This summer, CalTrout hosted a group of veterans from Project Healing Waters at our Shasta Springs Trout Camp fishing the Upper Sacramento River. We are very pleased to be able to give back to those who defend our country. Out on the river, each veteran participant landed trout, while learning nymph fishing and wading techniques in one of the state’s most beautiful environments.
Henry Little, longtime CalTrout member and Program Lead for Project Healing Waters-San Francisco, shared his experience from the trip: “The disabled veterans from the San Francisco Program of Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing, assisted by PHWFF-SF volunteers from the Golden Gate Angling & Casting Club, had “an experience of a lifetime” fishing the upper Sacramento and McCloud Rivers and swapping tales around the campfire at CalTrout’s Shasta Springs Trout Camp. A heartfelt thanks to CalTrout for making its Trout Camp available for those who have served our country so bravely!”
Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing (PHWFF) is a full-spectrum fly fishing program serving disabled active military service personnel and veterans. They’ve become a leader in the field of therapeutic outdoor recreation for the disabled using fly fishing as a rehabilitation tool. The program began in 2005 serving wounded military service members at Walter Reed Army Medical Center returning from combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. Since then, PHWFF has expanded nationwide, establishing its highly successful program in Department of Defense hospitals, Warrior Transition Units, and Veterans Affairs Medical Centers and clinics.
Top photo L to R: PHWFF-SF disabled veteran Jimmy Breiz crouching with a net in hand, PHWFF-SF Volunteer Cal Nakanishi (also an avid angler, supporter of CalTrout, and former US Army major, combat vet in Vietnam, and airborne ranger), and PHWFF-SF disabled veteran Rob Nugent casting.
Bottom photo: PHWFF-SF disabled veteran Jimmy Breiz.
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Peter Moyle is the Distinguished Professor Emeritus in the Department of Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology and Associate Director of the Center for Watershed Sciences, at UC Davis. He is author or co-author of more than 240 publications, including the definitive Inland Fishes of California (2002). He is co-author of the 2017 book, Floodplains: Processes and Management for Ecosystem Services. His research interests include conservation of aquatic species, habitats, and ecosystems, including salmon; ecology of fishes of the San Francisco Estuary; ecology of California stream fishes; impact of introduced aquatic organisms; and use of floodplains by fish.
Robert Lusardi is the California Trout/UC Davis Wild and Coldwater Fish Researcher focused on establishing the basis for long-term science specific to California Trout’s wild and coldwater fish initiatives. His work bridges the widening gap between academic science and applied conservation policy, ensuring that rapidly developing science informs conservation projects throughout California. Dr. Lusardi resides at the UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences and works closely with Dr. Peter Moyle on numerous projects to help inform California Trout conservation policy. His recent research interests include Coho salmon on the Shasta River, the ecology of volcanic spring-fed rivers, inland trout conservation and management, and policy implications of trap and haul programs for anadromous fishes in California.
Patrick Samuel is the Conservation Program Coordinator for California Trout, a position he has held for almost two years, where he coordinates special research projects for California Trout, including the State of the Salmonids report. Prior to joining CalTrout, he worked with the Fisheries Leadership & Sustainability Forum, a non-profit that supports the eight federal regional fishery management councils around the country. Patrick got his start in fisheries as an undergraduate intern with NOAA Fisheries Protected Resources Division in Sacramento, and in his first field job as a crew member of the California Department of Fish & Wildlife’s Wild and Heritage Trout Program.