River Conservation Scholarship Created

BOZEMAN, Mont.- Kazuhiro Ashizawa, Japan's grandfather of fly fishing, had two final wishes. One was to fish the rivers of Ireland while the other was to visit the petrified forests on Specimen Ridge in Yellowstone National Park. Sadly, neither wish was fulfilled before he succumbed to cancer in 1996.

In 1968, at age 30, Ashizawa quit his job in corporate Japan to live a simpler life. He devoted himself to fly fishing and backpacking. His love of fly fishing led him to become Japan's most influential figure in outdoor recreation.

Both as founder of Japan Fly Fishers, the country's largest fly fishing organization, and as a pioneer nature writer, Ashizawa had a profound impact on Japan's attitudes toward the environment. "He's the most important person in Japan for starting fly fishing and natural resource conservation," said Steve Braun of Yellowstone Glacier Adventures.

As friend and collaborator, Braun, together with the Japan Fly Fishers, honor Ashizawa's legacy in fly fishing and outdoor recreation and have established a scholarship fund to improve the management of Japan's rivers and national parks. Because Ashizawa's influence extended well beyond Japan, Braun is looking to the fly fishing community in the United States and Canada for support.

Traveling the world fishing, his magazine articles and television productions were in large part responsible for the flow of Japanese fisherman to the blue ribbon trout streams of Montana, Wyoming and Idaho and elsewhere that continues today, Braun said.

He made numerous trips to Yellowstone over 22 years. It was while fishing the Lamar River in Yellowstone beneath Specimen Ridge that Ashizawa's last wish to climb the ridge to the petrified forests was sparked.

His worldwide impact has been tremendous. According to Braun, every fly fish shop in America who has benefited from a Japanese fisherman owes a thanks to Mr. Ashizawa.

The scholarship will sponsor Japanese students and professionals who wish to study natural resource management and conservation biology in Montana in order to take expertise back to Japan. Braun is currently seeking donations to establish a $100,000 endowment for the Japan Fly Fishers Kazuhiro Ashizawa Memorial Scholarship, with over 30% per cent of the goal raised to date.

Please send donations to the Kazuhiro Ashizawa Memorial Scholarship, c/o
Yellowstone Glacier Adventures,
PO Box 165, Bozeman, MT 59715
Telephone: (406) 585-9041 or
406-585-9041
Fax: (406) 585-9041

e-mail at
SeeMontana@aol.com

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