Embrace A Stream Challenge Raises Over $100,000 for Conservation!

More than 1,260 donations have helped 47 local Trout Unlimited projects
in 22 states across the country

We asked you to “Give Where You Fish” by joining Orvis to support great Trout Unlimited (TU) projects across the country – and you did!

Thanks to you, more than 1,260 donations totaling $56,604 were made from November 6-12 in the Embrace A Stream Challenge.

What’s more, your donations helped these great TU chapters unlock $50,000 in prizes from Orvis and TU national, meaning that together, in just 7 days, we raised $106,604 to make fishing better!

Plus, your Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter posts went far and wide, introducing so many new anglers and conservationists to the important work of TU and the commitment to conservation that is central to Orvis’s culture as a company.

“The first-ever Embrace A Stream Challenge was a resounding success for our chapters and the hands-on conservation and education projects they are leading across the country,” said Jeff Yates, Director of Volunteer Operations for TU. “Thanks to Orvis and their customers, we not only raised significant funds to support this work, but also spread the message far and wide that – as one of our organization’s founders said in 1959 – ‘If you take care of the fish, the fishing will take care of itself’.”

From dam removal projects opening miles of critical spawning habitat, to stream restoration planting projects to youth education programs designed to engage the next generation in conservation, the 47 projects supported in the Embrace A Stream Challenge will make a difference for decades to come. Winners of the top prizes included:

• The Mianus Chapter in Connecticut working to restore the Norwalk River with in-stream habitat and riparian buffer plantings to help the wild brown trout thrive.
• The Pisgah Chapter in North Carolina which will be rebuilding a 2.4 mile section of trail that is causing erosion and sedimentation in Cantrell Creek, an important brook trout stream in the Blue Ridge Mountains.
• The Ammonoosuc Chapter in New Hampshire and its efforts to tag and track brook trout in the Androscoggin River headwaters to help the large brook trout that reach sizes up to five pounds in these historic rivers.
• The John Muir East Bay Chapter in California driving in-stream improvements to ensure better spawning sites and habitat for the resident rainbows in Putah Creek which reach lengths of 30 inches or more.

While the contest is over, it’s not too late to learn more about the projects close to you and support them as a volunteer, or by donating on the TU chapter’s website. Go to Embrace A Stream to view the projects, see who won what prizes, and find contacts at your local chapters to reach out and offer to help.

“Orvis’ customers are known for their passion for the places they fish and their willingness to step up and make a difference,” said Orvis’s Simon Perkins. “We’re thrilled that you all heeded our call, met our challenge, and exceeded all expectations as we raised over one hundred thousand dollars in just one week!”

Since its inception in 1975, Trout Unlimited’s Embrace A Stream grant program has funded more than 1,050 projects with more than $4.6 million in grants. Local TU chapters and councils contributed an additional $13 million in cash and in-kind support, bringing the impact of this program to over $17 million!