FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Erin Mooney, TU National Press Secretary, (703) 284-9408
Tom Wolf, Oregon Council Chair, (503) 640-2123
Mike Gentry, Tualatin Chapter, (503) 636-0061
TU Tualatin Valley Chapter Receives $9,900 to Restore Salmon Habitat on the Necanicum River
LAKE OSWEGO—Trout Unlimited, (TU) the nation's oldest and largest coldwater fisheries conservation organization, today awarded a $9,900 Embrace-A-Stream grant to its Tualatin Valley Chapter in Oregon. The chapter is partnering with the owners of the Neitzel family farm and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.
The Embrace-A-Stream grant will help restore low-velocity coho salmon and sea-run cutthroat trout habitat near the mouth of the Necanicum River by returning the former lettuce farm to its former state, and making it more hospitable to juvenile salmon and trout.
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.