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"Many of us probably would be better fishermen if we did not spend so much time watching and waiting for the world to become perfect."-Norman Maclean Though Maclean writes of an age-old focus of all anglers - the day's catch - he may as well be speaking to another, deeper accomplishment of the best fishermen and fisherwomen: the preservation of natural resources. Backcasts celebrates this centuries-old confluence of fly fishing and conservation. However religious, however patiently spiritual the tying and casting of the fly may be, no angler wishes to wade into rivers of industrial runoff or cast into waters devoid of fish or full of invasive species like the Asian carp. So it comes as no surprise that those who fish have long played an active, foundational role in the preservation, management, and restoration of the world's coldwater fisheries.