By Ty Churchwell No one in Durango nor Silverton, Colo., will ever forget Aug. 5, 2015 — the day of the Gold King mine spill that sent 3 million gallons of ugly, toxic mine water down the Animas River in southwest part of the state. To say the accident was highly visible is an understatement. In today’s digital world, photos of the orange
I often think of my life in decade intervals. The first ten years was the goofball phase; 11-20 years old involved anything with a ball; 21-30 was consumed by conservation—you get the idea. If we are lucky, we will get eight or nine of these opportunities to think about the new decade in front of
Editor’s Note: Each year, participants at Trout Unlimited regional Youth Fly Fishing and Conservation summer camps are invited to enter the TU Teen Camp Essay Contest. The prompt for 2019 was “Why is conservation important to fly fishing?” We received many wonderful entries and are pleased to share the top five essays. To find a
I was driving home the other morning from my son’s school, where a prospective head of school had fielded questions from an auditorium full of parents. One father had asked how the candidate would promote critical thinking in an environment so well known for its “indoctrination” of our nation’s youth. He seemed to accept this reality, yet expressed hope that debate would be encouraged on controversial topics. One of them, no surprise, was
I know it’s been a hell of a winter back East, and while it may seem like it’ll never end, my angling pals in the Eastern Time Zone are getting ready to enjoy the best trout fishing between now and next fall. See, while it may seem like winter, it’s damn near spring. By March,
By Erin Rodgers Trout Unlimited continues to make good progress in efforts to reconnect the fragmented Mettawee River near Dorset, Vt. This year’s projects are part of a larger effort by TU, the Poultney-Mettawee Natural Resource Conservation District, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Natural Resources Conservation Service to reconnect over
I’ve been missing my little girl lately—she’s off on her own adventures now after graduating from high school last spring. But we had some adventures in years past, and this past summer, we met on a little creek high in Idaho’s Caribou National Forest for some fishing. The two of us have always had a
By Michael Gibson Idahoans of all stripes descended on the Idaho Statehouse steps en masse on Saturday to show their support for keeping public lands in public hands. Touted as the “largest public lands rally in the West,” nearly 3,000 public landowners braved a rainy, blustery morning to let politicians and would-be land grabbers know
Here’s one for the romantics in fly fishing—a teaser video to larger project to come about chasing native brook trout. I grew up in Colorado, fishing for introduced brookies in small headwater streams in the Rocky Mountain high country. As a kid, I had no idea that the fish I caught didn’t belong in the
California golden trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss aguabonita) Species summary and status: The state fish of California, California golden trout once occupied about 450 miles of stream habitat in the upper South Fork Kern River and the adjacent Golden Trout Creek. Currently, the trout is native only to two high-altitude watersheds in California’s rugged Sierra Nevada Mountains. The
Fishwest Fly Shop located in the “Gateway To The Uintas” in Kamas, Utah. Fishwest Fly Shop opened its doors in 2008 in the Salt Lake Valley and we’ve been serving local anglers and visitors to Utah ever since. The fly shop is a full-service fly fishing outfitter offering flies, apparel, and other fly fishing essentials
Chris Hunt photo. A distinctly tropical experience in a distinctly trouty wonderland Imagine gliding over that stereotypical, crystal-clear Caribbean flat in search of bonefish or permit, your Spanish-speaking guide doing his best to meet you on your side of the language barrier. Everything is just as it should be. The wind is modest. The sun
Tim Romano photo. Arctic Char (Salvelinus alpinus) Species status and summary: In Alaska, Arctic char are often confused with a closely related species, Salvelinus malma (Dolly Varden), since Dolly Varden have similar coloration and inhabit the same locations as Arctic char. In many cases, definitively distinguishing Arctic char from a Dolly Varden requires close examination
Photo by Chris Hunt By Chris Hunt I’ve got a trip planned to a remote little fishing village in Mexico later this winter, and one of the first things I was warned of when I reserved a little cottage on the beach was (after hitting Google Translate), “There is no cell service here.” I do
By Joel DeStasio Trout Unlimited continues to build upon our successful series of community flood resiliency workshops in New Hampshire, engaging local decision-makers, such as Selectboard, Department of Public Works and Conservation Commission members, on identifying and restoring critical infrastructure. During this recent series of workshops, TU successfully worked with an additional 23 communities across the Granite State, increasing awareness of infrastructure risk and vulnerability while at the same time educating stakeholders on how to
The next morning was the day of the Cirque de Towers, a much anticipated hike. We left the trail in the morning and began to climb up to the valley of walls that formed a fortress of cliffs. Apparently, the way into the beautiful valley is called Texas Pass. This climb is much harder than any climb I’ve ever done, and I hope I never have to do one like it again. The trail walks along several lakes as it shallowly climbs up a gorge. But the trail and the gorge both disappear and leave you to make your own short, steep switchbacks straight up to the pass. Over the top you enter the famous valley of Cirque de Towers and drop down all the way to a lake.
By Charlie Perry Trips to waters filled with trout were the norm of my childhood. Summer adventures in Yellowstone. Weekends spent in the High Uinta Mountains of Utah. Holidays fishing the Green River in a deep red rock canyon below Flaming Gorge Reservoir. These were special places for my family. I have many cherished memories
Why do we need wild salmon and steelhead to thrive in the Snake River? Because they make connections. Wild salmon connect the Sawtooth Mountains to the Pacific Ocean. Fish born in the rivers find their way to the sea, only to return at the end of their lives to spawn, die and decay—in the process
Aging. We all do it — every minute and second of every day. Why is wisdom gained only with age? Hitting a rather large, round number earlier this year, I’ve been reflecting on life — how to spend more time living my life, how to spend more time with the people I love, and how to make the most of those minutes and seconds, every day. Of course, one answer
Apache trout FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 1, 2015 Contact: Randy Scholfield, rscholfield@tu.org, 720-375-3961 Jack Williams, jwilliams@tu.org, 541-261-3960 Scientists warn of climate threats to Southwest native trout Trout Unlimited launches SWNatives campaign to save Americas most imperiled trout (Phoenix)Scientists from conservation groups such as Trout Unlimited and federal and state wildlife agencies gathered in Phoenix last
