August 2025| View Upcoming Events

September 2025 Newsletter

It is back to school and end of Summer for most. Fall is in the air, or will be soon, and in the Phoenix valley, we are celebrating finally getting our monsoon. As the days shorten and the nights get cooler, the mountain lakes will begin to turn over creating fantastic fishing opportunities.

Speaking of school, the Arizona Trout In the Classroom (TIC) program is gearing up for the 2025-26 School year. There is a TIC Workshop on September 20 at the Chandler Nature Center. And we just learned the eggs are arriving October 30. Trout in the Classroom is looking for egg-delivery volunteers. More about TIC later in the newsletter.

Some of the notable August events include:

• AZTU Fly-Fishing Invitational, this was a fundraising event for the Arizona Council, and several Zane Grey members attended a five-day event on the Kootenai River in Libby, MT. In addition, to the fishing, camaraderie, and dining, these anglers raised funds for the Arizona Council. See the article later in the newsletter.
• The Arizona Council was inducted into the Arizona Outdoor Hall of Fame, August 23, 2025. Several Zane Grey members attended the Banquet. More about this event and pictures later in the newsletter.

In addition to our active August, we look forward to a busy Autumn with several upcoming activities.

• Join the Zane Grey Chapter for TU on Tap in Flagstaff for a Conservation Collaboration, Thursday, September 18, from 5:30 to 8PM at the Lumber Yard Brewing Company, 5 S. San Francisco St., Flagstaff. We will collaborate with Friends of the Verde, Arizona Wildlife Federation, and Backcountry Hunters and Anglers to support conservation.
• AZ Fly Shop is hosting a film festival, Sunday September 28, 2025, from 4-8PM. You can find tickets and more information here. AZ Fly Shop directly supports AZTU youth education and conservation programs. 

Save the Date!

Pint Night Thursday, September 18, 5:30PM – 8PM, Lumber Yard Brewing Company, 5 S. San Francisco St., Flagstaff.

Zane Grey Chapter is co-hosting a Pint Night with Friends of the Verde, Arizona Wildlife Federation, and Backcountry Hunters and Anglers to support conservation.

Your ZGTU board asks that as you read this newsletter, please think about how you would like to join in and help promote fishing, conservation, education, and love of nature. You may contact me or any board member to let us know about your ideas.

We hope you can join us, or better yet volunteer to help with these many and varied activities. 

Until then, 

Tight Lines. 

Alan Davis

Coming up in Zane Grey Land

Arizona Fly Casters' monthly meeting happens on September 9th at the American Italian Club 7509 N. 12th Street, Phoenix, AZ. Meeting starts at 7p.m. Speaker this month is Kris Bare of Pheasant Tail Fly Fishing.

Desert Fly Casters' monthly meeting will be on Wednesday, September 10th at the Elks Club, 1775 W. Chandler Blvd, Chandler. Meeting starts at 7 p.m. Guest Speaker is past president Mike Faulkinbury, who will talk about fishing New Zealand.

And, if you need to renew your TU membership you can do it here easily. This link should take you directly to the renewal page.

August Meeting Summary

The AZ Council of Trout Unlimited Public Policy Committee (AZTU-PPC) held its normal monthly meeting on August 14, 2025, at 7:00 pm. Nate Rees and Alec Young, members of the AZTU-PPC, presented a video on the Roadless Rule that was generated by Sophia Kaelke, the Protection Campaign Center Manager of Trout Unlimited. The Roadless Rule was established in 2001 to provide critical protections for 58.5 million acres of national forest lands across the United States meaning that no new roads were to be built in these areas. One reason for the Roadless Rule was that the federal government was behind maintaining existing roads in rural areas. These multiple-use areas sustain native trout and salmon, support wildlife with unfragmented corridors and offer irreplaceable backcountry fishing, hunting, and outdoor experiences. In June 2025, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced its intention to rescind the 2001 Roadless Rule. The rescission notice was posted on August 27, 2025, in the Federal Register. TU and the entire conservation community will have through September 19, 2025 to correspond to the USDA, US Forest Service, representatives and senators to stop the rescission of the Roadless Rule!

Legislative Update

The state legislature is not in session now. We do anticipate numerous bills supporting public land sales will be forthcoming in the 2026 legislative session, and TU will be engaging and educating certain legislators about TU's objection to public land sales.

All references to Public Land Sales were eliminated in the Big Beautiful Bill as a result of the continuous efforts and communications by the sportsmen and the outdoor community!

The National Office of Trout Unlimited has created a new TU Advocacy Champions online community group. If you are interested in receiving the periodic emails from the Advocacy Champions, please email Doug Agee at doug.agee@tu.org and request to be put on the email list.

Silver Creek Reed Removal Project

Tom Osterday - Past Chair AZTU PPC

The Arizona Game & Fish Department will host another Silver Creek Reed Removal Project in September 2025. This is a great opportunity for boots on the ground and rakes in hand that is done every June and September to assist fishermen and fisher-women in getting access to the Silver Creek stream. The exact date of the Reed Removal Project is Tuesday, September 16, 2025. If you are interested in participating, please contact Tom Osterday at tgosterday@gmail.com.

Groundwater Management in Rural Arizona

Tom Osterday - Past Chair AZTU PPC

Unfortunately, the legislature was unable to come together to advance meaningful legislation to provide protection to groundwater in rural Arizona when it becomes threatened. Both the Republicans and the Democrats proposed bills, but they were so far apart that no serious effort was made to reconcile them.

With the current Colorado River Management plan expiring next year, it is doubtful that rural groundwater will get much attention because of the urgency of coming to a new agreement among the seven basin states.



Upcoming Public Policy Events

The next regular scheduled AZTU-PPC monthly Teams meeting will be held on Thursday, September 11, 2025, at 7:00 pm. Our guest speaker will be Charles (Chuck) Podolak with Conserve and Protect Arizona. He will provide his thoughts on how to anticipate and fight legislation proposed by anti-fishing and anti-hunting organizations as was the case in Colorado earlier this year.

The AZTU-Public Policy Committee hosts a virtual Teams meeting on the second Thursday of the month at 7:00 PM until 8:00 PM. If you are interested, please contact Ron Stearns at PublicPolicyChair@az-tu.org.

Join us as we host a series of Salt River Saturdays with our Fishing Club partners, Desert Fly Casters Club (DFC), and Arizona Fly Casters Club (AFC), and of course with the Arizona Game and Fish Department (AZGFD).

Stay tuned for the next season of Salt River Saturdays later this fall!

The AZTU Fly-Fishing Invitational was an immense success. Thirteen anglers joined us at Dave Blackburn’s Kootenai Angler for 3-days guided fishing and 4-nights lodging along the Kootenai river. One evening, Lodge owner and guide Dave Blackburn entertained the group with some bluegrass music. The group had a wonderful time, shared lots of laughs, some fish stories, and most importantly raised money for Arizona Trout Unlimited’s various conservation and youth education programs. The resounding response was: “This was a great time – sign me up for next year”

The below collage captures some of the many memorable moments we shared along the river—a tribute to the joy found in friendship, stewardship, and the wild beauty of Montana’s trout waters... You can see more pictures here.

Arizona Council of Trout Unlimited inducted into the Arizona Outdoor Hall of Fame

AZTU was formally inducted into the Arizona Outdoor Hall of Fame, August 23, 2025. The Arizona Council of Trout Unlimited helped sponsor this event, and a number of AZTU board members, Zane Grey board members attended this prestigious event. The evening was led by Mike Russel of The GO Show and Vice President of Wildlife for Tomorrow and its President and AZGFD Commissioner Jim Goughnour. The national Anthem was sung by Katina Murphy who brought down the house with her rendition. Great food was served and wonderful raffle prices were up for grabs and everyone had a great time connecting and reconnecting! 

In 1998, Wildlife for Tomorrow, a 501c(3) organization, collaborated with the Arizona Game and Fish Department to establish the Arizona Outdoor Hall of Fame. This prestigious recognition celebrates individuals and organizations that have made significant and enduring contributions to the conservation of Arizona’s wildlife, the safeguarding of its natural resources, and the promotion of the state’s outdoor heritage.

Below is a collage of pictures from the event. You can see more here.

The Arizona Council consolidated the Arizona Trout Unlimited chapters. Effective January 1, 2025, much of eastern and southern Arizona, Kingman and Navajo County east and south including White Mountains: Show Low, Greer, etc., is becoming a part of the Old Pueblo Chapter based in Tucson.

The Mogollon Rim, and areas west of Kingman, including Flagstaff, Lees Ferry and the Colorado River down to Yuma become part of the "new" Zane Grey Chapter based in Phoenix. The below map will give you some idea of the new alignments. The Green areas are the new Zane Grey Chapter, while the Blue areas are the Old Pueblo Chapter's new alignment. The non colored areas are National parks, Military reservations, or other government areas, do not have postal delivery Zip code, and few if any residents.

The Arizona Sportsmen for Wildlife Conservation (AZSFWC) license plate fund is derived from the sale of wildlife conservation license plates and member organizations as well as non-member organizations are eligible to apply for those funds. 

The Arizona TU Council and Chapters have received funds over the past thirteen years to support the Annual Native and Wild Trout Conferences, Fish Camp, Trout in the Classroom program and various conservation projects.

The next time your registration comes up for renewal, choose the conservation license plate option at registration to show your support for conservation and our projects. 

Social Media: 

Check out our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/zanegreytu Check out the Instagram page for

Arizona of Trout Unlimited: @Trout_Unlimited_Arizona

If you're more traditional, try signing up for the private Facebook group: Arizona Women of Trout Unlimited.

Below is a list of fishing organizations in Arizona. Feel free to join, explore, visit their websites or attend a meeting to find out more information:

Make sure to follow our Instagram @Trout_Unlimited_Arizona



You may access our calendar here. 

Zane Grey Trout Unlimited