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Understanding this year’s forecast for the Clearwater River

In Idaho by Eric Crawford

Currently fishery managers are forecasting a steelhead run on the Clearwater that may rank as the fourth best among the ten-year average . With any luck we may be seeing a turnaround from some of the most underwhelming runs on record. We should be cautiously optimistic, though and here’s why.

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Science Friday: Juvenile steelhead finding refuge in tributary mouths

In Science Friday by John McMillan

Summer is over, but before we put it behind us, it’s worth considering that the summer of 2020 was likely one of the two hottest summers in the northern hemisphere since humans began measuring the temperature of air and water. Hot temperatures directly—and sometimes dramatically—affect steelhead and many other salmonid species. So our Science Friday review this week of a study of steelhead in California’s Eel River is timely.

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Desperately seeking steelhead in Alaska for science

In Alaska by Mark Hieronymus

Southeast Alaska is home to around 325 known steelhead streams. But Mark Hieronymus, Trout Unlimited’s Alaska Science Coordinator, believes the true number is probably twice that. However, that’s a problem because if steelhead aren’t listed in the Alaska Department of Fish & Game Anadromous Waters Catalog (AWC) for that particular river, their habitat isn’t afforded the conservation measures they deserve.

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The Roadless Rule & Fish on the Tongass: A Great Pair

In Alaska by Jenny Weis

Late last month, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) get one step closer to repealing the Roadless Rule on the Tongass National Forest. You may as well read that as: last month the USDA got one step closer to opening up some of the wildest, greenest areas on the Tongass – the best areas in the forest for fish and wildlife – to industrial, clear-cut logging of ancient, majestic old growth trees.