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Dear Friends of TU,
I just returned from an elk hunt with my friends Scott and Holly Stouder in the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness in central Idaho—a place with some of the finest salmon habitat on the planet, yet where few salmon return. I first discovered wilderness when I was 25 years old. Back then, two passions occupied me: a bright-eyed girl from New Jersey, and a fish that swam 900 miles from the ocean to spawn once before it died in a lake in central Idaho.
The bright-eyed girl is gone from my life, but the passion for Pacific salmon and steelhead and wilderness remains. Wallace Stegner wrote wilderness is the “challenge against which our character as a people was formed.” Yet, our relationship with wilderness remains unsettled. The very idea of setting limits to development—to “progress”—runs against our national sensibilities. Similarly, our willingness to do what it takes to recover Pacific salmon and steelhead remains in question. Witness the Obama administration’s serving up warmed leftovers in their Pacific salmon “recovery” plan.
But there’s good news, too. Senator Jon Tester (D-MT) is the first Montana politician in more than 30 years to sponsor a bill proposing significant new wilderness. Why? In part, because some groups, including Montana TU and the timber industry, decided to try to do something that was good for the land and good for local communities. In Idaho, Tester’s Republican Senate colleague, Mike Crapo, announced that recovering imperiled stocks of Snake River salmon and steelhead required looking at all options, including breaching the four lower Snake River dams.
In a very real sense, wilderness and Pacific salmon recovery embody what it means to be American—the optimism, the heritage, the stick-to-itiveness, and the hope for the future that define our nation. Wilderness doesn’t just happen. Nor will the political will suddenly emerge to recover Pacific salmon and steelhead. It takes bold political leaders. It takes people who are willing to get involved—to write a letter or visit a member of Congress, or give up a weekend to teach a kid to fish or repair a stream. This is the power of TU. For us, conservation isn’t the telling of what’s been lost. It’s the faith in, and work toward, what has yet to be won. Thanks for all you do for wilderness, for salmon, and for conservation.
 
Chris Wood, Trout Unlimited, Chief Operating Officer
cwood@tu.org | direct line: 703-284-9403
Conservation Highlight—Protect, Reconnect, Restore, Sustain
RECONNECT: TU Secures Water for Parched Jefferson
In recent years, the Jefferson River has had more drought-related "closed to angling" days than any other Montana river--and the low flows have hammered populations of brown trout, which tend to spawn in mainstem rivers rather than tributaries. But water is on the way: Trout Unlimited earlier this year helped win approval of a $13 million upgrade of Ruby Dam upstream. The resulting reservoir expansion will make more water available for late summer releases into the Jefferson--nearly doubling the flows in dry years, according to Laura Ziemer of the Montana Water Project. »read more
PROTECT: October is Wild Salmon Month in Washington, D.C.
During the week of October 19, TU will host a number of Alaskans who are coming to Washington to meet with members of Congress to talk about the proposed open-pit gold and copper mine slated to be built in Alaska’s Bristol Bay. D.C. restaurants are serving wild Alaskan salmon and a number of events are being held to raise awareness about Bristol Bay. For more information visit http://www.savebristolbay.org
Get Involved
LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
Climate change legislation has been TU's hottest legislative priority in recent months. This past summer, the House of Representatives took historic action on an energy and climate change bill, and the Senate is taking up the issue this fall. The American Clean Energy and Security Act (H.R. 2454) passed the House on June 26 . The bill accomplishes TU’s two main goals for climate legislation: reducing greenhouse gas emissions and helping natural resources adapt to a changing climate. H.R. 2454 will reduce emissions to 17% below 2005 levels by 2020 and then to 83% below 2005 levels by 2050. The bill also directs federal agencies to consider, plan for, and address the impacts of climate change on natural resources and provides funding, through the auction of emissions permits, to the agencies and to state governments to protect and conserve fish and wildlife and their habitat. »Read More
UPCOMING TU EVENTS
October 21
Embrace-A-Stream Training
Email blane@tu.org to register
October 19-22
Bristol Bay Wild Salmon Week, Washington DC
http://www.savebristolbay.org
November 10
Training - Native Fish Reintroduction
Email blane@tu.org to register
November 12
Embrace-a-Stream Training
Email blane@tu.org to register
November 15
Deadline for Annual Financial Reporting Submission for Chapters
Email blane@tu.org to register
December 14
Embrace-A-Stream Grants Due
http://www.tu.org/eas
September 15-19, 2010
TU Annual Meeting in Waterville Valley, New Hampshire
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Want to suggest an event for our next newsletter? email blane@tu.org
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