Letter from Joe Overlock

Chairman of MA RI TU Council

January, 2010

Dear Members,

Thanks to the hard work and dedication of our members we are surrounded by great fishing opportunities everywhere. Whether you’re enjoying the catch & release sections of the Housatonic and Deerfield or chasing sea run brookies at Red Brook, Trout Unlimited has played a major role in our cold water fisheries over the years.

With such a long history of dedicated volunteers I am honored to have been selected as Chairman of the MA/RI State Council. Cold water conservation and trout fishing are two subjects that I am very passionate about and I’m excited to be able to have the opportunity to play a larger role in these.

TU has made a lot of progress over the years but our work is far from done. Massachusetts alone has 1,624 dams in her waters that fragment our fisheries, stop spawning migrations, and contribute to warmer water temperatures for our cold water streams. Most of these dams are now old, in disrepair, and make ideal candidates for local chapters to get involved in removal projects. We have a lot of dam problems in Massachusetts! (I love a good dam joke).

Dammed up waterways are just one of the many problems we face. I look forward to working with everyone over the course of 2010 and am confident that if we all work together as a team this will be our best year yet.

If you have any suggestions or concerns for the Council I am always available by phone or email. Feel free to contact me at 413-652-1638 or Joe.Overlock@gmail.com.

Best Regards,
Joe Overlock
MA/RI Council Chairman – Hoosic Chapter (#89) President
Cell: (413) 652-1638