Bring Back the Natives

Bring Back the Natives (BBN) is a national grant program established in 1991 to fund restoration of native aquatic species and their habitats on public lands. Trout Unlimited is currently working with program partners, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and U.S. Forest Service, to establish new restoration programs throughout North America. As part of this overall effort, TU and BLM have an ongoing cooperative agreement to fund a national field coordinator to implement local BBN projects.

BBN addresses all native aquatic species (fish and amphibians). Trout and salmon oriented projects sponsored by TU chapters have been a major focus since the program's inception. Since its initiation in 1991 TU has collaborated with a variety of organizations to fund and conduct over 65 BBN projects with national grant investments totaling $750,000. The majority of those projects involved habitat protection and restoration of resident fish populations found in small headwater watersheds. The remaining projects addressed anadromous (ocean-going) fish - primarily Pacific and Atlantic salmon - in larger watersheds.

In 2001 the BBN program was reoriented to focus on watershed-scale conservation efforts for native aquatic species and habitats based on the results of an assessment conducted by TU. Since that time several watershed-scale native species restoration efforts have been initiated in the Pahsimeroi Basin in Idaho to benefit bull trout and anadromous salmon, in the White Mountains of Arizona to benefit Apache Trout, and in the Lake Superior basin for the Coaster Brook Trout Initiative among others.

Over 65% of the threatened and endangered fish in the U.S., and many vulnerable amphibians and aquatic invertebrates, are found on Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service lands.

Featured Projects

Lake Superior Coaster Brook Trout

Apache Trout, AZ

Rio de las Vacas, NM

For More Information...

TU/BLM Cooperative Native Trout Programs Coordinator
1020 W. Main St, Ste. 440
Boise, ID 83702
208-938-1110