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Practicing equity at Trout Unlimited
“Why doesn’t TU stick to fixing rivers?” I’ve been asked this question more than a few times this week, this year—really, numerous times over my past 12 years on staff at Trout Unlimited. Generally, I pick up the phone and talk with folks. TU is a place where relationships are deep, and that sort of…
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Why are we here?
What would happen if TU went away?
After I graduated college, my older brother, John, introduced me to a friend who was a Jesuit priest. At the time, I was a somewhat aimless ice-cream factory worker and an assistant high school football coach. One night after dinner and drinks with my brothers and me, Father Donald asked me three questions. “Chris, what…
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Fishing, TU and the pandemic
If your email inbox looks like mine, almost every organization you have ever worked with, joined or “liked” has sent you a note this week about the novel coronavirus and the disease it causes, COVID-19. It’s a sign of how thoroughly this crisis has swept across all of American life. Trout Unlimited is rooted in communities of…
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Querencia: A love of place
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…
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Fishing matters
City Catch kids in Baltimore. Lately, when I am in town, I’ve taken to starting my mornings at Fletchers boathouse. I’ll row up or downstream for an hour with a strung fly rod. If I see a suspended gar, or a rolling carp, I’ll stop and cast. Even with the outing, I am at the…
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The Krug Family Forest: A tribute to tributaries and small tracts
By Nick Sanchez and Jamie Vaughan Urban sprawl, development and agricultural pressures have deforested much of southern Michigan. In rapidly developing areas of southern Michigan, forest and farmland loss continues to this day. Luckily, family forest owners, like the Krug Family, are taking steps to protect their forests and the important waters that flow through…