Querencia: A love of place

by | March 6, 2020 | Voices from the river, Conservation, Fishing, TROUT Magazine

In 2011, when I was still president of New Mexico’s Santa Fe (Truchas) Chapter, I was approached by Nick Streit, president of the Taos (Enchanted Circle) Chapter and owner of the Taos Fly Shop, about restoring a section of the Red River in Questa. The Red had been a workhorse for several decades, impacted by

Restoring a future with Gila trout

by | March 4, 2020 | Conservation, Advocacy

By Jeff Arterburn Very few people encounter the mountainous region of southwestern New Mexico known as “The Gila” by accident. The nearest interstates track the open desert valleys far from the sierra. Locals here will still acknowledge the occurrence of oncoming vehicles with a finger raised momentarily from the steering wheel, and not the middle

Still on top

by | February 27, 2020 | Voices from the river, Advocacy, Conservation, Fishing, Government Affairs, TROUT Magazine

Efforts to fix habitat are as much for people as they are for the planet It’s legislature season in New Mexico, a time I’ve come to abhor for how it represents my species and, perhaps more likely, my deficiencies as a chess player.  Sausage making is a circus, spectacular flights of ethical and logical acrobatics

Management matters

by | February 14, 2020 | Advocacy, Conservation, Fishing

By Garrett Hanks Wolf Creek pass in the San Juan mountains of Colorado serves as the tipping point between the westward San Juan basin, home to the recently rediscovered San Juan cutthroat trout, and the Rio Grande cutthroat’s namesake river to the east.  Unlike trout, bear, mule deer and other wildlife are unhindered by the ridgeline; their tracks freely cross the divide. Look north and you’ll notice the burn scar from the West Fork fire of 2013. Setting off south along the Continental Divide Trail, you quickly