October 2026| View Upcoming Events

October 2026 Newsletter

It’s finally fall. The temperatures have dropped, we continue to get much needed rainfall, and it is a great time to get out fishing, hiking or just to enjoy Arizona’s great outdoor spaces with your family and friends.

Upcoming Events:

Wren House Brewery Event

- We are very excited to announce the 2nd edition of our collaboration with Wren

House Brewing, Gila Trout Style! Stop by and check out

the booths for limited edition Gila Trout merchandise and lots of Trout Unlimited

swag. Proceeds from the event will go to the AZTU program to help fund

restoration on Dude Creek.

Dude Creek Planting Event

- If you’ve ever wanted to help restore native trout habitat, we have just the follow

up event for you! Join AZTU and Wren House on Oct 17th as we will be

partnering with Tonto National Forest to plant hundreds of native trees along

Dude Creek, which is a Gila Trout recovery habitat. We will meet at the Walmart

Super Center as a group and caravan down to the creek as a unit, to our staging

area. Tools and materials will be provided, but please bring gloves, hats, water,

and layered clothing. Sign up at VOLUNTEER

Gila Trout volunteer stocking events on October 6^th.  If you are interesting in volunteering for this event please register here: VOLUNTEER

Concerts in the Park The Zane Grey TU Chapter will have a booth at two upcoming Concerts in the Park in Ahwatukee, AZ on October 4^th and 25^th.  Please stop by and see us.

Further details concerning these events can be found later in this newsletter.

TU Under 40 Program:

Zane Grey Trout Unlimited is very excited to announce the formation of the new TU Under 40 program.  This program is designed to engage young people aged 18 – 40 in TU’s conservation, advocacy and education work.  Hunter and Abby Hunter have agreed to serve as the group’s co-chairs. Please see their article later in the newsletter for further details on this new program.

Recognition:

I am very pleased to announce that Arthur Greenway, Education Chair for both the Zane Grey TU Chapter and Arizona TU Council, has received the Arizona Game and Fish Commission award as Educator of the Year.  Arthur will be recognized at the Arizona Game and Fish Commission award banquet this coming January.

Arthur has a tremendous passion for educating young people throughout Arizona concerning outdoor conservation and fishing education.  Arthur heads up Trout Unlimited’s annual fish camp and works with schools, communities and clubs to provide this type of education throughout the year.



Please help me congratulate Arthur on this well-deserved award. Arthur can be reached at Education@zanegreytu.org.

Last:

As you read this newsletter, please think about ways you can get involved to help promote fishing, conservation, education and the love of nature. Please contact me or any board member to let us know about your ideas.

Tom Goodwin

Chapter President

Club Meetings

Arizona Flycasters Club (AFC) AFC meeting is October 13th at 6:00pm, Speaker is Scott Barrus owner/operator of Spinner Fall Guide Service on Utah's Green River. They meet at the Italian American Club in Phoenix.

Desert Fly Casters Club (DFC) DFC's meeting will be on September 9th at 7pm; Speaker is Scott Barrus owner/operator of Spinner Fall Guide Service on Utah's Green River. They meet at the Elks Lodge in Chandler.



Conservation

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.

Our goal is to bring people and communities together to protect, restore, and care for the rivers, streams, and waterways we all depend on. By working together, we can help make sure future generations get to enjoy healthy waters and wild, native trout.

TU Under 40 isn’t meant to replace or compete with the Zane Grey Chapter. Instead, it gives younger people another way to get involved, meet others who care about the outdoors, and participate in hands-on conservation and restoration projects. We also hope to introduce new volunteers and members to the important work the chapter has been doing for many years.

We’re Abby and Hunter Kent, the current co-chairs of TU Under 40. We’re both 23 years old and were born and raised in Arizona. We care deeply about conservation and want to help make a positive difference for Arizona’s rivers and streams.

We love spending time outdoors, especially around the Mogollon Rim and in the White Mountains, and we’re both passionate fly fishers. We recently even enjoyed a fly-fishing honeymoon through Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana, visiting some of the West’s most beautiful rivers and streams.

We already have several ideas for TU Under 40, but we want the group to reflect the interests and experiences of the entire chapter. As we get started, we’d love to hear your thoughts, suggestions, and ideas.

To learn more or get involved, email us at TU-Under-40@zanegreytu.org. Please allow a few days for a response as we balance work and other responsibilities.

We’ll also be at the

Wren House Brewery event on October 10 and the Dude Creek Riparian Planting project on October 17

if you’d rather talk with us about TU Under 40 in person.

See you out there!

September Meeting Summary

The AZ Council of Trout Unlimited Public Policy Committee (AZ TU PPC) held its normal monthly meeting on Thursday, September 10, 2026, at 7:00 pm. Rachel Ellis was our guest speaker. Rachel is an associate director with the Southwest River Protection Program. Rachel provided an update on the Upper Verde River Wild and Scenic Rivers Act proposal, explaining that it has been eligible for over 40 years and would cover 76 river miles including the main stem of the Upper Verde, Granite Creek, and Sycamore Creek, along with approximately 24,000 riparian acres. Rachel highlighted the proposal's strong local support from governing bodies and communities, noting that it has overwhelming support from local jurisdictions including Yavapai County Board of Supervisors and various cities and towns. The bottleneck has been obtaining support from the local District's Representatives to the House.

Jim Strogen, an AZ TU PPC member, also provided an update on Lake Powell and the cool mix water flows through the bypass tubes of the Glen Canyon Dam. The Department of Interior is NOT going to continue the cool mix water flows through the dam this season. The water level is currently less than 23% of its capacity. There is concern that the water level could drop low enough, to about 3,490 feet, where electrical generation at the dam would cease which might occur in the spring of 2027 if there is not enough 2026 rains and snowpack this winter. The water temperature through the dam could rise enough for the water temperature in the Colorado River below the dam to reach above 60 degrees where the small-mouth bass (an invasive species) could begin to spawn. The small-mouth bass are harmful to young trout and humpback chub. The water temperature below the Glen Canyon Dam could reach into the high 70's this fall.

Legislative Update

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. Without the Roadless Rule, nearly 45 million acres of National Forest land across the country will be open to harmful development impacting irreplaceable fish and wildlife habitat including some of the last strongholds for native trout and salmon, along with valuable hunting and angling opportunities for all Americans! The US Forest Service (USFS) has nearly $11 billion of deferred maintenance currently on 370,000 miles of roads in our National Forests; do our forests really need additional roads? TU National is encouraging all state Councils and chapters to start a mailing campaign from TU members to congressmen and congresswomen to stop the discontinuance of the Roadless Rule. On August 18, 2026, the USFS filed a proposed rule to rescind the Roadless Rule in its entirety. The public comment period has opened and extended through midnight on October 6, 2026. The AZ TU Council will be mailing the AZ congressional delegation on the importance of keeping the Roadless Rule. Our voices need to be heard now before the USDA and the USFS finalizes their decisions!

Please follow this link to ensure your voice is heard on this important issue: TU Roadless Rule Action Form

The State of Colorado has obtained enough signatures to put an initiative on the ballot for the voters to decide this fall to amend the State's constitution for a Constitution Right to hunt and Fish!

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.

Groundwater Management in Rural Arizona

Tom Osterday - Past Chair AZ-TU PPC

AZ-TU is a member of the The Rural Water Working Group (RWWG). This organization is made-up of many diverse organizations as well is government officials and individuals focused on protecting rural groundwater. We engage the state legislature to affect legislation that creates policy related to groundwater in rural Arizona. Rural groundwater is under threat from industrial agriculture and groundwater transfers to metropolitan areas. RWWG will be holding our annual meeting to prepare for the 2027 legislative session on November 17th from 8:30 AM to 4:00 PM at the Mesa Community College Red Mountain Campus. Please contact me if you would like to attend: tgosterday@gmail.com or 602-321-7088.

Upcoming Public Policy Events

The next regular scheduled AZ TU PPC monthly meeting will be held on Thursday, October 8, 2026, at 7:00 pm. Our guest speaker will be Nadira Mitchell with the AZ Beaver Working Group of the Watershed Management Group.

The AZ TU Public Policy Committee hosts a virtual 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.



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