Mission & Values

Protecting, reconnecting, restoring, and sustaining our cold water resources

The best conservation results come from partnerships between landowners, agencies, non-profits, municipalities and other stakeholders.

Conservation through collaboration

Trout Unlimited believes in an inclusive, collaborative approach to coldwater conservation that integrates the needs and expertise of all stakeholders. We actively seek to build durable partnerships to leverage resources and ensure our projects and initiatives are multi-benefit. Our formula for success makes fishing better and emphasizes four key strategies: protecting intact habitat, reconnecting fragmented fish habitat; restoring degraded habitat and at-risk native trout and salmon populations; and sustaining conservation gains and public support for them by building an active community of angler-advocates.

Protect our best fish and game habitat

It is often said that trout don’t live in ugly places. Indeed, trout thrive in healthy watersheds and wild places, often in backcountry areas on public lands with high scenic values. Trout Unlimited works through our Science team and with multiple partners to identify and better protect still-functional coldwater habitats.

Reconnect coldwater habitat

Trout Unlimited works to restore flow and ecological function to trout and waters by reconnecting reaches that have been fragmented by dams, diversions, or other factors. This work extends beyond the mainstems of rivers and streams to their tributaries, which, like nearly two-thirds of all stream miles in America, may be seasonal or ephemeral. Our reconnection efforts involve removing or repairing faulty culverts, taking out dams that are no longer necessary, and boosting streamflows They cover the full spectrum of fish habitats, from spawning and rearing reaches to migratory corridors to coldwater refuges.