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http://www.tu.org

Angling Publications - Index

Angling Publications - Magazine - Index

In 2004, when Trout
Unlimited’s Scott Stouder
unveiled the organization’s
report, “Idaho: Where the
Wild Lands Are,” he was
pretty excited with the
document’s findings.
“It took me a little while
to stop patting myself on the
back to realize that I’d uncovered
information that most
of us already knew,” he said.
“I’m hardly the first sportsman
to come to the conclusion
that the farther you get
away from the road, the better
the hunting and fishing.
But to be able to prove that
in the report was gratifying,
and I think the report led to a
pretty solid roadless plan from
the State of Idaho.”
The draft Idaho roadless
rule is available for review
and comment through Gov.
Butch Otter’s office—the
rule keeps intact the bulk of
the state’s 9 million acres of
roadless land, much of which
provides vital habitat for trophy
deer and elk herds, and
irreplaceable spawning habit
for native cutthroat trout,
endangered bull trout, and,
perhaps most importantly,
TROUT UNLIMITED
Chris Hunt
Idaho: Where The Wild Lands Are
30
ocean-going chinook salmon
and steelhead. Central Idaho
is home to the best remaining
inland salmon and
steelhead spawning habitat in
the Lower 48.
From one corner of the
state to the next, roadless fish
and wildlife habitat provides
unmatched hunting and
angling for Idaho sportsmen.
Couple the protection
Idaho’s roadless lands will
receive under the state’s new
rule with tangible, on-theground
restoration work
being accomplished by TU
staffers, and the future looks
bright for sportsmen in the
Gem State.
Take the work done by
TU Home Rivers Initiative
Coordinator, Matt Woodard,
on the South Fork of the
Snake River in eastern Idaho,
for example. Woodard, in the
last four years, has restored
and reconnected two important
Yellowstone cutthroat
trout spawning tributaries
to the mainstem river, and
is working on an ambitious
project to restore and reconnect
one of the river’s largest
tributaries, Rainey Creek.
Rainey Creek is itself an
excellent Yellowstone cutthroat
fishery, but during the
spring it plays an important
role for spawning native
trout—they migrate out of
the South Fork and travel
several miles up Rainey Creek
where they spawn in water
flowing from an inventoried
roadless area on U.S. Forest
Service land. Woodard’s work
on private land downstream
from the Forest Service
boundary will accomplish
several important goals, not
the least of which is improving
several irrigation diversion
sites that will hopefully leave
more water in the stream for
migrating fish, as well as keep
cutthroat trout out of irrigation
ditches.
“We’ve had great success
working with landowners
along Rainey Creek,”
Woodard said. “These are
people who care about the
fishery and have gone to great
lengths to help us improve the
stream. This will undoubtedly
allow more fish to migrate and
spawn safely, and ultimately
improve the fishery throughout
the whole system.”
Restoration efforts on Rainey Creek
created prime spawning grounds
for native Yellowstone cutts.
Restoring Rainey Creek’s
lower reaches and keeping
the protections in place for
its upper reaches on Forest
Service land is an example of
TU’s new overarching mission:
“To Protect, Reconnect,
Restore and Sustain” coldwater
fisheries and their habitat
throughout the country. This
philosophy works to address
existing threats to trout and
salmon habitat—roadless
land incursion, irresponsible
energy development, illegal
off-road vehicle use, impacts
from old and new mining
operations, etc.—while addressing
an important threat
that is beginning to manifesting
itself: climate change.
“We’re trying to be
system-wide stewards, and
this new mission perfectly
manages TU’s efforts now
and well into the future,”
Stouder said.
Chris Hunt is the communications
director for Trout
Unlimited’s Public Lands
Initiative (www.tu.org).
Reach him via e-mail at
chunt@tu.org
CHRIS HUNT PHOTOS JOSEPH TOMELLERI ILLUSTRATION