Telling Credible Sustainability Stories with Mayfly Outdoors
April 23-27, 2026
Last week, I spent the week in Montrose, CO for Mayfly Outdoors‘ Dealer Days. It was an inspiring week learning more about brands like Abel Reels, Airlite, Airflo, Dyna-King, Renzetti and Ross Reels are made, and the efforts they are making to support conservation and minimize their own environmental impact in their operations and supply chain. For example, Mayfly Outdoors is B-Corp Certified, which is a rigorous third-party certification ensuring they meet high social & environmental performance standards. They are also a member of The Conservation Alliance, and support nonprofits like Bonefish & Tarpon Trust and Trout Unlimited. I recently brought Mayfly Outdoors on as a client to help them with some sustainability storytelling so I was there to collect information, but also give a sustainability presentation for the retailers in attendance, and it was refreshing to talk with so many fly fishing retailers who care deeply about the sport and are looking for ways to improve their own sustainability performance.
Pictured Above: Mayfly Outdoors CEO, Jeff Wagner talks about what it takes to be a B-Corp (left), and The Conservation Alliance (TCA) Campaigns & Engagement Manager, Katie Johnson talks about how TCA is working to advocate and protect our public lands (right).
Why Fly Fishing Brands Should Measure & Improve Environmental Performance While Supporting Conservation
The reason that all fly fishing brands should support conservation, and measure & improve their sustainability performance is because your brand is solely dependent upon a healthy environment, and there’s a real business case for doing so, such as: reduced costs, increased customer loyalty, enhanced reputation, and mitigated risks. Last week reminded me how much brands and retailers care about public lands, conservation, and climate change, because without a healthy planet, the places, the fisheries, and the fly fishing industry cease to exist. Mayfly Outdoors is demonstrating how much they care about a healthy planet by their manufacturing processes (more on that in the months to come) and their supply chain partners.
Public Lands + Conservation
As a member of The Conservation Alliance myself, I can speak firsthand about how wonderful it is to be a member of TCA because they are giving brands, both big and small, a collective voice for advocating for conservation and public lands, and it was great to see so many retailers asking questions during Katie Johnson’s (TCA) presentation. The world needs more brands taking collective action through organizations like TCA to advocate for public lands.
I loved learning about how the section of the Uncompahgre River behind the Mayfly Outdoors campus was once a dump, and how Mayfly partnered with Trout Unlimited to clean up and restore that section of the river, which now boasts plentiful trout, a walking trail, and I saw both fly anglers and local residents enjoying a walk along the river. Another example of Mayfly Outdoors leading by example and cleaning up their own back yard. While it is important to advocate for conservation and public lands by using a collective voice, it is equally as important to get involved with local nonprofits to clean up your own back yard. As the old saying goes, “Think Global, Act Local.”
Environmental Footprint
To provide a pointed example of how important it is for fly fishing brands to measure & improve their environmental footprint, especially greenhouse gas emissions, Montrose was in the mid 80s last week, the flowers were blooming, and there was no snow on the ground below 8,000 feet. In fact, according to NOAA, March 24 & 25, 2026 set record highs for the month of March at 81 & 87 degrees Fahrenheit. Fortunately, Mayfly Outdoors is working on a number of initiatives to reduce their carbon footprint and minimize waste, but with a dismal amount of snowpack and drought in many western states, the 2026 wildfire season is shaping up to be a bad one, and that decreases the demand for fly fishing gear, which is why it is critical for ever business do their part by measuring and reducing their carbon footprint. Because Mayfly Outdoor brands are Made In USA (actually Made In Colorado), they don’t have to ship their products from Asia back to the U.S., which helps reduce their Scope 3.4 Upstream Transportation & Distribution GHG emissions, which is just one example of how Mayfly Outdoors is improving its environmental footprint.
Another example is Airflo, which is a PVC-free fly line, that has partnered with Terra Cycle by providing fly line recycling boxes to any fly shop, free of charge to the retailer, so your shop and your customers can recycle any brand’s fly fishing line keeping these hard-to-recycle plastics out of the landfill.
Conservation + Advocacy + Sustainability = Winning Strategy
You may not know that manufacturers, producers, and importers of fishing gear pay a 10% conservation tax every year in the United States that generates around $1.5 billion for conservation initiatives via the Pittman-Robertson and Dingell-Johnson acts, according to Meat Eater. So, Mayfly Outdoors is already paying a 10% conservation tax as a 100% Made in USA manufacturer of fly fishing gear, but they take conservation a step further as members of The Conservation Alliance and supporting BTT and TU through Abel & Ross Reel collabs. My point? Nature is the only truly “sustainable” system that exists, so every company, product, and package made has a negative environmental impact because they take resources to make, but that’s the exact same reason that brands should be working to minimize their environmental footprint while simultaneously supporting public lands, conservation, and habitat restoration because your brand is 100% dependent upon a healthy planet & fisheries. In short, Mayfly Outdoors understands their dependency on nature, which is why they have been working on minimizing their environmental footprint, advocating for public lands, and funding habitat restoration because it’s good business.
10 Strategies for Retailers to Profit While Protecting the Planet
While at Dealer Days, I took fly fishing retailers through a sustainability assessment, so they gained a sustainability score, and we created an action plan for them to execute when they returned. I then gave a presentation on “10 Strategies for Retailers to Profit While Protecting the Planet” that I co-created with my partner, Alex Lauver of Douglas Strategies. Most businesses believe that your energy, waste, and water utility bills are simply a cost of doing business, but the reality is that their associated costs are all on the rise. In fact, energy costs went up an average of 13% in 2025, waste tipping fees have gone up considerably, and I am willing to bet that with AI’s massive demand for water, everyone’s water costs will rise. However, you can hedge these rising costs, and improve your environmental performance by simply measuring your consumption data and costs, then taking action.
For example, if you’re a retailer who would like to understand how to measure & improve your shop’s sustainability performance, measure things like energy, waste, and water, which can be found on your utility bills, then take actions like installing LED bulbs to reduce costs & GHG emissions. Install aerators in your sinks to conserve water and reduce costs. Start a composting program to divert waste from the landfill, grow an employee garden, and reduce emissions.
It was really refreshing to have so many retailers interested in making the business case for sustainability at their shops because they too understand that their fly shops are 100% dependent upon clean air, water, and healthy fisheries. If your shop has interest in making the business case for sustainability, I’d love to chat!
A Spiritual Connection
As fly anglers, our love for the sport is much deeper than the pursuit (and the fun of) fly fishing. At it’s core fly fishing, and fishing in general, is spiritual. Not because it’s fly vs. conventional, but because fishing connects us with nature…the mother of all inspiration, beauty, and hope.
What could be more inspiring than gazing at the Tetons in Grand Teton National Park with cutthroat trout rising to dry flies as the sun sets and the sky turns pink, or more beautiful than a sunrise in Everglades National Park as you sip your morning coffee listening to the vast variety of birdsong on a chickee scouting the horizon for gulping tarpon? And what is more hopeful than fishing? The very idea that the next cast could be the greatest fish of your life! For me, nothing is more inspiring and beautiful than God’s creation, and few activities are more hopeful than fly fishing.
I have always loved this quote, and I believe that finding a way to marry my passion for fly fishing and sustainability has been my way of living my dream, and I am humbled and grateful that I get to work with amazing companies like Mayfly Outdoors.
“The master in the art of living makes little distinction between his work and his play, his labor and his leisure, his mind and his body, his information and his recreation, his love and his religion. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence at whatever he does, leaving others to decide whether he is working or playing. To him he’s always doing both.”
― James A. Michener
As I watched a feisty rainbow trout jump out of the Uncompahgre River last week hooked to the end of my line, I had to pinch myself and was reminded just how lucky I am to get to help other’s protect God’s beautiful creation through conservation, sustainable business practices, and telling credible sustainability stories at Emerger Strategies. Thank you to everyone who has been part of my journey so far.
Want to Become a B-Corp?
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