Currently browsing… drought
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Terrestrial season arrives, but is it wise to fish?
It's my favorite time of the year. Big, fat terrestrial insects have had a summer to mature, and they're prominent along trout streams all over the West. Normally, I'd have stuffed a couple of fly boxes with hopper and beetle patterns, and I'd be spending any free time I had throwing big bugs at fish…
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Go higher to beat the heat and catch wild trout
Brook trout are wild in many western high-country streams. When water temperatures start to rise in the summer, most of us know to stop fishing. And if you didn't know before, you do now. Rivers across Colorado have voluntary closures and hoot owl restrictions have been in place in Montana for most of the summer.…
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Climate resilience in a hotter, drier West
The West is in the grips of another hot, dry summer, with more than 60 large wildfires currently burning across the region. At the same time, the effects of last year’s fires are apparent in many states; Interstate 70, a major artery for east-west transportation, has been shut down through Colorado’s Glenwood Canyon multiple times in the past two months due to mudslides resulting from last year’s Grizzly Creek fire. The epicenter of the ongoing drought is the Colorado River…
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Worrying about water
All is not right with Lake Meade. As of this writing, Lake Meade is almost 156 feet below "full pool." It's down almost 140 feet below its levels about 20 years ago
My partner and I drove eight hours down to southern Nevada last week for a friend's wedding. It was a classic desert affair, tastefully done, simple and a whole lot of fun. One afternoon, with time to kill before wedding events began to take up the schedule, Toni and I drove out to Lake Mead,…
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TU’s Sara Porterfield ponders uncertain future of water in the West
Editor's note: To kick off our education series exploring the complexities of water in the West, we interview author and TU's water policy associate for its Western Water and Habitat Program, Sara Porterfield. How long have you been with TU and what do you work on day-to-day? Sara Porterfield: I started with TU in October…
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Deja vu all over again
TU worked with Jackson Family Wines and other partners to complete this fish passage improvement project on Yellowjacket Creek, an important spawning and rearing tributary for Coho and steelhead in the Russian River system. Author's note: As California grapples with extraordinarily warm and dry conditions, the California Wildlife Conservation Board awards major grants to TU…
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A bridge over No Name Road
A landowner’s love of his rural California land and the tiny steelhead stream that flows through it is key to the success of a challenging TU-led fish passage improvement project. Bruce Dormody was born and raised on a secluded, 2,600-acre property in the hills above Carmel Valley, Calif., operated for decades as San Clemente Rancho,…
