Trout in the Classroom was recognized as a Colorado Water Education Exemplar in 2025 for excellence in hands-on water education. The program engaged more than 20,000 students and community members across 59 schools and is expanding to over 80 classroom tanks statewide, helping students build real connections to their local waterways and native trout.

In the Poudre headwaters, Trout Unlimited and partners are building the largest restoration stronghold for Colorado’s state fish, the greenback cutthroat trout. The project spans 37 miles of stream and more than 240 acres of lake habitat, creating a secure home where native trout can thrive. This year included major progress, from installing innovative fish passage and temporary barriers on Corral Creek to supporting agency partners in removing non-native fish. Each step brings us closer to restoring a self-sustaining native trout population in one of Colorado’s most iconic watersheds.

When federal funding was paused, Trout Unlimited worked with Colorado’s congressional delegation to restore support for key restoration projects, ensuring work already underway could continue benefiting rivers and communities.

The Boulder Flycasters chapter is advancing long-term improvements on South Boulder Creek, including modernized diversion structures and fish passage, with major designs nearing completion and a pilot automated headgate already installed.

On Elk Creek near New Castle, Trout Unlimited worked with local irrigators for nearly a decade to modernize aging diversion structures, improve water efficiency, and reconnect habitat for trout. This partnership has opened nine miles of spawning and rearing habitat to the Colorado River, strengthening one of the state’s most accessible and well-loved fisheries. This work also increases the resilience of the watershed against future fire and flood impacts. With federal funding reduced, continued progress upstream on Canyon Creek now depends on support from local partners, foundations, and committed anglers who believe healthy rivers and working lands can thrive together.

Trout Unlimited mobilized supporters to help secure the historic Shoshone Water Rights for permanent protection. This effort will help maintain year-round flows on the Colorado River and support the health of one of Colorado’s most important river systems.

Eagle Valley Trout Unlimited is helping lead restoration on Gore Creek in partnership with local and state agencies, supported in part by Fishing is Fun grants and Natural Resource Damage funds. The project is now underway to protect this at-risk Gold Medal stream.

Trout Unlimited celebrated 20 years of its River Conservation and Fly-Fishing Camp, where campers built skills, friendships, and confidence. Even during a wildfire evacuation, their resilience and teamwork showed the strength of this program and the community behind it.

With support from the Colorado Rivers Fund, Trout Unlimited helped assess the impacts of deicers on the Blue River to guide future conservation for this Gold Medal fishery.

The Boulder Flycasters chapter is advancing long-term improvements on South Boulder Creek, including modernized diversion structures and fish passage, with major designs nearing completion and a pilot automated headgate already installed.

Troutfest Colorado 2025 was held on May 31st at Coors Field. A celebration of conservation, education, and community attracted thousands.

Trout Unlimited is working with the Water Quality Control Commission to help shape new state rules that protect wetlands, headwater streams, and other waters no longer covered by federal law. This work helps safeguard the sources that feed healthy rivers across Colorado.

High in the watershed above Paonia, Trout Unlimited and partners are restoring more than 13 miles of habitat in the Clear Fork of Muddy Creek to bring back the Uncompahgre lineage of Colorado River cutthroat trout. Early project steps include building a fish barrier, removing non-native species, and preparing the stream for native trout to return. This collaborative effort will reconnect tributaries, protect a rare genetic lineage, and support other native species along the way. With support from statewide partners, agencies, local chapters, and industry leaders, this project will create a lasting home for native trout in the high country.

Trout Unlimited partnered with Girl Scouts of Colorado to host STREAM Girls, helping participants explore local streams, learn fly fishing skills, and build confidence through hands-on river science and outdoor experience.

After years of effort, the Good Samaritan law passed in 2025, allowing groups like Trout Unlimited to clean up abandoned mines and improve water quality without added legal risk.

The Cutthroat Chapter is leading trail improvements in Cheesman Canyon with the US Forest Service, reducing erosion and protecting habitat while creating a safer and more sustainable trail system for one of Colorado’s most treasured fisheries.

Trout Unlimited mobilized members to stop a proposal that threatened public lands and continues to support bipartisan efforts to keep these places protected for all.

The San Luis Valley Student Chapter engaged local youth in conservation, fly fishing, and hands-on habitat work, building the next generation of river stewards in one of the nation’s first TU student chapters.

With support from the Colorado Rivers Fund, the Dolores River Anglers chapter helped install beaver-style restoration structures on Wildcat Creek to protect a rare trout lineage, and later assisted with fish rescue efforts when wildfire threatened the area.

Five Rivers Trout Unlimited supported long-term restoration work in the Hermosa Creek watershed to protect native Colorado River cutthroat trout, helping establish one of the largest connected native cutthroat fisheries in the state.