SIX SOUTHEAST RIVER RESTORATION

PROJECTS AWARDED $330,000

The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation announced, this week, that it has awarded $330,000 in challenge grants for six river restoration projects in the southeastern United States.

According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Southeast Regional Director, Sam Hamilton, the grants are being made available through the Foundation's Restore Our Southern Rivers program a coalition of public and private organizations, whose members include the Service, the Foundation, the USDA-Forest Service, Natural Resources Conservation Service, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Tennessee Valley Authority, and corporate members, Alcoa Foundation and Philip Morris Companies Inc.

Although rivers in the Southeast are among the world's most biologically diverse freshwater systems, Hamilton said, he noted that the diverse plants and animals that make these rivers unique are threatened by sedimentation, pollution, and commercial development.

Projects slated to receive 1998 Restore Our Southern Rivers grants include:

• The Nature Conservancy-Tennessee Chapter's stream bank restoration and landowner outreach activities targeting approximately 5,000 acres along the Upper Conasauga River in Tennessee. The Conasauga River is a high conservation priority with at least 26 rare species of fish, mussels, and insects.
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• The Paint Rock River's program to identify all critically-eroding streambanks in the Paint Rock River watershed in Alabama and restore the five highest priority sites. This river is extremely diverse, supporting more than 100 species of fish, 45 species of mussels, and 10 species of turtles.
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• The Monroe County Soil Conservation District's plan to reduce sediment loads in Tennessee's Coker Creek by stabilizing one mile of stream bank using native plants and log structures. The site then will be used by the partners to educate other landowners about stream bank restoration opportunities, costs, and techniques.
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• The Blount County Soil Conservation District's implementation of four demonstration projects and workshops planned along Tennessee's Little River to develop landscape design standards for specific to riverfront properties and to educate developers and property owners regarding the benefits of riparian buffers. The project is in a rapidly growing residential area and is expected to have direct application to future development in the area.
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• The University of Georgia's goal to provide cost-share incentives for livestock producers to purchase and install water troughs and stream bank fencing to keep livestock out of streams in the Little River/Rooty Creek area of Georgia, thus reducing stream bank erosion and loading of sediment, nutrients, and fecal bacteria. This project is located in the five-county area just east of Atlanta that has the highest concentration of dairy farms in Georgia.
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• The Hiawassee River Watershed Coalition's use of root wads to stabilize more than 500 feet of severely eroding stream bank along Brasstown Creek in North Carolina. This project will be used as a demonstration project for landowners in Cherokee and Clay Counties, North Carolina.
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Hamilton praised the Foundation for sponsoring the Restore Our Southern Rivers program and its recent efforts to expand this initiative. He stated, "We are extremely pleased that the Foundation is working to draw public attention to the unique resources in the rivers of the Southeast. Their actions are assisting us substantially in our aquatic restoration efforts, demonstrating clearly that working in partnership with others will prove to be the best way to help reverse the years of aquatic degradation our rivers have endured."

Funding for the 1998 Restore Our Southern Rivers grants includes more than$144,000 provided by five federal agencies and an additional $186,000 in private matching funds. These private funds are contributions from local communities, conservation organizations, states, and industry and represent a major willingness on behalf of all partners to actively work together to improve aquatic environmental conditions.

The objectives of the program include: restoring, protecting, and enhancing important aquatic, wetland, and riparian habitats; improving water quality; demonstrating practical ways for private landowners to implement best management practices; and fostering holistic, watershed approaches to conservation, that benefit multiple wildlife species as well as human communities. Proposals for Restore Our Southern Rivers projects must be submitted each year to the Foundation by October 1.

The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation is a nonprofit organization that was established by an act of Congress in 1984 and is dedicated to the conservation of fish, wildlife, and plants. Its goals are environmental education, natural resource management, habitat protection, and ecosystem restoration. The Foundation meets these goals by developing partnerships between the public and private sectors and supporting conservation activities that address the root causes of environmental problems.

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Release #: R98-011

1998 News Releases

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