Dear Barack, sorry I missed you

A letter to the President of the United States:

Dear Barack,
Sorry I missed you last weekend in the park. While you were speaking at Old Faithful I was fishing the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River with a friend and his son.
I first fished the canyon in 1971 when I was working for an outfitter in Cooke City. I took an elderly couple from Ohio there by horseback. I was 19 and the place hooked me.
It was free to fish the park back then. The canyon was thick with timber and the native cutthroat trout were fat and eager to eat my flies.
I’ve tried to fish it every year since and have been pretty successful in that endeavor.
Fire burned through the canyon in August 1988 and I remember reading afterward that it would have no long-lasting adverse effects on the fishery. I beg to differ.
The canyon changed after the fire. It was no longer cool and dark. There was no shade and in late summer it was like fishing in the desert.
And it was no longer free. The park was now charging $10 for a fishing license and while I grumbled a bit about the cost, I consoled myself with the thought that my ten-spot would help maintain the good fishing.
Thirty-eight years after I first dropped into the canyon the fishing is still good, but without a doubt it too, has changed. The mature cutts we caught Saturday had big heads and skinny bodies. We also caught rainbow trout and what looked like rainbow/cutthroat hybrids. I’d never caught a rainbow out of the Yellowstone before above its confluence with the Lamar River.
The cheapest license I could buy now cost $15.
I’m beginning to suspect that my license fees aren’t being used to maintain the fishery.
On the bright side, the number of fish in the canyon remains high -- although they run a bit smaller than they used to -- and we still had the place to ourselves. Few anglers, it appears, are willing to make the hike. There weren’t even any horse tracks down there this time.
And while I enjoy having my own private fishing hole in the world’s first national park, as I grow older I find the privacy a bit disconcerting. Too many younger people hooked on Wii bowling I suppose.
Glad to read you took a fly-fishing lesson. It’s a very fun way to fish. Michelle and the girls would enjoy it, too.
Give me a holler next time you’re in the neighborhood. I’d love to take you into the canyon. The license may be a bit pricey by then, but there’s a good chance we’ll have the place all to ourselves.
Tight lines, Parker
Parker Heinlein is at pman@mtintouch.net