Support Wyoming Trout Unlimited

Thank you so much. Your support of the Wyoming Council of Trout Unlimited (WYTU) continue to aid our conservation mission and efforts around the Cowboy State.

Many of the same economic challenges facing other nonprofits and individuals have affected us this year, especially at fundraising and membership events on local chapter and state council levels. Low flows and high water temperatures also continue to impact our cold waters. As we prepare to transition into 2024, we simply cannot afford to lose ground. We are once again asking for financial support from caring individuals like you to help us keep our cold water conservation goals moving forward. Your donation last year demonstrates your commitment as a conservationist and angler in Wyoming. We value and appreciate that commitment.

Despite the challenges of 2023, there have been continuing examples of successful projects and work being done around Wyoming. Our council, local grassroots volunteers and chapters, along with Trout Unlimited (TU) staff and conservation partners have continued to make a difference. Here’s a snapshot:

• We’re proud to partner with Wyoming Game and Fish (WGFD)to greatly expand the Trout In The Classroom program to students throughout Wyoming. Beginning in 2024, the program will take place in 28 schools throughout the state of Wyoming. This classroom curriculum allows Wyoming students to raise trout from eggs to juveniles, monitor tank water quality, engage in stream habitat study, learn to appreciate water resources, begin to foster a conservation ethic and stewardship, and grow to understand ecosystems. As the program continues to grow we look forward to being able to bring this curriculum to even more schools in the future.

• We’re continuing work across Wyoming to rebuild fragmented fish populations and degraded habitats by looking for opportunities to work with landowners, local, state and federal agencies as well as other partners. To date in Wyoming, there have been more than 1,650 miles of river improvement which will greatly benefit our fisheries and watersheds. The recent completion of the Green River Bank Stabilization project in Green River is an incredible example of the work TU and conservation partners can accomplish together. Numerous other projects have installed beaver dam analogs, planted willows, and stabilized stream banks to help protect our native and wild trout.

• Work continues on Yellowstone Lake. With the suppression of lake trout, higher and higher numbers of Yellowstone cutthroat are allowed to survive and propagate. This summer's suppression efforts showed that the increased number of young lake trout observed after the 2018 and 2019 spawning seasons have been significantly reduced due to diligent and targeted netting by the Hickey Brothers and Yellowstone National Park crews. The cutthroat population in the lake continues to prosper and fishing for them was the best it has been in many years!

• Fish rescue operations around the state, Cody and Jackson to name a few, took place this fall, and volunteers removed trout and other fish species that were stranded in canals and ditches in order to return them to our rivers and streams.

• WYTU continues to work closely with the WGFD to help support and encourage youth participation in fishing. WYTU Council members Jim Hissong and Jay Buchner volunteered and provided conservation education, fly fishing guidance, and fly tying instruction to over 30 kids at WGFD's Fish Camp in Dubois.

Our work continues to help lead the effort and advocate for protection of public lands and clean water—and the vital importance of both to all of us in Wyoming. We will continue to monitor and participate when needed in legislative processes important to our organization.

All of this is only possible due to the outstanding support of people like you. We ask for your support to help Wyoming’s cold water fisheries by giving a tax-deductible gift to Wyoming Trout Unlimited. With your help, our work in 2024 will continue to make a difference for fisheries, fish habitat, and youth education in Wyoming. Wyoming Trout Unlimited is the only organization in the state that focuses specifically on cold water fisheries and is leading the way in science-based conservation work. We are positioned to make a significant difference and, as the examples previously mentioned reveal, we do make a difference.

As we fast approach the holiday season, please consider giving a gift of $50, $100, $150 or more to Wyoming Trout Unlimited. Your tax-deductible contribution stays 100% in Wyoming and goes specifically to projects and programs that have a direct benefit to our rivers and trout fisheries. Together, we can achieve more success stories for trout across the Cowboy State.