By Jake Lemon Scientists and anglers throughout the country rely on USGS gaging stations for real-time streamflow and water quality data. Often these stations are located near the mouth of larger rivers forcing data users to extrapolate to understand what is happing in smaller coldwater trout streams. Now, rapidly emerging technologies in open-source electronics are allowing volunteer groups to collect valuable real-time…
Earlier this week, Utah’s Division of Wildlife Resources, along with volunteers from Trout Unlimited, delivered rainbow trout eggs to 33 Utah schools taking part in the Trout in the Classroom program. The eggs are placed in specially designed tanks where students can watch them transform into baby fish. Brett Prettyman, intermountain communications director for Trout…
Thanks to the leadership of elected officials in Oregon who understand the importance of wild places, and the value salmon and steelhead bring to our outdoor economy, there’s a decent chance that Oregon could end up with some new public lands protections in the next few days. As we posted last week, the halls of…
They are not exactly ready for food, but they are certainly more curious and adventurous on this rainy day
It’s been over a month since we released our Think Tank brook trout into the Cross River, and we are finding that they have new neighbors moving in: beavers! Evidence of the beavers can be seen all along the stream—from dams to lodges, chewed down trees to flooded plains. Beavers have long been known to be ecosystem engineers and drastically change the stream in many ways. The fur trade and the trapping…
NOAA habitat restoration investments are boosting salmon numbers and creating jobs in coastal communities
“Because native trout have adapted over centuries and millennia in specific environments, they are, in many cases, more likely to survive the extremes of those places. Having passed through the crucible of a specific system’s cycles of drought, flood, and wildfire a native trout species may be more hardy than non-native fish.”
We set out to go on the trip of a lifetime and through TU, Hettinger Outfitting, and all those that help preserve the beautiful wilderness of the Bridger-Teton we definitely succeeded. But the boys aren’t calling this one our last…we’re making trips like these a tradition.
Region: Northern RockiesActivities: rafting; fishing, hiking campingSpecies: Rainbow and brown trout Where: The Smith River flows some 120 miles in a northwesterly direction through west-central Montana, emptying into the Missouri southwest of Great Falls. Much of the river borders private lands, but a 60-mile section that flows through Smith River State Park (beginning near White…
“I think we have a responsibility to wild fish and to wild rivers,” Link said. “In the 1800’s, the Snake River produced runs of two million fish – over half of the spring/summer Chinook salmon and summer steelhead came from this one basin. Even today, if you look at the entire Columbia River Basin, the Snake River has by far the greatest potential for recovering wild salmon and steelhead in the entire watershed.”
Colorado River cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii pleuriticus) Species status and summary: The Colorado River cutthroat trout (CRCT) historically occupied most cool water habitats of the Colorado River watersheds in Colorado, southern Wyoming, eastern Utah, extreme northwestern New Mexico and northeastern Arizona. Currently, however, Colorado River cutthroat trout occupy approximately 16 percent of their historic range, primarily…
Editor’s note: TU sent a handful of college students to the Pacific Northwest for this year’s TU Costa 5 Rivers Odyssey to study and fish in the Columbia River basin. Oregon’s Deschutes river has long been known as one of the West’s most legendary watersheds. Known for its prolific hatches and dry fly fishing, specifically…
This week, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission released a Draft EIS affecting four hydroelectric dams on Maine’s Kennebec River. The FERC recommendations amount to incremental improvements over what is now a dire situation for Atlantic salmon in the Kennebec. We have tried the incremental approach before on rivers like the Connecticut, Merrimack, Saco, and Androscoggin.…
After decades of leadership by the tribes and strong support from conservation and fishing groups, dam removal on the Klamath is moving forward
July 13, 2011FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEContact: Steve Moyer, Vice President of Government Affairs, (703) 284-9406, smoyer@tu.org U.S. House of Rep. Interior and Environment Appropriations Bill Cuts Conservation Funding and Blocks Natural Resources Initiatives Bill attacks Clean Water Act, public land management, watershed restoration, and conservation funding. Arlington, Va. Trout Unlimited (TU) strongly opposes the appropriations bill…
It’s been a year since the America the Beautiful Initiative launched, which set the ambitious goal of preserving 30% of our land and waters by 2030. Trout Unlimited supported this goal and even pushed it a step further. Here at TU, we’ve been saying “30 by 30 plus 20” because the Global Deal for Nature…
By Jessica Bryzek I recently started working with Trout Unlimited as the West Virginia Volunteer Water Quality and Stream Restoration Coordinator. Out of all the places I have worked, I have never felt so spoiled as I do here in Thomas, West Virginia. Surrounded by miles of primitive trails, wild mountain streams, and blue forests,…
Located in Northern New Mexico’s Sangre de Cristo Mountains in the Upper Rio Grande River Basin, Valle Vidal lies within the Carson National Forest. Meandering its way through Valle Vidal, Comanche Creek is one of the last refuges for Rio Grande cutthroat trout in the state of New Mexico. TU’s extensive Commanche Creek project addresses…
As the Tongass National Forest moves away from clear cut logging old-growth forests and instead investing in restoration, recreation, and resiliency, a new workforce is needed. There have been several creative efforts to build workforce capacity, including a restoration workshop that trained Native Alaskan communities in hand tool restoration techniques. Trout Unlimited in pleased to…
By Rob Shane When TU partnered with the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission in 2011 to start surveying and protecting wild trout streams in the Commonwealth, we knew the mountain ahead of us would take years to climb. Pennsylvania has 86,000 miles of flowing water, and less than a quarter of those stream miles had…
