The problem is clear enough. Trout and salmon rely on cold, clean water, but we live in a rapidly warming world.
Many of the waters they call home are already in trouble. With pollution, roads, energy development, logging, water diversions, grazing, nonnative species, and dams taking their toll, one and a half million miles of trout and salmon water are in poor condition.
Now comes climate change, with its rising temperatures, prolonged droughts, extreme floods, and intensifying wildfires. Under these conditions, we are likely to see trout populations disappear over at least half their range—more in certain regions and among certain species. Many migrating salmon and steelhead populations will be pushed to the brink. Iconic trout and salmon rivers—the Upper Colorado, the Madison, the Manistee, the Appalachian brook trout waters, the Umpqua—will be forever changed.
This is not awaiting us in some distant day. Climate change is already altering our rivers and lakes in the places we love to fish, paddle, and float. A $778 billion outdoor recreation economy is at risk.
Trout Unlimited believes it is time for our leaders in Washington to address the root cause of climate change—carbon emissions. We support policies that use market mechanisms to substantially reduce emissions. But in the meantime, we can do something about the impacts of climate change today. In fact, we already are.
Fesenmyer’s Awesome Visualization Map (FAVM) – need link
Josh Duplechian videos that touch on climate. (Should they live here or in the sections below?) Gila: https://vimeo.com/240718705 | Lahontan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGYj-1b8kDE | Triple Creek: https://vimeo.com/288591735
Existing resources and great stories:
- Erin Block story from Fall 2016 Trout mag – have text from Jim Gray, can convert text to a web page.
- Jack Williams Fisheries article.
- Climate change fact sheet.
- NLC page
- TRCP climate page
News feed: Stories tagged Climate from the digital mag
Narrative pages (brief words/pics)