Brian Stranko has joined the Trout Unlimited staff as its Maine program manager.
TU has many projects and initiatives under way in Maine, including enhancing streams with strategic wood additions and advocating for better fish passage for endangered Atlantic salmon. He will work closely with TU’s Maine Council and chapters.
Stranko succeeds longtime TU staffer Jeff Reardon, who is now working with the Atlantic Salmon Federation.
Stranko has led water, salmonid, and land conservation programs for more than 20 years.
As Water Program Director for The Nature Conservancy of California, he oversaw the organization’s efforts in balancing the provision of water for people and nature in a dry and often contentious state.
Major initiatives of the program included advancing sustainable groundwater management, engaging agriculture to achieve greater sustainability, and developing and proliferating “dynamic water management” for streams, wetlands, and lakes.
When Stranko originally joined The Nature Conservancy staff in 2009, he directed conservation of the North and Central California Coast, a globally significant Mediterranean ecoregion, extending from Santa Barbara to the Oregon border, as well as the organization’s statewide Salmon Initiative.
Prior to The Nature Conservancy, he acted in the role of Chief Executive Officer for California Trout, a statewide salmon, trout, and steelhead conservation organization.
During Stranko’s tenure, the organization tripled its budget and achieved landmark conservation victories, including protection of the famed McCloud River from the threat of a massive, new water bottling operation, release of the first-ever statewide salmon, trout, and steelhead assessment in partnership with the University of California, Davis, and passage of legislation that reformed the state’s main fish and wildlife agency.
Before CalTrout, Stranko worked for the National Geographic Society and the Millennium Institute in Arlington, Va., and he was proud Trout Unlimited intern in the early years of his career.
Stranko has an M.B.A. from Georgetown University, a B.A. from Syracuse University, and environmental policy education from the University of Maryland. During COVID, he formed Afri-Vet, an organization dedicated to expanding and localizing wildlife veterinary capacity in Africa.