Izaak Walton League of America

There are many ways to measure water quality in local streams. Here at the Izaak Walton League, we’ve found that sampling aquatic macroinvertebrates (aka “stream bugs”) is an inexpensive and accurate test of stream health – one that any citizen scientist can tackle. Full story

At a recent water event, someone asked me an intriguing question: “How do I pick my stream monitoring site?” Protecting the environment should not mean we simply react to each crisis as it comes up. We need to be proactive in monitoring stream health. Full story

On April 18, the House Agriculture Committee voted to advance its version of a 2018 Farm Bill. The bill is a mixed bag when it comes to IWLA water and wildlife conservation priorities. Full story

Fishing line can cause major problems for wildlife if it is not disposed of correctly. (Monofilament fishing line in particular is made to last: it takes roughly 600 years to decompose!) Monofilament recycling stations are easy to build and provide a place for fisherman to throw away used fishing line. Full story

All across America, rivers, lakes, and wetlands suffer from the runoff of fertilizers, pesticides, and manure. And downstream communities have to deal with the pollution to provide safe, clean drinking water. Full story

Baseline data on water quality helps us track changes in stream health over time. Essentially, you can’t know if water quality has changed – for better or worse – without a starting point. Full story

American farms lose 6 pounds of soil for every pound of food produced. The health of our soil is critical to our future food supply and to the health of our rivers, lakes, and wetlands. The 2018 Farm Bill needs to ensure that farmers, ranchers, and communities have the tools they need to restore soil health and protect water quality. Full story

America’s fish and wildlife depend on America’s farms and ranches for critical habitat. The 2018 Farm Bill needs to ensure that farmers and ranchers have the tools they need to make a place for wildlife through wildlife-friendly practices and innovative farming and ranching systems. Full story

There are countless ways to assess the health of a stream. The Izaak Walton League finds sampling benthic aquatic macroinvertebrates to be an accurate indicator of stream health – one that any citizen scientist can tackle. Much as foresters judge a forest by its diversity of trees, we judge streams by the diversity of life within it. Full story

Right now is a critical time for America's wetlands, which provide irreplaceable values for wildlife habitat, recharge groundwater, and filter runoff before it hits our streams and rivers. Full story