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Idaho bull trout tagged in three different locations in one year
Bull trout range far and wide within connected river systems.
By Jordan Messner Salmon and steelhead are famous for their amazing migrations, but trout and char can pull off some pretty impressive migrations as well. In the fish business, the term "fluvial" refers to a unique life-history where fish migrate between larger river systems where they spend winters and smaller streams where they spawn. Sometimes these migrations…
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Increases in freshwater insects — an opportunity for hope?
By Natalie Stauffer-Olsen We are currently living in the Anthropocene geological age, a period during which human activity is the dominant influence on climate and the environment. Given this, it is no surprise many scientific studies seek to determine the state of biological populations and communities. While many have found biological population declines ubiquitous, a recent…
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Hiking the CDT: Seven native trout, 3,100 miles, five months
Editor’s Note: The Strawbridge family from Lakeland, Fla., is hiking the length of the Continental Divide Trail – all 3,100 miles of it – from Canada to Mexico. Henry Strawbridge, 14, will be providing updates of their journey to Trout Unlimited as they pass through the historic range of seven native trout species. You can track the…
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Trout Unlimited’s Climate Change Roadmap
By Brian Wagner Considering the existential threat to mankind imposed by the climate crisis, I am sometimes a bit sheepish discussing climate change in terms of the impacts to our salmonids. But, we are Trout Unlimited and our mission is to protect our fishy friends we occasionally like to say hello to on the end…
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Trout Unlimited activates ‘tree army’ in Michigan
By Jamie Vaughan With planting bags slung over their shoulders, gloves and a specialized tree planting tool called a "hoedad" in hand, the Rogue River Tree Army descended toward the river. In just three weeks, 16,000 newly planted trees took root in their new home, providing immediate benefits to the Rogue River watershed that will only increase with time. This large-scale tree planting initiative was conceived by Trout Unlimited in 2017 and came to fruition this spring thanks…
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Hard work on Lahontan cutthroat trout threatened by hybridization
By Jason Barnes As one of only two lakes in the world to support a relict self-sustaining and naturally reproducing population of Lahontan cutthroat trout, a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act, Independence Lake is irreplaceable. We are no stranger to adverse conditions at the high elevation lake near Truckee, Calif., but even the…
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Barging increases likelihood of hatchery fish straying into wild steelhead populations
"To repeat the obvious, that means in 2006 an estimated 42 percent of the spawners in this “wild” population were hatchery fish. Statistical modeling indicated the number of steelhead smolts barged in the Snake River in the previous several years was a strong predictor of PHOS (Percent Hatchery Origin Spawners)."
There may be no more amazing feat in nature than migrations undertaken by salmon as they complete an epic journey from freshwater to the ocean and back upstream to their birthplace to spawn. In some cases, salmon swim more than 1,000 miles upstream to spawning waters. In this final freshwater phase of their trip, adults follow…
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