March 11, 2016
Contact: Mark Taylor, Eastern Communications Director, Trout Unlimited, mtaylor@tu.org, (540) 353-3556
MEDIA ADVISORY:
TU to discuss federal fundings role in Chesapeake Bay conservation success
What: Media teleconference to discuss stream restoration success stories in the Chesapeake Bay watershed
When: Monday, March 14, 11 a.m. ET. Representatives of the media can participate by dialing toll-free 877-883-3811. When prompted enter the code 69394151.
Who: Steve Moyer, TU VP of government affairs; Seth Coffman, TU Shenandoah Headwaters Home Rivers Initiative manager; Greg Hulver, West Virginia landowner; Colby Trow, Virginia fishing guide and fly shop owner; Erica Tomlinson, Tioga County (Pa.) Conservation District.
RSVP: Please email Mark Taylor, TUs eastern communications director, at mtaylor@tu.org to confirm your attendance on this call.
More about the teleconference:
Trout Unlimited will host a media teleconference to celebrate the success of a wide variety of stream restoration projects in the Chesapeake Bay watershed on Monday, March 14, 2016, at 11 a.m. ET.
Congress is currently debating next years budget, and will soon be making decisions about funding levels for federal programs. A lot is at stake for trout fisheries. TU staffers will talk about the important role federal funding plays in conservation success stories, and the future outlook for federal programs.
Steve Moyer, TUs vice president for government affairs, will show how federal funding enables landowners to protect and restore trout streams that flow through their properties. These projects, such as a Conservation Reserve Enhancement Project on Moyer family land in Pennsylvanias Susquehanna River watershed, help native brook trout. They also improve water quality in the watersheds headwaters, which is ultimately good for the Chesapeake Bay itself.
The call will also feature landowners and partners who have collaborated with TU on restoration projects in Virginia, West Virginia and Pennsylvania.
The budget decisions made on Capitol Hill seem a long way from the farm lands of the Chesapeake Bay headwaters, but they have a strong influence on the ability of landowners to protect and restore trout streams on their properties, Moyer said. We hope that Congress will provide adequate funding for conservation programs so that more landowners can improve rivers and streams, and we can achieve healthy trout fisheries in the headwaters and a healthier Chesapeake Bay.
When I was boy, I used to catch many brook trout on my family farm, but the stream looked much different back then, with lots of pools and trees surrounding it, said Greg Hulver, a farmer from West Virginia. Over the years, the stream changed as timber was removed and livestock had free access. The Natural Resources Conservation Service, the Farm Service Agency and Trout Unlimited have provided valuable professional assistance needed to restore the brook trout stream of years past, and a conservation easement held by the local land trust will help to preserve it into the future.
Seth Coffman, manager of TUs Shenandoah Valley Headwaters Conservation Project, has worked to improve habitatand fishing opportunityfor a number of years, and hes seen the impact that these projects have on the community and the economy.
In Virginia, tourism and outdoor recreation are a big part of the economy and a big part of that in the Shenandoah Valley is tied to clean fishable water, Coffman said. Landowners and local communities have partnered with TU and are willing to make investments that leverage outside resources to make that clean water possible. When these streams and rivers in the headwaters are healthy, everybody benefits.