World Trout Grassroots Recipients – 2008

Wild Steelhead Coalition - wildsteelheadcoalition.org
The Wild Steelhead Coalition (WSC) is an organization dedicated to increasing the return of wild steelhead to the waters and rivers of the Pacific Northwest.

Wild steelhead are an important legacy to the Pacific Northwest and have undeniably been reduced to a fraction of their once historical numbers. Over harvest, habitat degradation, poor hatchery practices, construction of impassable barriers to migration, and misguided management strategies have all contributed significantly to the decline, and in some cases extinction, of wild fish runs. Without a change in policies and attitudes, these same factors will continue to reduce and extirpate wild steelhead.

The WSC is comprised of concerned citizens determined to reverse the factors that have negatively impacted wild steelhead, and in so doing, restore healthy and viable populations of wild steelhead to the Pacific Northwest. In so doing, wild salmon and other salmonids will also benefit. The WSC represents conservationists, recreational fishermen, businesses that depend upon wild steelhead for their livelihoods, and citizens who seek to preserve the future of the Pacific Northwest's greatest resource.

To that end, the WSC promotes year round, catch and release of all wild steelhead in the Pacific Northwest. The WSC promotes and encourages the development and utilization of fishing practices that result in decreased mortality of wild steelhead and salmon. Barriers to migration and the degradation and removal of productive habitat have reduced the capacity of rivers to support wild steelhead. In order for fish runs to be restored, the WSC promotes the return of existing damaged habitat to its productive state, and that miles of productive spawning grounds that are no longer accessible to fish be made accessible again. Hatchery programs must be closely examined and be carried out in such a manner that the negative impacts on wild fish are removed or minimized. The WSC stands for the mass marking of all hatchery steelhead, and for science, not politics, to be the basis for the re-tooling of hatchery practices. The models and policies that drive fisheries management must significantly change. Maximum Sustained Harvest and Maximum Sustained Yield have failed to protect and perpetuate our wild fish, and in many cases have been the driving force behind their decline. New models that are based on factors other than the greatest possible harvest of wild fish are necessary to return fish runs to safe levels. In promotion of these goals, the Wild Steelhead Coalition is an organization that provides a voice that unites the public, private, and other interests who desire and depend on wild steelhead.

Montana River Action - montanariveraction.org
Montana River Action strives to lead the ever-growing grassroots effort to preserve, protect, enhance, and restore Montana's rivers, water bodies and their watersheds for their natural, recreational and cultural values.

As the only statewide organization focusing exclusively on watershed conservation, MRA works extensively with federal, state and tribal agencies, private landowners, the agricultural community, fellow conservation organizations, and all other entities whose activities affect our precious water resources and our use of them.

MRA also involves itself in all watershed issues, encouraging education on watershed conservation and management, and promotes advocacy for those public concerns growing out of increased awareness of Montana's fragile watershed systems.

MRA uses volunteer efforts, specific programs, and cooperative projects to foster healthy aquatic ecosystems and the public support necessary for their appropriate use and continued survival for generations to come. To find out more, go to their web site montanariveraction.org.