L to R: WCA President Mike Dawkins, VP Chris Littauer and COO Tyler Hallquist. Photo credit: WorldCast Anglers
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: One of the best parts of working at the junction of the fly fishing industry and conservation is the opportunity to meet and become friends with some of the finest human beings on the planet.
Take the new management team at WorldCast Anglers in Victor, Idaho, for example. WorldCast is a great TU supporter and a Gold Level Business member. When our longtime friend Mike Dawes resigned as president recently, we were sad to see him go. But the WCA team stepped up as they always do. Incoming WCA President Mike Dawkins is a veteran TU supporter and conservation leader. With Chris Littauer as vice president and Tyler Hallquist as chief operating officer, this is a dream team for the business and for the fish.
WorldCast has long excelled in customer service, not only in their outfitting operations, retail location and destination travel, but in their commitment to conservation on their home water and beyond. That’s why no one was surprised when they were among the first businesses to sign on to the Trout Unlimited proposal to remove the lower four dams on the Snake River in eastern Washington.
“The headwaters of the Snake are our home waters,” said Dawkins. “We care passionately about this river from its high country beginnings all the way to the Pacific Ocean. The loss of salmon and steelhead runs in this iconic American river would be a tragedy for us all.”
The Snake River is the largest tributary of the Columbia River, flowing more than 1,000 miles from its headwaters in Wyoming to the confluence with the Columbia at the Tri-Cities in Washington. The Snake Basin is home to about 50 percent of the current cold-water habitat for Pacific salmon in the lower 48, and once produced 40 percent of the prized chinook salmon and over half of the steelhead in the Columbia River Basin. Now, salmon and steelhead runs returning to Idaho, above the four dams on the lower Snake River, aren’t strong enough to sustain their dwindling populations.
We can either have dams or we can have fish. That’s the bottom line. It’s on us — individuals, families and businesses like WorldCast Anglers. At WCA it starts with the leaders — the management team — and extends through the entire guide staff. These aren’t just people who understand fishing, they understand and the habitat needed to support them. Trout Unlimited was founded on the principle that if you take care of the river, the fish will take care of themselves. At WCA, they get that.
The team at WorldCast is committed to protecting and conserving the iconic waters of the west, their fish and their supporting watersheds. Want to fish with people who support TU and its mission? Fish with WorldCast Anglers.
WorldCast Anglers
Mike Dawkins
Victor, ID 83455
(800) 654-0676
gofish@worldcastanglers.com