Last weekend, I
attended the Keystone Coldwater Conference in State College, Pa. It was hosted by the Pennsylvania Council of Trout Unlimited and sessions focused on building partnerships, current
research, and best management practices to ensure coldwater ecosystems are
protected now and for future generations.
Attendees were
from conservation districts, state agencies, Trout Unlimited chapters,
watershed associations, and universities. Regardless of where they were from, I would consider most of the
attendees to be doggedly devoted anglers, passionate about trout and the
waters that sustain them. One attendee
told me that after he retired, he moved from Pittsburgh to the Allegheny
National Forest so he could fish every day for the rest of his life. Now that's love and devotion!
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Stories of secret
trout streams and recollections of taking a youngster “out fishing” for the
first time were plentiful. However, the
conversation would change once someone began to read some of the papers on my
exhibitor table. I had information concerning
HB 1576 -- the bill that, if passed, will politicize a scientific process and
change how state threatened and endangered species are designated. It also limits the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat
Commission’s ability to designate a class A wild trout stream and, as a
consequence, these streams, which represent the best of the best for trout
habitat, are left unprotected.
Needless to
say, this crowd of diehard anglers thought the bill was a bad idea and I
urged them to speak up and contact their representative or write a letter to
the editor -- and I’d urge anyone reading this to do the same. Everyone needs stories to tell about treasured and secret streams and the “big
one” that got away.
Jennifer Quinn is central Pennsylvania outreach coordinator for PennFuture, based in Harrisburg.
