Learn About The Yellow Dog Community and Conservation Foundation

Learn About The Yellow Dog Community and Conservation Foundation

Founded in 2016, the Yellow Dog Community and Conservation Foundation (YDCCF) was created to give back to destination angling communities across the globe by providing much needed funding for local grassroots projects. To date, the Foundation has invested almost $2 million to help preserve, protect and enhance the communities and fisheries that matter to anglers.

Yellow Dog Flyfishing donates a portion of every trip booked and every product sold to YDCCF to support this work.

Since launching the program in 2023, YDCCF and its Lodge Partners have invested almost $350,000 in projects befitting their communities and fisheries. Each Lodge Partner is deeply invested in ensuring their community is responsible, resourceful and dedicated to providing not only amazing experiences for traveling anglers, but also supporting the livelihoods of the local residents who make it all possible. Each of these places is special because of the people that live there, and YDCCF’s mission is to improve and enhance the livelihoods of those in these communities.

Some recent lodge partner projects:

• Christmas Island, Kiribati: Premier Partners Christmas Island Lodge and Ikari House have embarked on a partnership with Fisheries Conservation Foundation on a new three-year study of the habits and movements of the island’s Giant Trevally population, in an effort to provide data to support the conservation of this vital game fish species.
• Xcalak, Chetumul Bay, Mexico: Working with Premier Partner The XFlats, the Xcalak Community Enrichment Project is an annual week of learning and enrichment for the children of Xcalak, along with dedicated ESL instruction for both adults and children. In 2024, the program was expanded to include year-round programming at the new Esperanza de Vida community center in Xcalak.
• Turneffe Atoll, Belize: This spring, the Turneffe Atoll Sustainability Association released a first of its kind Management Plan for the flats fishery at Turneffe. Developed over the last 18 months with a broad cross section of stakeholders including Premier Partners Turneffe Flats and Turneffe Island Resort, along with Yellow Dog Flyfishing and YDCCF, the plan seeks to set carrying capacities for the fishery along with flats etiquette and habitat protection and strives to provide a model for the management of flats habitat across Belize and the Caribbean.
• McLeans Town, Grand Bahama: Working with Premier Partner East End Lodge, YDCCF has donated over $150,000 toward the East End Dorian Relief project, which is helping residents of McClean’s Town rebuild their homes after Hurricane Dorian. The McClean’s Town Invitational tournament is held annually in October to help raise funds for this project.
• Mongolia: With Premier Partner Fish Mongolia/Mongolia River Outfitters, YDCCF has been supporting the Healthy Taimen Festivals (HTF). Each year, doctors travel to Mongolia and perform clinics in remote villages focused on delivering critical preventative care to children in the region. In most cases, these festivals are the only preventative care children have access to. To date, HTF programs have treated over 1,000 children.
• Punta Allen, Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico: In conjunction with Premier Partners Grand Slam Lodge and Ascension Bay Lodge, along with Tailwaters Rising Tide Fund and the Palometa Club, the town’s Community Center has been going through a complete renovation. There are dedicated workout spaces, a boxing ring, and the next phase will include meeting rooms, classrooms and an observatory on the roof.

About YDCCF: The Yellow Dog Community and Conservation Foundation (YDCCF) was established in 2016 by Yellow Dog Flyfishing to support the local fisheries, ecosystems and communities where great angling is found. Since inception, YDCCF has leveraged almost $2 million for grassroots projects in angling destinations across the globe, funding projects large and small focused on conservation, education and community growth and resilience.