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Unfishing Season
Abstaining from fishing doesn’t just happen. There must be a reason. As New Mexico swims through its third fat month of monsoon season, I’ve barely noticed how much water is in our streams. Winter was scary dry, then our shirt-sleeve spring collided with New Mexico’s largest-ever wildfire. Every morning from April to July, I stepped…
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‘No constituency for orange rivers’
It’s time for Congress to jump-start abandoned mine cleanups In testimony before Congress, Trout Unlimited President and CEO Chris Wood pressed lawmakers to clear the way for “Good Samaritan” agencies and groups like TU to clean up pollution from abandoned hardrock mines that plague the landscape. Chris Wood's testimony begins at 00:49 Every single day,…
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‘A. Very. Large. Brown. Trout.’
To catch the biggest fish, sometimes you just need to be in the current MARTINSVILLE, Va. — “Right! Right!” Hunter Hatcher was yelling as he furiously pulled on the raft’s oars. Turning, I saw the reason for his exuberance: a brown trout. A. Very. Large. Brown. Trout. OK. Maybe not very large by Tierra del…
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5 questions for TU’s fisheries science pro
Dan Dauwalter, director of fisheries science, has answers on native trout and cutting-edge fisheries technology Over the past few years, groups of scientists hiked into the White Mountains of Arizona with heavy sampling gear to search remote streams for the threatened Apache trout. It was arduous work, but back in the office, Dan Dauwalter may…
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The second coming of the Apache trout
In a first, a salmonid is on track for delisting from the list of threatened and endangered species The promise of gold and opportunity has long been a driving force of settlement across the American West, much to the detriment of native populations and the iconic landscapes now in need of prolonged restoration and conservation…
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The agony and the ecstasy
Even when they’re beset by freezing rain or other forms of natural calamity, public lands bring peace, quiet, and miserable joy Public lands aren’t always perfect. The fish don’t always cooperate, and the mosquitoes do not care if you are trying to have a moment of peace. Consider it one of those Instagram vs. reality…
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In a Native Place
On the Fort Apache reservation, preserving native trout and a tribe’s identity. In the Western Apache worldview, humans share the earth with birds, elk, fish, insects, plants. Water, air, rocks—all are alive. All are part of the community of life here. The land is also full of stories. If you know the stories, say Apache…