The Biggest Environmental Win Ever for Trout Anglers?

The Biggest Environmental Win Ever for Trout Anglers?

This week saw the U.S. Congress pass legislation that may do more for the future of trout fishing than anything that has happened before–and very few in the fly-fishing industry are talking about it.

The “Good Samaritan Remediation of Abandoned Hardrock Mines Act” passed the House by voice vote, indicating near unanimous bipartisan support, on Tuesday. The effort was led by Representatives Celeste Maloy (R-UT) and Mary Peltola (D-AK). Senators Martin Heinrich (D-NM) and Jim Risch (R-ID) led the previous effort to have the bill pass the Senate on July 31, 2024. It now heads to President Biden’s desk to be signed into law.

What this essentially does is create a pilot program that allows qualified and vetted conservation organizations (like Trout Unlimited) to undertake projects to clean up abandoned mine sites. Previously, these groups weren’t able to work on these sites because they would inherit risks of liability. This “you touch it, you own the problem” scenario effectively left many mine sites that were abandoned and supposedly capped years ago unfixed and leeching poisons like arsenic and cyanide into streams. This toxic legacy of “off-colored” rivers throughout the U.S. from Alaska to Colorado to Pennsylvania and elsewhere has made these streams hazards for humans and wildlife, some of which are completely devoid of life. There are over 30,000 of these sites nationwide, accounting for the leading causes of pollution on America’s public lands and headwater streams.

Now, there is hope that this program will eventually expand to clean up thousands of miles of the types of cold, clear streams that support trout and other species. In the context of viable fishable trout streams, it’s fair to say this has the potential of creating more habitat and access to fishable public water than any other legislation in our lifetime.

Many conservation organizations coalesced behind the effort including Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, the National Wildlife Federation and others.

But it was Trout Unlimited that really led the vanguard and shouldered the load of this effort for many years to see it come to fruition.

“This was a classic TU win,” said TU president and CEO Chris Wood in a note to TU staff. “The path to our success was made possible by proving the concept that we can clean low risk abandoned mines. We can improve water quality. We can make our communities healthier.”

And TU will ultimately lead some of the boots-in-the-water projects that just might happen to make fishing better too.

It all flows downhill. Anglers of all walks, throughout the country, have legitimate reason to celebrate, be optimistic that good things can happen and be grateful.