Here are some of the other projects that we are currently involved with at Trout Unlimited: 

Wild Trout & Salmon

The health of a fishery is dependent on the watershed that surrounds it. From Maine to California, unique populations of trout and salmon are at risk from the "4H's"-habitat loss, overharvest, hydropower, and hatcheries. TU values wild fish as environmental indicators, essential components of healthy coldwater ecosystems. Native fish, like greenback cutthroat trout, Lake Superior coaster brook trout, Smokey Mountain brook trout, and Snake River fine-spotted cutthroat trout, are important genetic resources. TU conducts two grant programs that focus on the wild & native fish resources: Embrace-A-Stream & Bring Back the Natives.

Through Embrace A Stream (EAS), TU members restore and improve coldwater habitat and streams. EAS is a competitive grant program through which TU awards cash grants—over $136,000 in 1997 and $233,000 in 1998—to local TU chapters and councils.

For the past five years TU has teamed up with the U.S. Forest Service, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and the Bureau of Land Management on “Bring Back the Natives (BBN)” a program to restore native fish on public lands.

Pacific & Atlantic Salmon Projects

Trout Unlimited is involved in numerous projects intended to prevent overharvesting of Pacific and Atlantic salmon by commercial fishermen during the annual spawning runs.  This includes regulations governing the use of trot lines and drift nets which decimate populations of brood fish just prior to their upstream migration.  Projects also address the blockage of migration routes by unnecessary dams.

Land Conservancy

Sometimes the best way to protect natural resources is to purchase them. TU members have spent countless hours raising money, collaborating with project partners and negotiating real estate agreements to protect coldwater habitat. TU has been involved in several major watershed conservancy projects:

Water Quality Projects

Acid Mine Drainage

Appalachian Clean Streams Initiative With strong support from TU members in the mid-Atlantic states, funding for the Office of Surface Mining's Appalachian Clean Streams Initiative continues to increase. The Initiative finances acid mine drainage remediation projects in the Appalachian region.

Acid Precipitation

Acid Precipitation Study, Virginia TU-funded research which analyzes coldwater watershed impacts of acid precipitation in Virginia. The report will be a significant landmark in our efforts to highlight the need to achieve much higher reductions in acid rain deposition in the East to protect sensitive trout watersheds.

Acid Deposition in Southern Appalachian Mountains, North Carolina In a new Coldwater Conservation Fund (CCF) sponsored project, North Carolina TU has joined with state agencies and the Forest Service to initiate a stream acidification study.  TU volunteers will play a crucial role in collecting stream samples. This an important development in TU's efforts to upgrade acid rain monitoring in the Southeast.

Clean Water Act

Anglers Demand "Action" on Funding for Clean Water Action Plan. 

TU Urges Bipartisan Commitment to Implementing Initiative: “On the eve of Earth Day, the nation's leading trout and salmon conservation group praised the Clean Water Action Plan, singling out for special praise the program's emphasis on reducing polluted runoff, a major threat to trout and salmon fisheries nationwide.”

Federal Lands Conservation & Grazing Management

Federal Rangelands Grazing Bill TU has joined with other conservationists to stop a federal rangelands grazing bill. The bill would weaken conservation mgmt practices on BLM & Forest Service rangelands.

Forest Service Roads Policy TU has helped defend the Forest Service's controversial roads policy reforms from congressional attacks. The agency's proposal calls for an 18 month halt to new road construction in roadless areas until it reforms its road construction and maintenance decision-making processes.

Flood Damage

Flood Remediation Efforts WV, NC, NY TU national staff has worked with grassroots leaders in several states again this year to try to prevent the ravages of excessive flood control-spawned bulldozing of streams. TU has worked hard to mitigate flood control work in West Virginia, & the mountains of western North Carolina.

Four Mines Campaign

New World Mine Wyoming In October 1997 an Interior Department appropriations bill allocated $65 million to purchase the New World mine site (near Yellowstone National Park) and to fund clean-up of waste materials from the old mine that exists at the site. Thus, the threat posed by the proposed mine to the Yellowstone and Clarks Fork has been nearly eliminated. TU members helped to make this happen.

Coldwater Conservation Fund

TU's Coldwater Conservation Fund supports scientific & economic research & analysis & science-based watershed restoration projects. CCF projects have yielded important benefits for coldwater conservation:

·         Data detailing the unique genetic make-up and population structures of native brook trout in isolated Maine ponds prompted the state to enact protective harvest regulations and rethink stocking programs.

·         The CCF's 1996 national assessment of whirling disease, a parasitic disorder often lethal to wild trout, is the first and only compilation of information on the disease. The assessment has helped address the disease and helped secure the first-ever federal appropriation earmarked for whirling disease research.

·         A joint venture with Penn State University is documenting the ecological benefits of diversion wells in restoring Appalachian streams damaged by acid mine drainage.

Dams & Instream Flow Projects

Hydroelectric dams are a significant obstacle to restoring the integrity of riverine systems. Dams can kill or harm fish in several ways, including warming water temperatures above those tolerated by coldwater fish; reducing the amount of dissolved oxygen needed to support fish; releasing sediments downstream, covering spawning gravel and clogging aquatic insect habitat; and limiting up- and downstream passage of fish. Dams operated for power generation often cause dramatic changes in flows, from zero to full blast (or vice versa), sometimes in just a few minutes. Too much water can sometimes be worse than too little. High flows scour streambeds, destroy habitat, and disrupt spawning and feeding. Low flows dewater critical fish habitat, such as bankside cover or spawning beds, making it unavailable to fish. Trout Unlimited and other conservation groups are involved with dam issues to ensure that all factors, from environmental impacts to economics, are carefully considered in decisions to construct, repair, or remove dams nationwide.

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