From TU:
As Cortland Line Co. prepares to celebrate its 100th year in the fishing business, the venerable fly line maker is joining Trout Unlimited as a corporate partner to donate a percentage of the proceeds from all freshwater fly lines sold to TU’s Embrace-a-Stream program for a limited time.
The Embrace-a-Stream Program is TU’s signature stream restoration funding effort—every year, the organization makes dozens of small grants to TU chapters and councils for conservation projects on the ground in local communities. These grants, usually around $5,000 each, are often used as matching funds for local chapters and councils seeking larger grants from government agencies, foundations and other entities. Sometimes the grants are enough to complete simple—but vital—restoration projects, likesmall culvert removals or fence construction to keep livestock out of sensitive trout waters. Cortland’s contribution will have an immediate impact on the quality of fishing all across America.
“This is an exciting new partnership for us,” said TU’s Chief Marketing Officer Joel R. Johnson. “Not only are we pleased to have Cortland and its century of experience in the fly fishing marketplace officially on our team as a corporate sponsor, but the support of Cortland will be put to work making fishing better in communities from coast to coast. We’re grateful for the partnership.”
Cortland will turn 100 years old in January 2015, and according to the company’s Chuck Caulkins, rather than pat itself on the back for its 100th birthday, the company is looking ahead at the next 100 years of fly fishing.
“We want to ensure that fly fishing will be around for another century,” Caulkins said, “but in order to make sure that happens, we realize we need to invest in our nation’s fisheries. This means we need to help protect quality habitat, restore waters that have been compromised over the years and introduce new people to the sport.”
Supporting TU’s Embrace-a-Stream effort is one of four investments in the future of fly fishing, Caulkins explained. TU is Cortland’s freshwater conservation partner; the Bonefish and Tarpon Trust is Cortland’s saltwater conservation partner; the Coastal Conservation Association is the company’s sportfishing conservation partner; and the National Fishing in Schools Program is Cortland’s education partner.
“We welcome Cortland to the TU family and we’re looking forward to a long relationship that benefits the trout waters of America for generations to come,” Johnson said. “And congratulations to Cortland on its 100th birthday.”
TU will join Cortland and its other conservation partners today at 4 p.m. at the Cortland display at ICAST/IFTD at the Orlando Convention Center to celebrate the company’s new conservation relationships. All attendees of the show are invited to attend.
Trout Unlimited is the nation’s oldest and largest coldwater fisheries conservation organization dedicated to conserving, protecting and restoring North America’s trout and salmon and their watersheds. Follow TU on Facebook and Twitter, and visit us online at tu.org. Follow TU on social media at the ICAST/IFTD show this week by following #TUICAST and #TUIFTD.
