FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Erin Mooney, (703) 284-9408, TU National Press Secretary
TU Rocky Mountain Flycasters Receive $1,000 Grant to Start Trout in Classroom Program
Fort Collins, Colo. -- Trout Unlimited (TU), the nation's oldest and largest coldwater fisheries conservation organization, today awarded a $1,000 Embrace-A-Stream grant to its Rocky Mountain Flycasters Chapter in Fort Collins, Colorado. The chapter is partnering with the Colorado Division of Wildlife and Fossil Ridge High School to introduce a stream and trout habitat learning unit in the classroom.
The Embrace-A-Stream grant will help TU's Rocky Mountain Flycasters chapter launch the Trout in the Classroom project in Fossil Ridge High School. The program will introduce high school science students to the fundamentals of a healthy ecological system for trout and their life-cycle and habitat needs. The students' hands-on experience of raising trout in the classroom also will instill in them the importance of protecting, restoring and sustaining Colorado's rivers and 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.