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Conservation

For the riverswe’ll pass down

Since 1959, anglers have stood up for cold, clean water. Here is the work, the places and the people carrying it forward.

01

Protect

02

Reconnect

03

Restore

04

Sustain

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Take care of the fish, and the
fishing will take care of itself.

TU’s founding principle, 1959

I

t started in 1959 with a group of anglers in George Griffith’s home on the banks of Michigan’s Au Sable River. They believed wild trout deserved clean, cold water and that anglers should be the first to defend it.

Today that idea lives in nearly 400 chapters and a national team of scientists, lawyers and restoration crews working river by river, from Alaska’s salmon country to Appalachian brook trout streams.

What we do

Four kinds of work with one goal: cold, clean, fishable water for the next generation of anglers.

Restoration–

We defend intact headwaters and public lands, then roll up our sleeves to heal streams damaged by mining, logging and development.

Explore river protection →
Policy & advocacy+
Science+
Mobilizing People+
Restoration crew member pouring a bucket of soil beside newly planted willow stakes
Aerial view of a river winding through spruce forest

Where we work

Rivers don’t follow state lines. Neither do we.

Watercolor map of the United States with major rivers
Bristol Bay, Alaska Tongass National Forest, Alaska Skagit River steelhead, Washington Klamath River dam removal, California and Oregon Henrys Fork cutthroat, Idaho Blackfoot River, Montana Lahontan cutthroat, Nevada Upper Colorado River, Colorado Rio Grande cutthroat, New Mexico Driftless Area streams, Wisconsin Au Sable River, Michigan Abandoned mine reclamation, Pennsylvania Eastern brook trout, Virginia Maine brook trout ponds, Maine Great Smoky headwaters, North Carolina

Priority waters

Every mark on the map is a TU project in the water right now. Choose a watershed to see the people and places behind it.

Protect
Reconnect
Restore
Sustain
Open the full project map  →
Two anglers resting on a forested riverbank

01

Protect

Keeping the last great headwaters, roadless forests and public lands intact.

Read the chapter
Misty mountain canyon with a river at the bottom

02

Reconnect

Taking out dams and failing culverts so fish can reach cold water again.

Read the chapter

03

Restore

Healing rivers scarred by mining, logging and development, bank by bank.

Read the chapter
Excavator placing boulders in a river restoration site

04

Sustain

Keeping enough water in rivers for fish, farms and towns through the dry years.

Read the chapter
Rally crowd holding a sign that reads We all live downstream

National reach, local roots

TU works at both scales at once, and each one makes the other stronger.

National

TU national staff

  • Leadership
  • Science & research
  • Policy advocacy
  • Conservation expertise
  • Large-scale coordination

Local

Nearly 400 volunteer chapters

  • Local knowledge & monitoring
  • Education & youth outreach
  • Community partnerships
  • Boots on the ground: grassroots action

The people behind the work

Our conservation team

Biologists, hydrologists, lawyers and organizers working river by river with nearly 400 chapters to protect, reconnect and restore coldwater habitat.

Meet the full staff →

01 / 02

Portrait of Maya Redfield

Northern Rockies

Maya Redfield

Director, Montana Water Project

Portrait of Daniel Okafor

Driftless Area

Daniel Okafor

Stream Restoration Biologist

Portrait of Sara Lindqvist

Pacific Northwest

Sara Lindqvist

Senior Hydrologist

Portrait of James Whitt

Southern Appalachia

James Whitt

Eastern Brook Trout Coordinator

Portrait of Nora Kaskan

Alaska

Nora Kaskan

Bristol Bay Program Director

Portrait of Luis Delgado

Intermountain West

Luis Delgado

Water Rights Attorney

Portrait of Hannah Brooks

Great Lakes

Hannah Brooks

Culvert & Connectivity Lead

Portrait of Ben Castellano

Northeast

Ben Castellano

Volunteer Engagement Manager

Explore our conservation projects

From dam removals to mine cleanups, see what TU staff and volunteers are building on rivers across the country.

01 / 06

Aerial view of the Klamath River running through a canyon

California · Oregon

Klamath River dam removal

Four dams came down on the Klamath, reopening hundreds of miles of river to salmon and steelhead. Now we are reconnecting the tributaries.

View project →
Sockeye salmon swimming over a gravel streambed

Alaska

Protecting Bristol Bay

Home to the largest sockeye salmon run on Earth. TU anglers and partners spent more than a decade fighting the Pebble Mine.

View project →
Abandoned mine buildings on an autumn hillside

Pennsylvania

Abandoned mine reclamation

Treating acid mine drainage so orange, lifeless streams run clear again and native brook trout can come home.

View project →
Two volunteers sampling a forested stream with a net

Wisconsin

Driftless Area streams

Restoring spring creeks in the unglaciated hills of the Upper Midwest, one eroded bank at a time.

View project →
Angler kneeling in a river holding a brown trout

Colorado

Upper Colorado River

Working with ranchers and water managers to keep cold water in the river through hot, dry summers.

View project →
Four volunteers netting a meadow stream

Virginia

Eastern brook trout

Volunteers survey headwater streams and replace failing culverts so the region’s native trout can move freely again.

View project →
See all projects →

Keep reading

More from the TROUT Magazine archive.

Aerial view of a braided river valley below green mountains

Conservation

Roadless areas: defending America’s sporting lands

The Roadless Rule comment period is open until October 6. Here’s what is at stake for coldwater habitat.

Read the story
A hand holding a char over clear water

Fish & Fishing

Everything you wanted to know: Bull trout

A closer look at one of the West’s most cold-dependent native fish.

Read the story
Pixel grid pattern in the colors of a brook trout

The True Cast

Fishing meets AI? I’ll pass.

Kirk Deeter weighs in on artificial intelligence and time on the water.

Read the story
Sockeye salmon schooling in a turquoise river

Find your
home water

Nearly 400 chapters meet on rivers across the country. Pull on your waders, meet your neighbors and take care of the water you love.

Find a chapter →
Brook trout skin pattern

Brook trout · 1959

Trout Unlimited

Est. 1959

Watercolor of a Woolly Bugger fly

Wooley Bugger | Russell Blessing 1967

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