2026 Pre-Season Hopefulness I began tracking the 2026 Columbia River Summer Steelhead run in mid June prior to an annual river trip on the Deschutes. The preseason forecast was okay, but since the state agencies were a mile off in their 2025 forecast, I was only mildly hopeful to see that the 2026 return was […]
How The West Was Lost
The following was written in 2024, before the Trump administration’s full assault on public lands. Before an abysmal winter with negligible snowfall, which plummeted the American West into the worst mega-drought in over 1000 years.
Conservation Corner: Skagit Dams: Seattle City Light’s new federal hydropower license moves forward
After seven years of negotiations, Trout Unlimited is joining co-signers to support
an agreement that improves hydropower operations and makes extensive restoration
investments in the revered Puget Sound watershed
Conservation Corner: Protecting Roadless Areas Protects Wild Steelhead
Rescinding the Roadless Rule would remove safeguards on cold, clean water and healthy, intact forests.
Conservation Corner: A Silver Lining for Wild Fish?
Steelhead hatcheries across the West Coast are confronting an unprecedented funding crisis that threatens their continued operation, with California’s Mad River Fish Hatchery becoming the latest casualty. While these closures alarm some, they will benefit wild steelhead populations struggling to maintain genetic integrity and resilience.
The Antelope and The Alternator
“An art installation on Highway 93 depicts a Chinook Salmon crucified on a Utility Pole, a poignant reminder of our current resource management.”
Conservation Corner: Proposal to sell public lands is off the table
A statement from Trout Unlimited regarding a controversial provision to sell millions of acres of public lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management that was pulled from the Senate budget reconciliation bill.
The Art of Seeing
For a long time, now, I’ve been thinking of a story I heard about two men who visit the Museum of Modern Art, right in the heart of Manhattan. The island of concrete where there’s not a trout stream for hours and hours. Just a sea of humanity. The first man is someone I’ve probably […]
Conservation Corner: Action Alert – Protect North Umpqua Wild Steelhead
UPDATE noon 02/05/2025: STF has been informed that SB512 has been pulled from tomorrow’s committee meeting agenda. The future of this bill is unclear. Conservation Partners continue to meet with Legislators, and Swing The Fly is committed to sharing updates on this developing story.
New Book Review: Managed Extinction by Rick Williams and Jim Lichatowich
A new book by Rick Williams, PHD and the late Jim Lichatowich is a call to arms, but it’s nothing personal, and it’s full of reason for hope for wild salmon and steelhead in the PNW.
Conservation Corner: What Should Come Next For Washington’s Wild Steelhead?
A recent Seattle Times article highlighted issues impacting our state fish.
One And Done
“The result is serenity and true joy on the river, and the satisfaction of treating the river, and the fish with the respect they deserve.”