The Truchas Chapter of Trout Unlimited was recently featured on 98.1 Radio Free Santa Fe, where representatives Darrel Connely and Mike J. joined host Honey Harris to discuss the chapter’s conservation work and preview the upcoming Santa Fe Fly Fishing Film Festival.
The first-ever festival will take place March 1 at 1:00 p.m. at Sky Cinemas, showcasing 14 short films that highlight fly fishing culture, conservation efforts, and personal stories from anglers across the country. The event serves as a fundraiser to support the chapter’s education and stewardship programs throughout northern New Mexico.
Central to the chapter’s mission is protecting the Rio Grande cutthroat trout, New Mexico’s only native trout species. Once widespread across the region, the species now occupies only a small portion of its historic habitat due to competition from introduced brown and rainbow trout and genetic hybridization.
“The Rio Grande cutthroat trout is now in only about 10 percent of the habitat it used to be in,” Mike J. explained during the interview. “It’s been pushed up into small, high-mountain streams, and there’s a lot of work being done to conserve it.”
Funds raised from the film festival help support partnerships with state and federal agencies, Indigenous youth fly fishing clinics, a $2,500 annual scholarship for graduating seniors, and the popular “Trout in the Classroom” program. That initiative currently serves 16 schools from Pecos to Los Alamos, where students raise trout from eggs and release them into local waterways each spring.
“We’re trying to ensure we have a next generation of stewards for our cold-water fisheries in New Mexico,” Mike J. said.
The event is family-friendly, with tickets priced at $15 for adults and $5 for children. In addition to the festival, the chapter hosts casting clinics and community gatherings such as “Ales and Tails,” which bring together anglers and conservation supporters.
Tickets are available through Sky Cinemas. More information about the Truchas Chapter of Trout Unlimited and its programs can be found at truchastu.org.
