FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Erin Mooney, TU National Press Secretary, (703) 284-9408
William Conlin, President, Massanuten TU Chapter (540) 438-0149
Massanutten Trout Unlimited Chapter Receives Grant for Beaver Creek Restoration
Arlington, Va.-- Trout Unlimited, (TU) the nation's oldest and largest coldwater fisheries conservation organization, today awarded a $9,496 Embrace-A-Stream grant to its Massanutten chapter in Virginia to restore Beaver Creek.
The Embrace-A-Stream grant will help fund a restoration project on Beaver Creek, located in the Shenandoah valley, to increase habitat and improve stream conditions. After a century of agricultural land use, the stream has become degraded over time. The project aims to increase habitat for native brook trout by fencing out livestock, planting trees and other plants on 1,800 feet of the stream.
The chapter will work with TU's Shenandoah Headwaters Home Rivers Initiative (SHHRI), the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (VDGIF), and the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to complete the project.
"Through the hard work of TU members across the country, we are able to put our organization's mission into action," said Bryan Moore, Vice President for Volunteer Operations and Watershed Programs. "TU's grassroots members work tirelessly to protect and restore the nation's coldwater resources so that they will exist for generations to come."
Embrace-A-Stream is the flagship grant program for funding TU grassroots conservation efforts. Funding is provided primarily through the support of TU members, with additional support in 2010 provided by Costa del Mar and the FishAmerica Foundation. An Embrace-A-Stream Committee comprised of TU volunteer representatives and scientific advisors evaluates all proposed projects and makes the awards.
In 2010, the Embrace-A-Stream program will provide over $125,000 to 24 projects in 15 states. Projects will address stream habitat restoration, improving fish passage and protecting water quality. Many of the projects will benefit eastern brook trout from Maine to Georgia, and will help protect cutthroat trout in the West as well as coho and Chinook salmon in the Pacific Northwest. Since the program's inception in 1976, Embrace-A-Stream has funded more than 950 individual projects totaling approximately $4 million. As a result of this funding from Embrace-A-Stream, the projects have leveraged more than $12.7 million in additional funding.
Trout Unlimited is North America's leading coldwater fisheries conservation organization, with more than 140,000 members dedicated to conserving, protecting, and restoring North America's coldwater fisheries and their watersheds.