Opinion: The Biggest Environmental Win Ever for Trout Anglers?

In reporting on recent legislation passed by the United State Congress, Kirk Deeter, over at Fly Lab, questions whether this new bill is perhaps the biggest environmental win ever for trout anglers.

Deeter makes this claim about the recently-passed Good Samaritan Remediation of Abandoned Hard Rock Mines Act, which was approved in “the House by voice vote, indicating near unanimous bipartisan support.”

According to Utah representative Celeste Malloy (R), who was one of the sponsors of the Act, “This bill will establish a pilot program under the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to allow ‘Good Samaritans’ – such as non-profits, local governments, and state agencies – to obtain permits to clean up abandoned hardrock mines.”

That means any conservation group with the means and manpower could join in to help the cleanup effort, as well, which is why Deeter points to this as potentially the biggest environmental win ever for trout anglers.

“There is hope that this program will eventually expand to clean up thousands of miles of the types of cold, clear streams that support trout and other species,” Deeter writes. “In the context of viable fishable trout streams, it’s fair to say this has the potential of creating more habitat and access to fishable public water than any other legislation in our lifetime.”

Groups like Trout Unlimited, Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, and the National Wildlife Federation could all participate in these cleanup efforts to restore hard rock mining areas and revitalize coldwater habitat.

That the door is now open to non-governmental organizations to do the work is what has Deeter, and others, so excited. The work of getting these mines put back together can move forward with, theoretically, less government red tape.

You can read the rest of Deeter’s story here.