Conservation

Check out this week’s episode of TU’s On the Rise (trailer above) which takes place on the Battenkill and at the Orvis fly rod shop. Over the past several years, Orvis has raised more than $100,000 to help TU and the state of Vermont restore key in-stream cover to the famous Battenkill. The result is a success story, with restored stretches seeing fish returning in strong numbers; up to a 500% increase in some stretches. In this episode of On the Rise, Orvis CEO Perk Perkins speaks with host Jed Fiebelkorn about the Orvis Commitment to conservation. I was lucky enough to fish with Jed and show him some of the restored water. We caught some nice fish and had a great fall morning of fishing and wandering the river. You can watch the entire show this week on the Sportsman Channel.

Mon 5/16/11 1:00PM

Tue 5/17/011 10:30PM
Fri 5/20/011 7:30AM
Sat 5/21/11 12:30PM

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In this week’s On the Rise episode, host Jed Fiebelkorn visits the Klamath River and fishes for its wild steelhead. The Klamath has faced may challenges in the past (and today) but much is being done to help restore this famed river. Check out some great fishing and even better conservation work this week on the Sportman Channel. What’s your favorite river in need of restoration and protection?

Mon 5/9/2011 1:00PM
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Fri 5/13/2011 7:30AM
Sat 5/14/2011 12:30PM

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The first Friday of May brought Vermont’s annual Green Up Day, and folks here at Orvis took the afternoon off to walk the roadsides and clean up the trash left behind over the winter. It’s amazing what we find each year…

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The cutthroat, named for the vibrant orange or red slash marks along its lower jaw, is Montana’s state fish. Historically, the westslope cutthroat ranged west of the Continental Divide throughout Montana but their numbers are rapidly declining due to hybridization with rainbows, degradation of habitat, and warmer temperatures. More and more fisherman are catching cut-bows and fewer and fewer anglers are catching true cutthroat. In order to help preserve the next generation of trout in Montana, please avoid stepping on redds this spring. Click Read More to learn more about what spawning redds look like, so you can avoid them and benfit the next generation of cutthroat and rainbows.

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It’s been an exciting spring on the Upper Clark Fork. The Clark Fork Coalition and Trout Unlimited each hired additional staff to work specifically on restoring priority tributaries in the upper basin—so a big welcome is due to Andy Fischer of CFC and Casey Hackathorn of TU. 

Winter has been holding on a little longer this year across western Montana, and the snow just keeps on falling. But the cold hasn’t kept CFC staff from hitting the field to work on dozens of projects in the upper river. Here’s a quick overview on tributaries receiving funding through The Orvis Commitment:

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The Maine Dept. of Marine Resources rejects effort to open the Kennebec River to bait fishing for striped bass during May and June.

In a fact-finding document released Friday, April 21st, Maine DMR stated: “The proposed regulation is not consistent with the previous conservation efforts adopted by DMR to address the decline of striped bass.” 23 pages of public comments showed that a majority of anglers opposed the change that would allow bait fishing with circle hooks and a sizable boundary reduction. The effort to liberalize the existing regulation was initiated by a group of charter boat operators in Boothbay Harbor and The Recreational Fishing Alliance. Proponents stated that circle hooks have a very low catch and release mortality when compared to J hooks and it was discriminatory to exclude that particular gear type from the regulations. DMR responded by stating: “Increased fishing effort on native and migratory striped bass population will occur if the proposed rule changes are adopted. This increased effort would be the result of participation in the fishery by individuals fishing from shore, boats, guides operating in formerly closed portions of the spawning area and latent effort that would become active once the rule changes occurred.”

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The Rio Baker Valley will be flooded if the dam is approved

James Ferguson of Sweetwater Fishing Expeditions sent along this urgent message from the National Resources Defense Council about the Rio Baker in Chile being threatened by a proposed dam.

 

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Here’s some cool and hopeful news about some (strange) new allies in the movement to protect Bristol Bay, Alaska from the threat of Pebble Mine. Investors representing $170 Billion urge EPA to Safeguard Bristol Bay.

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The black rhino of Zimbabwe is threatened by poachers

 

Orvis has learned that Raoul du Toit, African Rhino Program Coordinator for the International Rhino Foundation, is the well-deserved recipient of a 2011 Goldman Environmental Prize! Raoul’s grassroots mission and effort to save the black rhinos of Zimbabwe from poachers caught our eye last year, resulting in a partnership Orvis is proud to support and promote as one of our own 2011 Orvis Commitment efforts.

The Prize recognizes individuals from six regions around the world for sustained and significant efforts to protect and enhance the natural environment, often at great personal risk. Raoul plans to put his award right back into the Lowveld Rhino Trust programs in Zimbabwe to continue his good work.

To learn more, or to make an easy donation to help save the Rhinos of Zimbabwe from poachers who kill the rhinos for their horns, please go to our Orvis Commitment . Orvis will match your donation, and together we can all support Raoul and the International Rhino Foundation in an effort to protect the black rhino from poachers.

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Wild Maine brook trout

Maine is the last best stronghold for wild, native brook trout in the United States; and nobody knows those brook trout, their watersheds, and the precarious balance to keep the population healthy than the Libby family of Libby Camps on Millinocket Lake. The Libbys have operated Libby Camps in the North Maine Woods since 1890, and are now in their fifth generation of family ownership.

This week, Jed Fiebelkorn, host of Trout Unlimited’s On the Rise gets his feet wet on some of the region’s pristine brook trout waters with none other than former TU CEO, Charles Gauvin, who now has a little more time on his hands to pursue his beloved brook trout after stepping down as TU CEO in 2010. Matt Libby, the owner of Libby Camps hosts Jed and Charles on a fly-out adventure in northern Maine.

Check out the show to see the greatest, and most remote, brook trout fishing left in the United States, where wild, native brookies can still be measured by pounds not inches; and how Libby Camps, TU, and others have worked to make sure it remains that way.

You can check out the show on the Sportsman Channel on:

Mon 4/11/2011 1:00PM

Tue 4/12/2011 10:30PM

Fri 4/15/2011 7:30AM

Sat 4/16/2011 12:30PM

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