FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Erin Mooney, (703) 284-9408, TU National Press Secretary
TU Tacoma Chapter Receives $1,000 Grant to Restore Puget Creek
Tacoma, Wash. -- Trout Unlimited (TU), the nation's oldest and largest coldwater fisheries conservation organization, today awarded a $1,000 Embrace-A-Stream grant to its Tacoma Chapter in Washington state. The chapter is partnering with the the city of Tacoma, Washington Department of Wildlife and Parks and other partners to restore a stretch of Puget Creek that has been damaged by foot traffic over the past 40 years.
The $1,000 Embrace-A-Stream grant will help purchase hardware for a new 1,300-foot raised boardwalk that will allow Puget Creek Trail users to experience wildlife and the salmon habitat without damaging the stream or wetland resources.
The project will also remove a fish barrier in Puget Creek, allowing salmon to move upstream, and install a kiosk, salmon statue and interpretive signs to educate citizens about salmon habitat and restoration issues.
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.