OUR MISSION STATEMENT
The Brook Trout Coalition was founded in 2017 during the final stages of a historical dam removal project that is reconnecting the Boardman River to Lake Michigan. As a result of the river-restoration efforts, called A River Reborn, it became apparent that addressing current fisheries-management practices would be necessary to prioritize the sustainability of the Boardman’s vulnerable brook trout fishery.
Consequently, a group of citizens joined together to form an organization that is dedicated to protecting brook trout and their associated habitat in Michigan. And as the Brook Trout Coalition became aware of similar restoration projects in Michigan, it broadened its focus from the Boardman River to the statewide protection of brook trout.
It is by honoring that mission that the Brook Trout Coalition seeks to become Michigan’s most effective brook trout conservation organization. The Coalition expects to achieve that distinction by working in partnership with regulatory agencies, scientific organizations and other entities.
Our Mission:
The Brook Trout Coalition seeks to protect, restore and preserve the state fish, the brook trout, and their associated habitat.
Doing so means facing important challenges, including past fisheries-management practices and decisions that have not prioritized brook trout. In fact, those practices often have had the opposite effect — they have degraded the brook trout’s habitat and impeded its sustainability and survival. The Brook Trout Coalition’s goal is to persuade regulatory authorities to accord brook trout a stature that befits our state fish.
Our Vision:
The Brook Trout Coalition seeks to support and nurture the sustainable and abundant existence of brook trout in their native regions in Michigan — today and in the future.
Our goal, which we hope to achieve via constructive dialogue with various public and private stakeholder organizations, is to address the full range of factors that will help to protect and restore brook trout and their associated habitat.
Our Membership:
The Brook Trout Coalition is an all-volunteer organization. Its members are conservationists and outdoor enthusiasts who live primarily in Michigan. Click here to learn how you can become a member!
Our Non-Profit Status:
The Brook Trout Coalition Inc. is tax exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Our tax identification number is 83-1227273.
““I fish because I love to; because I love the environs where trout are found, which are invariably beautiful… because in a world where most men seem to spend their lives doing things they hate, my fishing is at once an endless source of delight and an act of small rebellion, because trout do not lie or cheat and cannot be bought or bribed or impressed by power, but respond only to quietude and humility and endless patience… because only in the woods can I find solitude without loneliness…””