“Hunters are among the first to see the effects of habitat loss and degradation, and for decades we’ve seen populations of bobwhite quail, prairie chickens, pronghorn and other grassland wildlife suffer,” said Aaron Field, TRCP’s director of private lands conservation. “It’s long past time to replicate on grasslands the proven model of voluntary, incentive-based conservation that has boosted waterfowl populations for nearly 35 years. The North American Grasslands Conservation Act puts us on that path. We applaud the leadership of Representatives Mace, Davids, Fitzpatrick, and Thompson and look forward to working with decision-makers on both sides of the aisle to advance this smart, proven conservation solution.”
More than 70 percent of America’s tallgrass, mixed grass, and shortgrass prairies have vanished, followed by the precipitous decline of grassland bird populations – more than 30 percent since 1966. Additionally, grazing lands that have sustained generations of ranchers are dwindling and species from bobwhite quail and pheasants to monarch butterflies and elk are struggling to navigate landscapes they used to call home.
The Grasslands Act would kickstart the voluntary protection and restoration of grasslands and sagebrush-steppe ecosystems – and the livelihoods and wildlife dependent upon them. Functionally, the legislation is modeled after the successful North American Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA) and would create a landowner-driven, voluntary, incentive-based program to conserve America’s critically imperiled grasslands. There’s urgency to maintain these grassland biomes for agriculture, wildlife habitat, carbon sequestration and for future generations while supporting ranchers, farmers, Tribal Nations, sportsmen and women and rural communities.
The concept of a Grasslands Act was first introduced in the U.S. Senate during the 117th Congress, led by Senators Ron Wyden (D-Ore), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn) and Michael Bennet (D-Colo). This new U.S. House version has some key changes aligning it more closely with NAWCA, improving tribal provisions, and making it more bipartisan.
“The United States has over 125 million acres of grasslands that are threatened, and right here in South Carolina, we see firsthand how important conservation is to the health and beauty of our natural ecosystems,” Mace said. “Our office has made a promise to preserve this beauty, not just for today, but for future generations.”
“In Kansas, we have grassland prairies that are well known throughout the Great Plains for their beautiful landscapes and scenic hiking trails, but grasslands once covered millions of acres across North America, stretching from coast to coast,” Davids said. “Grasslands are vital to ranchers and producers, Tribes, and folks who love spending time outdoors. They’re critical habitat for countless species of birds, important pollinators, and treasured animals like the bison. And, they’re crucial to fighting the effects of climate change, bolstering our food security, and combatting extreme weather. I’m excited for this opportunity to highlight the protection of our grasslands and bipartisan solutions that build off of successful public-private partnerships.”
“Grasslands are vital to the livelihoods of our nation’s ranchers and the health of our native wildlife – yet they remain endangered. It’s great to join my colleagues to introduce the bipartisan North American Grasslands Act to invest in voluntary, incentive-based programs to help farmers, ranchers, Tribal Nations, sportsmen and women, and state and local governments preserve, rehabilitate, and responsibly manage our grasslands for generations to come,” Thompson said.
“Grasslands are among the most endangered ecosystems in the word, with over 70 percent of America’s tallgrass, mixed grass, and shortgrass prairies now gone,” Fitzpatrick said. “Our grasslands are vital for the survival of farmers and rural communities across Pennsylvania and our nation, which is why I am championing this critical piece of bipartisan, bicameral legislation. By establishing a landowner-drive, incentive-based program and investing restoration programs, the North American Grasslands Conservation Act will protect essential habitats that support our American farmers, ranchers, and Tribal Nation s and revitalize these crucial ecosystems, ensuring they continue to sustain wildlife and rural communities for generations to come.”
More than 45 organizations are collaborating in support of the Grasslands Act. A full roster of those groups can be found at www.ActforGrasslands.org. Additionally, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology has partnered with the coalition to develop the www.MapForGrasslands.org website, which provides a powerful tool to visualize the loss of grasslands habitat.
The TRCP is your resource for all things conservation. In our weekly Roosevelt Report, you’ll receive the latest news on emerging habitat threats, legislation and proposals on the move, public land access solutions we’re spearheading, and opportunities for hunters and anglers to take action. Sign up now.
The Importance of Restoring Louisiana’s Chandeleur Islands
President Theodore Roosevelt designated the islands, which provide key habitat for waterfowl, sportfish, and sea turtles, as the second-ever National Wildlife Refuge in the U.S.
Louisiana’s extensive barrier islands are among the many features that distinguish the state from its Gulf of Mexico neighbors, as well as every other Atlantic Basin state.
Certainly, others have barrier islands and extensive beach shorelines. However, none of them have the unique and numerous mix of headlands and back-barrier marshes of the Bayou State, thanks to the shifting deltas and fertility of the Mississippi River.
While the brown river silt and thick, sometimes rotten-smelling mud isn’t the tourist attraction of white sand and high-rise hotels, the fish, crabs and, especially, native and migrating birds sure do love those “ugly” beaches and marshes.
Singling out one barrier island or even a chain of barrier islands as most important or most unique is difficult. They all serve multiple purposes as vital habitat for fish and birds (and fishermen and bird watchers) and all play a crucial role in knocking down storm surge and protecting more sensitive inland wetlands and communities from bearing the brunt of the strongest hurricane waves. The Chandeleur Islands, though, stand out.
Tens of thousands of redheads and other ducks utilize the Chandeleur Islands each winter. Image credit: Teddy Llovet
A special place
The Chandeleurs are home to the northern Gulf of Mexico’s largest seagrass bed, encompassing more than 5,000 acres and providing food and shelter for innumerable fish, mammals, sea turtles, and birds.
It may come as a shock to most Louisiana waterfowlers that tens of thousands of diving ducks, particularly redheads, spend part of their winter on northern Chandeleur’s massive grass flats. An estimated 40,000-50,000 birds utilize the islands each winter and more than 30,000 sea birds make their nests on the islands annually.
The islands’ remote nature has left them unmolested, but also passed up for large-scale restoration projects.
Those flats also attract sea turtles, most notably endangered Kemp’s ridley turtles. Biologists believed for decades Kemp’s ridleys, while ranging Gulf-wide and along the Atlantic Coast, only nested in Mexico and South Texas. Not so, according to a host of recent findings by Louisiana’s Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) that show dozens of nesting sites along the Chandeleur’s beaches.
Critically endangered Kemp’s ridley sea turtles, like the one shown here in Florida, nest on and forage near the Chandeleurs. Image credit: Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission
Of course, Louisiana anglers and saltwater fishing enthusiasts world-wide know the Chandeleurs for their massive schools of redfish, extraordinary speckled trout production, enormous populations of sharks, and even as a stopping and feeding spot for migrating tarpon coming from Florida each summer to feast on pogies and mullet near the Mississippi’s mouth.
This remarkable bounty of fish and wildlife prompted President Theodore Roosevelt to designate the islands as the Breton National Wildlife Refuge in 1904, the second-ever National Wildlife Refuge established in the United States.
Access Is a Challenge
There’s no such thing as an easy trip to northern Chandeleur Island. It’s more than 30 miles across a lot of open water from any launching spot along the Mississippi coast. Add a dozen or more miles to that from popular Louisiana ports.
Its remote nature has left the islands mostly unmolested by people and keeps predators like foxes, racoons, and other egg eaters away from bird and turtle nests. But, because the islands are so far away from the mainland, it also meant they were often passed up for large-scale restoration projects.
The storm surge reduction benefits just didn’t score as highly as islands in the Barataria or Terrebonne basins, while the distance from shore meant additional expenses in moving material and manpower on site. Facing limited budgets, state coastal planners had to pick islands that had the most combined benefits for both people and animals.
Construction could begin in 2026 to restore more than 13 miles of the barrier island chain.
Ironically, it’s the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil disaster that changed the equation for the Chandeleurs. The impacts to sea turtles, birds, fish, and other wildlife across the northern Gulf means habitat restoration and enhancement is weighted as much or more than storm surge reduction and coastal community protection when it comes to spending oil spill fines.
The 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill fouled many of Louisiana’s barrier island beaches. Image credit: Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality
The Time Is Now
Louisiana’s CPRA is trying to secure an approximate $280-plus million from various oil-spill penalty funds, including the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s Gulf Environmental Benefit Fund as well as donations from nonprofit groups like Ducks Unlimited. Should the CPRA succeed, construction could begin in 2026 to restore more than 13 miles of beaches as well as sand dunes and pockets of back barrier marshes.
Here’s hoping CPRA succeeds. The Chandeleurs’ beaches and dunes are miniscule now compared to the estimated 11,000 acres there when Roosevelt established the refuge. Hurricanes, especially Georges in 1998 and, of course, Katrina in 2005 have ripped the islands apart, contributing to the loss of more than 90 percent of the landmass over the last 100 years.
Louisiana has lost far too much coastal habitat in the last century. That land loss has contributed to the slow erosion of a cultural identity intrinsic to the people of the Sportsman’s Paradise. Hopefully, restoring the Chandeleurs will play a big role in making sure that identity is passed on to the next generation of Louisiana sportsmen and women.
Every barrier island in Louisiana between the mouth of the Mississippi River and the Atchafalaya River has been restored and enhanced in some way in the last 25 years. It’s time the northern stretches of the Chandeleurs get their turn.
Expert Panel Discusses the Importance of a Healthy Rio Grande to Sustaining Communities and Outdoor Recreation
TRCP gathered conservation leaders, recreational businesses, policy experts, and media at the 2024 OWAA Annual Conference to discuss the importance of a healthy Rio Grande
(El Paso, Texas) – The Thedore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership joined outdoor media and professionals at the Outdoor Writers Association of America’s annual conference in El Paso, Texas, to connect and learn from more than 150 outdoor storytellers – and the non-profits, brands, and communities that support their work.
As part of the conference, the TRCP hosted a panel discussion, moderated by Christian Fauser, the organization’s western water policy associate, to engage the outdoor writing community on the importance of a healthy Rio Grande in sustaining communities and outdoor recreation; what regional partners are doing to address river challenges; and how outdoor writers can help elevate the profile of this crucial watershed.
The Rio Grande/Rio Bravo is the third longest river in the continental US and is a source of life for more than 13 million people and countless unique wildlife species and ecosystems. The river also supports a vibrant outdoor recreational community and economy built around iconic landscapes such as Great Sand Dunes and Big Bend National Parks and a string of National Wildlife Refuges critical to sustaining migratory birds and other wildlife important to hunters, anglers, and wildlife watchers. The Rio Grande also faces tremendous challenges from a changing climate, dealing with the impacts of wildfires and drought, and declining water supplies.
Panelists included: Ashley Beyer, Southern Regional Director for US Senator Martin Heinrich; Martha Pskowski, El Paso-based energy and environment reporter for Inside Climate News; Toner Mitchell, Trout Unlimited New Mexico Water and Habitat Coordinator; and Mike Davidson, co-founder of Far Flung Adventures, and professional river guide.
The panelists provided crucial insights to the outdoor writers, non-profits organizations, businesses, and media on:
The biggest water and climate-related threats facing the Rio Grande and current opportunities to address these challenges.
Opportunities for cross-watershed coordination and collaboration to address water resource challenges.
How the Rio Grande, compared to other watersheds, receives less attention in national media despite its importance as a vital water source for drinking, agriculture, outdoor recreation, and fish and wildlife; and how this lack of national media attention arguably does a disservice to addressing water-related challenges on the river in terms of attention by federal and state policymakers.
Learn more about TRCP’s commitment to habitat and clean water here
Photo credit: NPS Photo/Jennette Jurado
The TRCP is your resource for all things conservation. In our weekly Roosevelt Report, you’ll receive the latest news on emerging habitat threats, legislation and proposals on the move, public land access solutions we’re spearheading, and opportunities for hunters and anglers to take action. Sign up now.
Almost all of the nation’s 30 Estuarine Research Reserves allow rod and gun recreation, and we can help ensure they receive continued Congressional support
If you’re a seasoned saltwater angler, you know that healthy estuaries mean healthy sportfish populations. Take the Chesapeake Bay or Florida Everglades, for example. Without these semi-enclosed, shallow-water systems and the menhaden, mullet, ballyhoo, herring, and other forage fish and crustaceans they support, there would be no recreational fishing because there would be no sportfish left that rely on them. What you might not know is that there’s a system of research reserves around the nation that for more than 50 years has been dedicated to conserving coastal habitat, while offering hunting and angling opportunities, youth education, and community support.
Reserves span all U.S. coastlines, and more have designations underway or have been proposed. Credit: NERRA
The National Estuarine Research Reserve System is a network of 30 coastal sites designated to protect and study the nation’s diverse estuarine systems, with sites on every coast and the Great Lakes. Funding is provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and other federal agencies with matching state and private funds, and the reserves are managed by a state agency or university with input from local partners.
95 percent of the reserves allow fishing and 85 percent permit hunting.
The reserves span the breadth of the country’s highly varied estuarine habitats, such as mangrove forests, beaches, salt marshes, rocky intertidal zones, oyster reefs, and mud flats, and most contain extensive submerged aquatic vegetation that provides critical fish habitat. These reserves also provide public access to more than 1.4 million acres of coastal lands and waters.
A waterman harvesting blue crabs at the Chesapeake Bay Research Reserve.
“They protect places and people all around the coasts,” said Rebecca Roth, executive director of the National Estuarine Research Reserve Association (NERRA), a non-regulatory body that supports the system of reserves. “Every reserve is there because people cared passionately about the place and worked hard to get it designated.”
Benefits For Recreation, Education, & Economies
Over decades, National Estuarine Research Reserves have created a national dataset that provides a record of how coastal weather, water quality, sea levels, habitat, and vegetation have changed over time – all collected, synthesized, and analyzed according to stringent standards, to be used by scientists, resource managers, and others. Roth says the reserves also address climate change concerns at each site 365 days of the year, to track short-term changes and long-term trends on the coasts.
“We are the only national network that comes with a standardized estuary monitoring program, integrated science and education programs, strong connections to local communities, and a dedication to sharing what is learned across a national network,” Roth said.
Reserves provide key opportunities for education and training for outreach efforts about the data collected there. They demonstrate the value of conserving habitat to schoolkids and people of all ages, with more than 73,000 K-12 students benefiting in 2022 alone, and coordinate citizen science and volunteer cleanup efforts. Each year they sustain more than 10,000 jobs – providing significant local economic inputs – and are visited by more than 650,000 recreationists.
Anglers fishing near the site of the designated Atchafalaya Reserve in Louisiana. Credit: Cajun Coast Tourism
“Coastal reserves protect essential breeding habitats, act as natural buffers against rising sea levels, and support species adaptation to climate change,” said Jamelle Ellis, TRCP senior scientist. “By preserving ecosystems, they enhance climate resilience for wildlife and ensure sustainable outdoor recreation opportunities.”
The management plans that direct current reserves allow for recreational fishing in 28 of the 30 sites, and hunting in 25 of them. Regardless of whether sporting is allowed on these properties, however, all provide nurseries for species like sportfish and the forage fish they depend on for food. The wetlands and shellfish reefs they protect also help filter water and their lands serve as terrestrial habitat refuges for game species like deer and waterfowl to ensure more robust local populations. Other recreation activities popular at these sites include bird watching, hiking, and paddling.
NERRA’s Roth says that as more and more coastal lands are developed, the reserves become even more important as habitat for game species and places where anglers can target inshore species like redfish and striped bass. “We know that 75 percent of all fish caught begin their life in the nursery grounds of an estuary,” said Roth. “When you protect these waters and provide proper stewardship of the lands that surround them, you protect the nursery.”
Whitetail deer caught on a game camera at Guana Tolomata Matanzas Research Reserve in northern Florida. Credit: NERRS
A Long History
In the late ‘60s, America’s coasts were under intense pressure from population growth and development was taking a toll on coastal lands, waters, and wildlife. As a result, in 1972 Congress passed the Coastal Zone Management Act to set national policy to “preserve, protect, develop, and where possible, to restore or enhance, the resources of the Nation’s coastal zone.” The act provided a backbone for creating the Research Reserve System. Through this act, states maintain rights to sustainably manage their own coasts while receiving federal financial and technical support. The act would later authorize the Coastal and Estuarine Land Conservation Program (CELCP), which protects ecologically important coastal lands and those with other values, such as recreational opportunities or historic features.
The CZMA has been amended 11 times since its initial passage to expand authorities and add focus areas, and NERRA is seeking in this federal legislative session for Congress to again reauthorize and update the reserve program and authorize funding for the Reserve System and the coast and estuarine land conservation program. Congress has not provided authorizations for either the national reserve system or CELCP since fiscal years 1999 and 2013, respectively.
Researchers measure a salmon at the Kachemak Bay Reserve in Alaska.
“This has major implications for habitat protections, as the Coastal and Estuarine Land Conservation Program under the CZMA has already protected more than 100,000 acres using matched federal and state funding,” said David Pelikan, TRCP climate resilience program manager.
As it does every year, NERRA is requesting that Congress provide funding to address operations, research, facilities, and procurement and acquisition of new properties. Authorized funding amounts to reflect the needs of the coastal communities are being sought through passage of H.R. 6841, the Resilient Coasts and Estuaries Act, which was introduced in Congress last December. The bill would direct NOAA to designate five new reserves, significantly increasing the areas studied and protected and creating many more opportunities for angling and other public recreation, more habitat for fisheries, more coastal lands to protect communities from extreme weather, and more opportunities for businesses that rely on healthy coastal environments. The bill also would establish in statute existing reserve programs like Coastal Training that support fisheries, businesses, and communities and direct their execution as a matter of national policy, to ensure that these programs continue to serve communities in the future.
What Are Specific Reserves Doing?
There are too many research reserves to allow detailed descriptions of each. Below are a few examples to demonstrate the breadth and variety of the system.
Rookery Bay
Rookery Bay Research Reserve offers great fishing for snook (seen here) and other inshore species. Credit: Josh Greer
Located in southwest Florida near Naples, the Rookery Bay Research Reserve offers spectacular fishing, teeming with inshore fish species like redfish, snook, and tarpon in its extensive mangrove habitats, and provides refuge for more than 50 species of birds. It offers an environmental learning center, and as part of the Greater Everglades Ecosystem, its wetlands benefits from clean water coming south and serves as a final filter for water entering the Ten Thousand Islands area of the Greater Everglades Ecosystem. This reserve is closely tied into the local community and has used its offices to convene emergency responders during hurricanes. This is one of three reserves in Florida.
With more than 30 miles of waterfront on the Maryland side of the Bay, the Chesapeake Bay Research Reserve offers extensive fishing access over oyster reefs and seagrass beds for inshore species like redfish and flounder – as well as edible invasive species like blue catfish – plus habitat for baitfish like menhaden, 44 miles of hiking/paddling trails, and a nature discovery center targeting youths. A similar reserve also exists on the Virginia portion of the Bay.
Kachemak Bay
Home to chinook and coho salmon, halibut, whales, and many seabirds, the Kachemak Bay Reserve’s research on juvenile salmon supports Alaska’s $595 million-dollar commercial fishing industry. Also, commercial fishermen are brought upstream of the reserve to learn firsthand about the importance of protecting the watershed’s habitat to benefit salmon and jobs that depend on them. The reserve brings $1.2 million of federal and state finding to the local economy each year and helps recreational shellfish harvesters respond to toxic algal blooms.
Any new reserves must permit existing recreational fishing and hunting.
Coming Soon
Designations are already underway for two new reserves in the U.S. – in Louisiana and Wisconsin. More will be added if Congress reauthorizes the CZMA. A third site in the U.S. Virgin Islands also would be advanced in its designation status, and a reserve in Michigan and new sites in Maine and Florida are in the pipeline. Any new reserve must permit existing commercial/recreational fishing, hunting, and other cultural uses.
An angler net casting at the site of the designated reserve in the Atchafalaya Basin, Louisiana. Credit: Cajun Coast Tourism
A Louisiana reserve is already in the final review process for its designation. This site is located in the Atchafalaya Basin of the Mississippi River Delta and would support not only local fisheries and economies, but also protect coastal habitats, ensure a perpetual undeveloped buffer to protect communities from the more frequent and severe storms expected because of climate change, and create better access to the Atchafalaya Basin and its delta system of over 4,000 acres of wetlands. The reserve will also allow the opportunity to educate the public about sea level rise, land subsidence, and the importance of restoring more natural sediment flows from the Mississippi to build back land and wetland habitat.
TRCP’s “In the Arena” series highlights the individual voices of hunters and anglers who, as Theodore Roosevelt so famously said, strive valiantly in the worthy cause of conservation.
Bryan Watts
Hometown: Williamsburg, Virginia
Occupation: Professor and director of the Center for Conservation Biology, College of William & Mary
Conservation credentials: Dr. Watts leads multi-year research efforts on many avian species, including a project tracking long-term osprey nesting success in the Chesapeake Bay. He also founded his college’s Center for Conservation Biology and has designed and conducted more than 1,000 research projects related to birds found throughout the Western Hemisphere and particularly in the Mid-Atlantic region.
Dr. Bryan Watts studies a wide range of avian issues, from waterbirds on barrier island beaches and bald eagles in the Chesapeake Bay to the effects of human-caused stressors on bird species in coastal regions. His ongoing research of osprey reproductive success in the Chesapeake recently has gotten a lot of attention. In 2023 and 2024 his data have shown a significant decline in nesting success for ospreys located in saltwater areas, which he attributes to a lack of menhaden – a critically important forage fish – for food. This apparent lack of menhaden (also known as bunker or pogies), which TRCP and partners have sounded the alarm on for years due to similar negative effects on striped bass and other sportfish that rely on them, has been difficult to demonstrate with hard data due to Virginia’s continued unwillingness to fund a study on local menhaden populations in the Bay. Watts is a Mitchell A. Byrd Research Professor of Conservation Biology with a PhD in ecology from the University of Georgia and 40-plus years of research experience. But long before he ever became an ecological scientist, he was just a kid out in the woods, hunting, fishing, and exploring with the Boy Scouts.
Here is his story.
Watts rappelling down from an eagle nest. Credit: Libby Mojica
I was in the woods with my family before I could walk. When I was five, I started to attend Boy Scouts (my father was Scoutmaster). I was introduced to hunting and fishing by other scouts and Scoutmasters. By the time I was 12, I was spending most of my time in the woods hunting, fishing, trapping, digging ginseng, picking berries, and birding. I was fortunate to spend all of my formative years in the woods surrounded by the natural world. Those times would shape my life’s path.
I have had hundreds of great times in the field in multiple countries, but one that stands out is a float trip on the Greenbrier River in West Virginia. I was 14 and spent two days, along with six other boys and Edsel Whaling, a U.S. Marine Veteran and prominent Scout leader, out on the river. We floated about 30 miles, fishing for smallmouth bass. We slept under an overhang along the river. We cooked bass over a fire and used the heads to catch crayfish in the shallows and cooked them also, in a tin can over the fire. That experience has been hard to beat.
“The smell and sounds of the woods and the feel of the air make me feel like I am home.
If I could hunt or fish anywhere, I would be back along the rivers and high streams of West Virginia, fishing for smallmouth bass or brook trout. There is a familiarity there that makes me feel like I belong. The smell and sounds of the woods and the feel of the air make me feel like I am home.
Watts holding an adult osprey as part of his research in the Chesapeake Bay. Credit: Libby Mojica
I have been a professional conservation biologist for 40 years. I have worked on hundreds of conservation projects addressing many species and many problems. One recent project has investigated the causes of poor breeding performance in Chesapeake Bay osprey. My Center has worked with osprey since 1970. Over the past 20 years, we have become increasingly concerned about the role of menhaden availability in osprey nesting success in the main stem of the Bay. Like many conservation problems, we need to seek a balance between the needs of industry and the ecosystem. I am confident that we can find such a balance.
Healthy osprey chicks in a nest in Chesapeake Bay. Credit: Bryan Watts
I am most proud of the fact that as a community of American outdoorsmen and women, we care about what happens to different species. I have never met a true outdoorsman who did not genuinely care about the welfare of a species. Just knowing that we as a community and society are working toward the welfare of other species really enhances the experience of being outdoors.
The largest conservation challenge that we face in the Mid-Atlantic Coastal Plain is habitat loss. Continued expansion of the urban footprint comes at the expense of natural habitats that many of our most vulnerable species depend on. We are fortunate to have large tracts of unspoiled land owned by government agencies, NGOs, and private individuals. We need to work toward expanding the green infrastructure to protect habitat for future generations. The hunting and fishing community has been one of the strongest supporters of this effort.
Watts with a second-year bald eagle. Credit: Bart Paxton
We have a responsibility to pass on the natural environment that we have enjoyed to future generations. Conservation is an all-hands-on-deck activity. If we do not all work together to restore and protect the species we have now, and the habitats they depend on, we will not have them tomorrow.
A female osprey clutching a menhaden. Credit: Bryan Watts
Everyone who enjoys hunting and fishing and being outdoors understands that we cannot take the natural world for granted. Places and species are treasures to be safeguarded across generations. There is a peace of mind that comes with the knowledge that we have done what we can do to pass these places along.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
CHEERS TO CONSERVATION
Theodore Roosevelt’s experiences hunting and fishing certainly fueled his passion for conservation, but it seems that a passion for coffee may have powered his mornings. In fact, Roosevelt’s son once said that his father’s coffee cup was “more in the nature of a bathtub.” TRCP has partnered with Afuera Coffee Co. to bring together his two loves: a strong morning brew and a dedication to conservation. With your purchase, you’ll not only enjoy waking up to the rich aroma of this bolder roast—you’ll be supporting the important work of preserving hunting and fishing opportunities for all.
$4 from each bag is donated to the TRCP, to help continue their efforts of safeguarding critical habitats, productive hunting grounds, and favorite fishing holes for future generations.
