We’re moving forward with a “divining” version of science. Hans Ludvig Smidth, Danish. Science in the 19th Century (1839-1917). A public domain image.
The EPA plans to dissolve its Office of the Sciences
Washington, DC – A senior post that was created to counsel the E.P.A. administrator on the scientific research underpinning health and environmental regulations, according to a person familiar with the agency’s plans.
The science adviser works across the agency to ensure that the highest quality science is integrated into the agency’s policies and decisions, according to the E.P.A.’s website. The move is the latest among several steps taken by the Trump administration that appear to have diminished the role of scientific research in policymaking while the administration pursues an agenda of rolling back regulations.
Steelhead life cycle linked to environment, pink salmon abundance
“Study of an Adult Steelhead Trout” by Thom Glace.
“Study of a Steelhead Trout in Spawning Dress” by Thom Glace.
A Simon Fraser University study has found that steelhead trout have a remarkable life-cycle variation that responds to changes in temperature and numbers of other species of salmon. They may go to the ocean when they are only a year old and the size of a pinky finger, or when they are five years old and the size of a standard ruler. The study appears this week in the journal Ecosphere.
Researchers found that the steelhead trout age of migration, as well as their size and numbers, is controlled by a combination of temperature, co-occurring salmon, and other factors.
“Study of an Arctic Grayling with Montana Local Markings – from Photographs supplied by The Grizzly Hackle Fly Shop Staff of Missoula, Montana. Donated to Casting From Recovery in 2016 to raise funding at the Montana Auction.” – Thom Glace
Big Win for the Au Sable River: Grayling Fish Farm Case settled, all commercial fish farming to cease by end of 2018
It’s official: the Grayling Fish Farm is no more. Harrietta Hills, the company operating the Grayling Fish Farm, has agreed to end its lease, to cease all operations at the Grayling Fish Hatchery by December 31, and to never again operate any fish farming operation in the Au Sable watershed.
This is a big win for Anglers of the Au Sable, and, more importantly, for the river. There is work to be done, but the threat is over, the pollution will stop. It took more than a village. It took everybody. Everybody who gave, wrote letters, and engaged this issue. It wasn’t as simple as handing over a check. This required pressure from all sides. At some point I think it became fairly obvious to Harrietta Hills that Anglers of the Au Sable doesn’t go away. To all our members, to all the groups around the state of Michigan and beyond that gave, a sincere thank you – Joe Hemming, President, Anglers of the Au Sable.
Pisgah-Nantahala National Forest
Public Lands: 92 Percent Want More of Pisgah Protected. Are the bulbs brighter in the east?
The Forest Service is completing a long-term plan that will decide how much of the Pisgah-Nantahala National Forest is cut and how much is protected over the next three decades.
Over 22,000 public comments on the plan have flooded the Forest Service, and over 92 percent of the comments support more protected areas.
The 1.1-million-acre Pisgah-Nantahala National Forest is the second-most-popular national forest in the country, with near 7 million visitors last year.
According to an analysis of the 22,000 comments conducted by Blue Ridge Outdoors Magazine, 20,454 comments favor more, stronger, and permanent protections for Pisgah; 1,711 comments were against protected areas or wanted more logging.
Patagonia’s Yvon Chouinard. Photo The Freshwater Trust.org.
The Allies: How two businessmen have joined forces to fight for Public Lands
Yvon Chouinard, of Patagonia, and Kenton Carruth, of First Lite, are two very different business owners with very different customer bases, but as the fight for our federal public lands intensifies, they’ve come together for the sake of American hunters, anglers, and our sporting heritage.
It has been a high-water year in Montana’s Bob Marshall Wilderness, and the river is running bank-full and ice-cold, even now, in the middle of July. But the water is clear as ether, and we can see the cutthroats holding in the current, their perfect fluid shapes against the clean gravel of the bottom, their backs as green as emeralds. We have all stopped talking for the first time all morning, watching the river and the up-and-down dancing of a hatch of caddis in a shaft of hot sunlight. The fish begin to rise, dimpling the surface, and there is a heavier splash near the cliff on the far side of the river. Yvon Chouinard is rigging up his Tenkara fly rod—an unadorned 12-foot collapsible pole with no reel. The line holder near the butt is held on with two slightly bent paper clips with rubber bands. It is a simple rod for a man who strives for simplicity.
Featured Image mother and daughter on the Davidson River – Pisgah-Nantahala National Forest.
