Participants at the fly tying workshop at Forest Park Nature Center on March 17th. Check out more photos from the workshop. Photo: Robert Rowe

By Willie Beshire, Former Chairman, Trout Unlimited, Illinois Council

The Heart of Illinois Sierra Club Group partnered with the Oak Brook Trout Unlimited Chapter to jointly host a fly-tying training workshop on March 17th at Forest Park Nature Center in Peoria Heights.  Check out the March 17 Fly Tying Event Details. More photos of the workshop are on the HOI Group picture archives.

Trout Unlimited shares many of the same values that are ingrained within the Sierra Club. This article provides a brief summary of Trout Unlimited’s national organization along with highlights of the local Oak Brook chapter.

TU National

Trout Unlimited(TU) is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the conservation of North America’s cold-water environment which can be simply described as trout and salmon habitat. TU employs approximately 300 conservation professionals and is supported by almost 400 local chapters with about 300,000 volunteer members across North America. TU advocates for the protection & rehabilitation of cold-water habitats, actively participates in stream improvement projects, and raises public awareness of cold-water environment issues through a range of outreach and education programs. TU’s affinity for trout/salmon fishing is instrumental in igniting a passion for conservation of our cold-water environment among TU members and the public.

Oak Brook Trout Unlimited (OBTU)

TU Illinois Youth Camp participants install wood structures on Michigan’s Au Sable River. Structures can be used to prevent harmful erosion; to channelize the stream in a manner that creates highly oxygenated, exposed gravel required for trout spawning, and to provide protective cover for the fish. Trout populations rapidly increase by multiples following such projects. Photo: Trout Unlimited

OBTU boundaries encompass Sierra Club Heart of Illinois Group’s territory.  OBTU is the largest of the four Illinois TU chapters with about 1450 members and has just celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2023.   Chris Wood, TU CEO, recently presented the prestigious “Silver Trout Award” to OBTU recognizing OBTU as among the highest performing chapters in North America (only two of TU’s almost 400 chapters receives national recognition each year).   A few highlights of OBTU activity include:

• OBTU participates in ongoing conservation projects in four states including Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan and Iowa.  Given the scarcity of Illinois cold-water, most of OBTU’s conservation work is targeted at states to our north where there is an abundance of trout/salmon habitat that benefit from ongoing guardianship and care.  OBTU frequently grants funds to worthy projects and seeks a variety of other forms of participation.  Hands on conservation work days typically involve activities such as river cleanups, brush & invasives removal, tree planting, building of lunker structures, and installation of a variety of structures to improve stream health.  OBTU has been active in stream monitoring and has procured and installed stream monitoring equipment and collected monitoring data.  The chapter has also been conducting entomology surveys to help monitor the health of streams for many years.   OBTU is just now taking initiative to get involved in DNA sampling to learn more about the region’s presence of various strains of native brook trout species.   OBTU has also contributed to stream connectivity and dam removal studies which represent major issues within the Great Lakes region.  In a few instances, OBTU has granted funds in support of acquiring private lands containing trout habitat to be placed in the public domain for perpetuity.
• OBTU advocates for cold-water conservation issues within the Great Lakes region as well as throughout North America.
• OBTU offers robust Youth Education programs including managing Trout-In-The-Classroom in 17 schools introducing over 1,000 students each year to the trout life cycle, conducting a free Fly Fishing Training program that has been delivered to well over 1,000 teenagers, leading a Stream Girls program offering a young women a STEM-based stream experience, and a managing a week-long youth camp on Michigan’s Au Sable river providing teens an appreciation for cold-water conservation while also delivering a rigorous introduction to fly fishing for wild stream trout on the river where TU was founded.
• OBTU undertakes a variety of membership engagement & public outreach activities including monthly chapter meetings with external speakers, exhibition at trade shows, periodic chapter open houses, fishing outings, conservation work days, fly tying events, annual holiday party, trout-on-tap/breakfast club social events, extensive internet and social media communications,  and more.
• OBTU chapter vigorously pursues fund-raising activities in order to finance all of the above.

For more information, check out OBTU’s web site.