Give Idaho’s wild steelhead a chance

By Chris Wood The first time you snorkel a stream, the size of the bugs are disarming. Stoneflies tumbling down the stream look like aquatic dragons bent on taking off a limb. It is an optical illusion, of course. We were way up in the South Fork of the Salmon Riv er drainage. Hiking in

Voices from the River: Pondering gratitude

We’ll always have to fight for our public lands, but we should be grateful we have them in the first place. Photo by Chris Hunt. By Scott Willoughby It has been said that the hardest math to master is the ability to count our blessings. Funny enough, I’ve never been particularly good at math. That’s

Voices from the River: Wader season

By Toner Mitchell The boy is back in school, the trees around his soccer field the same blazing gold as the cottonwoods alon g the Rio Grande and the flanks of the brown trout bucks I’m hoping to catch there. The aspens, now bare, were equally stunning a month ago when I hiked up in

Election losses and wins

Wild Alaska at dusk. By Chris Wood Last Tuesday was Election Day. The Democrats took over in the House of Representatives. The Republicans solidified their hold on the Senate. Buried in the shuffle was the outcome of two separate ballot initiatives . First, in Montana, Trout Unlimited worked closely with Montana TU and other partners

Voices from the River: A trip west

By Ben Tayloe A spoiled, seven year-old yellow lab named Chester and a six-week stay in Germany for my wife’s job made the drive across the country a necessity. The only family member who volunteered to watch our dog happened to live on the central coast of California, a great place to visit but nearly

Conserving freshwater biodiversity in California

A native Chinook salmon from California’s Central Valley. Conservation of freshwater biodiversity faces major challenges. The fragmented nature of freshwater habitats often results in species populations being highly vulnerable to extirpation. Moreover, areas managed for resource conservation typically reflect jurisdictional or landscape boundaries that have little meaning for aquatic species. Now, a team of scientists