Welcome to the latest installment of the Wednesday Wake-Up Call, a weekly roundup of the most pressing conservation issues important to anglers. Working with our friends at Trout Unlimited, Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, The Everglades Foundation, Captains for Clean Water, Bullsugar.org, and Conservation Hawks (among others), we’ll make sure you’ve got the information you need to understand the issues and form solid opinions.
If you know of an important issue–whether it’s national or local–that anglers should be paying attention to, comment below, and we’ll check it out!
1. President Signs Reservoir Bill
The plan to build a reservoir south of Lake Okeechobee is one step closer to reality.
Graphic via the Everglades Foundation
Yesterday, President Trump signed the America’s Water Infrastructure Act of 2018, which includes authorization of the 16,000-acre Everglades Reservoir. In a press release, Everglades Foundation CEO Eric Eikenberg wrote:
“The Everglades Reservoir project is now the law of the land – almost two decades late. Let’s get it built – in four years, not ten or fifteen. Florida’s estuaries, coastlines and America’s Everglades are imperiled, and the people of Florida cannot afford to wait.
“If the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers can repair the Mosul Dam in Iraq in one year, this critical Florida reservoir should not take another decade.
“It now falls on Congress to appropriate the $200 million annually that is needed to construct the reservoir and move other critical Everglades restoration projects forward quickly. Be assured, the people of Florida will be watching.”
Thanks to all of you who have joined Orvis–along with The Everglades Foundation, Captain for Clean Water, and Bullsugar.org–in this ongoing battle to restore Florida’s natural flow of Fresh water through the River of Grass.
Click here to learn more about restoring the Everglades.
2. Sign the Pledge to Save Bristol Bay
The fight to protect Bristol Bay from an ill-advised mining project is as important as ever.
Photo by Jim Klug
This week, Orvis released the wonderful animated video at the top of this page, as a way to generate awareness of the threats posed by the proposed Pebble Mine to Alaska’s Bristol Bay. At the end of the video, folks are asked to visit the Save Bristol Bay website to sign an important pledge:
We, the undersigned hunters and anglers, business owners, guides, outfitters, and concerned citizens support conserving the headwaters streams, rivers, and lakes that feed Bristol Bay, Alaska and together comprise a world-class fishing destination.
We believe some places are too special to risk, and Bristol Bay, Alaska is one of them. For these reasons, we stand together in opposition of the proposed Pebble mine and call our elected decision makers to do everything in their power to stop the advancement of the proposed Pebble mine, and to create permanent protections for the Bristol Bay fishery.
Click here to sign the Pledge for Bristol Bay.
3. Bringing a Degraded Stream Back to Life
Do you ever wonder how a real stream restoration project works? Check out this cool ooverview of the Tincup Creek Stream Restoration Project. The project was designed to improve ecosystem function and habitat for cutthroat trout and other native fish species by restoring the channel and floodplain on four miles of a degraded stream.
Click here for more information on the Tincup Creek Project.
4. Tagged Tarpon Makes a Long Journey
A cool story on the Bonefish & Tarpon Trust blog details the travels of a 60-pound tarpon first tagged in the Florida Keys on May 12, 2017. This summer, the fish was detected near Ocean City, Maryland, which means that the young tarpon traveled at least 1,000 miles and probably many more!