The US Forest Service Needs Your Help, with Paul Hendricks

The US Forest Service Needs Your Help, with Paul Hendricks

From The Orvis Fly-Fishing Podcast by Tom Rosenbauer, The Orvis Company

April 13, 2026 · 56 min

About this episode

Paul Hendricks discusses the challenges facing the US Forest Service and how listeners can help protect public lands vital for fishing.

Many of our favorite places to fish for wild trout are located on Forest Service lands. My guest this week is Paul Hendricks [29:45], executive director of The Conservation Alliance, which is an outdoor industry organization dedicated to maintaining the health of our public lands. Some recent developments threaten the continuing operation of the US Forest Service, and Paul tells us what these proposed changes are--what we can do to help mitigate some drastic changes, and ensure that the dedicated people who help maintain many of the places we love to fish have the resources they need. In the Fly Box this week, we have these questions and more: How can I make a 6-foot leader for fishing for trout in small creeks? I always get tangled when fishing with multiple flies but not with a single dry fly. What am I doing wrong? Why do brook trout in the Shenandoah area appear to grow bigger than they do in most northeastern streams? How can I fish subsurface flies for panfish in very weedy waters? A listener relates yet another story of trout feeding at night when a bright light shines on them. How do I strip strike? Do I wait until I feel the fish? Is there a difference between tightening…

People in this episode

Host: Tom Rosenbauer

Guest: Paul Hendricks

Topics covered

  • public lands
  • conservation
  • fly fishing
  • trout fishing
  • outdoor industry

Keywords

  • US Forest Service
  • Conservation Alliance
  • wild trout
  • public lands
  • fly fishing

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: The Conservation Alliance, US Forest Service

Places: Shenandoah, northeastern streams

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