Saving Imperiled Trout: Funding Opportunities for Land Trusts

Trout and salmon are among the wildlife species most at risk from climate change. They require clean, clear and cold water, a resource that has declined over many decades due to dams, development, inappropriate agriculture and forestry practices and now rising temperatures.

Saving trout involves saving their watersheds. The best remaining habitats and those that can be restored have been the conservation focus of Trout Unlimited for many years. TU is a national conservation organization whose members are anglers that recognize that the best way to have robust trout populations is to protect, reconnect and restore rivers and streams.

To help accomplish this, TU members created the Coldwater Land Conservancy Fund. Initially it was funded by grants that supported projects in the habitat of the Eastern Brook Trout, a species that thrives in less than 10% of its original habitat. Recently a generous bequest has made it possible to the Fund to expand its reach and offer matching grants of up to $10,000 to TU chapters that partner with land trusts to protect high quality, priority trout habitat.

TU has more than 350 local chapters, and 37 state councils that are eligible to apply for the funds. The chapters and councils match the grants with their own local fundraising efforts. The money can then be given as direct grants to land trust projects that advance the habitat  protection goals of the Fund. Flexibility and nimbleness are key aspects of the grants.  Funds can be used to initiate land conservation projects and pay for appraisals, site inventories, surveys, legal expenses and stewardship endowments. Grant proposals are reviewed on a rolling basis, so there is no long wait for approvals.

In recent years the CLCF has funded projects in Connecticut, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Colorado. A notable New Hampshire project was featured in a video about the fund, and that project was the inspiration for the bequest by a generous TU member, Schuyler Sweet.