TU has resources to help media with roadless area issues throughout the West

PRESS ADVISORY 

October 5, 2005

Contact:  Chris Hunt, 208-552-0891 (chunt@tu.org [1])

TU has resources to help media with roadless area issues throughout the West

As hunters and die-hard anglers head into the Western backcountry in pursuit of big game and big fish this fall, Trout Unlimited, the nation’s largest coldwater fisheries conservation group, is making available to the media its resources devoted to preserving inventoried roadless areas (IRAs) in the West.

IRAs in the western U.S. shelter the largest and healthiest big game herds and nurture the most vibrant populations of wild and native trout. Additionally, roadless areas provide needed shelter for big game that venture onto roaded public acreage and trout that migrate up and down streams in roaded areas. With the future of many of the West’s last-best places now in the hands of state governors, the issue of roadless area preservation has become a bit muddy. TU, with coordinators situated throughout the West and focused solely on roadless preservation for the value these lands provide to sportsmen, is an excellent resource for reporters and editors who are given the daunting task of providing readers, viewers and listeners with clear and factual reports regarding roadless preservation in their areas.

Please feel free to contact any or all of the TU coordinators below for help with stories and reports dealing with inventoried roadless areas in your region.

Idaho     
Scott Stouder
(208) 628-3990
sstouder@tu.org [2]

Wyoming/Montana
Tom Reed
(406) 586-2057
treed@tu.org [3]

Colorado
Dave Petersen
(970) 375-9010
dpetersen@tu.org [4]

Oregon/Washington
Mike Beagle
(541) 842-1455
mbeagle@tu.org [5]

Utah/Nevada/Arizona/California/New Mexico
Brian O’Donnell
(970)375-9022
bodonnell@tu.org [6]