Currently browsing… science
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Trout Unlimited expands Alaska’s knowledge of fish habitat
A juvenile coho salmon from a small, previously undocumented stream on Douglas Island, Alaska. By Mark Hieronymus For the diehard fish nerd, spring is a wonderful time in Alaska. The days get longer and (slightly) warmer, the fresh waters around the state shed their winter cloaks and start to flow again, the fish start to bite, and…
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From Red Brook to Bristol Bay: scaling conservation
A few days ago, the people of Wareham, Mass., delivered a victory for conservation. They voted overwhelmingly against the wishes of their town administrator, and four of their five selectmen, and denied a 775-acre development in the headwaters of Red Brook. The development likely would have harmed one of the relatively few remaining populations of…
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Action on climate change moving ahead in Washington
If you ask anglers across America about changes they are observing in their favorite watersheds, it is a safe bet they can share concerning stories. Lower rivers caused by diminished snowpack, less rainfall and more frequent and intense droughts. Basins ravaged by wildfires and hotter summers that routinely elevate river temperatures above levels suitable for trout…
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TU’s science programs in Great Lakes keep growing
By Jake Lemon Trout Unlimited's team in the Great Lakes region continues to expand on its ambitious science-related initiatives, which are critical in informing protection and restoration projects in the region. TU continues to support our chapters and partners in enhancing their water monitoring activities with the Mayfly sensor station, a low-cost real-time stream monitoring technology. Developed by Stroud Water…
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New mapping tool puts beavers to work for Upper Columbia fisheries
By Crystal Elliot, Kodi Jo Jaspers, and Matt Mayfield Beavers and trout anglers are not strangers. Many of us have been startled while standing knee-deep in a trout stream when something big and brown and way larger than the fish we are targeting suddenly slips past. Beavers can cause headaches for land managers as they engineer streams and ponds…
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Unwrapping genetic gifts that tell meaningful stories of trout
Lately I’ve been ruminating about why I love genetics, a wonky field of numbers and theory where a true understanding of results only happens long after the field season — in an office, on a computer at that. Every time I get new genetic results it’s like receiving a surprise gift. So many processes — all this history we can’t see — shape the genes of all organisms, including fish. The genetic patterns we uncover, then, tell us real and important things about the conservation needs of these fish. …
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Our failure to remember affects salmon and steelhead conservation
'The best run in years' doesn't mean things are getting better overall We’ve all heard stories from our grandparents of unbelievable abundance and sizes in their fishing forays — the salmon so numerous it boggled the mind, and those Lahontan cutthroat trout so big you couldn't wrap your arms around them. Yet even with these anecdotes it’s still hard to internalize just how different our experience…