This weekend was the summer ’09 meeting of the Oregon State Council of Trout Unlimited. For those of you don’t know, there are currently five TU chapters in the state, two in Portland, the new Bend-Deschutes chapter, the Middle Rogue Steelheaders and our chapter here in Eugene (plus a chapter on the Calif. border that occasionally meets in Brookings and covers the Chetco, and a budding chapter in Salem). All the chapters have different agendas — but the overarching goal is protecting and restoring native coldwater fish habitat. Twice a year the state council gets together — leaders from across the state — to share ideas and discuss joint goals.
This meeting was significant in that the State Council is throwing its weight behind our Chapter’s goals of reducing the amount of trout stocked in the McKenzie River, and banning bait from Goodpasture Bridge to Blue River. Keep your ear to the ground for more info on those topics in the coming weeks. Additionally, our own Karl Mueller was appointed to the Oregon Trout Unlimited National Leadership Council, meaning that Karl will be representing our interests and the State of Oregon at the upcoming national Trout Unlimited meeting coming up in August.
In this video, Oregon State Council Chair Tom Wolf discusses legislative successes as the 2009 legislative session winds down, including four major bills that really crack down on invasive species in our state. Also in this video, you’ll hear from TU’s Bryan Moore, Vice President Volunteer Operations & Watershed Programs, members of the new Bend-Deschutes Chapter and more:
Lastly, the State Council of TU is getting serious about communicating more across the chapters in our state. Last year we started a blog for the TU state council, but it turned out to be a bit of a hassle to update. But… the good news is that we’ll have statewide electronic newsletters in the coming months. Also, we started a Ning site — a social network community for TU members and supporters to discuss conservation issues in the state — kind of like a Facebook community, but about fish conservation. You can check it out at OregonTroutUnlimited.Ning.com. Sign up, try it out, and let me know what you think.
-MS
