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Hermosa is a backyard treasure
By Ty Churchwell Just eight miles from Durango's city limits is the 107,000-acre Hermosa Creek Special Management Area and Wilderness. Enacted in 2014, the Hermosa Creek Watershed Protection Act is the result of a community coming together for a favorite backyard playground for locals and a destination for America’s public land visitors who flock to the San Juan Mountains of southwest Colorado each year. Prior to the passage of the…
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TU’s legacy includes protecting ‘The North’ for generations to come
Fishing for steelhead on the North Umpqua River is often described as a PhD-level challenge that will test the mettle of even the most dedicated anglers. Unlike other legendary steelhead waters, with their gentle gradient and long even runs, fishing on The North involves deep wades over treacherous bedrock to reach casting “stations,” which are often one specific rock that provides the angler…
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Native stories, for fish and people, are still untold
Since 1867, an obelisk has stood in the center of Santa Fe’s downtown plaza to honor fallen Union soldiers in Civil War battles fought in New Mexico, as well as soldiers who fought against “savage Indians." Another structure nearby honors Kit Carson who, as a Union colonel, did as much as anyone to push the Southwest’s Indigenous People to the brink of extinction. A statue on the grounds of one of Santa Fe’s prominent cathedrals honored…
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A letter from the Wyoming Range
Editor's note: The following is an excerpt from Tom Reed’s journal of his ride down the length of the Wyoming Range to promote the Wyoming Range Legacy Act, August-September 2007. For more on TU's public lands protection legacy, check out our new report, Legacy of Protection. At the top of the world, where the timber…
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Adipose fins are meant to be
The NYC and Watersheds Trout in the Classroom virtual trout tank's alevin are looking great and especially active today. At closer look we noticed that they have developed strong fins. Eight fins to be exact. Why are these fins so important? Not only does every fin have a function and purpose, ichthyologists also rely on meristic characters, or countable structures, such as the numbers…
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Hiking the CDT: Where are the rivers?
But the thing about the desert that stands out the most to this Florida kid, there were no fish at all. Not one!
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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‘Climate change is water change’
Climate change is water change. A warmer climate impacts nearly every facet of the water cycle: increased evaporation and transpiration deplete water from the land, rivers, lakes, oceans, and forests. Warmer air retains more water that is later released through intense precipitation events that are more likely to cause flash flooding and run-off pollution.
By Chase S. Whiting As summer transitioned to fall, the sun hung eerily over the Adirondack Mountains and illuminated smoke that traveled some 3,000 miles from wildfires out West. Seeing the smoke reminded me that seemingly distant corners of the planet are in fact interconnected by our shared environment. In Vermont, the climate change story…