This week’s Northern Express — sister publication of The Ticker — takes a look at the health of our waterways. Working to restore the natural character of area rivers and streams is Trout Unlimited’s Adams Chapter, whose leaders and volunteers are refocusing their efforts on cold water conservation. 

Sixty-two-year-old Liz Petrella, the Adams Chapter’s three-term president who describes herself as a “fly fishing, cigar-smoking hot mess,” says that, for a time, the Adams Chapter had lost its way down the meandering stream of conservation. The emphasis, she said, had shifted to fly fishing, rather than enhancing and protecting the region’s cold water streams and rivers.

Like a large river’s smaller tributary, the Adams Chapter has been flowing since its 1996 formation, focusing on the Boardman, Manistee, Pine, Pere Marquette, Rapid, and Au Sable Rivers. With over 400 members, the group has grown, particularly of late, as the chapter’s four-year-old Women on the Water (WOW) program draws in more people. Read the full story here.

Pick up a free copy of this week’s Northern Express, available to read online or at one of nearly 650 spots in 13 counties across northern Michigan.

Photo by Chris Doyal, courtesy of Trout Unlimited