President’s Message
Greetings
2024 was a year of change. We have a new Conservation Chairman and a new Trout in the Classroom Chairwoman, both are already having a positive impact on their programs and MBTU. Our TIC program is doing well and the release of the fingerlings will take place in the spring.
We have some ambitious conservation projects for 2025 with the SCDNR. We hope to start the North Saluda River Brook Trout restoration and habitat improvement. Also, we have restorations and habitant improvements for Southern Appalachian Brook Trout in the Jocassee Wildnerness on Wright, Abner, and Emery Creeks.
Hurricane Helene caused devastating damage to WNC and parts of Tennessee. MBTU was able to provide financial assistance to the Blue Ridge Guide Associate and some retailers. There's still plenty to be done and we’re planning on providing more help.
Our upstate Warriors program continues to grow and we’re serving more and more veterans. We appreciate the generous support that we receive from a donor.
We continue to do roadside cleanups along Hwy 11/276 near the rock vanes on the Saluda River.
We are proud to be partners with the South Carolina Department of Resources, Naturand Trust, Save or Saluda, United States Forest Service, Davidson River Outfitters, Dodson Fishing Company, and Orvis of Greenville we appreciate all the conservation work going to fish, wildlife, land, and clean water efforts to help make the Upstate of SC a better place to live and enjoy for us and future generations.
Many thanks and appreciation to our board members and volunteers who help make our success possible in all of our projections and endeavors.
Respectfully
Tom Theus
President
See the gallery below of our Pigpen Branch Stocking!
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Our Mission
Trout Unlimited
Trout Unlimited is a natural resources conservation organization of volunteers dedicated to conserve, protect and restore North America's coldwater fisheries and their watersheds.
In 1959, sixteen dedicated anglers gathered on the banks of Michigan’s Au Sable River. United by a love of fishing and a desire to help wild trout survive, they launched Trout Unlimited with successful campaigns championing catch-and-release fishing and the use of barbless hooks. Today TU has over 155,000 members working out of 380 chapters and 36 state councils nationwide to conserve, protect and restore coldwater fisheries. We donate well over 650,000 volunteer hours and significant funds every year to clean up polluted streams, repair and restore stream riparian and watershed areas, restore water to damaged and dried-up rivers, and teach young people about responsible stewardship of our coldwater resources and good fishing habits. We have won major victories in court and in Congress, using a nonpartisan, action-oriented approach that has earned the support of state and federal agencies, universities, non-profits, landowners and thousands of partners. The scale of our work continues to expand, but our focus remains the protection of wild and native fish, and our greatest resource is still the energy and enthusiasm of America’s anglers.
Together, we are working to ensure that our favorite streams and rivers will still be there—cold, clean and fishable—for the next generation. (TU is a tax exempt Section 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.)
Mountain Bridge Chapter
The MISSION of the Mountain Bridge Chapter of Trout Unlimited (MBTU) parallels the Trout Unlimited mission but is focused on upstate South Carolina, specifically: "To conserve, protect, and restore South Carolina’s trout fisheries and their watersheds (and on a selective basis, those of western North Carolina) through chapter and member activities, advocacies and common goals."
In addition, our VISION reflects our mission, which is: "To ensure that robust populations of native and wild coldwater fish continue to thrive within their original South Carolina range, so that our descendants can enjoy healthy fisheries in their home waters." All our efforts and activities are ultimately directed toward our belief in these tenets. More about our goals and objectives and the operation of our chapter can be found under the tabs at the top of each page.
The Mountain Bridge Chapter is the original South Carolina chapter of Trout Unlimited founded and headquartered in Greenville in 1974. It was founded by Bob Martin, Jerry Alexander, Larry Vickery and others with the initial effort to facilitate the transfer of private property of Jones Gap to the State of South Carolina - now Jones Gap State Park. A few years later, MBTU members helped to start the Saluda River Chapter in Columbia, SC, and later, the Chattooga River Chapter in Clemson, SC. These three chapters, along with at-large members in the lower and coastal regions, make up the South Carolina Trout Unlimited State Council and comprise over 1,600 members.
Our MBTU chapter currently has over 540 members primarily from upstate South Carolina’s greater Greenville-Spartanburg area and extending over to the Rock Hill area. Our members cover all adult ages, are both male and female, and come from all walks of life, socio-economic status, and interests. We all share the same passion to preserve, protect and restore cold water fisheries and to spend time together fly fishing for trout in those cold rivers and streams of South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, and beyond. We meet monthly featuring a speaker with specific expertise and experience on various areas of our interests in trout and trout fishing, conservation, and community service. Additionally, we have chapter outings at popular regional fishing streams during the spring and fall, along with other scheduled social and conservation activities. There is much more information about us and our activities on this web site.