FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Erin Mooney: (703) 284-9408, TU National Press Secretary
TU Georgia Council Receives $9,000 Grant to Restore Brook Trout
Atlanta, Ga.-- Trout Unlimited (TU), the nation's oldest and largest coldwater fisheries conservation organization, today awarded a $9,000 Embrace-A-Stream grant to the Georgia Council of Trout Unlimited for a native brook trout recovery program in the Chattahoochee National Forest of north Georgia.
The council is partnering with the U.S. Forest Service, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources and other agencies to continue work begun in 2005 in Georgia as part of TU's Back-the-Brookie initiative. This initiative will help protect existing brook trout populations in Georgia and restore brook trout to historic brook trout streams through habitat restoration projects. The Embrace-A-Stream grant will enable the Georgia Council and project partners to restore about 18 miles of brook trout habitat by constructing 88 habitat improvement structures, such as pools and woody debris, in 13 existing brook trout streams.
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.
"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."
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.