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Roadless is more
Quick, name your favorite Inventoried roadless area. Do any come to mind? If you’re like most public land users, roadless areas probably aren’t the first thing you think of when dreaming about your favorite hunting or fishing spot. But they should be—and you might have been enjoying roadless areas for years without even knowing it.…
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Good Sam – how we got here
Do you remember what you were doing in 2004? Here are a few memory-joggers: Facebook was launched. The last episode of the sitcom Friends was aired. President George W. Bush was reelected, narrowly defeating John Kerry. Trout Unlimited and the Forest Service launched a partnership to begin cleaning up abandoned mines in the western US.…
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Mining moratorium protects native fish – for now
Risks to the Boundary Waters from mineral extraction are unacceptable In 1969, prominent conservationist Sigurd Olson of Ely, Minn., wrote this about proposed mineral exploration in the Boundary Waters area: “The world needs metals and men need work, but they also must have wilderness and beauty, and in the years to come will need it…
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Time to modernize a relic of westward expansion
To clean up the West’s abandoned mines, we need funding and liability protections for Good Samaritans who want to do the work This month marks the 150-year anniversary of the 1872 Mining Law, a relic of westward expansion and Manifest Destiny. Under the law, which governs hardrock mining on public lands, the federal government gave…
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Trout and the infrastructure bill: A Rio Grande case study
For two decades Trout Unlimited has worked to protect and restore one of the most unique trout sub-species in North America — the Rio Grande cutthroat — by engaging numerous partners in protecting, reconnecting and restoring coldwater habitats in the Rio Grande basin. In this semi-arid landscape, it has always been a challenge to stretch the basin’s water to…
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Congress needs to act on public lands oil and gas reform
Last week the Department of the Interior released a long-awaited report on the Federal oil and gas leasing system (TU statement). The report details shortcomings of the antiquated oil and gas program and recommends policy options to better balance energy development with other uses on public lands, such as hunting and fishing. The Roan Plateau in western Colorado. Trout Unlimited has spent more than a decade advocating for responsible oil and…
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Red Rock Lakes shows off its fish and wildlife conservation values
Sometimes I wonder if it wouldn’t be easier if all public lands were just lumped together. I mean, who can keep straight national forests, wildlife refuges, national parks, national preserves, national monuments, national lakeshores, BLM lands—it can all be a bit much to keep track of! But then you experience a place like Red Rock…
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