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River Safety: Know where the safety kit is
Editor’s note: The float season has begun. The first oar stroke has likely been taken. We’ve shoved off into the flow of the known and inherently the unknown. As rivers go, the formula is simple. There’s one direction to go. What happens between boat ramps is up to you. With that, we at Trout Unlimited…
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Dry spell in Congress
Congress is deadlocking on public land protection. We deserve better.
It’s time for Washington to act on public lands protections You grow up in the West and you quickly learn to never whine about rain, even if it comes while the hay is down. That’s because drought is a constant and water is capricious. “Can you remember the last time it rained?” is a far…
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The Best of TU
This year, two conservation stalwarts took home the award recognizing volunteer leadership One of the highlights of the year for me is presenting the Ray Mortensen award to our top volunteer leaders. Chris Wood presents the Mortensen to Jim Walker via Zoom during the annual State of TU address. “The Mortensen” honors a man from…
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Homegrown wild trout conservation
It took a trip across the country for a Pennsylvanian to discover anglers quietly making a difference back home.
I spent my childhood summers in Easton, Pa., around the water. Though I never went fishing, I did tube down the Delaware River, play in and picnic beside Bushkill Creek, chase minnows and crayfish in the various streams around my neighborhood, and watch men and women enjoy fishing on warm summer afternoons. I did not…
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Mining for answers on climate
Ahead of the next U.S. mining boom, we need to stand up for clean rivers and wild trout You may have heard the saying, “If it’s not grown, it’s mined.” As consumers of products that include materials produced from mines—graphite for fly rods, tungsten and copper for flies, and aluminum for reels—anglers recognize that we…
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TU Business: Sweetwater Fly Shop
Dan Gigone and Diane Early are the owners here, and they run a great business. Dan is a licensed Montana outfitter, and their guide staff is second to none. If you want to book a trip on a host of different waters in this part of Montana, look no further.
They don’t call it Paradise Valley for nothing. The Yellowstone River makes its way from the base of Two Ocean Pass in Wyoming, through Yellowstone National Park and into Montana. The Yellowstone is the longest undammed river in the lower 48. Once it leaves the park, it makes its way through Paradise Valley, south of…
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Hope in dry times
How we’re making key Western streams more hospitable for trout and people in the hotter, drier present As the West grapples with extreme and unprecedented drought, Trout Unlimited’s restoration pros and partners are pushing forward with on-the-ground work to make waters and fisheries more resilient to changing conditions. In Idaho, we are decommissioning a hydropower…