Federal resource agencies — such as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Forest Service, and others— provide essential services to protect, maintain and responsibly manage our public lands, waters, and fish and wildlife resources.
Strong funding is essential to ensure that these agencies have staff and resources to manage parks, maintain trails and restore damaged habitat to promote healthier lands and waters.
Kate Miller, director of Government Affairs, Trout Unlimited
Trout Unlimited volunteers and staff around the country are actively engaged in restoration projects and partnerships that rely on federal resource agency programs and staff to help spur investments — from repairing culverts on streams damaged from floods, to working with our agricultural partners to improve on farm water efficiency to increase instream flows — we are able to leverage federal program dollars with matching funds and volunteer investments to achieve incredible results.
These programs such as a Land and Water Conservation Fund or the Abandoned Mines Program represent sound investments in the health of the watersheds that support fisheries resources. Many of these programs provide essential seed money for Trout Unlimited projects, which we leverage with private dollars, as well as state and other federal agency funding to amplify the value of these programs.
How do we influence the process and why does the outcome matter to Trout Unlimited?
Trout Unlimited engages in the budget and appropriations process at several points along the way, advocating for adequate funding to support agency staff and programs that are essential to support clean water and healthy public lands.
We do this by sharing stories of the incredible conservation successes that Trout Unlimited staff and volunteers, working in partnership with willing landowners and agency partners, are able to accomplish in watersheds across the country with the support of federal conservation programs.
Through a combination of passion for the resource and our collaborative approach to finding solutions, Trout Unlimited is able to leverage modest federal dollars many times over to amplify the benefit of our projects.
From providing miles of stream side fencing to restoring brook trout in West Virginia, to upgrading irrigation facilities to restore cutthroat trout in Utah and Montana, Trout Unlimited and our partners have conducted hundreds of great conservation projects by effectively leveraging federal conservation dollars.
Funding for these agencies is essential to ensure that agencies have staff and resources to manage parks, maintain trails and restore damaged habitat to promote healthier lands and waters.
Additional Resources
Contact us: For more information on the specific programs and projects that Trout Unlimited is working on with support of federal partners or programs, please contact Steve Moyer or Kate Miller.
About the Appropriations Process
- About the Budget and Appropriations process, outlining the big picture timeline and identifying opportunities for engagement.
- Check out the Trout Unlimited advocacy primer on conservation funding.
About the Agencies and Programs
Check out the Agency in Brief series to learn more about these key agencies and programs:
[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]