To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Clean Water Act, the National Wildlife Federation asked you to share your ‘fishable’ photos and your stories about why clean water and fishing matter to you and your family. We had a wonderful response – a testament to the joy of being on the water. Here we celebrate our fishable waters by sharing with you just a few of the highlights.

You can peruse all of the NWF “fish-tales” photos here

Our celebration also spawned a few more in-depth and inspiring fish tales: Montana Sushi Girl, Fishing the Nottoway: A Clean Water Blessing, Hunters and Anglers Favor Restoring Clean Water Act Protections for Wetlands and Streams, and The Clean Water Act: Up Close and Personal.

The River Runs Through It

“Fish On!” shared this classic “River Runs Through It” fish pic capturing the serenity of fishing Alaska’s Russian River…

and his nice Russian River “Sockeye Salmon” catch! He inspires us with his call: “Let’s keep our waters clean and streams and rivers protected with a strong Clean Water Act so my son’s children can also enjoy the bounty our fresh water resources have to offer!”

Bass are Big in the Heartland!

Kristi Pupak, 23, grew up outside of Milwaukee and moved to Jamestown, Kentucky to work at a national fish hatchery. Working to educate others about how natural environments function, fishing has been the one constant in her life that has kept her balanced. “I’m passionate about fish, their habitat, behavior, and how to catch them. I’ve had this obsession all my life.” Fishing in Wisconsin waters for most of her life, and as a recent resident of Kentucky, has taught her a few things about different fishing techniques. A visit to Wisconsin this past summer led to an 18” largemouth bass caught in Washington County.

G-lyn’s neice caught this largemouth bass while fishing by herself at her uncle’s farm in Oklahoma. It was the biggest freshwater fish she had ever caught and she was so excited. She called her dad out to help her take it off the hook and got some great pictures. She would not have been able to have this experience without the clean water necessary for fish to thrive.

Fishing the Waccamaw, River to Bay

Thanks to the Waccamaw Riverkeeper for these Waccamaw fish tales from river to bay. “Fishing from the Bank” by Bill Gobbel shows an angler fishing from the banks of the Waccamaw River near Conway, South Carolina for redbreast to take home to the family. Redbreast is a local favorite.

Downstream, the Waccamaw flows into Winyah Bay near Georgetown, South Carolina, where Jay Preslar captured a mighty big tarpon in his “Tarpon Tales” photo. Tarpon fishing in Winyah Bay and the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of South Carolina’s Grand Strand is a fun way to spend an afternoon. Keeping our water clean and healthy supports healthy fish populations, fun recreation and a healthy economy.

Fishable Waters for the Kids!

Fishing is great fun for kids, and we need to “hook ‘em” young so that they learn to love the waters and protect them for generations to come!

“K fishing” shows the West Branch of Perkiomen Creek in southeast PA — the first place this handsome man ever fished! It’s certainly not fit for boating at this point, but there’s no question that it’s an important water worth protecting, just like the even smaller streams that feed it and the nearby wetlands that keep pollution from getting into it.

And, from “Swamp Doc”…you gotta love it: Little Hank immersed in the fishing experience from head to toe!

So, Happy 40^th Birthday, Clean Water Act! Here’s to 40 more years of clean water and great fish tales!

Brown Trout. Flickr photo by Tony Warelius

Among other things, like the sublime experience of nature’s solitude and the ability to slow down and collect my thoughts miles away from the frenetic pace of daily life, I realized there was something else that was escaping my awareness during my fishing experience. It was perhaps the most important ingredient that makes my passionate hobby all possible and I was constantly looking at it but never really seeing it-clean water and healthy aquatic habitats. Sure, I could read water and determine the most likely places where the fish would be, but mostly I was looking through the water and past it, as if it was somehow separate from the fish it supported. And, ironically, at that point I had already spent a significant amount of time in a professional career advocating for national policy changes that would clean up this country’s threatened water resources. So it took some time to appreciate much larger considerations about the sport of fishing, its important connection to the world of public policy in which I was deeply and personally immersed, and the most important pillar upon which all aquatic species rely: the Clean Water Act.

Clean Water Act Successes

So as we celebrate the 40^th anniversary of this historic federal environmental law this week, I’m thankful it didn’t take me until my golden years to connect all the dots. Since its enactment in 1972, the Clean Water Act has resuscitated thousands of waterways across the country; in many cases bringing them back from their deathbeds. Prior to 1972, many of our rivers and streams were little more than open sewers, receptacles for untreated chemical and biological pollutants that suffocated and defiled them to such a degree that they held little to no life.

The beautiful Snake River in Wyoming. Flickr photo by Bala Sivakumar

The speed at which the Act aided in the recovery of the nation’s waterways was breathtaking. You’d have to look long and hard to find another national law that triggered these types of sweeping changes in such a short period of time. For the first time in the country’s history, strict limits were placed on the direct discharge of pollutants from factories and sewage plants into our waterways. As importantly, the Act created mechanisms to control the destructive impacts of explosive and poorly planned land development that destroyed wetlands and streams and sent massive loads of sediment and nutrient pollution into waterways choking out critical fish spawning habitat, depleting oxygen content to lethal levels for many aquatic species, and threatening the nation’s public drinking water supplies. Beyond that, the Act was also truly visionary.

Before it was fully understood in public policy circles and among many in the scientific community that addressing pollution concerns in rivers and streams required a comprehensive and holistic approach, the Act provided opportunities to control all sources of pollution at a watershed level. This is an experiment that is now unfolding in the Chesapeake Bay and possibly the only approach that will save one of this country’s most treasured great waters.  Decades of implementation of the Act’s key provisions has lead to new and innovative approaches and smarter thinking about ways to address water pollution and has spurred a national discourse about the economic benefits of clean water.

Study after study now reveals what most of us intuitively knew for many years, clean water plays a vital role in economic health, a lesson that could not be timelier in these days of dire fiscal challenges.  For these reasons the Clean Water Act, forty years later, continues to be a shining example of brilliant public policy that protects people, communities, wildlife, and the economy. And when I find fish these days, I’m thinking about a lot more than just catching them.

If you care about clean water and would like future generations to have fishable, swimmable and drinkable waters, take action and help restore clean water today! Also, please participate in our social media actions TODAY.

Climate Threat to America’s Future Can’t be Laughed Off

September 7 – Last night, President Obama delivered his nomination acceptance speech, saying he will “continue to reduce the carbon pollution that is heating our planet because climate change is not a hoax. More droughts and floods and wildfires are not a joke. They’re a threat to our children’s future.”

Jeremy Symons, senior vice president for conservation and education of the National Wildlife Federation, issued this reaction:

“All candidates for office at every level of government should have a plan of action to tackle the vital conservation issues facing America, particularly climate change.

Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement Signed Today

September 7 - At today’s signing of the revised Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement in Washington, D.C., representatives from Great Lakes United and the National Wildlife Federation applauded the completion of the Agreement but cautioned the U.S. and Canadian governments that the hard work of implementing the Agreement is just beginning.

“If fully implemented, the agreement will benefit millions of people by restoring the health of the largest fresh water resource in the world,” said Andy Buchsbaum, director of the Great Lakes office of the National Wildlife Federation.

National Wildlife Federation to Celebrate 40th Anniversary of the Clean Water Act

September 6 – The National Wildlife Federation is celebrating the upcoming 40th Anniversary of the Clean Water Act (on October 18) by launching its first “Fish Tale” event.  Anglers and fishing families are invited to share their fish photos and stories to highlight the importance of clean water.  Throughout September and early October, NWF will post guest blogs and many of these pictures and stories, underscoring the importance of clean water to good fishing through a dedicated flickr site. These messages will be shared with decision makers.

“The National Wildlife Federation played a key role in the intial passage of the Clean Water Act,” said Land Tawney, National Wildlife Federation’s senior manager for sportsman leadership. “Today we continue mobilizing our members and affiliates to support and defend this bedrock conservation law. I could not be more proud of our efforts and countless other hunters and anglers from across the country that has made clean water a priority.”

NWF Says New Keystone XL Map Revisits Old Problems

September 5 – Today, TransCanada, the energy giant proposing to build the controversial Keystone XL tar sands pipeline issued a new route map.

Joe Mendelson, National Wildlife Federation climate and energy policy director said,

“The reason TransCanada needs to keep rerouting the Keystone XL map is because it’s just a bad idea. Each new map amounts to a catalog of which property owners will suffer, and what habitat will be placed at risk.  The best approach is to ditch Keystone XL entirely and embrace clean energy solutions that don’t spill or explode.”

Montanans Voice Overwhelming Support for Restoring Bison

September 5 – As wildlife managers continue work on a statewide bison-management plan, a new survey underscores overwhelming public support for restoring a herd of wild, wide-ranging bison on public land in Montana. Additionally, Montana voters specifically support restoration to the Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge in central Montana.

Sixty-eight percent of Montanans support restoration of wild bison on federal or state land, while just 26 percent are opposed, according to the survey commissioned by the National Wildlife Federation and Wildlife Conservation Society.

MRGO Must Go Coalition: Restore the Coast as Congress Mandated

September 5 – A coalition of community leaders, policy experts and coastal scientists released joint comments today on the United States Army Corps of Engineers’ Mississippi River Gulf Outlet (MRGO) Ecosystem Restoration Feasibility Report.  The report, which is being release four years beyond Congressional deadline, contains the Army Corps’ plan to restore a portion of more than 600,000 acres of coastal wetlands and waterways impacted by the MRGO shipping channel. The MRGO has been directly linked to intensifying the destruction of Hurricane Katrina by destroying the wetlands that once buffered the greater New Orleans area from storm surge.  The public comment period, ending September 6, is the last chance to comment on the Army Corps plan.

And here are highlights from NWF in the News:

• KXLF: New poll shows support for re-introduction of MT bison
• Associated Press: TransCanada proposes new Neb. route for oil pipeline that company says avoids sensitive areas
• The Hill: New Keystone route proposed, but green groups unswayed
• UPI: TransCanada submits new Keystone XL pipeline route to Nebraska authorities
• The Atlantic: The False Promise of Back-to-School Commercials (OpEd)
• The Orange Leader: Report: Summer’s Signs of Things to Come
• The Canadian Wire: TransCanada submits new Keystone XL pipeline route to Nebraska authorities

For more, visit www.nwf.org/News

My Daughter, Cidney, with her first fish

I love this little girl.

Celebrating Clean Water

This month we celebrate the 40^th anniversary of the Clean Water Act, which was signed into law in 1972 with strong bipartisan support to protect waters and wetlands that are vital to people and wildlife. This particular piece of legislation is special to me.  It works to ensure that my daughter will be able catch and eat blue-ribbon trout with her children just 30 minutes from the urban sprawl of Missoula. It is also special because my friend and mentor, Jim Range, contributed to the writing and passage of the Clean Water Act while working for Senator Howard Baker (R-Tenn.), the Senate Majority Leader at the time. While Jim has unfortunately passed on, the image of him casting into the fading sunlight on the Missouri River, a river he helped protect, will always be etched in my memory.

The National Wildlife Federation has played a key role in this great conservation win, mobilizing members and our affiliates to support and defend the Clean Water Act for all of its 40 years. I couldn’t be more proud of our efforts and countless other hunters and anglers from across the country who have made clean water a priority. Our rivers are no longer burning and no longer smelling of odors so foul you’d be crazy to so much as dip a toe in them. This is quite a success story. Sadly, too many take this success for granted. For years now, the Clean Water Act has been under attack in Washington D.C. and across the country. We are losing Clean Water Act protections for streams, lakes, and wetlands. Despite the great strides we have made, some of the most important habitats for fish and wildlife are now at risk.

Share Your Fish Tales

My daughter and I fishing on Rock Creek

Here’s the idea: post your fish photos and stories in support of clean water on our “fish-tales” Flickr group. Now, if your photos are anything like my mine, you’ve got plenty of happily “gripping and grinning” shots with big fish. But don’t feel limited to just your greatest catch—submit photos of the water body your fish came from, and pictures of your child’s first fishing experience, and other fishing memories. Send along your short fish tale and describe why clean water matters to you.

My daughter turned four this year and caught her first fish. Well, let’s say the fish caught her. Her smile says it all. Let us celebrate the 40^th anniversary of the Clean Water Act and know that when its upheld and made stronger that a whole new generation of Montana “Sushi Girls” are waiting in the wings, counting on us to provide them with the same opportunities my daughter has today.