FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Erin Mooney, TU National Press Secretary, (703) 284-9408
Dave Sweet, Wyoming Council Chair, (307) 899-9959
Kani Seifert, Platte Valley TU, (307) 327-5604
TU Platte Valley Chapter Receives $10,000 to remove barrier on the East Fork Encampment River
SARATOGA—Trout Unlimited, (TU) the nation's oldest and largest coldwater fisheries conservation organization, today awarded a $10,000 Embrace-A-Stream grant to its Platte Valley Chapter in Wyoming. The chapter is partnering with the
U.S. Forest Service and Wyoming Game and Fish on the project.
The Embrace-A-Stream grant will help remove an old weir that, during periods of normal or low flows is a barrier to upstream trout migration. The weir is located on U.S. Forest Service land. The East Fork is one of the largest and most important tributaries to the Encampment River and is an important stream for recreational angling for wild trout in southern Wyoming and northern Colorado.
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 others will help protect native 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.