Campaign for trout to aid Maine

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In the months ahead, you may begin seeing colorful T-shirts bearing a logo that reads “World Trout.”

If you’re interested in fishing – and more specifically, if you’re interested in helping out in efforts to restore the Penobscot River – you may want to consider buying one.

“World Trout” is a campaign launched by Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard, in partnership with artist and writer James Prosek, which will run for several years.

The plan is to raise the awareness of the plight of native trout and their habitat. Each year World Trout will highlight the work of various organizations that are doing grassroots work to protect trout and their habitat, according to a Patagonia press release.

Each year three organizations will be announced as beneficiaries of the World Trout campaign, and those groups will receive a percentage of the proceeds from sale of the World Trout shirts. Among the inaugural group of recipients is the Penobscot River Restoration Trust.

According to Lia Morris, the campaign and outreach coordinator for Penobscot Partners, which is the coalition working on the Penobscot River Restoration Project, the Atlantic Salmon Federation will actually receive the funds from Patagonia, then direct them to the project through the trust.

“For the coalition, it’s another wonderful way to increase education and knowledge about the project itself and the challenges that Atlantic salmon in Maine are facing,” Morris said.

Morris was unsure how much money from the World Trout campaign will be available for use in efforts to restore the Penobscot, but expected it to be in the $10,000-$20,000 range.

That total is fairly modest, considering the fact that the group is trying to raise $25 million in order to remove two dams on the Penobscot.

But Morris said the T-shirt campaign is important because it adds to the visibility of the restoration effort.

“I think it will be wonderful for the profile of the project,” she said.

Maine’s senators have helped secure $1 million in federal funds for the project, she said, and other efforts are continuing.

“Currently the coalition is working to get an internal fund-raising campaign under way, and of course we continue our effort on the state and federal levels,” Morris said. “We’re all knocking on doors and doing the work we need to do, and hoping for the next big piece to fall into place.”

If you’re interested in buying a World Trout T-shirt (and getting it signed by the artist whose works is featured), you’ll have that chance on April 29.

Prosek will appear at the Patagonia store in Freeport at 7:30 p.m. to talk about fishing and discuss World Trout in detail.

Winter holds on at Libby’s

Earlier this week, I received an e-mail from one of Maine’s most respected outdoorsmen, Matt Libby, who told me he had made his spring return to the family sporting camps at Millinocket Lake.

If you’re familiar with the Maine landscape, you may think you know where Millinocket Lake is … and chances are, you might be wrong in this case.

There is, actually, a Millinocket Lake near Millinocket … and this one isn’t it. Libby Camps is on the other, more remote Millinocket Lake, which is located north of Baxter State Park and accessible via dirt roads (or float plane). The Libbys have a post office box in Ashland … but trust me: thinking Libby Camps is in Ashland is roughly akin to believing that Mount Katahdin is in … well … Millinocket.

And if you’re looking for a true Maine woods experience, the fact that Libby Camps are off the beaten path is a very, very good thing.

Libby Camps have been in the Libby family since 1890, and though he and his wife, Ellen, spend some time at Sugarloaf in the winter, returning to camp – and getting back to work on all the chores that need to be performed – is a special time for him.

“We are in at camp, but still snowmobiling,” Libby wrote. “The snow pack is surprising even with the warm weather. I have been bulldozing the road for three days and will try driving in today for the first time. The ice looks like February, but that is always deceiving at this time of year.”

Libby’s e-mail arrived shortly after I had finished reading the Libby Camps newsletter, “2005 Long-Line Release.”

Libby and I have yet to share a canoe, and I’m looking forward to the chance to finally stop by Millinocket Lake for a visit.

The funny thing is, though I haven’t made that visit yet, the place already feels familiar.

The reason: one of the most enjoyable newsletters you’ll ever read.

Sitting down and reading the camp newsletter, which, according to the masthead, is “published occasionally in the north corner of the Libby Farm House,” transported me to Millinocket Lake.

It introduced me to the family and to those who work and play alongside the Libbys. It let me in on some inside jokes and told me how to make the Libby’s famous Maine Guide Muffins.

Simply put, it took me to places I’ve never been, and made me feel like I had.

It also made me realize that this year, finally, I’ve really got to get up to Libby Camps to experience a day or two at one of Maine’s truly legendary sporting camps.

If you want to peruse the Libby Camp newsletter (the muffin recipe ought to be enough to lure you onto the Internet), you can do so at www.libbycamps.com.

John Holyoke can be reached at jholyoke@bangordailynews.net or by calling 990-8214 or 1-800-310-8600.