Bonneville cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii utah) Species summary and status: The State Fish of Utah, the Bonneville cutthroat was historically found in the Bonneville Basin, including suitable habitat within Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, and Nevada. Although scientists believed pure strains of Bonneville cutthroat were extinct, a few isolated populations were discovered in Utah in the 1970s and
Contacts: OLYMPIA, WASHINGTON – Today, Governor Jay Inslee signed Senate Bill 5187 and House Bill 1125, the 2023-2025 state transportation and operating budgets. These bills will fund studies required in the process to remove the lower four Snake River dams. The studies will plan to transition the energy, transportation, and irrigation services currently provided by
SFS Chief Moore gets a firsthand look at TU restoration work in the Okanogan-Wenatchee National ForestThe eastern slopes of the Cascade Mountains in North Central Washington are one of the epicenters for catastrophic fire risk in the Western United States. Climate change, tree disease and over a century of forest mismanagement are to blame. In recognition of this risk, the Forest Service recently launched the Central Washington Initiative (CWI) in the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest as part of its national Wildfire Crisis Strategy. This important work is supported by $100 million of funding through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
The CWI is one of approximately 20 initiatives of its kind across the nation receiving this unprecedented investment through 2026. These initiatives represent an “all lands, all hands” approach to addressing forest health and wildfire resilience, meaning the Forest Service sees partnerships as the key to success. TU’s $40 million keystone agreement with the Forest Service is a perfect example. Through this partnership, TU will be implementing many of the aquatic components of this work and other critical efforts benefiting wildfire resilience and coldwater habitat recovery on National Forests across the country.
Collaborating to Reduce Wildfire Risks
The risk for catastrophic fire in North Central Washington is well known to TU and other members of the North Central Washington Forest Health Collaborative (NCWFHC) who have been working on the issue of forest health in this region for more than a decade. During this time, NCWFHC partners have been frantically building solutions while bearing witness to the biggest wildfires in Washington State history. To say there is a sense of urgency surrounding this work is a wild understatement.
Developing and implementing innovative approaches to helping the Forest Service increase the pace and scale of restoration on the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest has been NCWFHC’s key objective, and we have made significant progress in recent years. Enough progress, it turns out, to entice the Chief of the Forest Service, Randy Moore, to come out and see it with his own eyes in late May.
As part of the NCWFHC’s tenth anniversary celebration, we had the honor of hosting Chief Moore on a field tour of some of the Collaborative’s project sites.
Working to Keep Water on the Landscape
One of the stops on the NCWFHC tour was at TU’s beaver dam analog (BDA) project on Alder Creek, outside of Leavenworth Washington. This work is led by staff from TU’s Wenatchee-Entiat Beaver Project. TU’s Lisa Foster and Michael Dello Russo were on site to answer questions and demonstrate the work to partners and USFS staff.
I’m biased, but the site visit seemed to be a highlight for Chief Moore given his willingness to thrash through thick brush and endure heinous mosquitos to get an up-close view of the project. We got to talk about how low-tech process-based restoration techniques, like BDAs, expand floodplain connectivity, improve late season flows and increase soil moisture in riparian zones to create fire breaks in an otherwise parched landscape. Michael Dello Russo and his crew were also able to demonstrate how these structures get woven together with streamside trees. The Chief seemed so impressed with the work that he hinted at returning when we extended an invitation. We hope he takes us up on it.
We want to thank all of the NCWFHC partners for their ongoing work and for making the anniversary tour such a success.
Thank you, Chief Moore, for taking the time to join us in the field. We are grateful for your enduring support of this important work in North Central Washington forests and watersheds!
Here are two true-life scenarios that played out in the past couple weeks in the waters where I fish and call home.
Report evaluates existing national monuments and offers principles for future proposals Contact: Drew YoungeDyke, TU, 734-280-8909, drew.youngedyke@tu.org Katie McKalip, BHA, 406-240-9262, mckalip@backcountryhunters.org Noah Davis, TRCP, 406-926-3201, ndavis@trcp.org In a new report, National Monuments: A Hunting and Fishing Perspective, 25 groups and businesses –championed by Trout Unlimited, Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, and the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation
Infrastructure funding for water quality and reclamation projects will also benefit trout and salmon Contact: Sara Porterfield, Western Water Policy Advisor, Trout Unlimited, sara.porterfield@tu.org Drew YoungeDyke, National Communications Director, Trout Unlimited, drew.youngedyke@tu.org ARLINGTON, Va.—The Department of the Interior this week announced over $51 million in watershed and river restoration projects through the Bureau
The following is an excerpt from Fishing Through the Apocalypse, by Matthew L. Miller and published by Lyons Press. The book is available online and in retailers. The last time I’d set foot in Gila National Forest, my quest had proved futile. My dad and I had joined my cousin David and Uncle Bill to hunt
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 19, 2017 Contacts: Shauna Stephenson, Trout Unlimited, shauna.stephenson@tu.org ; Mark Taylor, Trout Unlimited, mark.taylor@tu.org WASHINGTON, D.C. Trout Unlimited recently welcomed seven new members to its board of trustees at its annual meeting in Roanoke, Va. The new board members bring a mix of conservation expertise, fishing industry acumen, business management experience
Nature deprivation is a real thing, and I’m witnessing the impacts of both being exposed to the wild and willingly foregoing exposure in both of my kids
2/11/1999 Dombeck Leads Forest Service Down the Right Road Dombeck Leads Forest Service Down the Right Road TU Supports Roadless Area Moratorium, But Says Forests of the Pacific Northwest Should Be Included Contact: 2/11/1999 — — The nation’s largest trout and salmon conservation group today applauded the start of an 18-month moratorium on road-building in
3/22/2004 Trout Unlimited Calls for Changes to Flow Proposal for Upper Delaware River Trout Unlimited Calls for Changes to Flow Proposal for Upper Delaware River Contact: Rocci Aguirre Catskills Coordinator Trout Unlimted (607) 498-4671 3/22/2004 — Hancock, NY — National conservation organization Trout Unlimited (TU) today announced it will seek changes to a proposal that
7/11/2006 TU applauds Schwarzenegger?s action to protect California?s roadless backcountry July 11, 2006 Contact: Sam Davidson, (831) 235-2542, sdavidson@tu.org Chuck Bonham, (510) 917-8572, cbonham@tu.org FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: TU applauds Schwarzeneggers action to protect Californias roadless backcountry Petition asks U.S. Department of Agriculture to permanently protect 4.4 million acres of land from new road building and
Contact:Chris Wood, President and CEO, (703) 284-9403, cwood@tu.org FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: TU awarded USFS-BLM Conservation Leadership Award Washington D.C. Trout Unlimited joined some elite company Wednesday night when it was awarded the prestigious U.S. Forest Service-Bureau of Land Management Conservation Leadership Award at an event in the nation’s capitol. According to the USFS and the
Contact: Nelli Williams, Deputy Director, Trout Unlimited, Alaska Program, at nwilliamstu@gmail.com or (907) 230-7121 For immediate release American Military Women to Enjoy Once-in-a-Lifetime Fishing Trip to Bristol Bay, Alaska Excursion Designed to Honor Their Service to the Nation ANCHORAGE, ALASKA Four U.S. military service members all women will spend time in Bristol Bay, Alaska, next
Sept. 2, 2014 Contact: Katie McKalip, 406-240-9262, kmckalip@trcp.org FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: On Eve of 50th Anniversary of Land and Water Conservation Fund, 19 Sportsmen’s Groups Call on Congress to Fully Fund LWCF LWCF, a key tool for conserving fish and wildlife resources and improving sportsmen’s access, is perenially shortchanged by Congress WASHINGTON The nations leading
ArmstrongCreek 003.JPG Brian Hodge (left) talks to volunteers at Armstrong Creek field work day. Media Contacts: Rick Henderson, USFS Fishery Biologist (970) 870-2219 Randy Scholfield, TU Director of Communications, Southwest Region (720) 375-3961 TUs Brian Hodge Honored with USFS Rise to the Future Award (STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo.) February 18, 2016 U.S. Forest Service (USFS) and
A rainbow paints the sky over the Green River on the Seedskadee National Wildlife Refuge in Sweetwater County, Wyoming. Photo by Tom Koerner/USFWS. By Tasha Sorensen EDITOR’S NOTE: Within 24 hours of this post Wyoming Senate President Eli Bebout told the Casper Star-Tribune he was killing the bill. This is a victory for sportsmen and
As I sit here in Idaho Falls watching two feet of snow melt into a slushy pond at the foot of my driveway, my buddy Kirk Deeter is likely stringing up a 5-weight with members of one of my favorite TU chapters in the country and preparing to chase some fat, tailwater trout. In Texas.
By Colin Lawson The New England Culvert Program had a very successful 2016 field season completing over 10 restoration projects across Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. Our team of three full-time and eight seasonal staff reconnected more than 17 miles of u pstream brook trout habitat, assessed over 1,800 road stream crossings for AOP and
Jason Dyer working on his casting while on a fishing trip in Canada. Agustina Boitano Davidson photo By Jason Dyer I grew up on the East Coast and fished a lot of small streams and deep hidden ponds in the White Mountains during my adolescent years. I did do a fair amount of surf casting,
