Opportunity for improvement lost; higher risk of extinction gained. On August 12, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries) -referred to here as “the Agencies” – jointly announced three final rules which modify regulations that implement portions of the Endangered Species Act … Read more
Busy summer for TU field tech in New York
By Caroline Shafer I grew up in a very small town in Upstate New York. At a young age I was introduced to hunting and fishing by my father and grandfather. As I grew up, I realized the importance of conserving our environment and wanted to learn more. I received my bachelor’s degree in Fisheries … Read more
Leave Tongass trees be
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the world body for assessing the state of scientific knowledge related to climate change, released a report last week that should be on everyone’s radar.
Acid mine waste and trout don’t mix
The North Star Mine in Silverton, Colo. Mining plays an important part to Colorado’s history. Many mountain towns were founded upon mining and some still rely on it as an economic driver. But it also left a legacy of damage and destruction to many headwater streams and rivers around the state. Trout Unlimited’s mine reclamation program balances maintaining the … Read more
New report notes pipeline-related pollution events
By Jake Lemon and David Kinney Over the past few years, developers and regulators have assured Virginians and West Virginians that sound construction practices and the effective use of erosion controls would limit impacts to the hundreds of streams in the path of proposed Marcellus Shale country pipelines. “Based on the avoidance and minimization measures … Read more
The dead Grande Ronde
Editor’s note: The TU Costa 5 Rivers Program sent a handful of college students to the Columbia River basin to study the challenges facing the drainage’s fisheries. At 4:30 a.m. we stumbled from our tents and into brisk chilly air. We zipped up our jackets, sipped hot coffee and ate warm oatmeal. After packing camp, … Read more
Passion on Sheep Creek
Editor’s note: The TU Costa 5 Rivers Program sent a handful of college students to the Columbia River basin to study the challenges facing the drainage’s fisheries. At 6 a.m. we started driving from La Grande, Oregon to the Grande Ronde River headwaters – Wallowa-Whitman National Forest. Within 20 minutes, the car’s temperature read 40 … Read more
Delivering science to Central Valley salmon and steelhead recovery
TUs California Science Director Dr. Rene Henery has been on a roll lately. Henery leads a small team of TU staff working on improving and restoring habitat, passage and flows for imperiled Central Valley salmon and steelhead. This effort has progressed in recent months toward a collaborative, adaptive-management approach to rebuilding wild runs of native … Read more
Columbia Basin Partnership offers new vision for salmon and steelhead
The Columbia Basin Partnership has been flying mostly under the radar, but it could be the forum with the greatest potential to make a great leap forward in recovering wild salmon and steelhead in the Columbia Basin. Why, you may ask? Because it is the one place where all of the major stakeholders in the … Read more
Leave it to the beavers
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. With misty morning breaths, the Odyssey crew circled up at the entrance of Black Pine Lake in the mountains of Winthrop, Wash. Already dressed in our … Read more