Water Quality

Trout Unlimited is a grassroots, international organization of people dedicated to conserving fish species in their native habitat. It was founded in 1959 and now is made up of over 150,000 members comprising around 400 chapters across North America. The organization is responsible for developing the Conservation Success Index, a framework for assessing the health of coldwater fish species, spanning across a few hundred miles of river to encompassing multiple states. The Index helps the organization target its efforts towards populations most in need of protection or restoration, as well as measure its progress in achieving conservation goals.

Trout Unlimited works on various scales to achieve its goals of building resilience in watersheds. (Its work monitoring stream quality in areas where fracking is active is shown in C&C program 2, Citizens + Scientists.) It collaborates with local communities, state and federal partners, and other conservation interests to address issues such as climate change and habitat loss. The mission of Trout Unlimited is to conserve, protect, and restore North America’s coldwater fish species and their habitats at the watershed level and beyond. Members are anglers, citizen scientists, environmentalists, and others, all working towards a common conservation strategy. Using the best science available, they protect headwater spawning habitat for trout and salmon, as well as reconnect tributaries with their rivers and restore broken habitat. The organization seeks to promote a strong legal framework to protect fish and drive conservation priorities.

www.tu.org