I'm in scenic Redstone a day before Colorado TU's annual Rendezvous conference, meeting with 20 of the heavy hitters of river conservation in the state. In addition to the staff of Colorado TU, the room includes leaders from the Sportsmen's Conservation Project, Western Water Project, Colorado Water Project, Coldwater Conservation Fund, and National Trout Unlimited. The agenda covers a spectrum of issues, but getting the individual subgroups of Trout Unlimited to work together more collaboratively is the underlying theme. We at Colorado TU are often working so hard to establish our own brand that we neglect to take advantage of the other TU resources in the state. The same can be said of the other groups.
Colorado TU President Sinjin Eberle used a phrase that gained some traction:
It's not about Colorado TU, it's about TU in Colorado.
The average member or donor doesn't know or care if a project is run by a chapter or the council or any of the national subgroups. It's more important to know that the project is running under the TU banner. "Protect, conserve, restore" with all of the integrity associated with the TU brand. Frankly, that's how it should be!
