California Trout, Inc. (CalTrout)

[pinto]

They worked against H.R. 3824:

"By a narrow 229-193 vote, the U.S. House of Representatives recently passed H.R. 3824, a bill written by Chairman Richard Pombo (R-CA) that would critically weaken the landmark Endangered Species Act."

This is from their website "About Us" page:

<snip>

In the mid-1960s a dozen avid trout fishermen and steelhead devotees came together to form the nucleus of what would become California Trout. The trout fishermen were concerned that the state government's answer to deteriorating fishing conditions was to build and operate hatcheries and plant their domesticated products in lakes and streams everywhere. The steelheaders were worried that the state and federal governments were dead set on destroying the last remaining steelhead waters with huge "killer dams."

Initially organized as a local unit of a fledgling national trout group, the founders formed CalTrout during Christmas week of 1970 and filed papers of incorporation the following January. Among its officers and board members was a doctor, an insurance broker, a public relations executive, a tackle shop owner and a real estate agent.

Improving fishing opportunities was and remains important, but it was a secondary goal. CalTrout was the nation's first statewide conservation group supported by trout fishermen with an altruistic goal: to protect and restore trout and the beautiful places where they live. In this way, CalTrout was revolutionary and unique.

Our first year we acquired 600 dues-payers to support a budget of $6,000. Our executives were all volunteers, but they were dynamos. By 1972 they had delivered sensational victories for both trout and steelhead: The California Wild Trout Program and the California Wild and Scenic Rivers System.

Please browse our site to learn more about what CalTrout is doing today and how you can help.

http://caltrout.greybeardhosting.com/

[nosmokes]

1. a great organization n/t

[Oerdin]

2. We used to have Salmon runs in the San Diego river

But dams, water pollution, and over fishing caused our local salmon run to die out. Now the the genetically distinct Southern California Steelhead population is an endangered species with only a few runs in LA and Santa Barbara counties. I'd totally help restore habitate and assist with fish planting if we could restore the salmon run here.