Best Wild Places

Introducing Field & Stream and Trout Unlimited’s Best Wild Places for 2011

fieldandstream-admin — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 15:06:15 -0400

The memory of a fine deer dropped or a strong trout landed can draw us back to a special place in the wild. So, too, can the more heartbreaking memory of a buck moving out of range at the last second or a rainbow busting off in the rocks. We’re drawn back to these places to relive our victories and for second chances. At other times, it’s simply the land that calls us back. We want to walk the trails, hike the mountains, and camp in the woods. We want to be in the wild.

For the second straight year, Field & Stream partnered with Trout Unlimited on tours of America’s Best Wild Places. The six spots we explored all offer great hunting and fishing on public land. Sadly, they all face environmental threats, too. We aim to change that.

We hope to accomplish a couple of goals with this project: First, to encourage you to travel to these places on your own. They’re yours, after all. Second, we hope to raise awareness. These are all places that have managed to remain under the radar, which is a good thing because it means they’ve largely been left alone. But it also means they’ve not been given the protection they deserve.

Each week for the next couple of months, we’ll be featuring our reports and experiences from each location. Be sure to check back to learn more about these wild places. And then do yourself, and the land, a favor: Go explore. Go spend some time in the wild. Go have the time of your life.

An Overview of the White River, Colorado

fieldandstream-admin — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 16:16:48 -0400

The White River basin might be the West’s best deer and elk hunting destination, and the river itself is a trophy trout fishery home to massive rainbow and brown trout. High in Trapper’s Lake, native Colorado River cutthroat trout still swim. The area, though, is also highly coveted by the energy industry, and its use of water and land is of concern to the connectivity of the region from a fish and game standpoint. Trout Unlimited is working with local volunteers and the energy industry to prove that oil and gas extraction can be done in a way that protects the long-term viability of our sporting resources.

An Overview of Tongass National Forest, Alaska

fieldandstream-admin — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 16:15:13 -0400

Here, where tall cedars and spruce create a forest canopy so thick, the sun rarely reaches the ground, all five species of Pacific salmon charge upstream every summer and fall to spawn and nurture one of the most productive runs of ocean-going fish on the planet. The area is also home to trophy Sitka blacktail deer, moose, black bear and brown bear. The Tongass faces an uncertain future, one where the long-term sustainability of the people who live here depends on the fishery and its relationship with the land. Trout Unlimited hopes to protect the Tongass’s intact landscapes while encouraging responsible use of the area’s timber and fisheries resources.

An Overview of the Clearwater Basin, Idaho

fieldandstream-admin — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 16:13:16 -0400

Here, deep in the northern Rockies, lies the largest unprotected roadless area in the Lower 48. Home to vibrant populations of wild and native fish, including the inland Northwest’s most productive salmon and steelhead runs, this is a truly special place. At one time considered among the best elk hunting destinations in the nation, the Clearwater today is home to quality whitetail deer populations and still shelters elk herds that are finding a new balance in this challenged habitat with the reintroduction of wolves 16 years ago. Trout Unlimited wants to protect this intact habitat and work with local stakeholders to determine a quality future for this land and the people who live here.

An Overview of South Lake Tahoe

fieldandstream-admin — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 16:11:11 -0400

High in the Sierra, one of the rarest subspecies of cutthroat trout hangs on in a harsh, austere environment. Here, where feeder creeks to the famous Lake Tahoe meander through high-country meadows, some of the last remaining populations of Lahontan cutthroat swim. By protecting this habitat, Trout Unlimited hopes to keep this important stock of native trout intact, both as a recreational resource and as a potential brood stock for future restoration work that involves these rare fish.

An Overview of the Upper Dolores River

fieldandstream-admin — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 16:09:29 -0400

This special river drainage in southwest Colorado is home to perhaps the best elk habitat in the country. Steep aspen slopes give way to high-elevation dark timber that shelters cold, clear streams that team with wild and native trout. Trout Unlimited is working with local volunteers and landowners to protect this prime swath of game and fish habitat on public land, and to keep the Dolores just like it is today so future generations of hunters and anglers can enjoy it years from now.

An Overview of Maine

fieldandstream-admin — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 16:02:17 -0400

The North Woods of Maine are home to the last largely intact populations of brook trout in the United States. Visiting this unique place provides a glimpse into the past, when brookies were common and healthy up and down the spine of Appalachia. Today, eastern brook trout are in real trouble thanks to a number of stressors ranging from mine runoff and acid rain to natural gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale area. Trout Unlimited is working with a number of partners to protect intact habitat, restore degraded habitat and hopefully keep the eastern brook trout from disappearing altogether in its native range.

An Overview of the Blue Lakes/Pine Forest Range

Online Editors — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 11:36:28 -0400

Situated in far northwestern Nevada just south of the Oregon border, Blue Lakes are the only alpine lakes in the region, and their value to anglers in the area is immeasurable. But, perhaps more importantly, is the value to the region for sportsmen all over America—it’s perhaps the best region to visit if you’re a chukar hunter, and if you’re interested in mule deer, pronghorn or bighorn sheep hunting, this is the corner of Nevada you’ll want to hit in search of big game.

Presently, the Pine Forest Range, including the Blue Lakes, is dotted by Bureau of Land Management wilderness study areas. Some of these areas might warrant that wilderness designation, but others are likely better off being released from WSA designation to allow for some much-needed conservation work that is simply not allowed in WSAs.

This is prime sage grouse country that is threatened now by invasive vegetation—primarily cheat grass, which is the first vegetation, native or exotic, to establish itself after a disturbance, like a fire, for instance. Recovery work in WSAs is limited, which means a WSA impacted by an exotic vegetation invasion can’t be adequately treated.

The lakes themselves provide a high-quality backcountry fishing experience in a designated wilderness study area, with rainbow trout and the unusual tiger trout (a sterile hybrid of a brook trout and brown trout) on the angling menu. An open shoreline lends itself to sight-casting to surprisingly big trout, and it’s a modest hike, meaning toting a float tube into the lakes is not unheard of. Presently TU and Field & Stream are working with local sportsmen, elected officials and agency staff to reconsider the WSA situation in this region, with the hopes of protecting Blue Lakes and the watersheds that drain off the Pine Forest Range—many of these streams have the potential for Lahontan cutthroat trout reintroduction.

As it is, the area is a destination for upland bird hunters who love to chase the wily chukar, and for many, that’s enough to warrant protection. Throw in the fishing component, and Blue Lakes and the Pine Forest Range are high-quality sporting destinations that deserve long-term protection.

What’s in Blue Lakes and the Pine Forest Range?
Fishing assets: Rainbow trout, brown trout, Lahontan cutthroat trout, brook trout, tiger trout.
Hunting assets: Chukar, sage grouse, mule deer, bighorn sheep,
pronghorn.
Other: This is a recreational paradise for desert-loving hikers, cyclists and off-road enthusiasts.

Threats: This area is threatened by a cheat grass invasion that has surpassed epidemic proportions. Additionally, unsustainable populations of wild horses and burros overgraze the fragile desert flora.

Also, limitations on what can be done to improve or recover wildlife habitat in designated wilderness study areas hinder any large-scale efforts to make habitat more welcoming to important game animals.

An Overview of the Cabinet and Yaak Mountains

Online Editors — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 11:31:28 -0400

It might be tough to believe, but Montana hasn’t protected any of its pristine backcountry fish and game habitat as wilderness in over a generation—the last attempt to create wilderness in the Treasure State was vetoed by President Ronald Reagan over 25 years ago. That’s not to say wilderness doesn’t exist outside those areas already protected in Montana —far from it. But politics and a host of factors have come into play, leaving some of the most deserving fish and game habitat in the state essentially unprotected and exposed to various forms of incursion, be it from mining, oil and gas or even just unneeded road construction.

Field & Stream and Trout Unlimited, sensing an opportunity, have rallied behind U.S. Sen. Jon Tester’s Forest Jobs and Recreation Act, the product of a collaborative series of negotiations and meetings that will hopefully result in the creation of new wilderness across Montana, including areas in the state’s northwest corner in the fabled Cabinet and Yaak mountains.

To make the effort even more palatable to a vast array of public lands users, the bill also includes a logging component that will put Montanans to work salvaging quality lumber from managed, low-country forests that are feeling the full brunt of the West’s mountain pine beetle infestation, as well as concessions to off-road vehicle and snowmobile enthusiasts who use public lands in the region as well. By protecting new wilderness in the state, Sen. Tester is ensuring the long-term viability of hunting and fishing—these areas are healthy and populated with native west slope cutthroat trout, trophy herds of elk, moose, mule deer and pronghorn, as well as upland game birds like ruffed, blue and spruce grouse. Wilderness, it turns out, is a great place to fish and hunt, and by setting aside irreplaceable public lands under our nation’s highest protective status, we’ll protect our rights to access, fish and hunt in these remarkable places now ... and for generations to come.

What’s in the Cabinet-Yaaks?
Fishing assets: Native west slope cutthroat trout, native bull trout, brook trout, brown trout, rainbow trout.
Hunting assets: Elk, deer, moose, bighorn sheep, bear, wolf, lion, ruffed, blue and spruce grouse.
Other: This region rests along the Montana-Idaho-British Columbia border and includes high-priority recreational country for sportsmen as well as off-roaders and snowmobilers. Designating this land as wilderness while conceding other, lower-quality public lands for extractive uses, like logging, makes this effort unique.

Threats: Protecting as wilderness these and other high-quality backcountry areas will prevent unnecessary hard-rock mining and segregate important fish and game habitat from future road or motorized trail incursion. Protecting this area also protects downstream water quality.

An Overview of the Gila Mountains

Online Editors — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 11:26:31 -0400

Situated in far southern New Mexico, the Gilas boast some of the most remote backcountry fish and game habitat in the Lower 48. More importantly, this range of rugged mountains is home to one of the nation’s most rare salmonids, the native Gila trout.

Once on the verge of extinction, TU and other conservation groups, in cooperation with state and federal agencies, have worked to restore these beautiful native fish to their home waters.

Additionally, the area provides outstanding opportunity for anglers pursuing a host of game fish in the middle and lower reaches of the Gila River. Fortunate anglers can catch smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, rainbow trout, brown trout and even catfish in the warmer, lower reaches of the river.

Hunters, too, have reason to visit the Gilas—huge elk and deer populations grace this country, as does a prime population of wild turkeys. On the Gilas dryer and lower slopes, quail are common and provide excellent sport for the upland bird hunter.

The mountains, too, shelter some of the region’s priceless cultural artifacts, including remote cliff dwellings from an ancient Native American civilization that to this day puzzles modern archaeologists.

Unfortunately, the area is being impacted by excessive and illegal off-road vehicle use. Pioneered trails are bisecting big game habitat and contributing silt and sediment to the Gila’s trout streams.

Cross-country travel is creating a spider web of improperly maintained trails that wash out during storms and rut deeply, permanently scarring otherwise habitable land for game and fish.

Properly maintaining legal trails is important to the Best Wild Places project—there are no efforts to close legal routes. But illegal and unofficial routs that impact habitat—and hunting and fishing opportunity—must be closed and reclaimed.

It will fall to sportsmen and ORV users themselves to police bad actors and protect this place forever.

What’s in the Gilas?
Fishing assets: Native Gila trout, smallmouth bass, brown trout, rainbow trout, brook trout, largemouth bass, catfish, suckers and various warmwater species in lower reaches of the Gila River drainage.
Hunting assets: Elk, deer, turkey, quail, varmints.
Other: Remains of ancient Native American civilizations, ample camping and touring opportunities, hiking, geocaching, cycling, etc.

Threats: Increased presence of illegally “pioneered” off-road trails that impact habitat and hunting and fishing opportunity.