The Newsletter of the Texas Chapter of the American Fisheries Society, Volume 42, Number 1, Winter 2016 Page: 1 of 25

                                
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PrepsLoev'-t's wes s  ~e
by Dave Buzan
Yesterday was an exceptional late winter day with sunshine and warm breezes. Working along the bani
pristine Hill country stream, its crystalline waters overlaying bleached bedrock, I found the still bloody c,
of a wild turkey surrounded by a neat pile of feathers. The ranch manager told me turkeys and owls wer
bountiful this year and an owl had probably celebrated an early Thanksgiving turkey dinner.
The chapter and our annual meeting are where we come together to grow, celebrate, and glimpse the f
Like the owl, our chapter family has much to give thanks for. As Kevin Storey said in last year's presided
message, an attempt to name all who contributed would fill these pages and leave many overlooked. 0
of you played roles, some large and others small, but all critical to the meeting's success. We are deepl
grateful for everything you did.
Randy Rushin, our president-elect, reminded me our population will double as the supply of readily ava
water decreases over the next decades. The adage, "Whiskey is for drinking and water is for fighting"
resonates now as it did a century ago. We are in that fight, struggling to ensure there is water for health
streams, lakes and estuaries. Ensuring water for people and ecosystems will be the future contribution
you will make.
Golden algae continues to be an enigma as we now
fight to control zebra mussels. For decades, many of us
working and playing on rivers, saw mussels and looked
at them with little more than passing curiosity. Our work
begins in earnest to divert many of them from path to
extinction. Our battle of 35 years ago to ban
commercial netting in bays is being replaced with the
work of restoring oysters to their cornerstone role in our
estuaries.
Plenty to do, lots to learn, much to enjoy. Grow your
role in our chapter family, it is where we will lay the
foundation for much of what is accomplished in the next
40 years.

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