If you can't afford to fix it, you can't afford to break it.

State and federal agencies responsible for maintaining fisheries values and water quality are playing a shell game with public resources. It's a pattern of circular logic that starts with resource degradation through over utilization by livestock, insufficient monitoring to identify trends in water quality and fisheries, and ultimately failure to meet management standards. Eventually there is an intervention by a conservation or environmental group stating that the agency is not meeting its own management standards, resulting in a violation of the National Environmental Policy Act, or a "Taking" of an endangered species. This results in an increase in procedures and paperwork related to the intervention, either legal or NEPA, or process. The result is the agency claiming to not have enough time to do the compliance monitoring because they are bound-up in paper work. Eventually the stream is impaired enough to require implementation of best management practices that are more time consuming than the original monitoring and management. Ultimately a restoritive action is required that is far beyond the budget of the land management and regulatory agencies involved.

If you can't afford to fix it, you can't afford to break it. Manage appropriately. If a watershed is predisposed to stream degradation due to geology, climate, topography, or hydrologic conditions then the management has to be protective of natural conditions. I can't count the number of times I hear the excuse that a particular watershed NATURALLY has elevated fine sediment or unstable stream bank issues, only to see that there is no consideration of these same natural conditions in the land management regime. You can't blame the watershed for not holding up to improper management. You have to manage for fisheries and water quality given the natural conditions that are present. Aquatic species have evolved and proliferated in these natural conditions. Impacts to aquatic life occur after the land management attrocities.

Stream and Lake Restoration

Stream and Lake Restoration
Trout Unlimited is the leading conservation organization involved in stream restoration in Eastern and Central Idaho. When land management agencies drag their feet to meet their legal requirements to support the Clean Water Act, Trout Unlimited jumps in to initiate restoration and fisheries improvement projects. The Forest Service is up to 5 years overdue on delivering 3 implemenation plans to improve impaired waters on the Salmon-Challis National Forest. Trout Unlimited recognizes that simple implementation of grazing management, riparian planting, and reconnecting streams is not difficult or cost prohibitive. The best investment of your conservation dollar is with Trout Unlimited.