Fly fishing enthusiasts are among the most ardent advocates for clean and healthy rivers. Fly fishermen founded some of the first river conservation groups in the United States, including Hudson Riverkeeper (where NRDC senior attorney Robert F. Kennedy Jr. acts as chief prosecuting attorney). Riverkeeper was formed in the 1960s by fly fisherman and author Robert Boyle, and has spawned 37 similar programs across the country, from Alaska to Georgia and California to Maine.

A book by one of New York's foremost anglers tells the story of fishing and rivers in the Catskill mountains, which occupy about 4,000 square miles west of the Hudson River and supply much of New York City's water. This small, well-worn range of mountains is covered in rivers and streams and is home to the stunning, still undammed Beaverkill River, one of the country's best known and most beloved trout streams.

The photos in this album, by photographer Enrico Ferorelli, are taken from Land of Little Rivers: A Story in Photos of Catskill Fly Fishing, by Austin McK. Francis (Beaverkill Press, 2000).

last revised 1.2.01