Date: Tue, 11/08/2011 Contact: Chris Wood, President and CEO - (571) 274-0601 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Trout Unlimited applauds appointment of Leslie Weldon Long-time regional forester well-equipped to step into leadership role Washington, D.C. — Trout Unlimited today applauded the federal appointment of Leslie Weldon as deputy chief of the U.S. Forest Service. "I've known Leslie for many years and you won't find a person with a better land ethic within the Forest Service," said Chris Wood, TU's president and CEO. "She has been an outstanding regional forester, was an important leader when Mike Dombeck was chief of the Forest Service, and will do a great job promoting partnerships that accelerate the protection and restoration of our national forests and grasslands." TU has a strong history of partnership with the U.S. Forest Service, which, with its 400,000 miles of streams and 3 million acres of lakes, has a central role in the future of our nation's water supplies and fisheries habitats. Weldon's appointment will enable her to work closely with TU on a number of issues vital to the organization's 147,000 members from coast to coast. "We look forward to working with Deputy Chief Weldon and the Forest Service to expand our partnership, and protect and restore thriving populations of trout and salmon on national forest lands," Wood said. ------ Trout Unlimited is the nation's largest coldwater conservation organization, with 140,000 members dedicated to conserving, protecting, and restoring North America's trout and salmon fisheries and their watersheds.