March 2025| View Upcoming Events

April 2025 Newsletter

‘Tis the Season of spring flowers, April showers and boy do we need the rain!

Our summer like temperatures (well maybe summer like in the rest of the lower 48) are breaking to more seasonal temperatures. Some of the harbingers of spring are …

1. wildflowers beginning to blossom along our rural roads and highways;
2. you started reorganizing your fly boxes;
3. Baseball Season has begun;
4. The NCAA basketball Final Four is concluding; and,
5. we have activities nearly every weekend in multiple locations.

Additionally, we wish you a happy Easter and a Happy Passover to celebrate along with Earth Day, Arbor Day, and Tax Day. Although the only ones I know celebrating tax-day are the IRS and accountants. But this year is different, we’ll have a Pint Night in Prescott April 15. So, get your taxes done early and come join us.

Welcome to the Zane Grey Chapter April newsletter. Our March was busy with lots of activities. A special shout-out to Mark Rosin and Kim Tillery who did extraordinary job in collecting and scheduling the many volunteers needed for our various activities. Among those activities were:

• We held Salt River Saturdays on March 8, and March 22.
• we hosted a table at the AZ Fly Shop’s 3^rd Annual Spring Fling;
• we jointly hosted a table with AZ Fly Shop, Desert Fly Casters Club, and Arizona Flycasters Club with fly-casting teaching demonstrations at the Arizona Game and Fish Department’s Outdoor Expo. The two-day event had thousands enjoying the many activities, and we frequently had long lines of people wanting to cast a fly line and win a prize. See pictures later in the newsletter.

Some of our upcoming activities include:

• We’ll have a Salt River Saturday, this Saturday, April 5, 2025. Register here;
• Pint Night in Prescott, April 15. Register here.
• The 16^th Annual Native and Wild Trout Conference, April 17, it’s not too late to register, but act quick registration closes Tuesday, April 8. We hope to see you there. 
• Salt River Saturday and Earth Day Celebration with Alpha Kapa Alpha sorority, April 19, Register here
• An Earth Day celebration with Carl Haden High School, Phoenix April 22,
• 2024 Fish Camp three sessions: June 1 – 6, June 8 – 13; & June 15 – 20. Volunteers needed for a variety of duties. Contact Arthur Greenway to volunteer. Have a teenage kid or grandkid you want to teach to fish, you can send them to camp by clicking here.

We encourage you to join us for these many activities. Click here and our webpage to see the various events we have scheduled. We’ll continue to update these events, so check back frequently.

Finally, we would like to thank all our volunteers and supporters for their continued dedication to Trout Unlimited and our mission. We could not do what we do without your support, and we are grateful for each and every one of you.

Zane Grey Chapter is expanding, so we’ll have a series of Pint Nights around Western and Northern Arizona. We visited Lake Havasu City in December at Martini Bay. Sorry if we didn't get a chance to say hello ...

Our next event is Tuesday April 15 in Prescott, Register here.

We plan these events as an occasional series of live meetings for our members, and to make new friends. So, stay tuned … there are more to come! We'll determine our next event during our board meeting and let everyone know where we take our act on the road next.

Your ZGTU board asks that as you read this newsletter, please think about how you would like to join in and help promote fishing, conservation, education, and love of nature. You may contact me or any board member to let us know about your ideas.

We hope you can join us, or better yet volunteer to help with these many and varied activities. 

Until then, 

Tight Lines. 

Alan Davis

Since 2007, the Wasatch Fly Tying and Fly Fishing Expo has attracted fly tyers, fishing guides, outfitters, fly tackle vendors and anglers from all over the country The Utah Chapters of Trout Unlimited, Fly Fishers International, and the Great Western Fly Fishing Club sponsor the Expo. And funds raised support conservation and education activities of the participating TU chapters.

This year’s Expo, held March 28-29 at the Mountain America Expo Center in Sandy, UT, also brought TU staffers and chapter members together for the Western Regional Rendezvous for two days of workshops and networking. While the rest of us manned our tent at the AZ Game & Fish Outdoor Expo, our intrepid delegation of Marco Cecala, Tom Goodwin and Steve Reiter represented Arizona at the Rendezvous. 

“We were updated with efforts in habitat restoration, partner programs with landowners, and future plans,” reported Marco. “With such a large area managed by these people, it was humbling to see what they are capable of doing with the available resources. With money and staff in short supply, things are getting done.” 

According to Marco, one of the biggest issues facing these waters is overgrazing. “Waterways cannot sustain their integrity unless they are given the chance to have trees and grasses grow to established heights,” he said. “Only then can the banks resist erosion and habitats thrive with shade and protective cover.” 

To that end, the Western states are working with private landowners to rotate cattle out of sensitive water areas. “The movement does not deprive the animals of grazing or water,” says Marco. “Some areas are being fenced, while older protected sections are getting new fencing and repairs. This is a big win for everyone.” 

Marco is our new Arizona Council of TU Conservation Chair. 

Fish Camp News — Arizona Wildlife Foundation thru their Cash for Conservation program has awarded a $1500 grant to AZTU for Fish Camp 2025 Scholarships. So, if you know an interested teen, male or female, age 13-18, who might want to attend our nationally renowned Fish Camp, there are funds available for scholarships. If you need more information on scholarships, give our Fish Camp Director, Arthur Greenway a call at 602-399-7777. 

More Fishy TU News — On April 19 during Salt River Saturday, the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. will celebrate Earth Day with Zane Grey TU and Arizona Game and Fish Department at the Salt River Blue Point bridge rest area site. See particulars below.

And Zane Grey TU is providing fishing equipment, instruction, and volunteers for a Cub Scout outing at Chapparal Park in Scottsdale from 3-6 pm on Sunday, April 13. 

Zane Grey TU is also providing a lunchtime outdoor education event at Saint Louis the King Catholic School, 4331 W. Maryland Ave. Glendale on April 9.

And, finally, AZTU is sponsoring a lunchtime Earth Day event at Carl Hayden High School on April 22. 

And this from our good friends at Orvis Phoenix —Rig it Right classes will be held Thursdays 4:30pm-6pm and are open to all levels of experience. Instructors will be discussing things like adjustable dry droppers, how to build streamer leaders and setting up level leaders. These classes are sure to step up your fly fishing game. The dates are April 10 for streamers, April 17 for droppers and April 24 for indicators. You can register here. 

And the Orvis Fly Fishing 101 classes are being offered through April, including Fast Track Classes where you have the opportunity to catch a fish the very next day! These classes are free ALWAYS! Registration is on the same link as Rig it Right classes. 

Coming up in Zane Grey Land

Arizona Fly Casters' monthly meeting will be Tuesday, April 3 at the American Italian Club 7509 N. 12th Street, Phoenix, AZ. Speaker Speaker is Jeff Currier, renowned guide and fly fishing author. Meeting starts at 7p.m.

Desert Fly Casters' monthly meeting will be on Wednesday, April 9 at the Elks Club, 1775 W. Chandler Blvd, Chandler. Speaker is Jeff Currier, renowned guide and fly fishing author. Meeting starts at 7 p.m.

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.

March Meeting Summary

The AZ Trout Unlimited Public Policy Committee (AZTU-PPC) held its annual strategy planning summit meeting on Saturday, March 1, 2025, from 8:00 am to noon. Tasha Sorensen, the Western Energy Lead for Trout Unlimited, gave a presentation on an analysis of energy development, land use, and water. She anticipates seeing increased pressure on fish and wildlife habitat from domestic energy development, including traditional and renewable sources. Additionally, transmission and interconnection and the mining of critical minerals will amplify the risk to native and wild trout and salmonid habitats on both private and public lands.

Legislative Update

The 2025 state legislature is in session and bills have been drafted and are in various stages in the legislative process. We are monitoring twelve bills of interest and reporting on them to the AZ TU community. Certain members of the AZTU Council attended a "Support Public Lands" rally at the Capitol on Thursday, March 27, 2025, sponsored by Backcountry Hunters and Anglers and the Arizona Wildlife Federation. It was attended by approximately 250 individuals from numerous organizations. We learned that Arizona has more anti-public lands initiatives/bills than any other western state in the US.

Nate Rees reported at the AZTU-PPC Strategy Summit on March 1, 2025, that there are two bills that TU opposes HB2083 regarding the AZ Game & Commission board members and SB1278 regarding a commission to oversee the sale of private lands. It appears that both bills have stalled in the legislative process.

Arizona Water Management

Tom Osterday - Past Chair AZTU PPC

I continue to participate in the Rural Water Working Group (RWWG), advocating for local control of groundwater when it is threatened. Senator Sundareshan and Rep. Mathis proposed an identical bill in the Senate (SB1425) and the House (H2714) which our group supports. This bill allows local communities to decide what actions need to be taken when their aquifer shows serious depletion. Unfortunately, neither bill received a hearing.

Sen Dunn proposed SB1520 which would provide limited relief to 4 groundwater basins in AZ but would make it virtually impossible for any other basins to receive protection in the future. This bill passed in the Senate on March 13 and passed the House Natural Resources,Energy & Water (NREW) Committee on March 25th.The RWWG held an event urging bi-partisan legislation that same day in the Capitol Rose Garden. If it does pass the House, Governor Hobbs is expected to veto it.

We believe that negotiation between the Republican and Democratic leadership is the only way we are going to make progress in protecting groundwater in Arizona. A meeting of the principals was held on March 10th, but a meeting scheduled for the following week was cancelled by Representative Gail Griffin. We believe it is essential that we address rural groundwater in this session because negotiation on Colorado River Water is going to consume everyone's attention next year when the current agreement expires.



Upcoming Public Policy Events

There will be NO regular scheduled AZTU-PPC meeting on Thursday, April 10, 2025, as members of the AZTU-PPC are being requested to attend the annual Native & Wild Trout Conference on Thursday, April 17, 2025, at the Arizona Game & Fish Department Headquarters located at 5000 W. Carefree Highway, Phoenix, AZ.

The AZTU-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.

Save the Date – April 17th

Another year has gone by and it’s time for the 16th Annual Native and Wild Trout Conference to be held on April 17th from 8:30 AM - 3:00 PM at the AZGFD headquarters.

Last year more than 110 individuals from over 25 agencies and organizations attended to learn about many wide-ranging topics from a variety of presenters. 

Don’t miss this highly informative networking event to hear the latest on native and wild trout restoration activities in Arizona and New Mexico.

Registration by April 8th and topics can be found at www.az-tu.org. 

If interested in helping contact Alec Young or Jim Walker  to volunteer. 

Join us as we host a series of Salt River Saturdays with our Fishing Club partners, Desert Fly Casters Club (DFC), and Arizona Fly Casters Club (AFC), and of course with the Arizona Game and Fish Department (AZGFD).

We begin with our first Salt River Saturday on November 16 and continue through April. Look for additional announcements later this month. We scheduled the Salt River Saturdays as follows: 

• April 5, 2025
• April 19, 2025 - Special Earth Day celebration - Details in the newsletter!

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 twelve years to support the Annual Native and Wild Trout Conferences, Fish Camp, Trout in the Classroom programs 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



You may access our calendar here. 

Zane Grey Trout Unlimited