff and volunteers regularly go…
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