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The lowly whitefish
The mountain whitefish native to the northwest U.S. There’s trout water, and then there’s trout water that also holds mountain whitefish. The latter is likely healthier. Whitefish (Prosopium williamsoni) are often greeted by anglers with the same enthusiasm they might afford a creek chub or a sucker. The slightly downturned snout may not be as…
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Desert Dries
Steelhead are never easy to catch. If they were ... well, they wouldn't be steelhead. But they might be especially difficult to catch on a skated dry fly. One western river, the desert section of the lower Deschutes, is known for big, fresh-from-the-Columbia chromers that will, indeed, hit a dry fly on the skate. https://youtu.be/uht997Ccw_M…
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Lahontan cutthroat a poster child for modeling extinction risk
Researchers work to gather data on Lahontan cutthroat trout. Jason Barnes/Trout Unlimited Determining the conservation needs of at-risk wildlife species is complicated business. Federal and state wildlife agencies—and their partners — need to assess the unique characteristics of different populations to understand the conservation needs of a given species. They typically ask questions like: “Which…
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Meet the Park Service
Trout Unlimited is devoting the month of September to celebrating public lands and the agencies dedicated to upholding America’s public land heritage. It’s no coincidence that National Hunting and Fishing Day and National Public Lands Day are both during September — the month is tailor-made for hunters and anglers to enjoy all that public lands…
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Monitoring fish movement is a vital conservation tool
Helen Neville, left, and Doug Peterson, right, install a stationary PIT antenna on culvert to track fish movement. Trout Unlimited photo. By Helen Neville How many times do you cross a river while heading to your favorite fishing spot? Unless you are looking for a new place to fish, chances are you don’t make a…
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Congressmen rally behind abandoned mine cleanup
Photo above: Congressman Dan Meuser (white shirt) and Earth Conservancy president/CEO Mike Dziak (speaking) during a tour of an abandoned mine reclamation site in Luzerne County, Pa. Earth Conservancy photo. There are moonscapes outside Wilkes-Barre, Pa.—piles of black culm left behind from coal mining operations before the dawn of regulation four decades ago. A local…
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Sportsmen rise to protect a gem in the Silver State
Trout Unlimited is devoting the month of September to celebrating public lands and the agencies dedicated to upholding America’s public land heritage. It’s no coincidence that National Hunting and Fishing Day and National Public Lands Day are both during September — the month is tailor-made for hunters and anglers to enjoy all that public lands…