170711_TU_FY18_IER_Approps_House_FNL.pdf July 11, 2017 RE: Interior, Environment, and Related: Proposed FY18 Budget Cuts. Dear Chairman Calvert, Ranking Member McCollum, and members of the Subcommittee: I am writing on behalf of Trout Unlimited (TU), regarding Fiscal Year 2018 appropriations for programs within your jurisdiction. These programs are of great interest to TU, and critical to the
New gear: Vedavoo Damsel sling pack

I’ve been a fan of the sling pack for a good decade now. A good sling is lighter than a vest, more streamlined than a backpack and, if you can find the right one, comfortable to wear in any number of fishing conditions. But until now, no sling pack has been made specifically for women.
TU Councils on national monuments

Want to know what 30 of Trout Unlimited’s state councils had to say about national monuments? Here’s the full text of their official comments, submitted July 10. July 10, 2017 Monument Review, MS-1530 U.S. Department of the Interior 1849 C Street NW Washington, DC 20240 Comments of Trout Unlimited on DOI-2017-0002, Review of Certain National
Native Odyssey: Rocky Mountain National Park

Public Land: Rocky Mountain National Park. Established Jan. 26, 1915, Rocky Mountain National Park was the 10th recognized national park in the United States. It is the best place in the Lower 48 for visitors to experience alpine landscapes and tundra. Driving in from Denver (just two hours away) allows for visitors to see numerous
Short casts: New lake in Wyoming; shad in Oregon, clean water takes a hit

Big migratory Bonneville cutthroat trout are among the fishiest resources of the Wyoming Range. This spring, a landslide created a new lake in the Wyoming Range’s Willow Creek drainage. From the “How Cool is This?” department comes the news of a new lake in western Wyoming. This last winter’s record-setting snowfall caused an entire mountainside
Native Odyssey: The Valle Vidal

Located in Northern New Mexico’s Sangre de Cristo Mountains in the Upper Rio Grande River Basin, Valle Vidal lies within the Carson National Forest. Meandering its way through Valle Vidal, Comanche Creek is one of the last refuges for Rio Grande cutthroat trout in the state of New Mexico. TU’s extensive Commanche Creek project addresses
Native: Ontario brook trout

Above: Native brook trout from the northwest Ontario interior. Photo courtesty of Paul Smith. Below: The author holds a brook trout from Argentina’s Corcovado River. When those of us here in the lower 48 think of brook trout, we might think of boulder-hopping in a secret Appalachian canyon that has managed for more than two