The Izaak Walton League is an American

environmental organization An environmental organization is an organization coming out of the conservation or environmental movements that seeks to protect, analyse or monitor the environment against misuse or degradation from human forces. In this sense the environment ...

founded in 1922 that promotes natural resource protection and outdoor recreation. The organization was founded in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, by a group of sportsmen who wished to protect

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

opportunities for future generations. They named the league after seminal fishing enthusiast Izaak Walton (1593-1683), known as the "Father of Flyfishing" and author of ''

The Compleat Angler ''The Compleat Angler'' (the spelling is sometimes modernised to ''The Complete Angler'', though this spelling also occurs in first editions) is a book by Izaak Walton. It was first published in 1653 by Richard Marriot in London. Walton continu ...

''. Advertising executive Will Dilg became its first president and promoter. The first conservation organization with a mass membership, the League had over 100,000 supporters by 1924. An early result of their efforts was the establishment of the

Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge The Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge is a ,Clean Water Act The Clean Water Act (CWA) is the primary federal law in the United States governing water pollution. Its objective is to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the nation's waters; recognizing the responsibiliti ...

of 1972. The League continues to advocate for preserving wetlands, protecting wilderness, and promoting soil and water conservation. Its Save Our Streams (SOS) program involves activists in all fifty states in monitoring water quality. In the 1930s, the League worked with the noted conservationist

Frederick Russell Burnham Frederick Russell Burnham DSO (May 11, 1861 – September 1, 1947) was an American scout and world-traveling adventurer. He is known for his service to the British South Africa Company and to the British Army in colonial Africa, and for teach ...

and the Arizona Boy Scouts to save the

bighorn sheep The bighorn sheep (''Ovis canadensis'') is a species of sheep native to North America. It is named for its large horns. A pair of horns might weigh up to ; the sheep typically weigh up to . Recent genetic testing indicates three distinct subspec ...

. These efforts led to the establishment in 1939 of two bighorn game ranges in Arizona:

Kofa National Wildlife Refuge The Kofa National Wildlife Refuge is located in Arizona in the southwestern United States, northeast of Yuma and southeast of Quartzsite. The refuge, established in 1939 to protect desert bighorn sheep, encompasses over of the Yuma Desert re ...

and

Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge (CPNWR) is located in southwestern Arizona in the United States, along of the Mexico–United States border. It is bordered to the north and to the west by the Barry M. Goldwater Air Force Range, to the s ...

. Although the League's membership declined by the 1960s to a stable level around 50,000, the organization retains a firm base of anglers in the Midwest and Tidewater, with more than 200 chapters across the country. The League publishes a quarterly magazine, ''Outdoor America,'' which covers the League's activities as well as the environment. They are headquartered in

Gaithersburg, Maryland Gaithersburg ( ), officially the City of Gaithersburg, is a city in Montgomery County, Maryland, Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. At the time of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. Census, Gaithersburg had a population of 69,657, ...

Accomplishments

In the 1940s, the Izaak Walton League of America played an integral part in protecting the Jackson Hole National Monument from the cattle industry in Teton County. They also helped to support the transition of the monument into

Grand Teton National Park Grand Teton National Park is an American national park in northwestern Wyoming. At approximately , the park includes the major peaks of the Teton Range as well as most of the northern sections of the valley known as Jackson Hole. Grand Teton Na ...

. In May 1973, the League sued the

U.S. Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, and food. It aims to meet the needs of comme ...

over the clearcut logging of

Monongahela National Forest The Monongahela National Forest is a national forest located in the Allegheny Mountains of eastern West Virginia, USA. It protects over of federally managed land within a proclamation boundary that includes much of the Potomac Highlands Regi ...

in West Virginia as being contrary to the law, which stated in part, "only dead, physically mature, and large growth trees ''individually marked for cutting''" could be sold. The US District Court ruled in favor of the League. The ruling was appealed; on August 21, 1975, the Fourth Court of Appeals upheld the lower court's decision. The ramifications of this local decision for forestry and the timber industry nationally led to efforts to repeal the Organic Act. This resulted in a new law passed by Congress: the

National Forest Management Act of 1976 The National Forest Management Act (NFMA) of 1976 (P.L. 94-588) is a United States federal law that is the primary statute governing the administration of national forests and was an amendment to the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Plan ...

, which repealed major portions of the Organic Act.Godfrey, Anthony pp. 468-469 The

Columbus Izaak Walton League Lodge The Columbus Izaak Walton League Lodge, on U.S. Route 81 just south of Columbus, Nebraska, was built in 1938. It was designed by local architect Emiel Christensen, whose Oak Ballroom in nearby Schuyler, Nebraska, shares a similar rustic style. T ...

, in

Columbus, Nebraska Columbus is a city in and the county seat of Platte County, in the state of Nebraska in the Midwestern United States. The population was 22,111 at the 2010 census. It is the 10th largest city in Nebraska, with 24,028 people as of the 2020 censu ...

, is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

Notes

References

*Fox, Stephen ''John Muir and His Legacy: The American Conservation Movement'' (Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1981), *Godfrey, Anthony ''The Ever-Changing View-A History of the National Forests in California'' (USDA Forest Service Publishers, 2005)

External links

Izaak Walton League of America official siteIzaak Walton League of America. Wyoming Division records
at the

University of Wyoming The University of Wyoming (UW) is a public land-grant research university in Laramie, Wyoming. It was founded in March 1886, four years before the territory was admitted as the 44th state, and opened in September 1887. The University of Wyoming ...

American Heritage Center The American Heritage Center is the University of Wyoming's repository of manuscripts, rare books, and the university archives. Its collections focus on Wyoming Wyoming () is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United ...

Environmental organizations based in the United States History of Chicago Non-profit organizations based in Chicago Organizations established in 1922 1922 in the United States 1922 in the environment Fisheries conservation organizations 1922 establishments in Illinois

Accomplishments

Notes

References

Further reading

External links