Conservation

With the Klamath River Dams coming down, there's been a big focus on the short-term environmental impacts of dam removal. Certainly there are some aspects of removing the dams that hurt the environment in the short term, but do the benefits outweigh what happens when we send tons of sediment rushing downstream? In the case of dammed rivers that drain...

Commercial fishing is, and will likely remain, a key part of managing our salmon fisheries. The demand for salmon likely won't decrease anytime soon, but the need to balance that demand with the requirements for healthy salmon stocks is imperative. That goes for both Pacific and Atlantic salmon. That's why a recent bit of research from the University of...

The American Fly Fishing Trade Association (AFFTA) just released a report that the trade group hopes will launch a nationwide effort to empower anglers to demand action on climate change. The report, titled "For Tomorrow’s Fish: Anglers Are the Key to Climate-Resilient Fisheries,” was written by anglers, and contains information that AFFTA says will...

In this recent story for Fly Fisherman Magazine, Josh Bergan does an outstanding job of summarizing various projects the United States Fish and Wildlife Services (USFWS) is undertaking to provide passage for fish around various barriers. Reconnecting fragmented habitat is becoming a focus of many state and federal agencies worldwide, since it's arguably...

Recent efforts by the Biden administration to continue to achieve a goal of conserving 30% of America's land and water have come under fire, notably by The New York Times. In an article last week, Catrin Einhorn wrote about a new Biden administration policy that would still allow commercial fishing in waters the administration wants to deem "conserved....

The Big Hole River got some encouraging news yesterday when Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks (FWP) announced partial spring sampling results. Biologists have completed spring stream sampling that shows an increase in trout numbers for both browns and rainbows along the Melrose and Hogback sections of the Big Hole River . The press release from FWP reads...

The threat to Bristol Bay is, it seems, never completely dead. Although the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) effectively ruled against the Pebble Mine last year, both the Pebble Limited Partnership and the State of Alaska are suing to overturn the Clean Water Act regulations that the EPA cited in its denial of Pebble's mining permit. In an effort to...

The United States Forest Service announced recently their intentions to completely rewrite the Land Management Plan for the Tongass National Forest. The Tongass is the largest national forest in the United States, and according to SalmonState, an Alaska-based conservation group, the Tongass "produces millions of wild salmon each year, is home to some of the...

According to Lois Parshley, of The Guardian, Alaska officials have a new plan to help save salmon in the Yukon River. Chinook salmon in the Yukon have struggled mightily for years, prompting reductions in both commercial and subsistence harvest quotas. Earlier this year, Alaskan tribes petitioned the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA...

Southern California steelhead were recently listed under the state's Endangered Species Act, according to California Trout. The listing under California's Endangered Species Act expands protection for the Southern California steelhead, giving fisheries managers more tools to help stave off extinction than what they currently have available. Since 1997...