Outdoor News Bulletin

Pollinators, including bees, bats, butterflies, and birds, are vital to U.S. ecosystems and food security. These species transfer pollen from a flower’s stamen to its pistil, enabling fertilization and the production of fruits and seeds for plants that cannot self-pollinate. They support biodiversity and enhance crop yields, significantly contributing to the productivity of working lands and the economy.

Earlier this year I wrote a president’s message about the importance of public lands. The premise of my message was essentially that public lands were critical in providing people with opportunities to connect to species and spaces. Furthermore, it was this connection between people, the species, and the land that leads to the passion and desire to protect them. These ties, many of which are deep and part of the core of a person, are powerful and they apply to all sorts of passions and cultures.

USGS researchers at the Idaho Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit (Idaho CRU) and graduate students at the University of Idaho are working with Idaho Fish and Game (IDFG) on projects focused on better understanding the dynamics of steelhead fisheries in Idaho. These projects are highly collaborative, with IDFG identifying the most relevant research questions and providing support for public outreach about the projects and the Idaho CRU taking the lead in development of the research tools needed to effectively manage the steelhead fisheries in the state.