Today TU is a national organization with more than 140,000 volunteers organized into about 400 chapters from Maine to Montana to Alaska. This dedicated grassroots army is matched by a respected staff of lawyers, policy experts and scientists, who work out of more than 30 offices nationwide. These conservation professionals ensure that TU is at the forefront of fisheries restoration work at the local, state and national levels.
The organization remains committed to applying "the very best information and thinking available" in its conservation work and has developed cutting-edge tools such as the Conservation Success Index (CSI), a sophisticated framework for assessing the health of coldwater fish species throughout their native range. Whether this range encompasses a few hundred miles or multiple states, the CSI helps the organization target its efforts toward those populations most in need of protection or restoration.
The CSI also enables TU to measure its progress in achieving the bold goals laid out in its mission and vision. These goals require the organization to work at increasingly larger scales, and to collaborate with other conservation interests, local communities and state and federal partners to begin to rebuild the natural resiliency of watersheds. Such efforts are crucial if North America's trout and salmon are to survive climate change and the host of threats facing them at the start of the 21st century.
Nearly 50 years after its founding, no other conservation organization is as well placed as TU to make a difference for the nation's coldwater fisheries.
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- EIN 38-1612715
- (703) 522-0200
- 1777 N Kent St Ste 100 Arlington VA 22209-2110 USA
- www.tu.org
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Nonprofit Overview
Causes: Animals, Environment, Fisheries Resources, Natural Resources Conservation & Protection, Pollution Abatement & Control, Water, Water Resources, Wetlands Conservation & Management
Mission: To conserve, protect, and restore north america's coldwater fisheries and their watersheds.
Programs: 2017 was a banner year for trout unlimited (tu). Across the country, staff and volunteers tirelessly worked to achieve our mission to conserve, protect, and restore north america's coldwater fisheries and their watersheds. Just a few of our many achievements are highlighted below. Protectin 2017, tu protected 1,164 river miles and increased protection on 3,000,709 million acres. Bristol bay in alaska remained one of tu's largest protection priorities in 2017 and will remain a focus in 2018. The proposed pebble mine presents a catastrophic threat to the world-class salmon ecosystem in bristol bay and would forever mar the magnificent landscape. We are aggressively pursuing protections through multiple channels, including a federal permitting process and administrative and legislative action at the state level. The cascade-siskiyou national monument in southern oregon is a unique landscape rich in biodiversity where three mountain ranges merge. In january 2017, tu and partners succeeded in obtaining a 48,000 acre expansion of the monument. The expansion will help protect a native population of redband rainbow trout in the jenny creek watershed, which are threatened by climate change and invasive species. Tu is currently defending the expanded monument from efforts by the trump administration to shrink it. Also in oregon, tu played a big role in securing an outstanding resource waters designation for the north fork of the smith river. Major restoration efforts and closure of a steelhead hatchery have resulted in a resurgence of wild steelhead. The outstanding resource waters designation protects 98 river miles and 100,000 acres by prohibiting degradation of the river's exception water quality. In 2017, tu continued to secure protective designations in pennsylvania for trout streams before pipeline construction and other forms of development occur. Over the past two years, pennsylvania has designated 731 new wild trout streams sections totaling more than 2,100 miles. Classification as cold water fisheries under the state's water quality regulations trigger more stringent environmental protections when department of environmental protection reviews permits for development activities. Reconnecttu volunteers work throughout the country to reconnect tributary streams to mainstem rivers, which allow wild and native fish to migrate into headwater streams to spawn. In total, tu reconnected 737 river miles in 2017. Montana's clark fork river basin is one the west's iconic trout waters. The basin's trout production potential has been reduced through disconnection of critically important tributary spawning habitats and extensive mine pollution along the main stem clark fork river corridor. In 2017, tu continued restoration efforts to complement the ongoing superfund clean-up in the main stem clark fork river corridor -- and rebuild what was once a robust fishery -- by restoring and reconnecting the tributary habitats that will recruit fish to the newly restored main stem clark fork. Specifically, tu staff completed fish passage and screening projects on three different clark fork river tributaries to reconnect an additional nine miles of spawning habitat for native westslope cutthroat and bull trout in 2017. In california and oregon, tu helped secure a new klamath hydroelectric settlement agreement, which will remove four dams below klamath lake starting in 2020 and reconnect fish passage to more than 400 miles of prime spawning and rearing habitat for salmon and steelhead. In 2017, tu continued to prepare the watershed for salmon and steelhead that will return after the scheduled dam removal. Tu staff also secured over $3 million to fund the largest irrigation piping and water conservation project undertaken in the basin, which will keep adequate stream flows in a major tributary, the sprague river. On oregon's north coast, tu and several partners continued work on the salmon superhwy project, an ambitious undertaking to open more than 178 miles of steelhead and salmon habitat in six coastal rivers over the next decade. The project will boost local economy, create jobs, stimulate the outdoor recreation and fishing sectors, and benefit local farmers. Tu won a competitive award from the natural resources conservation service's regional conservation partnership program. And in 2017, tu staff installed bridges in place of perched culverts at the mouths of five brook trout streams just above their confluence with the mainstem beebe river. The work was done in partnership with the conservation fund, which purchased a 5,000 acre easement to protect the project area in perpetuity. For the first time in decades brook trout will be able to move freely between the beebe river and the five tributaries. Restoreacross the country, tu works to restore watersheds degraded by hard-rock mining, grazing and development. Tu's nationwide restoration work benefited 361 river miles in 2017. In washington, upper columbia river native steelhead migrate over eight dams as they return to small natal streams to spawn in the okanogan river basin. On johnson creek, one of the highest priority streams for steelhead recovery in the entire okanogan basin, tu staff, in partnership with the colville confederated tribes and the u. S. Fish & wildlife service, recently eliminated two large fish passage barriers. Within two months, steelhead were seen moving up past the former barriers. Tu was recently awarded an additional $500,000 to continue johnson creek restoration work in 2018. Tu continues to be recognized for its nationwide restoration efforts and achievements. In 2016, the driftless area restoration project was selected for induction into the freshwater fishing hall of fame for its contributions to angling in the midwest. Before tu started the driftless area restoration effort, there were three to five miles of restoration occurring in the driftless area each year. In 2017, we hit our highest annual total yet with 20 miles of restored habitat. Parallel to tu's restoration work across the country is an effort to pass national "good samaritan" legislation that would allow groups like trout unlimited to restore waters degraded by abandoned mines.
sustainthroughout the country, tu works to bring young people into conservation through trout in the classroom, teen summit, stream girls, and five rivers (college chapters) programs. These students are the next generation of tu leaders and american conservationists, and in 2017, tu offered more than 1,600 youth education programs. Tu's veterans services partnership program helps wounded warriors discover the healing power of the water through fishing. Tu and over 140 of its chapters provided 675 events and activities to serve veterans and their families in 2017. Veterans services partnership events include fishing outings, fly tying events and social gatherings for veterans of combat so they may discover the peace and tranquility of time spent on the water. Tu volunteers are engaged in the organization's conservation mission and actively play a role in protecting, reconnecting, and restoring the nation's trout and salmon waters. In 2017, tu volunteers recorded a record 734,824 service hours and executed over 1,000 conservation projects in local communities.
government affairstu's government affairs staff worked diligently in the halls of the federal government to push important legislation, oppose bad conservation policies, and support vital conservation funding from coast to coast, all in service of fulfilling tu's mission for conserving trout and salmon habitat and fisheries. For example, tu's government affairs staff:- held the line on proposals to weaken the antiquities act in congress and urged the department of the interior not to diminish existing national monuments that are protecting trout and salmon habitat. -organized substantial opposition to proposals by epa and the u. S. Army corps of engineers to reduce protections for headwater streams under the clean water act. Healthy headwater streams are vital for trout and salmon conservation and fisheries. -developed substantial support for "good samaritan" legislation a bill passed through the house of representatives - to facilitate abandoned coal mine pollution clean up. -organized substantial support in alaska for bristol bay trout and salmon fisheries which helped to convince epa to keep high clean water act hurdles on the table in our campaign to limit harmful hard-rock mining in alaska's bristol bay region. -pressed for passage of the public lands renewable energy act in support of achieving important conservation provisions in the bill that would provide mitigation funds from renewable energy lease royalties that would be used to protect, restore and reconnect important fish and game habitat on public federal public lands. -organized substantial opposition to unwarranted proposed budget cuts for federal natural resource management programs of vital interest to tu and its members. Congress rejected the harmful cuts and maintained level funding for most programs, enabling tu's trout and salmon watershed projects to continue to be successful.
sciencetu's science team is leading citizen scienceor anger scienceefforts, which provide opportunities to engage tu members in collecting data on coldwater fishes and their habitats. Tu is pursuing angler science activities around steelhead spawner monitoring and red counts, stream temperature and flow monitoring, tracking invasive didymo, and using edna to determine the presence of rare fishes.