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Chris Wood cheers Bristol Bay news: Ding dong, the witch is down (but out?)
Pebble mine is on the ropes in Alaska, but the work goes on to protect Bristol Bay once and for all The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers “finds that the project, as currently proposed, cannot be permitted under section 404 of the Clean Water Act.” With those words earlier this week, the prospects for the development of Pebble mine suffered…
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Former opponents now partners working to restore the upper Colorado River
Editor's note: This op-ed first appeared in the Colorado Sun on Aug. 14. By Chris Wood and Brad Wind Born in Colorado, the mighty Colorado River serves over 40 million people and irrigates nearly 5 million acres of farmland before it enters Mexico. It is the hardest-working river in the West. The river also provides…
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Recovery through restoration
Now is the time to double down on our investment in the outdoors. This summer, the President and a bipartisan majority in Congress have coalesced around an old good idea. Namely, that we as a nation ought to be investing in our public lands. Our parks and forests and wilderness areas are a national endowment,…
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Extinction, Idaho?
Our iconic Snake River chinook salmon are down to less than 1 percent of their historic numbers. With a few real exceptions, juvenile smolts in Idaho rear in some of the West’s best habitat, but on their way to the Pacific Ocean they must traverse eight dams, including four on the lower Snake River. How…
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Look to the science
Poverty Flats (credit: US Forest Service) How do we bring back salmon and steelhead? Look to the science. My career in conservation was informed by a magical experience at a place called Poverty Flats in the middle of the South Fork of the Salmon River in Idaho. At the end of a long day, as…
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Why are we here?
What would happen if TU went away?
After I graduated college, my older brother, John, introduced me to a friend who was a Jesuit priest. At the time, I was a somewhat aimless ice-cream factory worker and an assistant high school football coach. One night after dinner and drinks with my brothers and me, Father Donald asked me three questions. “Chris, what…
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Our ‘green lands’
“To protect and restore trout and salmon and the watersheds on which they depend.” The mission of Trout Unlimited cannot be accomplished without the help of partners. One of our most important partners is the United States Forest Service. The Forest Service manages over 191 million acres of public land that are jointly owned by…
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