Contact: Erin Mooney, National Press Secretary 703-284-9408
For Immediate Release:
Trout Unlimited Mine Restoration Project Receives BLM Award
TU recognized for its work on Colorado’s Kerber Creek.
Villa Grove, Colo. - Trout Unlimited’s (TU) Kerber Creek Restoration Project is the recipient of the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) 2010 Hardrock Mineral Environmental Award.
The BLM award is given to organizations that highlight environmental stewardship and acknowledges exceptional track records of meeting or exceeding federal, state or local reclamation requirements.
“This project would not have been possible without the dedicated efforts of our project partners at the BLM and the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), as well as from local landowners who are invested in restoring the creek from the effects of mining,” said Elizabeth Russell, TU’s manager for the project. “We are so pleased to receive this distinction from a federal agency.”
Trout Unlimited, the BLM, the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Collegiate Park Anglers, and local landowners worked together to restore the watershed to pre-mining conditions.
Since 2008, TU and its partners have spent over $1.3 million to restore Kerber Creek, a stream located at the north end of the San Luis Valley. TU and its partners have restored over 40 acres of mine tailings left over from historic mining. The impacts of mining led to metals pollution and a degraded stream channel along a 17-mile stretch of the creek, requiring it to be placed on the list of Colorado’s most impaired waterways.
Volunteers have spent over 4,000 hours on improvements to the stream and surrounding areas. TU will continue its work on Kerber Creek to address legacy mining contamination throughout the watershed.
Water quality and habitat conditions have improved enough in the watershed that the project’s partners and local landowners are considering the introduction of native cutthroat trout to Kerber Creek within the next several years.
Photos of Kerber Creek are available.