The river pays us a living. These are the folks working year-round to keep it wild, cold, and full of trout. If you've had a good float on the Yellowstone, please consider supporting them.
The Yellowstone runs 692 miles from Yankee Jim Canyon to the Missouri without a single dam blocking it — a rare thing in the American West. That free-flowing character is the reason the fishing is what it is, and the reason the valley looks the way it does.
But "un-dammed" doesn't mean "unthreatened." Warming summers, low flows, sediment, invasive species, and flood recovery all stress the river and its tributaries. The work of keeping this fishery healthy falls largely on a handful of local nonprofits, with volunteers and donors doing the heavy lifting.
Two Livingston-based organizations do more of that work on our home water than anyone else. We're proud to point our customers their way.
Both are Livingston-based, both work directly on the Yellowstone and its tributaries, and both can turn a modest donation into real on-the-ground restoration work.
The oldest continuously active TU chapter in Montana, serving Livingston, Gardiner, Big Timber, and Paradise Valley.
Named for the legendary fly-fisherman, Outdoor Life editor, and early conservation advocate Joe Brooks, the chapter formed in 1968 and is one of the oldest continuously active TU chapters in the country. Brooks himself was a vocal opponent of the proposed Allenspur Dam in Paradise Valley — a 380-foot earthen structure that would have flooded roughly 35 miles of the Yellowstone. The dam was never built. The chapter carries that conservation legacy forward on a shoestring, largely through volunteers.
A TU membership is the easiest on-ramp — it covers you nationally and flags you as a Joe Brooks Chapter member locally. Beyond that, the chapter is always short on hands for workdays, cleanups, and banquet volunteers.
A Livingston-based nonprofit restoring and protecting Montana's rivers, streams, and wetlands through science-based work.
Originally founded as Montana Aquatic Resource Services (MARS) in 2011 by partners including Trout Unlimited, Montana DEQ, Montana Audubon, and the Montana Wetland Council, Montana Freshwater Partners was created to run Montana's In-Lieu Fee wetland and stream mitigation program. Since their first mitigation credit sale in 2014, they've grown into one of the most effective applied-science river nonprofits in the state, based right here in Livingston.
Direct donations to the Give Back program go straight into Yellowstone-specific project work. They also run volunteer cleanups, a native plant sale each May, "Beaver Week," and a longer "Rivers of Time" eco-trip that funnels proceeds into conservation.
A check in the mail helps. So does an afternoon with a trash bag, a willow shovel, or a phone call to your county commissioner. Any of the following move the needle.
Both organizations are 501(c)(3) nonprofits — donations are tax-deductible. Recurring monthly giving at any amount is particularly useful; it lets them plan project work year over year.
Show up for a river cleanup, a willow planting, or a banquet night. No experience required. It's also a good way to meet the people doing this work and learn the river better.
A Trout Unlimited membership funds both the national organization and our local Joe Brooks Chapter (#025). Freshwater Partners has its own newsletter and event list — sign up at freshwaterpartners.org.
Attend public meetings on water rights, development, and access. Local voices at Park County and Livingston City Commission meetings shape what happens on this river far more than most people realize.
Wet hands, barbless hooks, and limited fight times in warm water all matter — especially during summer "hoot owl" restrictions. Pick up whatever trash you find. Leave the access better than you found it.
Tell friends who float the Yellowstone. Mention these organizations at the takeout. Both groups punch well above their weight, but they rely on awareness as much as anything else to keep momentum going.
B&G River Shuttle has no formal financial partnership with either organization listed. We share this page because we live, work, and fish on this river, and we want to see it thriving for the next generation of floaters. Please confirm current programs, events, and donation details directly with each organization.
We're a vehicle shuttle service, not a conservation organization. But the river is our office, and we try not to leave a mess in it.
That means our drivers pick up trash at access points when they spot it, we keep rigs maintained so we're not dripping fluids into the corridor, and we point customers toward the folks doing the real restoration work. If you want to do more than just float — if you want to give a little something back to the water that gave you a good day — these are the two groups we'd point you to first.
Book a shuttle for your next float. Leave the Yellowstone a little better than you found it. That's the whole deal.