Federal partnerships for America’s working lands and waters
Trout Unlimited’s restoration efforts don’t just support America’s working lands and waters, they are a driving force behind rural economic growth. Across the country, TU’s projects are generating high-quality jobs for contractors, engineers, and laborers, most of whom live and work in the very communities benefiting from these projects.
These partnerships are proof that habitat restoration isn’t just about conservation—it’s about creating lasting benefits for rural Americans. These projects inject millions into local economies, supporting small businesses, boosting tourism, and ensuring that our communities thrive alongside their rivers and streams.
By creating new jobs and clean coldwater resources, TU is strengthening industries that rely on healthy watersheds. From working alongside foresters to reconnecting streams with ranchers, this work not only supports native fish populations but also bolsters the agriculture and outdoor industries.
Restoring rivers and streams improves water availability for farmers and ranchers, enhances wildfire resilience, and makes outdoor tourism—like fishing and hunting—a more sustainable economic driver in rural communities. TU’s ability to blend stewardship with practical economic benefits ensures that conservation is seen as an investment, not an expense.
The impact of TU’s restoration work extends beyond job creation—it builds long-term economic resilience in small towns and family-owned businesses. From Washington to West Virginia to the Colorado River Basin, Trout Unlimited is leveraging federal funding to repair aging roads and bridges, reduce the impact of drought and flooding, and reconnect critical fish habitat, all while supporting local small businesses.
By integrating conservation with economic opportunity, TU is proving that restoring rivers isn’t just good for fish, it’s essential for the vitality of rural America.
Snow Country Contracting values our pristine northern home and takes pride in restoring its waterways. Partnering with Trout Unlimited, we’ve replaced culverts, reopened brook trout habitat, and created close-to-home jobs for our 16 employees. TU’s expertise and commitment make every project successful, and we look forward to continuing this vital work together.
– Snow Country Contracting
“Trout Unlimited has created great opportunities in small-town Iowa for local contractors like Sommer Excavating. The projects benefit a lot of different people in my community: from the supplier of the materials used in these projects to grocery stores and lodging that supports the people coming to enjoy the fishing habitat they created. The project funding and economic benefit of these projects are greatly appreciated and passed along multiple times throughout our rural community.“
– Tyler Sommer, Sommer Excavating
Trout Unlimited leverages federal funding to create high-quality jobs, clean watersheds, and lasting economic growth to rural communities throughout the United States.
Create family-wage jobs. Trout Unlimited hires local contractors, project managers, engineers, and construction workers, delivering economic prosperity in places where job opportunities can be limited.
Provide clean water. It all flows downstream. By restoring headwaters and remediating abandoned mines, we provide clean water for farmers and ranchers, small towns and businesses.
Increase resiliency against flooding, wildfire, and drought. By replacing faulty culverts, we help landowners avoid road washouts. By improving floodplains, we are making the land more resilient to wildfires. And by reconnecting streams, agricultural producers can better rely on their water source.
Nuts and Bolts The intense effort and partnership behind restoring fish habitat on a remote Alaskan island This summer, Trout Unlimited completed a major restoration project on Kuiu Island in the Tongass National Forest This work reconnected nearly two miles of habitat for coho, chum, pink salmon, rainbow trout, coastal…
TU’s Cory Toye works to bring people, industry, and agencies together to protect the streams and native fish that run through the Bighorn Basin.
Here’s a case study for why we need a new approach to abandoned mine cleanups
In America’s rural communities, Trout Unlimited is cleaning up abandoned mines, reconnecting rivers, restoring degraded fisheries, and working with farmers and ranchers to make their agricultural operations more efficient. Our work recovering fisheries and restoring rivers is helping rural communities that once relied on logging and mining to make the transition to a more sustainable future built on natural resources. In some places, this is a literal transition: We are hiring former loggers and miners and putting them to work restoring watersheds.
