Pete Soverel works for Salmon Conservation

At the Helm- Salmon Conservation

The status of wild winter-steelhead populations can drive the most committed steelheaders to seek refuge near the fringes of Salmo Mykiss’ geographical range—fewer anglers can mean a few more fish. So, after 19 hours of driving, I pull my truck into the dark driveway descending to a rustic lakefront cabin. Towering cedars block what scant…

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Pipeline Issues of Southern Marshlands

Dumping Eminent Domain

PIPELINES GET A BAD RAP, which they often deserve. Last November, the Keystone Pipeline—of Standing Rock protest fame—leaked more than 200,000 gallons of oil from a below-ground crack, adjacent to Sioux lands near the Lake Traverse reservation. The irony was lost on no one, least of all the protesters who were forcibly evicted from their…

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Festivarians gather for the Telluride Bluegrass Festival

Bluegrass and Fiberglass

It’s 1 a.m. and we’ve just shuffled out of the Sheridan Opera House, halfway through The Travelin’ McCoury’s NightGrass after-show. Not because they weren’t fantastic. Fronted by the sons of bluegrass legend Del McCoury, they lived up to their pedigree. But we’re exhausted. Ignoring the advice of experienced Festivarians, we have not paced ourselves. It’s…

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Video Daze: Midwest Summer Sizzle

Midwest summers—despite what you may have seen in Ozark—are all about working streamers and popping surface patterns for oversized bronzebacks and ornery musky and pike. Third Year Fly Fisher’s new teaser for “Summer Haze” captures the essence of both the region and the season. Shooting is scheduled to continue through 2018. Stay tuned for more. 

Honey, We Shrunk the Chinook

The mighty chinook salmon, the largest of the Pacific salmon species, is shrinking, which is scary news for Southeast Alaska’s already-imperiled king stocks. Fisheries researchers from Alaska and Washington recently summarized 40 years of data taken from 85 king salmon populations from California to Alaska. The results show that the fish are both decreasing in size and…

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Deschutes: A River Worth Fighting For

Portland General Electric in 2010 began operating a “Selective Water Withdrawal” tower above Round Butte Dam on central Oregon’s Deschutes River. The ecology of the lower Deschutes, one of the West’s premier flyfishing destinations, has suffered ever since. These ecological impacts, in turn, have negatively affected businesses and communities in north Central Oregon that rely…

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Yellowstone River is in trouble near Paradise Valley.

Yellowstoned – Paradise Valley Trouble

THE YELLOWSTONE RIVER’S pristine headwaters are tucked into some of the most remote land in the Lower 48, draining roughly 70,000 square miles across Wyoming and Montana. These wild waters serve as a stronghold for native Yellowstone cutthroat, and, combined with Yellowstone Lake, make up the largest inland population of cutthroat in the world.

Now or Neverglades Needs You

Last year Sunshine State Gov. Rick Scott signed landmark legislation that called for a catch-all reservoir to be built below Lake Okeechobee in order to improve the spiraling health of the Everglades. Unfortunately, designs for the project recently submitted by the Water Management District don’t do enough. And in short, experts say we need a lot…

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Save Thompson River Steelhead

With runs hovering in the hundreds, British Columbia’s Thompson River steelhead have been in steady decline since the ’90s. The imperiled stock hit a record low last fall, when returns were estimated at less than 200 fish. Despite the numbers, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (“DFO”) permitted commercial and First Nations gillnet chum salmon fisheries during…

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