Here’s an article in John Deere’s Furrow magazine (see “Common Ground”) about how TU’s Western Water Project has helped end the “water wars” between sportsmen and ranchers in the parched Jefferson River basin in Montana. In the past decade, severe drought and irrigation have drained the river at times and decimated trout populations, creating tension between ranchers and anglers. But TU forged relationships with irrigators and enlisted their help on several restoration projects and a dam upgrade that will deliver more water for struggling rainbow and brown trout populations–and maybe even return the Jefferson to its glory days as a destination fishery. More proof that, working together, sportsmen and the ag community can often find common ground on conservation issues.
