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Looking for America
When I left the warm embrace of New Jersey to attend college in Vermont, I discovered public lands. I would ascend to the Green Mountain National Forest on weekends and fish for native brook trout. It was a salve for my soul. A legal challenge by Utah and other states could risk access to public…
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Creating hope again, again, and again
Remembering a stalwart of the Forest Service
Remembering a stalwart of the Forest Service If we are honest, when we are asked to take hard stands, most of us think, “What will this mean for me or my career?” Or “How or what will people think about me?” Not Jim Furnish, a stalwart of the Forest Service who passed away this week.…
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Ordinary people doing extraordinary work
What makes them so remarkable is how typical they are of others in Trout Unlimited. They are simply two ordinary people doing extraordinary work.
The other day, I met Bob Blankenship and Karen Barnett of the South Coast Chapter of Trout Unlimited in California. I listened as they described their work to recover a more natural Los Angeles River, and an alarming vision of recovering steelhead in the river. You must see the LA River to appreciate the audacity…
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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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‘We never give up.’ Watch Chris Wood’s State of Trout Unlimited 2024
We’ve accomplished so much over the past year. Salmon are returning to the Klamath River after the largest dam removal project anywhere. Apache trout are off the endangered species list and on the road to recovery. Good Samaritan abandoned mine cleanup legislation is nearing the finish line. From Vermont to Virginia and the Driftless to…
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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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