News Archives - Page 3 of 6 - Zane Grey Trout Unlimited

October 2, 2020October 2, 2020

Restoring Christopher Creek

The Arizona Council of Trout Unlimited received a grant of $2,500 through the Trout Unlimited national Embrace A Stream grant program #embraceastream. Volunteers from the council and chapter will use the funds to restore portions of Christopher Creek in Gila County near the R-C Scout Ranch, about 20-miles east of Payson. The project includes improving cold-water stream flows by habitat enhancements and restoration of native Gila Trout. To accomplish these goals AZTU and its chapters will build rock and log barbs, improve a leaking spring-box diversion allowing cold water flows back into Christopher Creek. Additional improvements include: increased public access to Christopher Creek; reestablishing a youth fishing pond by draining, dredging, removing cattails, adding spawning beds, and refilling the pond adding native roundtail chub and longfin dace.

“We’re thrilled to be able to do more great work restoring and improving Christopher Creek and the R-C Scout Ranch pond thanks to this Embrace A Stream grant,” said Steve Reiter, Arizona Council Chair. “With this grant, we will engage more than 100 volunteers from our local community to work on a creek we all know and love as residents and anglers.”

Embrace A Stream is a matching grant program administered by Trout Unlimited #embraceastream that awards funds to local chapters and councils for coldwater fisheries conservation. Since its inception in 1975, the grant program has funded more than 1,100 individual projects for a total of $4.75 million in direct cash grants. Local chapters and councils contributed an additional $14 million in cash and in-kind services to EAS funded projects, for a total investment of more than $19 million.

This year, 17 chapters and councils were awarded grants for projects restoring stream habitat, improving fish passage, and protecting water quality in 18 different states from coast to coast. The grant program is funded almost entirely by individual donations from Trout Unlimited members and conservation-minded individuals who know that local restoration projects, led by local volunteers, can make a big difference in improving the health and habitat in our nation’s rivers and streams.

“We’re thrilled to support the Arizona Council in its efforts to improve such an important local trout stream,” said Russ Meyer, chair of the Embrace A Stream grants committee, a group of Trout Unlimited volunteer leaders from across the country. “This year’s grant applications were extremely competitive, but the proposal for Christopher Creek stood out in our committee.”

About Trout Unlimited

Trout Unlimited is the nation’s largest coldwater conservation organization, with more than 300,000 members and supporters dedicated to conserving, protecting, and restoring North America’s trout and salmon fisheries and their watersheds. Visit us online at www.tu.org.

About the Arizona Council of Trout Unlimited

The Arizona Council of Trout Unlimited serves more than 3500 members and supporters in the state of Arizona through its four chapters. The chapters: Grand Canyon in Flagstaff, Gila Trout in Payson, Zane Grey in Phoenix valley, and Old Pueblo in Tucson, work with partners throughout the state to:

restore local streams and rivers,
engage over 250 area youth in outdoor education programs,
co-host with Arizona Game and Fish Department, an annual Native and Wild Trout Conference; and,
are active in 37-schools with TU’s Trout in the Classroom program, reaching over 4,000 students and the program connects with an additional 10,000 people through visits by parents, relatives, school administrators and classroom guests.

Click HERE for the full story by Juliet Eilperin at MyLocalNews.US.

September 26, 2020September 26, 2020

Alaska mining executive resigns a day after being caught on tape boasting of his ties to GOP politicians

Mining executive Tom Collier, who boasted in secretly taped conversations that he had leveraged his ties to Republican officials to advance a controversial project in Alaska, resigned Wednesday.

Collier, CEO of the Pebble Limited Partnership, offered his resignation a day after the group Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) released recordings of Zoom calls in which he talked of currying favor with the White House and Alaska lawmakers to win federal approval for a massive gold and copper mine.

Collier and Ronald Thiessen, CEO of the Canadian parent company, Northern Dynasty Minerals, were recorded separately suggesting that GOP politicians would not block Pebble Mine even though some had raised concerns about its environmental impact.

Collier, who served as chief of staff to then-Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt under President Bill Clinton, stood to receive $12.4 million in bonuses if the federal government approved a key permit for the mine and it could be upheld in court. Speaking to EIA investigators, who were posing as possible investors in the project, he touted his effort to funnel money to Republican politicians in Alaska and defeat those who sided with Democrats against the mine.

“I’ve supported all the Republican candidates in the state,” said Collier, who is registered as an independent. “I meet with the two senators, the congressman, the governor on a regular basis and they welcome me as someone they know supports the Republican Party.”

“Now, having said that, it’s entirely possible that we may have [former vice president Joe] Biden as a president, and if we do, I’m gonna brush off my Democratic credentials and start using them a little more actively than I do,” he added.

After the tapes became public Tuesday, several politicians mentioned by Collier and Thiessen in the recordings sought to distance themselves from the men. A spokesman for Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy (R) said, “The individuals in those videos embellished their relationships with state and federal officials at all levels.” Officials at the Army Corps of Engineers and the Environmental Protection Agency also said the comments in the tapes did not accurately reflect their agencies’ interactions with Collier and Thiessen.

In the statement, Northern Dynasty Minerals said Collier “has submitted his resignation in light of comments made about elected and regulatory officials in Alaska in private conversations covertly videotaped by an environmental activist group.”

A wide range of critics — including Alaska Natives, environmentalists and many anglers, such as the president’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr.; the vice president’s former chief of staff, Nick Ayers; and Fox News host Tucker Carlson — have opposed the proposed mine out of concern that waste from the operation could pollute Bristol Bay. The waters, in southwest Alaska, are home to the world’s largest sockeye salmon fishery.

Within a matter of weeks, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers could grant a permit for the mine. While the agency found in late July that the project would have “no measurable effect” on the area’s fish populations, it informed Pebble Limited Partnership last month that it had to do more to show how it would offset the more than 100 miles of streams and 2,300 acres of wetlands it would permanently destroy.

Thiessen, who was caught on tape disparaging GOP Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan of Alaska, offered an apology Wednesday but did not step down from his post.

“The unethical manner in which these tapes were acquired does not excuse the comments that were made, or the crass way they were expressed,” Thiessen said. “On behalf of the company and our employees, I offer my unreserved apology to all those who were hurt or offended, and all Alaskans.”

Chris Wood, president of the conservation group Trout Unlimited, said in a phone interview that Collier’s resignation marked a blow for a project that does not deserve federal approval.

“Tom Collier is a fall guy for a project that is fundamentally flawed and has essentially been a flimflam operation from the very beginning,” Wood said. “From the beginning, it has been an exercise in obfuscation. They took more than a dozen years to get an application together, and then they lied about the scope and scale of the potential project — either to Congress or to investors. But no matter how you slice it, they lied.”

In the taped conversations, Thiessen and Collier suggested that while they were seeking a permit for a 20-year operation, it might expand and last for as long as 180 years. In Wednesday’s statement, Thiessen left open the possibility that they could apply for additional permits to extend the scope and duration of the mining operation.

“What we have said consistently, and is reinforced in the ‘Pebble tapes’ released this week, is the operator of the Pebble mine may decide at some point in the future to propose additional phases of development, but there exists no formal plan to do so today,” he said.

Pebble Limited Partnership has named former chief executive John Shively as interim CEO.

Click HERE for the full story by Juliet Eilperin in The Washington Post.

August 24, 2020August 24, 2020

Proposed Pebble Mine project cannot be permitted in Bristol Bay

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers finds controversial project will likely result in significant degradation and significant adverse effects to waters, fish.

ANCHORAGE, AK – Today, in a move welcomed by thousands of American workers, Alaskan communities, and the most prolific wild salmon fishery in the world, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) said it found the proposed Pebble mine would likely cause significant degradation and significant adverse effects to the waters and fisheries of Bristol Bay, and cannot receive a permit under the Clean Water Act as proposed, creating a significant barrier to the project moving forward.

“This is a great demonstration of democracy in action and a victory for common sense. The finding demonstrates that the voices of millions of Americans still matter and reflects the overwhelming weight of scientific evidence that’s been brought to bear,” said Chris Wood, president and CEO of Trout Unlimited. “The more public scrutiny this mine faces, the more science that’s brought to bear in its review, the more it stinks. The resources that sustain this bucket-list destination for sport anglers, local communities and commercial fishing families are worth protecting. Thank you to the legions of supporters that helped us get here.”

Because of the proposed mine’s massive risks, for more than fifteen years Trout Unlimited has worked with communities, anglers, hunters, Tribes, businesses and local and national partners to galvanize opposition to this project. Hundreds of thousands of anglers, and hundreds of outdoor businesses have made their voice heard time and time again, most recently appealing to the Trump Administration directly.

“This is a good day for Bristol Bay,” said Nelli Williams, Alaska director of Trout Unlimited. “No corner should be cut when considering a giant mine in the heart of a place this cherished and important. The Pebble Partnership put forward a half-baked plan with a litany of problems. Pebble had its opportunity to go through the process, but the project fails to meet the standards required. Kudos to all the decision makers involved for calling Pebble out on that.

Over the two-year permit review process, many organizations, federal and state agencies, independent scientists, and countless individuals raised potentially fatal concerns about this project. Among them are the project’s destruction of streams and wetlands, its untested and incomplete water management and mitigation plans, unreliable tailings dam design, seismic activity near the deposit, and its huge economic costs. Those concerned about the proposed Pebble mine also cite threats to existing businesses, communities, and cultures that rely on the intact fishery, among various other issues.

“Today’s actions reflect just how bad this mine proposal is and how incompatible it is with the Bristol Bay region,” said Brian Kraft, owner of Alaska Sportsman’s Lodge, president of Katmai Service Providers and TU business member. “Some places simply are not compatible with large industrial, open-pit mine operations, and the Bristol Bay region’s spawning grounds certainly are one of those locations. This is a good day for the people of Bristol Bay that have loudly said for 16 years now that this is the wrong place for this mine. It’s a good day for Americans who care about clean water, healthy fisheries, and existing jobs that rely on those fisheries.”

The final Environmental Impact Statement documented nearly 200 miles of impacted streams, and 4,500 acres of impacted waters and wetlands (See FEIS at 4.22-15, Table 4.22-1.). The Army Corps said the function of the tailings facility was “uncertain,” and the Corps’ EIS contractor described it as “very similar” to the facility that failed catastrophically at the Mount Polley mine in 2014.

“This is a moment to celebrate,” said Williams. “The opposition to this project runs strong and deep, the science is clear, and there is no way this ill-conceived project can coexist with Bristol Bay salmon. The message is clear from sportsmen and women across the country to the Pebble Partnership: It’s time to pack up and go home. You’re not welcome in Bristol Bay.”

July 28, 2020July 28, 2020

Critical document release confirms the damage Pebble will bring to Bristol Bay

On Thursday, July 23, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released a critical document in the permit application review process for the proposed Pebble mine: the final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS). The FEIS shows more than 191 miles of streams and 4,614 acres of wetlands would be impacted if phase one of the proposed Pebble mine advances, with 185 miles and 3,841 acres permanently impacted.

The FEIS is one of the final critical documents in the permitting process for what could be the largest open-pit mine in North American in the headwaters of the largest sockeye salmon fishery on the planet.

Take action today. The White House needs to be reminded that anglers depend on Bristol Bay. Please send a follow up request for the president to deny Pebble’s permit through the Army Corps of Engineers now.

The FEIS will be the basis for the Army Corps of Engineers’ record of decision, which will grant or deny Pebble their most important federal permit. The Corps must wait at least 30 days after the release of the FEIS to issue their record of decision.

“The proponents of this proposed mine remain unable to prove they can move forward safely, without jeopardizing my industry and others. They’ve had their chance to go through the process. Now enough is enough,” said Brian Kraft, president of Katmai Service Providers, which represents dozens of sportfishing and tourism businesses in Bristol Bay. “If this administration wants to uphold rural American jobs, then the only option is to deny this permit.”

In January 2019, the Army Corps of Engineers issued a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS), which was followed by a national public comment period. Over 685,000 Americans -including thousands of TU members- formally opposed the mine and noted significant inadequacies and gaping holes in the review of the Pebble project proposal.
Other federal agencies – including the Department of Interior, the EPA and the State of Alaska – identified these issues and raised significant concern in their comments, including as recently as few months ago during review of the preliminary final EIS, which remain unanswered today.

Following the agency comments, Alaska Senators Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan publicly stated that if the Army Corps fails to address the concerns that agencies noted with the DEIS, a permit should not be issued.

The release of the FEIS is a critical component of the rushed and fast-tracked two year permit review process for the proposed Pebble mine that the Army Corps of Engineers began in December 2017. Need an overview of how the process has carried out since then?

In May, over 250 fishing, hunting, and outdoor recreation businesses and organizations, and 31,000 sportsmen and women signed a letter calling on the president to deny Pebble the permit. The President, through the Army Corps of Engineers, still has the power to choose a powerhouse American fishery, 15,000 American jobs and a sporting paradise over a foreign mining company with a risky and incomplete plan.

Take action today. The release of the FEIS launches the last window of time for the President to intervene before a key permit for the mine could be issued. Sign our request to the President – yes, again – asking him to stop the proposed Pebble mine now.

Click HERE for the full article at tu.org.

June 29, 2020June 29, 2020

Why The Great American Outdoors Act is Such a Big Deal

A view of Mount Hood National Forest in Oregon. USDA Forest Service photo by Cecilio Ricardo

The Senate just passed the largest public lands funding legislation since the days of Teddy Roosevelt. Here’s what it means for hunters and anglers.

On June 17th, the U.S. Senate passed the Great American Outdoors Act with a vote of 73 yays and 25 nays. This news made headlines across an America that was reeling from protests, amid the profound uncertainty of a pandemic, at a time of polarized politics at a scale and fury not seen since the Civil War. As Senator Martin Heinrich of New Mexico said, “I’ve done conservation work for 25 years, and most of it has been relatively incremental. This is the first time I’ve worked on something that is truly on a scale that Teddy Roosevelt himself would be proud of.”

Holy smokes. What is it?

Senate Bill 3422, or the Great American Outdoors Act accomplishes what hunters, anglers, and other conservationists (along with just about everybody from historical preservation groups, healthy-living advocates, veteran’s groups, watershed and floodplain managers, small business advocates, and so on) have been trying to do for decades now: permanently authorize the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) and fund it for the full $900 million per year as was intended when Congress created the program in 1965. The bill also allocates $1.3 billion over the next five years to address the shameful neglect of maintenance and other needed work on our National Park system, but more about that a little later.

What is the Land and Water Conservation Fund and what does it mean to Americans?

As I wrote here, in 2018, when it seemed as if Congress was actually going to let the Fund die:

The Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) was signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson in 1965. The Senate at the time had passed the bill by an astounding 92-1 vote. LWCF was created from a small portion of the royalties produced by oil and gas production on the Outer Continental Shelf. It costs taxpayers absolutely nothing. LWCF was allocated for $900 million per year (from total royalties that vary between $5 and $7 billion annually). The idea was to take a small portion of the revenues from a non-renewable resource owned by the American people, and use that money to help build a nation where all the citizens, rich and poor, would have access to the very best of what our country offers.

It would be impossible to overestimate the impact of this simple legislation on our society. The LWCF has, over its 52-year history, contributed more than $16 billion to conservation and recreation projects in 98 percent of all counties in the United States and in all 50 states. The LWCF is America’s most important conservation and recreation funding source, bar none. The fund is used to conserve huge landscapes that soak up floodwaters, recharge aquifers, and provide clean drinking water to millions of Americans. It pays for tennis courts, ballfields, playgrounds, and swimming pools in underserved communities just as it was intended; part of the original goal was to make sure that Americans, whether rich or poor, would be stronger, healthier, fitter, and have access to outdoor spaces and outdoor sports that built body and mind. It has been a crucial tool for maintaining working lands, from timber to ranching, and for the support of wildlife refuges that provide habitat for an estimated one-third of our most threatened plants, wildlife, birds, and fish. Economists estimate that for every dollar invested from the LWCF, communities see a return of $4, which is why the fund is considered the linchpin of what is now an $887 billion annual recreational economy in the U.S., a powerhouse that accounts for 7.6 million jobs and is the only such economic engine that is based almost entirely on having and keeping the kind of healthy and sustainable natural environment—clean water and air, public lands, open space, plenty of wildlife, and strong fisheries—that has made the U.S. the envy of the world.

Because of the relentless advocacy of American citizens from all walks of life and every political persuasion, LWCF not only did not die, it rose from obscurity to become a symbol of political success. Support for LWCF, or lack thereof, has become a reliable measure of who in Congress supports our proud traditions of a bipartisan and pragmatic approach to conserving lands, waters, public hunting and fishing, and rural economies.
The Great American Outdoors Act addresses a problem with LWCF that has plagued the fund since its inception: sly politicians from both parties—who understood that Americans were mostly too busy to notice that needed conservation or watershed protection work was not occurring—began to rob or divert money from the Fund.

The original goal of distributing $900 million to the states for conservation and recreation has been met only twice in the 52-year history of the Fund. Some $22 billion earmarked for the LWCF, money belonging to the American people, meant to be used for American communities and public lands, have been diverted to other uses. No one can say what successes those diverted funds could have created, what expensive disasters of flood, drought, or pollution could have been avoided, or what impoverished child could have learned to hunt and fish on public lands and in public waters. That money—our money—is gone.

We cannot go back and get it. But the Great American Outdoors Act can prevent this from happening again. It establishes the $900 million per year in the LWCF, makes sure it is off limits to those who would steal or divert it, and makes sure it hits the ground in your state where it will deliver the most bang for the buck.

As Steve Kline of the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership (TRCP) puts it, “That money was being paid into the LWCF trust fund for conservation all those years, and Congress spent it on other stuff. The Great American Outdoors Act puts a halt to that, by ensuring that those dollars are being used for their legislated purpose.”

What about funding for the huge backlog of maintenance in our National Parks and other public lands?

The Great American Outdoors Act includes another $1.9 billion per year for the next five years, to start to address that backlog (estimated at around $12-$18 billion). This allows for the repair and maintenance of roads, housing, toilets, trails, and walkways—infrastructure that has never been more important than in these times of record visitation of our National Parks by people from all over the world.

This $1.9 billion per year will also come from oil and gas royalties, and not from the LWCF. It will be called the National Parks and Public Lands Legacy Restoration Fund (as described here in this excellent one-page summary from Sen. Cory Gardner)

Kline says that the TRCP, which has been working on LWCF and related conservation funding issues for almost two decades, wants to make sure that some of that annual money for deferred maintenance goes to public lands outside the National Parks, as well.

“The Parks are extremely important, and they are absolutely going to get what they need to fix these problems—that includes a road or picnic area in a little national park in Alabama or Virginia as well as major work in the big parks like Yellowstone or Zion. But Congress has systematically underfunded all of our public lands to the point that this backlog on maintenance has become a monster on the backs of our public lands’ managers.”

Kline says that, while the issue of collapsing infrastructure in the iconic National Parks gets most of the press, “the problem of deferred maintenance is just as critical on Bureau of Land Management lands, or U.S. Forest Service or federal Wildlife Refuge lands, as it is in the iconic National Parks. Those are the lands that are most important to American hunters and fishermen, and we wanted to make sure we could get that work done. Deferred maintenance on public lands keeps Americans off their own landscapes. That is something we are going to fix.”

As Senator Heinrich said, “It was a fight to get that funding for the Forest Service and BLM and the refuges in there. But we did it.” The annual funding increase for the U.S. Forest Service will be around $285 million, and the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (which manages the refuge system) will get around $95 million per year. If the Great American Outdoors Act passes the House and is signed by President Trump, we are going to get a tremendous amount of work get done over the next five years, with soaring employment opportunities on our public lands and parks.

What’s the next step for the Great American Outdoors Act?

Much has been made about the politics of the Great American Outdoors Act. Skeptics have pointed out that the two Republican champions of the bill, Sen. Cory Gardner of Colorado and Sen. Steve Daines of Montana, are locked in a re-election death-match with strong Democrat candidates in their states, and they needed to prove their conservation credentials to outdoorsmen and women voters who may be sitting on a very sharp political fence.

But skeptics can be correct and still miss the point: When politicians on both sides of the aisle are pushing the largest public lands funding legislation since the days of Teddy Roosevelt, American voices are finally being heard. Steve Kline notes, “Looking at that vote count, 73-25, I’d say that there are very few issues today that could ever produce that kind of overwhelming agreement in the Senate. It is conservation that gets that kind of vote count. Not much else.”

(Check this list to see how your Senators voted, and then contact them to thank them for a yes vote, or ask them why they voted no on such a landmark piece of legislation.)

The Great American Outdoors Act has passed the Senate. It will now go to the U.S. House of Representatives for a vote, and if it passes there, it will go to the desk of President Donald Trump for his signature. The President has said that he supports the bill, but in all the tumult we are witnessing in our nation, he could still change his mind.

It will be up to the American people—especially American hunters and fishermen—to keep calling their representatives and voicing their whole hearted support for this landmark piece of conservation legislation. It is not over, as Senator Heinrich noted, until the President signs it.

Click HERE for the full article by by Hal Herring on the Field & Stream website.

June 28, 2020June 28, 2020

Eight Sportswomen Who Have Shaped Conservation

Highlighting standout female leaders who advanced the American conservation movements

Theodore Roosevelt, Aldo Leopold, and John Muir are readily recited by many as the forefathers of the American conservation movement. And though their immense influence is something to be proud of, we’d like to recognize the often-overlooked women whose dedication has helped to shape the modern conservation landscape. Here are eight standouts.

Marjory Stoneman Douglas

Long before water quality in the Everglades was the subject of national news, a young society columnist by the name of Marjory Stoneman Douglas spearheaded a grassroots effort to protect Florida’s sawgrass swamps from being drained and developed. Her extensive research, and the publication of her book “The Everglades: The River of Grass”, changed public perception of this important habitat and led to the creation of Everglades National Park in 1947.

Margaret Murie

Dubbed the “Grandmother of the Conservation Movement,” Margaret “Mardy” Murie’s activism led to the passage of the Wilderness Act. A trailblazer and writer, Murie grew up in Fairbanks, Alaska, and later went on to become the first female graduate of the University of Alaska. Together with her husband, she made several trips into the Artic—the result of which was her book, “Two in the Far North”, a compelling personal account of her lifelong love of Alaska and a testimonial for the preservation of its wilderness.

Although life would eventually lead her away from the state, she never lost her love of its wild places. She organized the coalition that persuaded President Dwight D. Eisenhower to set aside 8 million acres of wilderness as the Arctic National Wildlife Range, which was later expanded and dubbed the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Rachel Carson

Carson began her career as an aquatic biologist writing radio scripts for the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries and eventually rose to become editor-in-chief of all publications for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. In 1962, she published her seminal work “Silent Spring”, which brought widespread attention to the effects of dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane, an insecticide more commonly known as DDT, on bird populations. The public outcry that followed led to stricter regulations on chemical use in the environment, and Carson has since been credited with helping to launch the environmental movement.

Sylvia Earle

Dr. Sylvia Earle is an oceanographer, aquanaut, author, and the first female to serve as chief scientist of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the federal agency responsible for fisheries management and coastal restoration, among other things. After developing a love for scuba diving in college, Earle went on to specialize in botany, believing that an understanding of marine plant life would be integral to ecosystem preservation.

As founder of Mission Blue, a global coalition to improve ocean protection measures and restore the world’s marine ecosystems, Earle utilizes the power of modern media to inform the public and decision-makers about the effects of overfishing, pollution, and climate change while advocating for habitat protection and restoration.

Anne LaBastille

Anne LaBastille was a woman who could have out-Thoreau-ed Thoreau himself. She built her influence through a successful writing career while living in a small cabin in a remote part of the Adirondack wilderness.

Her four-volume autobiographical series “Woodswoman”, published in 1976, has inspired decades of women to get outdoors and enjoy self-sufficient pursuits like hunting and fishing. And her 1980 book “Women and the Wilderness” addressed the historically male-dominated culture of conservation and put a spotlight on female naturalists.

A licensed wilderness guide, this Cornell graduate was also a consummate defender of the Adirondacks and served as commissioner of the Adirondack Park Agency from 1975 to 1993.

Mollie H. Beattie

Appointed as the first female director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 1993 by President Clinton, Beattie fiercely opposed the dismantling and defunding of the Endangered Species Act and Clean Water Act in Congress. She was a forester by training and put great emphasis on managing habitat and the economy by stressing the responsibility of private landowners to effectively steward forest lands.

Unfortunately, her tenure with the Service was cut short by a fatal brain tumor, but not before she oversaw the establishment of 15 national wildlife refuges, the signing of more than 100 habitat conservation plans with private landowners, and the reintroduction of the gray wolf into the northern Rocky Mountains.

Lisa P. Jackson

Jackson started her career at the Environmental Protection Agency as a staff-level scientist before working her way up to the position of Administrator over the course of her career. The fourth woman and first Black American to hold the position, Jackson has spearheaded environmental programs to protect clean water, reduce harmful emissions, and protect at-risk communities.

Jackson eventually left the EPA to join Apple Inc. and now serves as the tech company’s vice president of Environmental Policy and Social Initiatives. She oversees efforts to minimize environmental impacts of business and address climate change through renewable energy and green materials.

Rue Mapp

After growing up in an outdoor-loving family, an adult Mapp was surprised to find that she was the only African American woman in her hiking groups and bike trips. Determined to get more members of her community involved in the outdoors, Mapp founded Outdoor Afro, a nonprofit organization dedicated to connecting Black Americans with outdoor spaces. Mapp’s goal is to shift the visual representation of what getting out into nature in America looks like and provide outdoor leadership training for people of color.

Her work has successfully connected underrepresented communities to nature and the benefits of spending more time outdoors. She currently serves on the boards of the Outdoor Industry Association the Wilderness Society, helping to shape conservation initiatives. She has also been named a National Geographic fellow.

Click HERE for the full post by Cory Deal on the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership website.

May 26, 2020May 26, 2020

A traveling ICU nurse finds peace on a fishing line in Arizona’s high country

Lori Patterson stood at the edge of Akre Lake in a tucked-away corner of pine forest in eastern Arizona and watched the fish dance.

As the sun set, fish jumped out of the water, casting a painterly blur on the blooming aspen trees’ reflection in the lake, high in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests.

Patterson felt a tug on her fishing line and a burst of excitement. With her husband’s coaching, she reeled in a wriggling Arctic grayling and, with it, what felt like a life-changing love for fishing.

Patterson, a traveling ICU nurse from Tennessee, is on assignment in Arizona to assist with the COVID-19 crisis. In the time she’s been here, fishing has become a welcome respite from the stress of her work as a nurse at the front lines of a pandemic.

“It was this really amazing feeling like you’re a part of nature,” Patterson said in a phone interview. “It’s like catching a wild beast, having a moment with it, then knowing it’s going to return to its home and not be harmed.”

Patterson had caught plenty of rainbow trout over the years in her home state of Tennessee, but it wasn’t until the pandemic that the joy of angling became an essential outlet rather than an occasional outing with her husband.

The only refuge in a closed world

Patterson has worked in ICUs across the country for more than 30 years, spending the last two winters in Arizona with Banner Desert Medical Center. She’s no stranger to high-stress situations and has long known the necessity of healthy ways to lower stress.

Usually, on her days off, she’ll get a massage or have her nails done, maybe do some shopping and go out to dinner with her husband, Jeff. But with businesses closed, that was no longer an option.

“The pandemic has changed everybody’s lives, not just nurses,” Patterson said. “I’m still going to work every day. I still have to take care of patients every day. And I’ve taken care of infectious patients for 31 years. But it’s not something that you typically have to deal with to this volume and this frequency.”

“My wife is the person that runs towards the fire not away from it,” Jeff added.

The outdoors have long provided welcome respite for the two, a way to find some peace and quiet in a fast-paced world. Now it has become their only respite.

“It’s good for your mental health, for your physical health,” Patterson said. “I’ve always felt like fresh air was better than air-conditioned air inside.”

'A huge stress relief for me'

ICU nurse Lori Patterson holds a cutthroat trout she caught at Big Lake in the White Mountains. (Photo: Lori Patterson)

With the pandemic in full swing, they made it their mission for Patterson to complete the Arizona Game and Fish Department’s Trout Fishing Challenge. Anglers must catch and release all four species of the state’s wild trout, or at least six of the eight total species in Arizona: Gila, Apache, brown, brook, rainbow, grayling, cutthroat, and tiger trout.

In the past month, she and Jeff have traveled all over “the great state of Arizona,” as they often refer to their new home-away-from-home. She caught a golden Gila trout on the East Verde River, a cutthroat at Big Lake in the White Mountains, a speckled Apache trout and silver grayling at Aker lake, and a brook trout at Perkins Tank in the Kaibab National Forest.

In just 26 days, she finished the challenge, quite a feat for a beginner angler. She was often surprised at the beauty of the fish when she saw them up close. A vegetarian and animal lover, she found the challenge and its requirement to release the trout a perfect way to intimately experience nature without causing harm.

Next month, the Pattersons will relocate to New York, where Lori will care for COVID-infected patients. But Arizona will stay with her, she said.

“There’s just such amazing diversity in this state, not just the fish, but Coues deer and Gould’s turkeys and elk and mountain lions,” Patterson said. “It has been a huge stress relief for me to be able to unplug and get out in nature and enjoy the great outdoors.”

“Did Arizona need Lori more or did Lori need Arizona more?” Jeff asked. “I think it’s probably the latter in this case. It was the place where Lori could do what she could do to help, and the great state of Arizona gave her a way to get the job done.

Click HERE for the full article by Erin Stone on azcentral.com

Erin Stone covers the environment for The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com.

May 10, 2020May 10, 2020

Gila trout recovery on Mt. Graham

Gila trout are one of the rarest trout species in the United States, making them a focus of Trout Unlimited’s restoration work on native, southwestern trout. They are only found in Arizona and New Mexico earning them a spot on the federal Endangered Species List in 1967.

But they were re-classified as threatened in 2006 thanks to successful conservation work. Today, Gila trout conservation is guided by the Gila Trout Recovery Plan and the Gila Trout Recovery Team led by professionals from the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), the University of New Mexico, and the Arizona Game and Fish Department (AZGFD).

Gila trout fry earning a successful recovery

Recovery efforts started in earnest after a wildfire ripped through Mt. Graham near Safford, Ariz., in 2017, scorching 50,000 acres and the well-established Gila trout fishery on Ash and Frye creeks. Recovery teams salvaged what remained of the Gila trout populations just before monsoon season hit and toxic ash flowed down both creeks. Since then, agencies and organizations partnered to create a plan to reintroduce the Gila trout back to its native streams.

By early April 2019, Frye Creek recovered enough to receive its first supplemental stocking of 20,000 fertilized Gila trout eggs. The process required building a redd on the outside of a plunge pool and injecting the eggs a few inches below the gravel’s surface. Just days later the trout hatched, securing refuge in the slower current of the pool. This is a new technique for Gila trout, originating in New Mexico and exhibiting an 8- to 10-percent success rate from egg to fry. Grapevine Creek in Arizona also successfully received this same treatment, displaying similar results.

Injecting fertilized eggs on a redd

Gila trout eggs on a redd

Another effort to reach the Gila Trout Recovery Plan conservation goal happened in November 2019. Trout Unlimited, AZGFD and USFWS crews backpacked 250 Gila trout fry into the headwaters of Frye Creek, roughly 3 miles above the Frye Mesa Reservoir. This helped expand their range and helped ensure the cold waters in the headwaters could help them endure threats from climate change.

Volunteers make good mules for trout fry

Most recently in March 2020, Frye Creek received another 16,000 fertilized Gila trout eggs from AZGFD and TU staff, of which I had a pleasure to be a part. Our hike up Frye Creek was energizing, with spring run-off in full swing and new growth on every tree and bush.

It showcased the resiliency of mountain streams and their riparian areas displaying only a few charred juniper trees, emphasizing the stark reminder that a fire decimated this watershed only three years prior. This watershed is home to a diverse ecosystem that supports elk, Couse deer, Goulds turkey, javelina and my favorite, black bear. We observed 3- to 5-inch Gila trout in multiple pools during this stocking, representing diverse age classes from our previous egg and fry stocking. By spring of 2022, we should have a wild, reproducing population of Gila trout in Frye Creek, with the hope of returning it to the great sport fishery it once was.

Black bear scratches on this aspen mean lots of wildlife in this region of Arizona.

Fishing for Gila trout:

If you’re looking to catch one of these native treasures in Arizona, try Upper Gold Water Lake, Lynx Lake, Frye Mesa Reservoir or the West Fork of Oak Creek. When stocked in lakes, these fish can grow up to 18 inches. Although they’re not wild reproducing populations, these fisheries still offer the chance to catch this beautiful native fish, bringing you one step closer to completing your Arizona Trout Challenge!

Learn about more about one of the southwest’s native trout.

Click HERE to read the full article on TU.org.

May 6, 2020May 6, 2020

Time to get away

It was time. Actually, it was well past time. I had to get out of the house. I work from home and have for years, so these stay-at-home orders weren’t a big change for me. But because I’m immunocompromised thanks to ongoing cancer treatments, I haven’t been in town, seen friends nor been anywhere but doctors’ offices for well over a month. Don’t get me wrong, I know many out there are worse off, but it was time for me to get away.

I did what I always do when I need a release. I studied maps to find a spot close by with water. I knew we shouldn’t drive far, so a spot along the Dolores River is where we headed. I floated this section about 12 years ago when the Bureau of Reclamation let enough water out of the dam to be exciting, but I didn’t remember much other than it was beautiful and the water was cold.

We dipped down from the canyon rim leaving behind fields upon fields of beans. Red rock faces and massive ponderosa pines greeted us and there it was, the low but clear Dolores. We jaunted down the road to a pull-off tucked behind a boulder the size of a small house with some nearly leafing out gambel oak, and of course, right next to the river. The sun was shining and warm for the first time in a few weeks, so I plopped my tired body into a chair on the bank of the river and just sat.

There’s nearly nothing I enjoy more than sitting on the edge of a river. Whether it’s in waders with a rod in my hand or lying in the van with the doors open, the sounds of a river sooths my soul. The gentle rapids tumbling over rocks make pockets of noise while rushing to a calm pool just downstream. I watch for action in the water and for bugs flitting through the air. I listen for slurps and close my eyes to envision the activity.

OK. That’s it. I can’t take it anymore. I pull on my waders, gather my gear and head a bit downstream to a deep hole. It’s a streamer kind of day since I haven’t seen any top water action. I wade across the cool water and start to chuck the meat. I keep at it for a while with bikers, hikers and recreational vehicles occasionally passing by. They all ask how it is, and I say, it’s fishing. One nice gentleman offered up a few of his streamers, but I was set.

Beauty around every corner. Photo by Kara Armano.

As per usual, my husband outfished me. I guess that’s what I get for teaching him how to fish all those years ago. His line came tight and with a bit of a fight, he reeled in a nice fish. It took us a minute to figure out what was happening when other fish darted towards the fish on the line. Once he got it to the surface, we realized it was no trout. It was a decent sized smallmouth bass, which explains the fight.

Though the water was cold with spring runoff that day, I knew the reason behind the surprising catch. Being below McPhee Reservoir, this section of river often runs very low making the water temperatures too high for trout, at least this far below the dam. The deep pools are enough to sustain the smallmouth population throughout the year, so next time, I’ll remember where those pools are and to bring my streamer box.

Thank God for a weekend away!

For the full article by Kara Armano on TU.org, click HERE.

Kara Armano is TU’s southwest region communications director. She lives and works in Durango.

May 2, 2020May 2, 2020

TU lead scientist recognized by American Fisheries Society

Helen Neville is a juggernaut in native trout conservation, science and life.
Dr. Helen Neville, Trout Unlimited’s senior scientist, was recognized this week by the Western Division of the American Fisheries Society (AFS) with the Award of Merit. The award is given to AFS members who have made positive and regionally significant contributions to the Western Division, to the profession, and to fisheries resources.

“It is hard for me to envision success in restoring native trout without involving Helen Neville’s years of contributions — scientific; on-the-ground, and personal. Helen’s energy, drive and vision have led the way on countless efforts to put native trout on the road to recovery across the country,” said Jason Dunham, supervisory aquatic ecologist with the U.S. Geological Survey. “Her success is the result of years of pure grit. There is no way to add it all up and do proper justice to Helen’s commitment to native trout. I am absolutely delighted to see her efforts recognized with the Award of Merit. It’s a well-deserved and high honor to one of our best.”

Trout Unlimited Senior Scientist Helen Neville, left, and Doug Peterson with the Fish and Wildlife Service, right, install a stationary PIT antenna on culvert to track fish movement. Trout Unlimited photo.

The American Fisheries Society consists of more than 8,000 members from around the globe and is the world’s oldest and largest organization dedicated to the fisheries profession, advancing fisheries science, and conserving fisheries resources. The award will be announced June 10 at Western Division AFS meeting.

As an AFS member engaged in her profession, Helen recently served as President of the Idaho Chapter of AFS, she has been active in AFS’s Genetics Section, and served in various other capacities across different state and national sectors of AFS. Being engaged in AFS is how one keeps up with the fisheries profession and having exceptional people active in professional societies is how science-based professions like AFS move forward and remain relevant.

Helen is also a leader in conservation science for native trout. Helen completed her Ph.D. at the University of Nevada, Reno in 2003 where she studied how river network connectivity influences Lahontan cutthroat trout populations using genetic tools.

Trout Unlimited Senior Scientist Helen Neville during a tour of a Lahontan cutthroat trout project with John Elliott (Eastern Regional Fisheries Director with Nevada Department of Wildlife), Jason Barnes (Lahontan Cutthroat Trout Coordinator for TU) and Mike Starr (Fisheries Biologist with the Nevada Department of Wildlife). Trout Unlimited photo.

“I will never forget the day Helen came to my office to ask me if I would take her on as a student. Saying yes was one of the best things I have ever done. Helen simply rocked it then and has continued to do so throughout her career,” said Mary M. Peacock, a professor with Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology Graduate Program at the University of Nevada, Reno. “She never looked back and has become one of the most important trout conservation biologists- out there working hard in the trenches. This award is richly deserved and I applaud the Western Division for awarding it to Dr. Helen Neville, trout chick extraordinaire.”

After a post-doc with U.S. Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station in Boise, Idaho, Helen joined TU in 2006. Since then she has led science that has expanded our knowledge of how stream connectivity and restoration, nonnative trout stocking, wildfire, and climate change impact native trout in the western United States. She has also applied novel genetic tools to understand how native trout have evolved to be adapted to their environment. As a testament to her scientific acumen, Helen has published numerous papers on novel native trout research in leading scientific journals or books.

“Helen is an immense talent who has mastered applying often abstruse topics into common sense proposals that help make our rivers and streams healthier,” said Chris Wood, president and chief executive officer of Trout Unlimited. “We are so proud of her work and feel honored to have her as part of the TU family. Well done Helen.”

As a seminal achievement in her scientific career, Helen brought in more than $1 million in funding – including a large NASA grant – to develop cutting-edge models to understand the viability of Lahontan cutthroat trout populations and develop decision support tools to inform recovery actions for this ESA-listed fish across Nevada, California, and Oregon.

Trout Unlimited Senior Scientist Helen Neville spends most of her time in the office working on reports and scientific papers, but thoroughly enjoys her time in the field. Trout Unlimited photo.

Helen has also been a leader in conservation. She has led a large-scale conservation program for the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation focused on Lahontan cutthroat trout. This multi-million dollar program has bolstered Lahontan cutthroat trout conservation by enhancing science capacity and on-the-ground conservation efforts over the last 10 years.

“Helen’s energy and passion for advancing science and then integrating our improved knowledge into conservation practice is infectious,” said Jack Williams, Emeritus Senior Scientist for Trout Unlimited. “She does great work and does it with enthusiasm. I could not be more proud of her accomplishments.”

Since joining TU in 2006, Helen has become a recognized leader in the national science community, and ascended to lead Trout Unlimited’s Science Program as Senior Scientist, a position she has now held since 2018.

More importantly, Helen is mother of two beautiful daughters, Sadie and Luna, and married to Frank Aldana.

Great people get recognized, as exemplified by this AFS award which recognizes Helen’s professional achievements.

Click HERE for for full story by Dan Dauwalter at tu.org.

Dan Dauwalter is the Fisheries Science Director for Trout Unlimited. He is based, along with Helen, in Boise, Idaho, and has been at TU for 11 years.

Category: News