Fly tying: Wood Duck Heron

As a utilitarian fly tier, if I can find a fly that’s both simple to tie and effective on the water, I’m in a pretty good place. I like flies that I can a dozen of at a single sitting and not feel like I’ve been hunched over the vise for hours. Video of Wood…

Conserving freshwater biodiversity in California

A native Chinook salmon from California’s Central Valley. Conservation of freshwater biodiversity faces major challenges. The fragmented nature of freshwater habitats often results in species populations being highly vulnerable to extirpation. Moreover, areas managed for resource conservation typically reflect jurisdictional or landscape boundaries that have little meaning for aquatic species. Now, a team of scientists…

Video spotlight: Stories from the Fountain

More than 200 years ago, the entire of state of Pennsylvania was forested. By the 1930s, the whole state had been completely logged. Today, Pennsylvania is a reforested trout wonderland—it has more miles of trout streams than any state other than Alaska. But, for native brook trout, all is not well. The state’s forest are…

Voices from the River: Common water

The author’s son getting a rowing lesson on Alaska’s Skilak Lake. Photo by Nelli Williams. By Nelli Williams Rivers bring people together. Some of my fondest friend-filled memories are on the river. Where we’ve laughed til our cheeks hurt—even years later— over the chaos in the boat when that first fish hit; or enjoyed a…

Campfire, chili and conservation

The a few attendees — human and canine — supporting Ballot Measure 1 in front of Beach Lake. All photos by Brian Ohlen By Eric Booton. A year is frequently simplified into seasons, and in Southcentral Alaska we have witnessed the unique collision of three different seasons. While winter has been slow to start, fall…

Voices from the River: Deadbeat dams

Photo by Eric Booton By Eric Booton In the summer of 2015, I spent a week with my family on the Olympic Peninsula. We hiked in Olympic National Park, fished for humpies in the salt, and took a field trip to check out the recently liberated Elwha River whose dam had been re moved and…

Video spotlight: Save Bristol Bay

Orvis has teamed up the TU’s Alaska Program to craft a very simple, very powerful short film about the need to protect Bristol Bay and its headwater rivers and streams from the potentially disastrous Pebble Mine. Video of ORVIS Presents: Save Bristol Bay No matter how you feel about mining, there ought to be one…