Fund Purpose. The Trout Unlimited Watershed Access Fund will make money available to assist in the direct acquisition of lands ad­jacent to coldwater resources or to assist in the acquisition of con­servation easements or leases that allow access to and future restoration of coldwater resources. The existence of the fund will make it easier for chapters to enter into partnerships with land trusts and agencies for the purpose of providing more public access to coldwater resources.

Fund Raising. Initial funding for the program will come from the $5,000 Wisconsin TU has received as part of the Graul Farms legal settlement. In addition, net proceeds from the 2010 State Council banquet will be deposited into the TU Watershed Access Fund. Ad­ditional fund raising will then supplement the fund. Every year dur­ing October, the State Council will send a solicitation letter to each TU member in Wisconsin laying forth the purpose of the fund and a requesting contributions. Contributors will receive one ticket to the annual State Council banquet for each $100 contributed. The ticket offer would also be extended to non TU members.

Fund Withdrawals. Requests for funds to assist in land acquisi­tion or access acquisition will originate from local Trout Unlimited chapters. Chapters will be eligible to apply for funds for projects that fit the purpose of the fund. Projects that are undertaken jointly by a chapter and a land trust or an agency like DNR will receive pri­ority over projects undertaken solely by a chapter. In the event that requested amounts are greater than funds available, geographic parity will become a major factor in making the decision about which projects will receive funding.

Funding Limits. Requests for funding will be limited to $2,000 for a project by a single chapter. No more than two chapters will be allowed to request funds for the same project. Requesting chapters will need to match at least 50% of the requested amount with chap­ter funds.

Request Submissions. Requests by chapters for funds will be submitted to the State Council Vice Chair. The requests should in­clude detailed explanations of the acquisition project as well as a listing of all of the partners involved in the project. Requests will al­so need to specify when the funds need to be available. The deci­sion to grant requests will be made by the Regional Vice Chairs and the State Council Vice Chair as requests are received. One of the Vice Chairs will be designated to record details of awarded grants on a spreadsheet as the grants are awarded.

Fund Restrictions. The WITU Watershed Access Fund will be used solely for obtaining access to coldwater resources either through direct land purchase or through obtaining permanent ease­ments or leases.