Kickass and the trout streams

Kickass, the doorstop dog, notes that the glory of summer shows some now in the un-mowed roadside ditches, but the season really comes into its own in the hundreds of miles of river and trout stream valleys where arteries of cool water energize the wild heart of Wisconsin. An incredible variety of intertwined, over-the-head plants, each with singular independent beauty, presents an effective barrier to all but a handful of determined—perhaps demented trout fishermen, of which the keeper is one.  When he—the keeper, is not out there in his typical summer flounder, he likes to think of the great network of streams across the state and how it is largely like a priceless natural treasure, not swarmed over by recreating hoards, but just out there, now in the throes of seasonal excess, and getting along fine without human intervention.  The presence of this wild, watery state-wide treasure is due to the selfless efforts of a lot of people—they know who they are, who had the foresight to put a stream acquisition program in place and to work their fannies off—largely anonymously, to see that it continues to function to this day.  You want heroes, Kickass says: they are among us. Find them and thank them.