From TU:
Trout Unlimited and Sawyer Paddles and Oars announced a partnership today that will benefit TU members across the country by providing quality boating products at a discount, and by donating 15 percent of the company’s sales of TU-branded paddles and oars to TU’s conservation work all across America.
“This is a great partnership for us,” said Zac Kauffman, sales manager for Sawyer. “It allows us to interact with the vibrant Trout Unlimited community and provide members a 20-percent discount on TU-branded products, and it helps us give back to the resources we all cherish—America’s rivers and streams.”
Sawyer was founded by legendary canoe racer Ralph Sawyer in 1967 in Rogue River, Ore., where the company immediately began producing white-water rafting oars. Ever since, the company has been at the forefront of the oar and paddle industry. Today, Sawyer is owned by Pete Newport, a long-time competitive white-water kayaker with a passion for boating and for putting the best oars into the hands of dedicated river runners.
“We’re very happy to collaborate with Zac and the Sawyer brand, and thrilled that they’ll not only be supporting important conservation work on America’s rivers, but they’ll be encouraging another way to connect with our nation’s waterways by extending a discount on their high-quality products to our membership,” said Joel R. Johnson, TU’s chief marketing officer. “Anglers and boaters—often one and the same—are both passionate about our rivers. This new partnership is mutually beneficial, but the real winners are the nation’s rivers and streams.”
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.