Washington State Suction Dredge Mining Reform Updates

In Live Action Alerts, Washington by Jenny Weis

Update from Dean Finnerty, Northwest Director on Outreach from Summer, 2018:   Thank you to dozens of supporters for your interest and willingness to engage and help protect fish life, water quality and make meaningful changes to rules and regulations for motorized suction dredge prospecting in Washington’s rivers and streams. If you want to be part of this team, the best way to do so is to …

Washington proposed rule changes need your input

In Live Action Alerts, Washington by Jenny Weis

  We are approaching the end of an important comment period that will impact our fisheries in Washington for many years to come.   The Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife (WDFW) is accepting public input on proposed rule changes for Washington State through THIS Thursday Nov. 30th and need to hear that overly-simplifying fishing regulations could harm fish and …

Stand Up For Clean Water

In Live Action Alerts by Nick Chambers

When anglers think of steelhead water, we tend to think of big, muscular rivers like the Skagit, Umpqua and Eel. We don’t usually think of tributary streams small enough to step across, or even that go dry at times.   We should. Such streams are very important for steelhead, particularly for spawning and rearing. In California, for example, 64 percent of …

It is past time to open the Skagit

In Live Action Alerts, Washington by Nick Chambers

Washington was once home to the greatest concentration of quality steelhead fisheries in the Lower 48 and the Skagit River was the crown jewel of them all. Over the past few decades many of those fisheries have been shuttered due to declining populations and poor management strategies. The Skagit was the last to close in 2010 and anglers in the …

Seafood Watch Sends Wrong Message to Consumers about Olympic Peninsula Wild Steelhead

In Live Action Alerts, Washington by steelheaders

      The 2017 winter steelhead fishing season is in full swing on the rainforest rivers of Washington’s Olympic Peninsula (OP).  It is the first year under new sport fishing rules adopted by Washington State that prohibit harvest of wild steelhead, require use of barbless hooks and prohibit fishing with bait.   Wild Steelheaders United and Trout Unlimited led the …

Steelheaders should stand up for small streams

In Live Action Alerts by Shauna Sherard

      By John McMillan When we steelhead anglers think of steelhead water, we think of big, muscular rivers like the Skagit, Umpqua and Eel. We don’t usually think of small streams we can step across or even streams that go dry in the summer.   We should.   [Write your legislator today and tell them to protect clean …

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Time to Take Action on Columbia/Snake River Dams

In Idaho, Live Action Alerts, Oregon, Washington by steelheaders

Take Action The Columbia and Snake Rivers were once prolific producers of wild steelhead and salmon.  It is estimated that the Snake River system alone produced 55 percent of the Columbia Basin’s summer steelhead and 40 percent of its spring/summer Chinook.   But today all Columbia Basin wild steelhead and salmon populations are just a fraction of their historic abundance …

“A worse location is unlikely”

In Live Action Alerts by steelheaders

  A proposed Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) export terminal at the mouth of BC’s Skeena River threatens its legendary wild salmon and steelhead runs.   When you’re talking about the finest wild steelhead rivers in North America—heck, in the world—a few names come immediately to mind. The Smith. The Dean. The Rogue. And certainly the Skeena. The Skeena, British Columbia’s …

The Steelhead of The Tongass National Forest

In Alaska, Live Action Alerts, Science Friday by steelheaders

The Steelhead of the Tongass National Forest:  A Brief Overview of Habitat, Life Histories, and Management By: Mark Hieronymus, Trout Unlimited Alaska At nearly 17 million acres, the Tongass National Forest in Southeast Alaska is the country’s largest national forest. This complex landscape of western hemlock, Sitka spruce, western red cedar and yellow cedar is part of the world’s largest …