Building Communities Who Care

From the beginning, all the way back to 1959, at the core of Trout Unlimited has been a thriving grassroots base.

Tens of thousands of these dedicated and passionate allies, both those who fish and those who just love rivers and streams, regularly roll up their sleeves, pull on their muck boots, and raise their voices to recover the rivers they love.

Our power as a conservation organization grows out of this network of volunteers everywhere we work, people whose local knowledge, tireless effort, and faithful commitment to TU’s mission enhance and amplify the efforts of TU’s growing professional staff.

To grow our impact, we are connecting with new constituencies. Through focused community-building, we will inspire and empower a younger and more diverse grassroots to magnify the scale of our conservation mission.

No one knows rivers and streams better than those who spend days, months, or years on them. Our community science program arms these volunteers with modern tools, technology, and the backing of our cutting-edge science staff to gather water quality and habitat health data critical to Trout Unlimited’s restoration planning and prioritization.

Here’s how Trout Unlimited started: with volunteers rolling rocks, planting trees, picking up trash, and making the streams in their backyards healthier, cleaner, colder homes for trout and salmon. Each year we offer more than 5,000 volunteer restoration events across the country.

From kindergarten to college, we bring hands-on environmental education to almost every community, coast to coast. Built on the foundation of our decades-long Trout In the Classroom program, initiatives like STREAM Girls Advance STEM Learning and the 5 Rivers College Club prepare young professionals heading into the workforce to carry forward the promise of a more sustainable future.

To truly drive protections for the special places and Priority Waters we care about; our voices must match our actions. Thanks to ardent support from our members and supporters, we bring a thunderous outcry for cold, clean rivers and streams to decision-makers from city halls to the halls of Congress.

Through our network of more than 375 local chapters and state councils, we embrace new conservationists and anglers and welcome them into our community. At this very local level, members and supporters find a home to learn and grow their fishing skills, an outlet to grow their impact to improve local waters, and a place to build friendships that last a lifetime.