Howard Kern, The Golden Guardian
Westlake Village, Calif. Financial advisor

When the Orvis Co., working with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, selected the California golden trout as its imperiled trout species for 2004 and offered a matching grant of $100,000 if groups supplied the manpower to do fish counts and habitat improvement, Howard Kern jumped right in.

Back in the 1970s, backpacking food was a culinary adventure. Hikers sought alternatives; Howard Kern and his brother, Bill, were two of them. "My dad used to take us backpacking in the Sierras," Kern, 44, says. "We'd hike to these lakes that had trout popping on the surface like popcorn. We figured out we'd better become master anglers if we wanted something decent to eat."

When the California golden trout was designated as a species in need of help, Kern volunteered and became the head organizer and fund-raiser for the restoration project. He points out that the 303,000-acre California Golden Trout Wilderness (GTW) sprawls across two U.S. forests, the Sequoia and Inyo, and that those forests are multiuse.

"This is an area I love for backpacking and fishing. Cattle have every right to be there," he says, "but we need to make sure they're not trampling the stream banks. One of our projects is putting up fences to keep them out."

A bigger problem for goldens is interbreeding with rainbow trout. Volunteers were asked to take GPS coordinates of any golden trout they caught, and fin clips were sent to the University of California, Davis, for genetic testing. "Now we know where we have good populations, and where other populations may be crossbred," Kern says.

"I keep a database of volunteers. When we announce a project, we send out an e-mail, and the slots fill up. I don't even go on all of them anymore, because someone else should get the chance."

To Kern, conservation is not just a pastime. "I can't see not doing this. You're doing a good thing for the environment; you're doing a good thing for the fish. Twenty years from now, I would love to see the golden trout restored completely to its native ranges within the GTW. That would be something for all future generations to enjoy."