It’s About Trout!

How Trout Unlimited makes water quality a top priority by protecting trout habitats and restoring waterways in Iowa!

Cameron Aker— Iowa Driftless Outreach Coordinator, Trout Unlimited 

“Do unto those downstream as you would have those upstream do unto you.” —Wendell Berry

Learn more about why and how Trout Unlimited (TU) works with anglers and  communities to protect and restore “Priority Waters” throughout Iowa.

Cameron will share current TU’s projects and efforts to help mitigate the many challenges associated with impaired waterways and how it impacts Iowa’s best trout streams in the Driftless area.  

As the Iowa Driftless Outreach Coordinator for Trout Unlimited, Cameron Aker helps connect growers, landowners, anglers, volunteer groups, and government agencies to help restore the cold-water habitats of Iowa. 

Cameron has spent the last 17 years of his career in the Ag Industry, where he worked with growers, researchers, and other partners to help identify and implement solutions for growers. Much of his work has been in ag research, where he focused on various input effects on crop performances as well as cropping systems. In these roles, Cameron has managed projects between partners as well as the budgets and deliverables between them. 

Cameron is originally from west central Indiana where he gained his love for the outdoors. After moving to Iowa in 2016, he began fly fishing which has quickly become an obsession. Cameron is a member of many conservation focused groups, including Trout Unlimited, Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, Izaak Walton League, and Hawkeye Fly Fishing Association. 

Cameron and his wife Vivian live in Ames, Iowa. They enjoy hiking, canoeing, camping, and many trips to the beautiful Driftless Region of Iowa together. Cameron also enjoys hunting, fly fishing, and fly tying, whenever possible. 

Watershed Talks ~ This monthly series is a project of the Iowa Division of The Izaak Walton League of America, with rotating co-hosts from other Iowa Chapters.  We feature guests for 30-40 minute presentations that shed daylight on good works done in Iowa watersheds. In this way we uplift our shared goals for cleaner water, a healthy environment, and kinder communities. Recorded programs will be available at iowaikes.com shortly after they air live. 

Our 2025 Watershed Talks continue to focus and highlight the legacy of The Izaak Walton League as one of America’s first conservation organizations leading significant conservation policy— just over one hundred years ago the League was the driving force behind the creation of the Upper Mississippi National Wildlife and Fish Refuge, which protects wildlife habitat along 261 miles of the river in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa and Illinois.