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Michigan anglers banded together to protect native trout--and started a national movement

Chesapeake Bay Program
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The group Trout Unlimited began on July 18, 1959.

Casting a fishing line into the water is just about as Michigan as you can get. And for some families, it's a legacy passed down through generations.

It might be easy to take fishing in Michigan for granted. But nearly sixty years ago, a group of fishing fanatics got together near the Au Sable River to ensure that trout-fishing in Michigan would remain strong for years to come.

That group was--and is still--called Trout Unlimited.

The Michigan History Center's Mark Harvey and Chris Wood, President and CEO of Trout Unlimited, joined Stateside to explain how the group began in Michigan; how it expanded across the country; and how it's fought to protect trout and trout habitat throughout the years.

Trout Unlimited began on July 18, 1959. Harvey said members "were environmentalists before there were environmentalists."

Wood said the group expanded across the United States "like a brush fire" after that. 

Listen to the full history above.

This segment is produced in partnership with theMichigan History Center.

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