Interested in donating to a charity or local non-profit this ‘Giving Tuesday’? We have put together a list of non-profits that work with fish or in the fly fishing realm. There are some pretty cool organizations that we have listed! From protecting our Deschutes River to taking disabled Veterans there is an organization out there that can peak anyones interest. We have a listed a few of the ones we appreciate the most. Take a look below!
Local-
Deschutes River Conservancy-
The DRC is a 501(c)3 non-profit corporation founded by the Environmental Defense Fund, the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation and local irrigation districts. In the past sixteen years, we have built a strong foundation for collaborative work in the Deschutes Basin. Our mission is to restore streamflow and improve water quality in the Deschutes Basin. Our objectives are to meet or exceed state water quality standards and to restore the natural hydrograph to the extent environmentally, socially and economically feasible in the Deschutes River and its tributaries. We are a nationally recognized leader in river restoration and we have set the bar for achieving results through collaboration.
Learn more here!
Upper Deschutes Watershed Council
Since 1996, the Upper Deschutes Watershed Council (UDWC) has worked to protect and restore the 2,000,000-acre upper Deschutes River watershed through collaborative projects in watershed restoration, monitoring and community awareness. With local support from landowners, ranchers, environmental interests, local citizens, and representatives from local governments and agencies, we lead cooperative, grass-roots efforts to improve watershed conditions. This grass-roots approach ensures that a balance of affected and interested stakeholders is involved to craft effective management strategies for our watersheds.
Watershed councils are locally organized, voluntary groups established to protect and restore local watersheds in support of the Oregon Plan for Salmon and Watersheds. Most watershed councils, including the Upper Deschutes Watershed Council, were organized following the Oregon Legislature’s unanimous passage of House Bill 3441 which established guidance for the formation of watershed councils in Oregon.
Learn more here!
Coalition for the Deschutes-
The original Coalition for the Deschutes was created in response to attempts in the early 1980s to build 17 hydro projects on the Upper Deschutes within 15 miles of Bend. Had those plans come to pass, Benham Falls and Dillon Falls would be fading memories.
As a result of broad community engagement, the threat of the river becoming a hydro-generator was obviated and the focus turned to fixing the extreme high and low flow problems on the Upper Deschutes. In 1987, the Upper Deschutes River was designated a State Scenic Waterway. In 1988 it was designated a federal Wild and Scenic River…and the community believed that the flow problems would be solved. However, the problems still persist today.
The “new” Coalition for the Deschutes is picking up where our predecessor organization left off. We have work to do, and learning and exploring and imagining. Please join us on this journey.
Learn more here!
National-
Project Healing Waters-
Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing (PHWFF) began in 2005 serving wounded military service members at Walter Reed Army Medical Center returning from combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. Since then, PHWFF has expanded nationwide, establishing its highly successful program in Department of Defense hospitals, Warrior Transition Units, and Veterans Affairs Medical Centers and clinics.
Project Healing Waters brings a high-quality, full-spectrum fly fishing program to an ever-expanding number of disabled active military service personnel across the Veterans Affairs Healthcare System, in Military Hospitals and the Warrior Transition Command. We focus our resources wherever the need is greatest and expand our partner base in the process. PHWFF has become recognized as an innovative leader and model in the field of therapeutic outdoor recreation for the disabled, through its successful application of the sport of fly fishing as a rehabilitation tool.
Learn more here!
Fly Fishing Collaborative-
We exist to use our passion for fly fishing for a good and just cause. According to United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), human trafficking is the world’s third largest enterprise after drugs and weapons. Over 2 million children are affected annually. Studies show that children caught in sex trafficking are victimized by 100–1500 perpetrators each year. We formed the FFC so that we can use our tools in fly fishing to give children the protection and healing they need. By partnering with professional fly fishing outfitters and guides around the world, we have the incredible opportunity to join the fight for freedom and recovery for these precious children.
The Fly Fishing Collaborative is offering professionally guided fly fishing trips and selling custom-made leather fly wallets. The money raised will be used to build sustainable farms to provide resources in areas where women and children often become currency.
Through aquaponics farming we provide sustainable livelihood and economic support to rescue and prevent more children from being sold into the sex slave industry.
Every $15,000 we raise will provide a totally sustainable tilapia farm that will be built for an orphanage or safe-home in order to provide them with food, income, water, and fresh produce. Additionally, this will empower their leaders to care for more children that would otherwise be sold into slavery.
Learn more here!
Wild Steelhead Coalition-
Wild steelhead, the Washington state fish, are an important cultural and economic legacy in the Pacific Northwest and have been reduced to a fraction of their historic capacity. Over-harvest, habitat loss, ineffective hatchery practices, human-constructed barriers to migration, and misguided management strategies have all contributed to the decline–and in some cases extinction–of wild steelhead runs. The Wild Steelhead Coalition (WSC) believes that, without meaningful changes to policies and attitudes, these same factors will continue to reduce wild steelhead populations to the point where they will no longer be sustainable.
The WSC is a non-profit 501c(3) organization. We were founded in 2000 by a group of conscientious steelhead anglers and advocates, determined to make lasting change for this iconic species. For more than 10 years, the WSC has worked to build partnerships, educate stakeholders, and change policy on behalf of the fish. We rely on the support of our members and contributors to make this work possible; and all contributions to the WSC are fully tax-deductible.
Learn more here!
Native Fish Society-
Guided by the best available science, Native Fish Society advocates for the recovery and protection of wild, native fish and promotes the stewardship of the habitats that sustain them.
For more than 130 years, the iconic steelhead and salmon of the Pacific Northwest have been in steady decline. Since 1995, NFS’s goal has been to advance the recovery and protection of self-sustaining wild, native fish populations in the Pacific Northwest by working to enact fish-friendly policies and promote stewardship of their habitats in their home waters. NFS is distinguished by an unwavering science-based approach to fish recovery, and support this mission with programs focusing on science and policy, stewardship, outreach and development.
Learn more here!
Casting for Recovery-
The mission of Casting for Recovery® (CfR) is to enhance the quality of life of women with breast cancer through a unique retreat program that combines breast cancer education and peer support with the therapeutic sport of fly fishing. The program offers opportunities for women to find inspiration, discover renewed energy for life and experience healing connections with other women and nature. CfR serves women of all ages, in all stages of breast cancer treatment and recovery, at no cost to participants.
The concept of Casting for Recovery is unique. On a physical level, the gentle, rhythmic motion of fly casting is similar to exercises often prescribed after surgery or radiation to promote soft tissue stretching. On an emotional level, women are given the opportunity to experience a new activity in a safe environment amongst a supportive group of peers. The retreats provide resources to help address quality of life issues after a breast cancer diagnosis, and a new outlet – fly fishing – as a reprieve from the every day stresses and challenges of their cancer.
Learn more here!