October 2025| View Upcoming Events

October 2025 Newsletter

Happy October, a time when our weather really does change or at least we hope. The nights are cooler in spite the record setting daytime temperatures. And maybe, we’ve seen the last of the 100F temperatures for a while! The better news is the high-country temperatures are dropping; the lake temperatures are cooling and will soon turnover producing better fishing opportunities. And while these recent rains are challenging, we sure do welcome them, and hope they are a harbinger of a wet, snowy winter.

October is an interesting month. Later this month all four-major team sports are playing, and we’ll have the World Series, Halloween, and an excuse to dress-up and eat candy with no one judging our actions.

We have several upcoming activities coming to your chapter. We begin our Salt River Saturdays next month. Arizona Game and Fish begins stocking the Lower Salt River next week, October 6.

Your chapter and various representatives attended several activities. Among the activities we attended are:

• We recently hosted a Pint night in Flagstaff with some partner conservation organizations: Friends of the Verde River, Arizona Wildlife Federation, and Backcountry Hunters and Anglers. We had a great turnout in spite of the rain, and we plan more involvement in Flagstaff. Look for more frequent chapter meetings around the state as we continue exploring our expanded territory. See separate article later in the newsletter.
• AZ Fly Shop held its third-annual film festival, Sunday September 28, 2025. AZTU and Zane Grey chapter members were there along with a joint AZGFD – TU R3 table and Wildlife for Tomorrow. AZ Fly Shop is donating a portion of the film festival funds to AZTU Fish Camp.

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. 

Sept 18th Pint Night Was a Blast!!

On September 18th we partnered with the Arizona Wildlife Federation, Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, and the American Rivers Association at the Lumberyard Brewing Company in Flagstaff. It was a great turn out, despite the rain!

It was a great way to introduce our group's missions to familiar and new audiences to support conservation. We had some raffles and many walked away with goodies from each organizations. Lumber Yard hosted with some great beers and a giant charcuterie board that was devoured by the evenings end! Stay tuned for the next event!

Coming up in Zane Grey Land

Arizona Flycasters Club (AFC) is holding its ANNUAL BANQUET Saturday, OCTOBER 4. If you still want to come, please register and pay at the door! Banquet is at the Arizona American Italian Club, 7509 N 12th St, Phoenix, AZ.

Desert Fly Casters Club (DFC) Speaker this month, October 8, is Frank Burr, The Golden Trout Dude, bringing more than 50 years of fly fishing experience to the water. Frank will talk about advanced methods for fishing small waters.

Arizona Flycasters Club monthly meeting is October 14. Frank Burr will speak at AFC about “The Art of Dry Fly Presentations.”

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.

September Meeting Summary

The AZ Council of Trout Unlimited Public Policy Committee (AZTU-PPC) held its normal monthly meeting on Thursday, September 11, 2025, at 7:00 pm. Charles (Chuck) Podolak, President of Conserve and Protect Arizona, discussed the Organization's role in wildlife conservation and political advocacy. Conserve and Protect, with multiple legal entities, focuses on political fights affecting hunting and fishing in Arizona. Recent efforts include opposing a petition to limit the use of dogs in hunting, and fighting two legislative bills seen as threats to the North American Model of Wildlife Management. The Organization also addressed a potential lawsuit by Utah challenging federal land ownership, emphasizing the broader implications for public lands nationwide. There was a question and answer session in which Chuck noted that he had not been made aware of recent negative articles about how catch and release methods harm fish.

Legislative Update

The state legislature is not now in session. 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 and to the rescission of the Roadless Rule by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

In June 2025, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced its intention to rescind the 2001 Roadless Rule. The rescission notice was posted on August 27, 2025, in the Federal Register. Without the Roadless Rule, 45 million acres of National Forest land across the country impacting fish and wildlife habitat will be open to harmful development!

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 hosted another Silver Creek Reed Removal Project on September 16, 2025. AZTU, Payson Fly Casters and the White Mountain Fly Fishing Club partnered to provide volunteers. A total of 27 people participated in the event with 17 volunteers and 10 AZGFD staff. A huge amount of benefit was accomplished in half a day of work. This work opportunity allowed for boots on the ground and rakes in hand to clean out reeds along the stream and assist fishermen and fisher-women in getting access to the Silver Creek stream. A great time was had by All! This work is important because AZGFD gets most of their funding from license sales. It's important the those who buy fishing licenses to fish at Silver Creek can access the water! The next date for a Silver Creek Reed Removal Project will be in June 2026. 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. The link below will provide a short article on the issues facing the Colorado River:

https://www.kpbs.org/news/environment/2025/09/26/experts-call-for-immediate-cuts-to-water-use-from-the-colorado-river



Upcoming Public Policy Events

The next regular scheduled AZTU-PPC monthly Teams meeting will be held on Thursday, October 9, 2025, at 7:00 pm. Our meeting will be devoted to various AZTU-PPC member updates and the development of an AZ specific conservation agenda to be adopted into the Trout Unlimited National Conservation Agenda.

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).

We've set our dates for the cooler season! Come out and join us for some coffee, camaraderie and clean up! Bring your fishing rod you don't want to pass up a chance for some great fishing do you?

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