Based in West Chester, Valley Forge Trout Unlimited has been preserving, protecting, and restoring cold-water resources throughout Chester County for decades, according to a report from The Hunt magazine.

Most recently, VFTU members joined Kennett Square’s Kendal-Crosslands Communities in planting 300 native trees and shrubs along the small Brandywine River tributary called Bennett’s Run.

Everything that the local chapter of Trout Unlimited accomplishes is done on an annual budget of under $50,000.

“We’re conservationists who love to fish — we’re not fishermen who like to do conservation on the side,” said VFTU president Pete Hughes, a Chester Springs resident.

For VFTU members, clean water is always the priority.

“If I had to make a Top 10 list, it would be all 10,” said Pete Goodman, a Malvern resident and VFTU’s environmental chair.

The 800-member organization focuses on protecting – including using litigation – 10 wild and stocked trout watersheds. Its primary scope is Chester County, but it also dips into parts of Montgomery and Delaware counties. Valley Creek is the best example of the importance of VFTU’s efforts.

“It’s remarkable that a stream is this productive so close to a major metropolitan area and in such a rapidly developing county,” said Goodman.

Read more about Valley Forge Trout Unlimited in The Hunt magazine here.

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