Currently browsing… California
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Love in the time of climate change
For one angler, a wounded California is better than no California at all It was a classic Yuba day with Joe and the Butler brothers—a 105-degree scorcher with the river inviting swimming as much as fishing. As typical as it seemed, the river was in many ways new to me. It had been two years…
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Public lands package passes House
Today, the House of Representatives passed the Protecting America’s Wilderness Act (H.R. 803). Trout Unlimited strongly supports this legislation, as it will better conserve and restore public lands, watersheds and coldwater fisheries in four Western states and support the country’s commitment to countering the impacts of climate change by protecting at least 30 percent of…
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Unwrapping genetic gifts that tell meaningful stories of trout
Lately I’ve been ruminating about why I love genetics, a wonky field of numbers and theory where a true understanding of results only happens long after the field season — in an office, on a computer at that. Every time I get new genetic results it’s like receiving a surprise gift. So many processes — all this history we can’t see — shape the genes of all organisms, including fish. The genetic patterns we uncover, then, tell us real and important things about the conservation needs of these fish. …
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These hips don’t lie
Crawling around small creeks was an exercise in bad yoga, as I dragged myself to standing by grabbing branches and logs. When I finally had the hip examined, I was told what I already knew
Two summers ago, I agreed to join a backpacking trek with some friends I hadn’t seen since college. Our mission -- honoring the life of a mutual friend who’d passed away -- took us deep into the Sierra Nevada range, a 54-mile journey filled with golden trout and jaw-dropping views of ice-etched peaks and verdant hanging valleys. As…
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The tonic of wildness
If you are active in the outdoors, it’s hard to beat living in the American West. That’s because all states west of the Great Plains have big swaths of public lands available for fishing and hunting. Except when big swaths of extraordinary wildfire shut them down. Right smack in the middle of Public Lands Month.…
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TU’s Conservation Hydrology program steps in to monitor and measure California streams
One of the fundamental precepts of science is that, to understand a phenomenon or a system, it is necessary to observe change over time, the rate of change, and the influence of causal factors. In other words, to monitor and measure. Yet frequently resource managers are stretched too thin to do consistent monitoring of salmonid…
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Russian River coho and steelhead conservation update
The Russian River watershed, north of San Francisco, is the focus of an intensive, multi-year effort to recover coho salmon – now one of the rarest native fish species in California. TU is playing a lead role in this effort through the Russian River Coho Water Resources Partnership. The focus of the Partnership is boosting…