2024 Trout and Salmon Foundation Grants Aid Top Community Watershed Organizations in Protecting Cold Water Habitats for Trout and Salmon
TSF grew the average grant size by 16% over last year, and 60% since 2020, in the continuing effort to increase the impact of its mission.
CHICAGO, IL – The Trout and Salmon Foundation (TSF) recently unveiled the recipients of its 2024 grants, approved during the annual board meeting at Gates Au Sable Lodge in Grayling, Michigan, along the banks of the Au Sable River. This year, 13 community-based watershed organizations across North America were awarded grants, with $80,000 distributed among these partner organizations.
Trout and Salmon Foundation is the premier volunteer-run foundation supporting community-based watershed restoration projects at scale to protect and grow wild trout and salmon populations. This year, TSF grew the average grant size by 16%, and over 60% since 2020, in the continuing effort to increase the impact of its mission.
In 2024, we were pleased to fund several new grant applicants to help them save our precious wild trout and salmon.
Patrick Sullivan, Development Associate at the Rangeley Lakes Heritage Trust, shared that “the RLHT would not be able to complete watershed-scale restoration projects without key partnerships. Thanks to the generosity of the Trout and Salmon Federation, we can ensure the persistence of wild brook trout in the Western Maine mountains for generations to come!”
Josh Greenberg, President of the Anglers of the Au Sable, noted “It was our recent pleasure to host the Trout and Salmon Foundation on Michigan’s Au Sable River. The Au Sable was one of the major rivers in Michigan’s logging boom — the river has been forever changed. Our only hope to maintain the health of our wild trout fishery is through aggressive and consistent habitat work. The Trout and Salmon Foundation’s generous grant to Anglers of the Au Sable will be used in a diverse rehabilitation effort on the North Branch of the Au Sable. Such support is integral to the health of our river.”
William Bullock, Trout and Salmon Foundation Chairman, notes that “in 2024, TSF provided funding to 13 projects aimed at enhancing habitats for trout and salmon species including stream restoration, culvert replacements, dam removals, and habitat improvements. Recipients like Anglers of the Au Sable in Michigan received support for a multi-year habitat plan, while the Appalachian Mountain Club in Maine is reconnecting critical spawning habitats. Montana Trout Unlimited and Maine Rivers are tackling key restoration efforts to support endangered and native fish populations, ensuring healthier ecosystems for species such as brook trout, cutthroat trout, and salmon. The cumulative results derived from our grant partners include removing nine fish passage barriers and reopening 40+ miles of critical cold-water tributaries, nearly 3 miles of in-stream and riparian habitat restoration, and protection a variety of sensitive, threatened, and endangered fish species.”
Trout and Salmon Foundation grant recipient organizations for 2024 include:
- Anglers of the Au Sable: $7,500 to support a multi-year habitat improvement plan on the North Branch of the Au Sable River (Michigan) including the installation of large woody debris and other wood structures to benefit wild brook trout, brown trout, and rainbow trout along with a variety of aquatic insects. https://www.ausableanglers.org
- Appalachian Mountain Club: $5,000 to replace a perched culvert on Bear Brook (Maine) and to reconnect 2.2 miles of spawning and rearing habitat located in the West Branch of the Pleasant River drainage to benefit Eastern brook trout. This project is part of AMC’s multi-year initiative, “Restoring Trout and Salmon Habitat in Maine’s 100-Mile Wilderness,” which aims to fix 100% of fish passage problems on AMC’s lands in Maine. http://www.outdoors.org/
- Batten Kill Watershed Alliance: $5,000 to support ongoing riparian buffer and floodplain restoration efforts on the Battenkill River (Vermont and New York) through the purchase and planting of 300 trees and shrubs to benefit native Eastern brook trout and wild brown trout. https://www.bkwa.org
- Conservation Resource Alliance: $5,000 to support the Stony Creek Restoration Project on Stony Creek (Michigan) including a dam removal, replacement of three culverts with a spanning timber bridge, stream corridor restoration, recreational access improvement, and floodplain reforestation to benefit brook, brown, and rainbow trout, as well as Lake Michigan-run steelhead and salmon. https://www.rivercare.org/
- Harry and Laura Nohr Chapter of Trout Unlimited: $10,000 to support habitat improvement on Blue River (Wisconsin), a Class II trout steam, including 5.5 acres of bank area and 0.5 miles of in-stream habitat and bank stabilization to benefit wild brown trout. https://nohrtu.com/
- Henry’s Fork Foundation: $5,000 to replace an undersized culvert on Rainey Creek (Idaho), a critical spawning tributary of the South Fork Snake River, reopening nearly 12 miles of critical spawning and rearing habitat to benefit native fluvial Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout and other cold-water aquatic species. https://www.henrysfork.org/
- Maine Rivers: $4,000 to remove a dam and complete stream restoration work on Lemon Stream (Maine), reopening 25 miles of spawning and rearing habitat for endangered Atlantic salmon in Maine’s high priority Kennebec watershed. https://mainerivers.org/
- Middle Colorado Watershed Council: $5,000 to install a fish barrier on Roan Creek (Colorado) to create 12 miles of protected habitat by eliminating the upstream movement of non-native fish to benefit native, endemic, Colorado River cutthroat trout as well as bluehead sucker, speckled dace, and mottled sculpin. https://www.midcowatershed.org/
- Montana Trout Unlimited: $7,500 for stream, riparian, and wetland restoration project on approximately 1.5 miles of Nevada Creek (Montana), a tributary of Blackfoot River, to benefit westslope cutthroat trout (a Montana species of special concern), as well as rainbow trout and brown trout. https://montanatu.org/
- Montana Trout Unlimited: $6,000 to remove a dam and complete restoration work on Rattlesnake Creek (Montana), a tributary of the Clark’s Fork River, to benefit bull trout (a threatened species) as well as native downstream fisheries that host westslope cutthroat trout (a Montana species of special concern). https://montanatu.org/
- Rangeley Lakes Heritage Trust: $5,000 to replace a culvert on an unnamed tributary of Kennebago River (Maine) to contribute to the health and resiliency of native Eastern brook trout, allowing them to access spawning, rearing, and thermal refuge habitat. https://rlht.org/
- The Wood River Land Trust: $5,000 to restore floodplain on the Big Wood River (Idaho) that support natural fluvial processes and improve fish and wildlife habitat, while improving flood conveyance to benefit wild trout. https://www.woodriverlandtrust.org/
- Wild Salmon Center: $10,000 to support habitat restoration, including installation of large woody debris and beaver dam analogs, on approximately 0.25 miles of Dickey River (Washington), part of the Quillayute River Basin, to improve spawning and rearing habitat for coho salmon. https://wildsalmoncenter.org/
About Trout and Salmon Foundation
Founded in 1969, the Trout and Salmon Foundation (TSF) is dedicated to protecting wild salmon and trout throughout North America. TSF supports the efforts of local conservation groups, landowners, and government agencies by providing grants aimed at restoring cold-water fish habitats.
Over the past 50 years, TSF has invested $2 million in over 400 restoration and habitat improvement projects in cold water trout and salmon fisheries, partnering with nearly 100 community-based watershed organizations across 35 states.