January 14, 2009
Contact: Erin Mooney, (703) 284-9408
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Trout Unlimited celebrates 50 years of protecting America’s rivers and streams
ARLINGTON, VA — Throughout 2009, Trout Unlimited will celebrate its 50th anniversary as the nation’s largest and oldest coldwater conservation organization in America.
Started in 1959 by 16 fishermen in Michigan who wanted to protect their local river, TU has grown to 140,000 members in 400 local chapters throughout the country.
TU has been instrumental in restoring more than 10,000 miles of rivers and streams around the country and has been a force in protecting habitat for trout and salmon from Alaska to Maine.
“As it marks its 50th birthday, Trout Unlimited can take great pride in its accomplishments as a steward of and advocate for America’s trout and salmon and their watersheds,” said Charles Gauvin, CEO of Trout Unlimited. “This occasion is as much about envisioning the future as it about celebrating the past, so as we toast the organization’s accomplishments, we must remind ourselves of the need to persevere in realizing the promise inherent in the TU mission.”
Since its founding, TU and its local chapters and volunteers have made numerous tangible contributions to conservation in the United States, including significant reforms in state water law in the East and West and on-the-ground projects to restore and reconnect streams. These successes have kept rivers like Montana's Jefferson River and Connecticut’s Housatonic River from running dry and helped to preserve and restore critical fisheries. TU has mobilized the sporting community to protect some of America's last best places to hunt and fish and works at the state and federal levels to achieve protections for trout and salmon. A full list of TU’s achievements in the last 50 years can be found at www.tu50.org
Trout Unlimited will host a number of events to mark its 50th anniversary, including a celebration in August at its annual meeting in Traverse City, Michigan, located near the Au Sable River where TU was founded.
TU’s quarterly magazine, Trout, will publish a special 50th anniversary issue in June. TU’s weekly television program, On the Rise, which airs on the Outdoor Channel, will focus on key conservation efforts during 2009.
“As TU celebrates its 50 years of conservation, we must bear in mind that it is TU volunteers who have made the organization what it is today,” said Bryan Moore, Vice President for Volunteer Operations and Watersheds. “TU members are the backbone that keeps the organization growing and moving forward in everything from on-the-ground restoration of rivers and streams to involving young people in conservation. The 50th anniversary celebration is really a celebration of our 140,000 members around the country.”
TU’s mission is to conserve, protect and restore North America’s trout and salmon fisheries and their watersheds.
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Erin Mooney
National Press Secretary
Trout Unlimited
1300 North 17th St.
Suite 500
Arlington, VA 22209
703.284.9408 office
571.331.7970 cell
Date: 1/15/2009