For Mike Mihalas, a neighborhood bluegill pond in suburban Connecticut was the starting point for a lifetime devoted to fish, rivers, and wild places. After catching a brook trout there as a kid (likely a visitor from the small stream behind his house), Mike became captivated by native trout and the waters they depend on. When development upstream degraded his backyard stream and brook trout numbers declined, he saw firsthand what happens when we don’t take care of these places. Over the past 25 years, Mike has dedicated countless hours to Trout Unlimited as a volunteer leader, including serving as president of TU’s Mountain Bridge Chapter and, today, as the National Leadership Council representative for North Carolina. Along the way, he’s passed his love for these wild places down to his kids, making conservation a family affair. His story is a powerful reminder that river champions are often shaped by the places closest to home and that we all have the power to create lasting c...