One of the most interesting professors I had at the university was a math instructor who was a little different than the rest. Truth be known he was a lot different than most of the professors I knew. While taking his class I came to respect and admire him and learned a great deal from him. The interesting thing is the most important lessons had absolutely nothing to do with math.
This particular professor had a habit of occasionally lecturing on things that had nothing to do with math and everything to do with life. One day he came in and started talking about California coastal redwoods. He told us the Latin name, some of the history of the tree and the threats that the tree faced. Most importantly he talked about his personal commitment to preserving coastal redwoods in his local area. The gist of his message was that he could not protect all of the redwoods everywhere, but he could protect the trees that were in his backyard, and that come hell or high water, that's what he intended to do. Now remember, this is a university math professor lecturing to a classroom full of 19 and 20 year old science and engineering students. He wanted us to be aware that we were going to need to make choices about how we were going to live our lives. His goal I think was to get us to realize we would need to make a difference, not just make a living.
That brings us to Trout Unlimited and the challenges cold water fisheries face here in California. Pick your favorite watershed and chances are there is work that needs to be done and a need for people to make it happen. The Sac Sierra chapter of TU has a lot of opportunities for you to help make a difference in our area. Take a look at the list of projects, find one that interests you and give a few hours of your time. Don't see anything with TU that strikes your fancy?Then find a group or project that speaks to you and invest your time and energy there.
Like my professor said, I can't protect all of the fish everywhere, but I can protect the fish in my backyard, and come hell or high water, that's what I intend to do.