content: text: Fly fishers targeting trout had an important influence in developing and sustaining conservation programs,
although they were sometimes criticized for exclusive or single-interest advocacy. Here I review the history
of trout fishing and fly-fishing with special focus on the Rocky Mountain West, where fly fishers first exerted
their influence on conservation ethics and sportfishing policy. Although many individuals and organizations
played roles, I concentrate on only two: Fly Fishers International (FFI) and Trout Unlimited (TU). These two
organizations had similar interests in conservation, but important differences prevented them from working
together on a unified goal of conservation. The legacy of fly-fishing demonstrates the importance of passion,
persistence, and partnerships in fish conservation.

content: text: Trout and salmon are the only sport fish native to the Western states, and fly-fishing here became more than
a leisure activity. Norman Maclean's novel, A River Runs through It (1976), begins, "In our family there was no

clear line between religion and fly fishing." Later Maclean writes that "Something within fishermen tries to
make fishing into a world perfect and apart." The iconography of Western fly-fishing that Maclean and others
wrote about was created by anglers, fisheries managers, tourists, guides, businesses, and region promoters. The
history of Rocky Mountain fly-fishing parallels the history of the expansion of our Western frontier as well as
fisheries management (Brown 2015). Although Henry David Thoreau (1862) maintained that "In wildness is the
preservation of the world," humans are part of the trout fishing system and helped create, destroy, maintain,
and restore the trout fishing we have today.

content: text: The first trout fishers were Native Americans. Native Americans used a variety of fishing methods, including
weirs, spears, nets, traps, baskets, hook-and-line methods, and baits. They also caught fish by hand via tickling.
Tickling for trout involves rubbing the underbelly of a trout with fingers to get the trout to go into a trance, after
which they can then easily be thrown onto the bank (Martindale 1901). Native Americans were more patient
than others. This method is different from noodling for catfish, where the noodler uses fingers as bait and grabs
the catfish by its mouth. Native Americans also caught fish by fly-fishing with deer-hair flies, according to the
writings of early American naturalist William Bartram (1739-1823) (Monahan, no date).

content: text: The story of Rocky Mountain trout fishing begins with displacement of Native Americans from their historical
fishing and hunting grounds. Uninhabited wilderness had to be created through the dispossession of Native
people before it could be preserved (Spence 1999). Explorers, trappers, pioneers, soldiers, and homesteaders
brought fishing gear to frontier outposts. The Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804-1806) included a designated
angler named Silas Goodrich. The expedition first described several new species of fish, including the
Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout and Westslope Cutthroat Trout, caught by Goodrich. Later military expeditions
spent time trout fishing in addition to fighting Native Americans. Custer's Last Stand at Little Bighorn might
have been avoided if he'd joined a column of reinforcements under General George Crook. Crook's soldiers
were comfortably camped close by on Goose Creek near the Tongue River-fishing, not fighting (Monnett 1993;
Owens 2002a; Lessner 2010).

content: text: 1. Although Maclean and other writers use the term fishermen, women are active anglers and contribute
significantly to the sport.

content: text: Fly-Fishing's Legacy for Conservation | 191