| Dear Friends of TU,
The conservationist Aldo Leopold once identified "the greatest challenge in human history as living on a piece of land without spoiling it." Leopold understood that conservation is not about land or water. And it's not about fish or fishing.
It is about people; people working together to protect and repair natural resources; people such as Sharon Lance. Sharon is a financial planner; an unbelievable angler; a lead-footed driver and this year's Ray Mortensen award winner.
The Mortensen award is given to a TU volunteer who has demonstrated a lifetime of commitment to coldwater conservation. Sharon is an extraordinarily effective mentor to new leaders and an inspiration to Trout Unlimited's staff. She is our go-to volunteer on backcountry protection, instream flow, abandoned mine restoration advocacy and other Colorado-related issues. The one time I fished with her, I found myself frequently sneaking out of earshot to avoid her frustrating shouts of "Whoa, yeah!"
Conservation is about people such as Luki Akelkok, the president of Ekwok, a native village in Alaska. Luki worked with Trout Unlimited to help train native Alaskans from the Bristol Bay region to fly fish and guide. It is difficult to imagine more effective advocates for protecting Bristol Bay from the world's largest proposed gold and copper mine than local kids who directly benefit from the natural bounty of the world's most prolific salmon fishery.
Conservation is about people like Tim Linehan, who has a great fall fishing tip in this newsletter. Linehan has worked behind-the-scenes with conservationists, loggers and local people in a decade-long campaign to protect backcountry areas in the fish and wildlife-rich Kootenai National Forest in Montana.
And, it is about you. Through your advocacy, membership, or other support for Trout Unlimited, you are helping to protect, reconnect, and restore the lands and waters that sustain us all.
Thanks, and stay in touch.
 
Chris Wood, President and CEO
cwood@tu.org | direct line: 703-284-9403
Conservation News
TU Trains Pa. Volunteers to Monitor Marcellus Shale Development
 Trout Unlimited (TU) and its Pennsylvania Council have initiated a new program to train volunteers to use stream surveillance activities that monitor the impacts of Marcellus Shale development on streams where gas drilling is occurring. Aimed at monitoring water quality throughout Pennsylvania's Marcellus Shale region, the program will train volunteers to conduct routine surveillance and monitoring of local waters by taking water samples, measuring stream flow, water temperatures and conducting visual assessments. The next training session will be on October 23 in Luzerene County, Pa. For more information, contact Dave Sewak, TU's Marcellus Shale field organizer.
TU Trains Alaskan Youth as Fly Fishing Guides
 The salmon-rich Nushagak River in southwest Alaska became a classroom to a group of Bristol Bay young people this summer who converged there to learn how to be fly fishing guides. TU helped sponsor the academy, located in the Alaska Native village of Ekwok. Check out the audio slideshow.
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LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
A huge victory occurred on July 30 with the passage of the Consolidated Land, Energy, and Aquatic Resources Act of 2010 (CLEAR Act) by the House of Representatives on a very close vote, 208-193. The bill would repeal the harmful the current, harmful stormwater exemption for oil and gas development from regulation under the Clean Water Act and would repeal ill-conceived categorical exclusions from the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) used to issue permits to the oil and gas industry. The bill also requires full and dedicated funding to the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF). The fund, viewed by hunters and anglers as an essential tool for conserving intact fish and wildlife habitat and increasing recreational access to public lands, has long been undercut by a lack of funds.
One of our biggest disappointments was the failure of the Senate to pass climate change legislation. TU and our conservation allies worked with senators John Kerry, Joe Lieberman and Lindsey Graham to craft a bill that could garner the necessary 60 votes. The effort failed and is unlikely to be revived this fall.
CALENDAR:
October 1: Annual Financial Reports Open
October 12: Principles of Successful River Restoration
Presenter: Peter Skidmore, Skidmore Restoration Consulting
October 20: Leaaders Training: Annual Financial Report and Tax Requirements
Presenters: Hillary Coley and Beverly Lane
October 27: Embrace-a-Stream (EAS) Online Training
Presenters: Beverly Lane and Rob Roberts, EAS staff support
November 9: Restoration Using Large Woody Material
Presenters: Rob Roberts, Middle Clark Fork Home Rivers Initiative and Jim MacCartney, River Restoration Specialist
November 15: Annual Financial Reports closed
November 17: Leaders Only Section Training
Presenters: Beverly Lane and Rob Keith
December 14: Small Dam Removal
Presenter: Jeff Reardon, New England Conservation Director
December 13: EAS proposal deadline
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