Search results for “clark fork river”

Conservation Towns – Celebrating Rural America

philipsburg, mt conservation town winner 2026

Conservation Towns Celebrating Rural America What are Conservation Towns? In America’s “Conservation Towns,” rural communities that survived the past century’s boom-and-bust cycles are building new blueprints for economic success by tapping into their most important assets: the rivers and streams, public lands and wild landscapes that have always sustained them.   At Trout Unlimited, we are putting a spotlight on these communities at the heart of the work…

Trout Unlimited names inaugural “Conservation Towns” list

Published in Conservation Towns, Conservation
philipsburg, mt conservation town winner 2026

Five rural communities from across the country are staking their futures on conservation In America’s “Conservation Towns,” rural communities that survived the past century’s boom-and-bust cycles are building new blueprints for economic success by tapping into their most important assets: the rivers and streams, public lands and wild landscapes that have always sustained them. At Trout…

Trout Unlimited Names Inaugural List of “Conservation Towns” 

Five rural communities across the country are staking their futures on conservation  Contact:  Resources:  Link: Conservation Towns Landing Page  Link: Philipsburg Photo Album  Link: Conservation Towns Film Link  Arlington, VA – Trout Unlimited (TU) is recognizing five rural communities around the country as “Conservation Towns”—communities that are successfully incorporating their unique cultures and landscapes, their rivers and streams, and their hunting, fishing and outdoor recreation opportunities into long-term blueprints for economic success. These communities provide unique examples of innovation, civic engagement, and collaboration that provide a model for rural communities navigating change across America.   “America has hundreds of ‘resource dependent’ towns…

WaterSMART: The smartest water program you’ve never heard about 

Published in Conservation
WaterSMART fishing on the green river

The WaterSMART program provides funding to irrigation infrastructure projects and other water-delivery, water conservation or watershed health projects that proactively mitigate conflicts over water scarcity, help ranchers and farmers and make our public lands and waters better able to withstand the impacts of extreme weather events and natural disasters.

The Clark Fork Crayfish

Published in Fly tying, From the President

With summer’s unusually high temperatures impacting trout water across the West, consider chasing smallmouth and largemouth bass that are much more suited to warming waters than trout. Both predatory fish love to eat crayfish, and here’s a great pattern that will move big bass from cover. Check it out.

Voices from the River: Five questions for Tess

Published in Voices from the river

If you’ve spent much time fishing in Montana, you’re probably familiar with Rock Creek just outside of Missoula. While it’s importance to fly anglers has been long known, it’s key role in trout recruitment for the Clark Fork River is starting to come to light. With that in mind, Trout Unlimited brought in Tess Scanlon,…

Five years of healthier fish and forests in Idaho’s Panhandle 

Published in Conservation
little north fork wide shot of creek

In Northern Idaho, TU and the Forest Service are working together to restore native trout habitat, support local jobs, and improve wildfire resiliency  In North Idaho, TU’s Panhandle Chapter has been active for several decades, but Trout Unlimited didn’t have full time staff in the region until Erin Plue was hired as a project manager late in 2020. Plue led TU’s partnership with the Idaho Panhandle National Forest (IPNF) until…

Ninemile Valley Abandoned Mine Restoration

Perhaps no place in Montana illustrates a more striking juxtaposition between an iconic fishery nestled within an over-exploited landscape than the Clark Fork watershed. The Clark Fork is one of the state’s most popular angling destinations; by the time it flows out of Montana, it has become the state’s largest river. Native westslope cutthroat and…

Sponsor a native trout in the Race up Rock Creek

Published in Uncategorized

Every spring, fluvial cutthroat congregate in healthy tributaries of the Clark Fork River to begin their long journey up the stream to spawn – with some fish known to swim more than 100 miles in several weeks. The lengthening daylight, rising water levels and warming water temperatures trigger the upstream cutthroat migration for spawning. Before…

Restore the core

Published in Uncategorized

It looks like an out-of-place slip-and-slide placed into a meadow alongside a tributary of Rock Creek. It is, in fact, a fish screen. Like so many western trout streams, Rock Creek and its tributaries are important sources of irrigation for farmers and ranchers.  In the past, many irrigators would dam a creek, and divert its…

30 Great Places: Ninemile Valley

Published in Uncategorized

Region: Northern RockiesActivities: Hiking, Sightseeing, FishingSpecies: Rainbow, brook and cutthroat trout Where: Ninemile Valley is 20 miles west of Missoula, in west central Montana. The valley bottom consists mostly of private property; the upper lands are part of the Lolo National Forest. Ninemile Creek is a major tributary of the Clark Fork, Montana’s largest river.…