The Tongass Assessment Report Balances the Needs of Hunters, Anglers, and Other Users

December 23, 2025

TRCP commends the Forest Service for its emphasis on assuring healthy fish and wildlife habitat and ensuring continued access and recreation opportunities for local and visiting hunters and anglers

The Forest Service recently released the Tongass National Forest Plan Assessment Report, which highlights the agency’s focus on strong watershed conservation for salmon, deer habitat restoration through science-based forestry, reliable access for traditional and recreational use, and continued collaboration with Tribes, local communities, and conservation partners. TRCP commends the Forest Service for its emphasis on assuring healthy fish and wildlife habitat and ensuring continued access and recreation opportunities for local and visiting hunters and anglers.

“The overarching vision for the Tongass, as shown by the public feedback results, is that it remains a healthy ecosystem,” the Forest Service writes. “When viewed as an entire 17-million-acre region, the Tongass National Forest has retained natural ecosystem processes to a degree far greater than most National Forests in the Lower 48 states. There have not been wholesale changes in natural processes in Southeast Alaska, and it is one of the last places where natural salmon runs thrive.”

The report is one of the first steps in revising the Tongass Land and Resource Management Plan (also called the Forest Management Plan). The plan highlights priorities to guide the next chapter in managing America’s largest and wildest national forest.

Big, Wet, and Wild

The Tongass National Forest, encompassing most of Southeast Alaska, is what locals call a working forest. Roughly 72,000 people live in 32 communities within the Forest’s boundaries. Salmon are the backbone of the region’s ecosystem. All five species of Pacific salmon spawn in the Tongass’s 3,000 plus streams, and these fish provide the foundation for many of the region’s economic opportunities, supporting commercial fishing, tourism, and the hunting and fishing lifestyle. Around 2.3 million visitors come to the Tongass each year to experience the scenery and outdoor opportunities, which are all tied to a well-functioning ecosystem.

Locals live alongside some of the wildest and most intact lands in America. The forest supports a robust population of Sitka blacktail deer, mountain goats, and brown and black bears. Southeast Alaska’s remaining old growth forests are key to the health of salmon streams and winter habitat for deer and goats that support hunting and fishing.

In this assessment, the Forest Service is focused on adaptive management to meet the challenges of a variety of environmental changes, like expected increases in temperature, rainfall, flooding, and landslides that will affect fish habitat, deer populations, and access routes.

Exciting Changes

The Tongass has reached a pivotal moment of its management where millions of acres of young growth forest are now ready for commercial harvest that could also restore wildlife habitat. The Forest Service’s report makes it clear that Tribes and Alaska Native Corporations have requested this approach to forest management. Other public input has also supported young growth timber harvests that improve browse habitat and support local sawmills. While salmon stream restoration work has been conducted for the last few decades with positive results, the focus on forest restoration to benefit deer and other wildlife is more recent. Restoration is building momentum, creating jobs, and is something locals and visiting outdoorsmen and women are excited to see enacted.

Young growth timber harvests can improve browse habitat for Sitka blacktails and support local sawmills.

Maintain Existing Roads

The Tongass has thousands of miles of existing roads. The budget for road maintenance is underfunded, and many roaded areas lack maintained access. The report highlights the importance of maintaining and repairing roads, trails, docks, and campsites for access to hunting and fishing grounds. The monitoring of road culverts is also important to prevent fish blockages, and surveying aquatic species and habitat restoration is important to sustain the ecosystems that hunters and anglers rely on.

The report notes that road construction, as well as mining and tourism growth, all carry risks for aquatic habitat if not managed carefully. The revised plan could strengthen standards and guidelines to conserve fish-bearing streams and surface resources.

A Path to a Positive Future Depends on All of Us

It’s no easy task to balance different users’ interests, but the Forest Service’s report shows that the agency is invested in a strong, working future for Southeast Alaska. It’ll be an exciting future for America’s largest national forest if the report’s priorities are adopted into the revised Tongass Forest Management Plan. To ensure this result, it is even more important that the hunting and fishing community stay engaged. There will be more public comment periods as revisions continue.

Photo Credit: Bjorn Dihle

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by: Tristan Henry

posted in: Habitat and Clean Water

Ruffed Grouse, Bird Dogs, and Season Reflections

TRCP’s Oregon field representative takes time to consider young and old dogs, his upland journey, and our public lands

Seven seasons into my dog-handling career, I find myself thinking about ruffed grouse more than might be healthy. I have hunted birds my whole life, but it still took me until my early thirties to come to my first pointing dog. Since then, Sturgil and I have learned various covers together and wandered parts of my home state I never would have seen without a bird to draw me there.

This year, on September 1, my friends and I convened our first, of hopefully many, grouse opening-weekend camping trips. We chose a spot in the Blue Mountains with all the tell-tale signs of good habitat. We hoped to find blue grouse up high in the open timber and edges and ruffed grouse down in the alders where the water talks. The wooded hills of northeast Oregon are cross hatched with Forest Service roads, and old spurs into and stands at every stage make for good access. Mixed-seral covers, canyon breaks, sagey flat tops, and tag-alder-hewn drainages that hold shade when the late summer heat is still hanging on offered plenty of possibilities.

Grouse cover in Oregon’s Blue Mountains.

In my head, Grouse Camp should be like the deer camps of Northeast lore that I read about in Gray’s Sporting Journal as an adolescent. Fellowship, good dogs sleeping in the shade, and the self-satisfaction of a morning hunt.

This first trip gave us exactly that but not much more. Ruffed grouse have a way of humbling a hunter. In frustrated flushes and unrequited miles, the richness of the pursuit seems to grow in proportion to the effort, desire, and reverence we pour into the hours afield.

In Septembers past, I would keep an arrow in my quiver expressly to fling at a sitting grouse or plink one with a .22 and marvel at the pretty bird I had taken when I should’ve been focused on elk. I would laugh to myself about what I expect the old writers would regard as impropriety, but figured it defensible and utilitarian to procure dinner in so ideal a way. At any rate, my reverence for the bird outweighed any chivalrous notion about how the animal was killed, even though I do generally adhere to the moral moratorium on ground-swatting.

Sturgill – now squarely middle-aged in human terms – has seven seasons under his collar, and my hunting partners are edging toward their tweed years themselves. Practiced in the art of squeezing moments of recreation into short weekends and thirsty for time with our four-legged companions whose too-short lives count one autumn to our seven, we wait for the heat to break, birds to feather up, and for the full-swing of season to give us something else to think about.

Thankfully, puppies are a time-tested antidote to the melancholy that can come from framing things in dog years, and I had one such distraction in camp this year. Striking out on my first puppy walk with Hal, my new German Shorthaired Pointer, was certainly bittersweet. And it wasn’t made any easier by the persistent whining of my old companion muffled through the nose-marked windshield glass, but this is the price of admission, and it’s well worth it. I have come to realize my hunger for just one more day afield with my friends and with my family is all I’m ever attempting to satiate.

For now, I’m grateful for the fresh memories, healthy covers, and the cornucopia of autumn mountains with leaves and color and the sound of water. The garish color of pheasants and the tradition that welcomed me into the world of upland hunting were visited in October. In November and December, I chased eastern Oregon partridge in the rim-rock canyons that kept me honest. But those grouse walks in clean, colorful woods are now my pumpkin spice. Between the intermittent looks and the fewer shots when chasing ruffies, I’ve come to agree with Leopold who said there are two kinds of hunting, ordinary hunting and ruffed grouse hunting. It’s just taken hunting ruffed grouse differently to see the other ways as ordinary.

Photo Credit: Tristan Henry

These memories were made possible through the author’s access to public land. The TRCP’s mission is to guarantee all Americans quality places to hunt and fish so our nation’s outdoor legacy will endure for generations.

by: Dan Morgan

posted in: Habitat and Clean Water

December 19, 2025

Looking Ahead: TRCP’s Conservation Priorities for 2026

The year ahead provides hunters and anglers with opportunities to further advance America’s legacy of conservation, habitat, and access

Building on the achievements of 2025, the year ahead will require the same steady engagement, practical problem-solving, and bipartisan collaboration that have long defined conservation success for hunters and anglers. Theodore Roosevelt understood that progress is not forged from the sidelines, but by those willing to step into the arena, accept responsibility, and do the work. That spirit continues to guide TRCP forward.

While political uncertainty remains and agency capacity is strained, the path ahead is clear. As T.R. urged, “Get action. Do things; be sane; don’t fritter away your time; create, act, take a place wherever you are and be somebody; get action.” Conservation advances when hunters, anglers, landowners, policymakers, and partners stay engaged, work together, and “get action” with purpose and resolve. In 2026, TRCP will remain focused on durable solutions that safeguard access, strengthen habitat, and carry forward the hunting and fishing traditions that define a vigorous American conservation legacy.

With that focus guiding our work, TRCP’s conservation priorities for 2026 include:

Championing Access

Access is where conservation becomes personal. In 2026, TRCP will continue to champion policies that ensure hunters and anglers can reach – and responsibly enjoy – the places that define America’s conservation legacy and our outdoor traditions.

Public lands remain central to this work. TRCP will stay engaged on public access, forest health, habitat restoration, wildlife connectivity, and active stewardship. This work also includes maintaining special places and conserving intact habitats, while advancing management activities that improve habitat conditions and reduce the risk of severe wildfire. We will also focus on ensuring land management plans are implemented as intended, balancing conservation goals with hunting and fishing opportunities.

Access also depends on thoughtful decision making on infrastructure and permitting. TRCP will work to support reforms that improve efficiency without sacrificing longstanding safeguards, recognizing that strong conservation and responsible development must coexist. Bringing diverse stakeholders to the same table will remain central to finding workable, durable solutions.

On private lands, TRCP will continue advancing programs that strengthen access while supporting landowner interests, ensuring these tools remain effective, well-supported, and relevant for hunters, anglers, and landowners alike.

Strengthening Habitat

Healthy habitat is a foundation of conservation – and in 2026, TRCP’s focus will be on turning policy momentum into on-the-ground results. That includes conserving intact habitats where they still exist, while advancing thoughtful management that improves resilience and reduces the risk of severe wildfire.

On private lands, that means ensuring conservation programs deliver real benefits for landowners, wildlife, and sportsmen and women. Historic conservation investments have created opportunities but staffing shortages and delivery challenges threaten outcomes. TRCP will continue working with agencies and partners to identify solutions that keep voluntary conservation effective and accessible, including sustained attention to programs like the Conservation Reserve Program.

Water will remain central to habitat work. In the West, rivers like the Colorado and Rio Grande face increasing pressure from drought, demand, and sustained extreme weather events. TRCP will support bipartisan efforts that promote collaborative river management, invest in watershed health, and recognize that resilient watersheds support fish, wildlife, agriculture, and communities alike.

Habitat priorities also include planning for change. In regions experiencing rapid development, shifting land use, and more extreme weather, TRCP is working to identify priority landscapes and guide smarter conservation investments – particularly where privately owned lands play an outsized role.

Conserving Wildlife Through Habitat and Access

Healthy wildlife populations depend on science-based management and coordination across boundaries. In 2026, TRCP will continue advocating for policies that sustain fish and wildlife while strengthening habitat and supporting the fishing and hunting opportunities they make possible.

This includes championing science-driven marine fisheries management along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts – particularly for forage fish species like menhaden that underpin entire ecosystems and recreational fisheries. TRCP will remain engaged with management bodies to advocate for decisions that reflect the best available science, while building broader regional support for conservation outcomes that benefit anglers, coastal communities, and wildlife alike.

Freshwater systems will also remain a priority. Along the Mississippi River, TRCP is working to elevate interstate and non-profit coordination on fisheries management, nature based solutions, and invasive species – challenges that no single entity can solve alone, but that directly affect habitat restoration and sporting opportunities throughout the basin.

On land, wildlife health continues to demand sustained attention. Chronic wasting disease remains a complex, evolving challenge. In 2026, TRCP will continue focusing on collaborative research and thoughtful engagement that reflects reality – there are no quick fixes, but informed, coordinated action can make a meaningful difference over time.

Across these efforts, TRCP will continue strengthening the links between hunters, anglers, science, and policy – and work to ensure that decision-makers have access to credible research and practical pathways to act.

Staying Engaged, Together

The year ahead will bring both challenges and opportunity – but conservation has never advanced by standing still. It moves forward when people stay engaged, build on what works, and commit for the long haul.

In 2026, TRCP will continue prioritizing durable, bipartisan solutions grounded in science and strengthened through collaboration. Progress may not always come quickly, but history has shown that steady engagement, shared responsibility, and persistence deliver lasting results.

As we look ahead, the call is the same one Theodore Roosevelt issued more than a century ago: step into the arena, get action, and do the work. Conservation moves forward when hunters, anglers, partners, and decision makers show up together. With your continued support, TRCP will keep working to advance solutions that safeguard wildlife, strengthen habitat, and secure access – today and for generations to come. As TR urged, we will “get action” and do the work necessary to guarantee all Americans quality places to hunt and fish.

When we unite, we win.

Stay connected in 2026. The TRCP is your resource for all things conservation. In our weekly Roosevelt Report, you’ll receive the latest news on emerging habitat threats, legislation and proposals on the move, public land access solutions we’re spearheading, and opportunities for hunters and anglers to take action. Sign up now.

by: Jaclyn Lunaas

posted in: Habitat and Clean Water

December 18, 2025

2025 Forage Fish Conservation Wrap-Up

Late in the year, the menhaden reduction industry gained ground at dismantling hard-fought conservation wins for coastal ecosystems and sportfish populations. Where does that leave us now?

For our usual year-end forage fish wrap up, we decided this year to dive into the latest alarming menhaden regulatory decisions, what they mean, and let you know how you can continue to engage decision-makers to try to save the hard-fought, science-based wins that our angling and conservation community has worked so hard to put in place.

Atlantic Overview

As we reported two months ago, the Menhaden Management Board of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission voted in late October to cut the 2026 Atlantic menhaden quota by a mere 20 percent. This may sound like a lot, and while it is a moderate decrease, a revised stock assessment showed the menhaden population size is more than one-third lower than previously estimated, and that a cut of over 50 percent is necessary to ensure there are enough of these critical forage fish available in the water to support rebuilding the Atlantic striped bass population.

The decision to adopt a token reduction in the Atlantic menhaden catch quota disregards the science and input from ASMFC’s own scientists.

The Board also chose to only set the new quota for one year, rather than the full three years consistent with how the ecosystem-based framework is designed. This decision to adopt a token reduction in the coastwide quota disregards the science and input from ASMFC’s own scientists, abandons the Commission’s own ecosystem-based management framework, and undermines public trust in the ASMFC’s management decisions. In addition, even with this decrease in quota, it will likely not decrease coastwide harvest, negating the presumed conservation benefits that the cut could have.

From our perspective, the ASMFC’s decision:

1. Ignored the best available science in the stock assessment update, which showed that the Atlantic menhaden population is 37 percent lower than previously estimated, and that for years fewer forage fish have been in the water for predators to eat.

2. Abandoned the Commission’s own Ecological Reference Point (ERP) management framework, which indicated that even a quota cut of more than 50 percent would achieve only a 50/50 chance of not exceeding the ERP fishing mortality target. (See our earlier blog for an explanation of ERPs.)

3. Allowed one company operating in one state – Omega Protein, in Virginia – to overtly influence the coastwide decision-making process in their favor, to the detriment of not only the ecosystem, but other Atlantic states’ bait industries as well.

4. Disregarded the overwhelming majority of the public who commented in favor of a new quota that would have maintained the integrity of the ecosystem-based menhaden management framework (more than 1,100 opposition comments were generated through TRCP alone).

On a positive note, because this was only a one-year decision, TRCP will push for additional quota reductions in 2026 and 2027. Also, the Board did finally choose to initiate a process to address Chesapeake Bay menhaden management. Early next year, it will consider options for quota periods to distribute menhaden removals more evenly throughout the fishing season, as well as options to reduce the Bay’s reduction fishing cap, ranging from status quo to a 50 percent decrease.

The cap was put in place nearly two decades ago as a precautionary measure to protect predator diet needs in the Chesapeake, but due to industry opposition, efforts to gather data to justify any updates to the cap have been stymied. This process could yield significant benefits to the Bay ecosystem, which has faced multiple concerns recently tied to menhaden, including osprey breeding failures due to chick starvation.

Menhaden serve as a critical food source for striped bass, ospreys, and many other predators. Credit: Sergio Diaz

What’s Next for Atlantic Menhaden?

In February 2026, or at the latest, by next summer, the ASMFC should publish the draft addendum for public comment regarding Chesapeake Bay management. It’s imperative that you participate in that public process by submitting comments virtually or in-person at future public hearings. The TRCP and partners will be fully engaged in advocating for options that conserve menhaden for its environmental role in the Bay to sustain striped bass, osprey, and other predators – and we will be sure to provide more information on how you can take action next year.

Gulf Overview

As we reported last month, after facing intense industry pressure, the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission voted to proceed with a Notice of Intent (NOI) that is slated to reduce a half-mile buffer zone for industrial menhaden fishing off Louisiana’s coast to just a quarter-mile in most locations. This change could allow industrial menhaden harvest in waters as shallow as five feet—undoing a compromise reached in 2024 between anglers, conservation groups, the menhaden industry, and state officials. After a one-month public comment period, the NOI will move to natural resource committees in the state legislature for approval, where lawmakers have the ability to reject the proposed changes.

After a half-mile buffer restricting industrial menhaden fishing near Louisiana’s coast was put in place, fish-kill incidents declined by 81 percent.

The current buffer was established following multiple fish spills caused by menhaden harvest nearshore in 2023, with torn or overfilled nets wasting over 2.5 million menhaden and killing thousands of breeding-size redfish that washed up on public beaches. We calculated that after that buffer was put in place in 2024, fish-kill incidents declined by 81 percent in 2024-2025, compared to historical averages.

Also, a 2024 study found that approximately 150 million non-target fish are caught as bycatch each year by the menhaden industry, including 30,000 redfish and hundreds of thousands of other predators like spotted seatrout (speckled trout), black drum, and jack crevalle, as well as 25-million-plus sand seatrout, commonly called white trout. The Commission’s decision in November completely ignored this disturbing information, undermining public trust in Louisiana’s fisheries management. This move threatens fragile coastal habitats and fish populations in Sportsman’s Paradise and risks reversing the gains we have made to protect the forage fish base in the Gulf, which supports key sportfish populations and nearshore ecosystems.

What’s Next for Gulf Menhaden?

From now through Jan. 23, 2026 this NOI will be open for public comment that will be considered by the LWFC. Comments can be submitted directly to Jason Adriance, LDWF’s finfish program manager, or using the TRCP’s action alert system HERE.

Take action by telling the LWFC not to roll back the buffers:

TRCP also is providing another means to potentially reverse the NOI decision. You can sign a separate alert targeting state lawmakers asking them to reject the NOI.

Take action by urging lawmakers to reject the NOI:

We need your help by signing both alerts to let lawmakers and the Commission know that you oppose any rollbacks to the current buffer zones, to protect Louisiana’s nearshore ecosystems and public fisheries. We cannot let the menhaden industry bully the LWFC and Commissioners into making management decisions solely for their benefit. The Commission cannot responsibly abdicate its responsibility to serve all the people and natural resources of Louisiana.

Thank You for Your Support

Only together can we ultimately achieve long-term menhaden conservation to support recreational fishing and healthy coastal ecosystems. We appreciate your ongoing and necessary support. As always, feel free to reach out to our team at any time.

Banner image courtesy Joanna Steidle

by: Noah Davis

posted in: Habitat and Clean Water

Bipartisan Wildlife Road Crossings Program Reauthorization Bills Introduced in Senate

Companion bill was introduced in the House of Representatives in November

The Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership applauds Senate introduction of two bills that would reauthorize and increase funding for the Wildlife Crossings Program through fiscal year 2031.

Senators Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Cramer (R-N.D.), Merkley (D-Ore.), and Curtis (R-Utah) along with Senators Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Sheehy (R-Mont.) are leading legislation in the Senate. In November of this year, Congressmen Zinke (R-Mont.) and Beyer (D-Va.) introduced similar legislation in the House.

The Wildlife Crossings Program provides grant funding to state and Tribal governments to construct wildlife crossings such as overpasses, underpasses, and fencing. This infrastructure has proven to significantly reduce the number of wildlife-vehicle collisions and improve habitat connectivity.

“Wildlife crossings on America’s highways increase motorist safety, ensure habitat connectivity, and save countless dollars by preventing vehicle-wildlife collisions,” said Joel Pedersen, president and CEO of the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership. “TRCP applauds Senators Alsobrooks, Cramer, Merkley, Curtis, Heinrich, and Sheehy along with Representatives Zinke and Beyer for their foresight and leadership to introduce legislation that would increase public safety while supporting the wildlife populations that American sportsmen and women depend upon.”

Learn more about TRCP’s commitment to wildlife migration conservation HERE.