[Comm-Council] FW: NEWS RELEASE: Oregon Governor's Fund for the Environment Funds Projects Worth Nearly $1.2 Million

Mon May 21 10:48:54 PDT 2007

Lonn Hoklin

Public Affairs Manager

Oregon Department of Administrative Services

503.378.2627

503.428.2169 (cell)

________________________________

From: SHERWOOD Jodi L * Governor's Office 
Sent: Monday, May 21, 2007 10:48 AM
To: EXEC Net List
Subject: NEWS RELEASE: Oregon Governor's Fund for the Environment Funds
Projects Worth Nearly $1.2 Million

   U.S. Department of Justice                        The State of Oregon
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service           National Fish and Wildlife
Foundation 

NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

May 21, 2007

Contacts:          Krystyna Wolniakowski, National Fish and Wildlife
Foundation, 503-702-0245

                        Lee Folliard, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
503-231-6179

                        Dwight Holton, U.S. Attorney Oregon,
503-727-1128

Anna Richter Taylor, Governor's Office, 503-378-6169

Oregon Governor's Fund for the Environment Funds Projects Worth Nearly
$1.2 Million

Salem - Today Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski awarded eight Oregon
Governor's Fund for the Environment grants during a ceremony at the
Capitol. These grants will aid farmers, vintners, students, educators,
and landowners in being stewards of our natural resources. 

"This fund provides Oregonians with the resources needed to protect and
restore the habitat and watershed functions that are essential to not
only fish and wildlife, but also to the quality of our rivers and
streams," said Governor Kulongoski.  "I am pleased that for a second
year these funds focus on projects in the Willamette River Basin and
will improve water quality, wildlife habitats, and the quality of life
for Oregonians."

The fund was established two years ago with a court-ordered $2 million
settlement in a criminal pollution case, and is administered by the
Governor's Office, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, and the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. This year's grants total nearly $1.2
million - with $310,355 from the Governor's Fund and the balance from
matching grants and in-kind contributions

"I intend to make sure that environmental criminals pay to help repair
the damage they've caused to our precious resources," U.S. Attorney
Karin J. Immergut explained.  "Through the Governor's Fund, we can make
sure criminal payments are devoted to protecting the rivers, streams,
and habitat that make Oregon a great place to live." 

The eight successful grant applicants, chosen from among 20 who applied,
proposed projects which will identify, eliminate or reduce pollution, as
well as restore and conserve fish, wildlife, and plant resources, and
which will help to restore the quality of Oregon rivers and streams in
the Willamette Basin. 

"These grants will restore streambeds throughout the Willamette Basin,
improve water quality for people and wildlife, and provide a better home
for several threatened and endangered species of fish, plants and
wildlife," said Foundation Executive Director Jeff Trandahl.  "By
gaining landowner cooperation in improving fish and wildlife habitat,
we're creating win-win solutions that will have lasting benefits for
people and the natural resources we cherish." 

"I admire the wisdom shared by Governor Kulongoski and U.S. Attorney
Karin Immergut by making these fines available to repair damage created
by criminal environmental negligence," said Ren Lohoefener, Director of
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Pacific Region. "I look forward to
working with these new partners in making our rivers clean for
everyone."

The grants range from $14,000 to $50,000, and total $310,355 with grant
recipients contributing a total of $879,296 in matching funds from cash
or in-kind contributions to their projects.  The 2007 grant recipients
include:

Willamette Riverkeeper:  Grant $14,000; Match $7,000

Willamette Riverkeeper, together with landowners, six cities, and the
Department of Environmental Quality, will establish riparian restoration
projects and develop Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) implementation
plans in order to improve habitat along the Willamette River to benefit
spring chinook and other ESA listed species.  This project will outreach
to15 landowners in order to cultivate restoration projects and increase
the level of restoration interest, as well as provide information about
restoration opportunities through programs such as the Conservation
Reserve Enhancement Program.  Willamette Riverkeeper will also engage
six cities in a discussion regarding their TMDL implementation planning
and subsequent action in order to ascertain how the cities intend to
meet their responsibility as part of a Designated Management Agency.

Oregon State University:  Grant $27,675; Match* $0

Oregon State University (OSU), together with Coast Fork Willamette,
Middle Fork Willamette, and South Santiam Watershed Councils, Linn and
East Lane Soil and Water Conservation Districts, and the Oregon
Department of Agriculture, will develop and provide conservation
training workshops for small acreage landowners in three Willamette
water basin watersheds, as well as empower landowners to implement
management practices on their land to improve water and soil quality.
This project will enhance awareness, and intensively train up to 120
small acreage landowners about land management practices that benefit
natural resources. Goals of the project are to improve water quality in
three watersheds, and educate small acreage landowners to be able to
identify and assess potential natural resource concerns on their
properties.

*This is a settlement fund; match is encouraged, but not required.

Molalla River Watch:  Grant $45,000; Match $305,256

The Molalla River Watch, together with Oregon State University Extension
Service, Clackamas County Water and Soil Conservation District, Granges,
cities, Molalla River Improvement District, and other interested citizen
groups, will develop a restoration plan for 27 miles of the Molalla
River and 16 miles of Milk Creek based on aquatic and geomorphic
science.  Through this project, Molalla River Watch will perform an
aquatic habitat inventory using Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
protocols, evaluate bank erosion hazard index for reaches to demonstrate
evidence of potential high erosion, and perform several levels of
geomorphic assessments.  Using the information gathered in the
evaluations, Molalla River Watch will hold public meetings and community
conferences to describe project goals, objectives, and proposals in
order to garner community support for future project implementation.

Salmon Safe:  Grant $39,500; Match $39,300

Salmon Safe, partnering with Oregon wine industry's Low Input
Viticulture and Enology program, Oregon Tilth, local wine vineyards, and
other stakeholders, will expand on the partnership between Salmon Safe
and the Oregon wine industry to reduce runoff from steep hillside
vineyards and transform another 35 vineyards to fish friendly practices.
The first year of this project, which was funded through the same grant
program with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, successfully
certified more than 80 vineyard sites in the Willamette Valley.  This
project seeks to provide market incentives for Willamette Valley
vineyard operators to assist in the implementation of water quality and
biodiversity protection practices at an additional 35 sites.  This will
expand Salmon Safe wine marketing, provide new retail opportunities for
vineyards and certified wineries, and help develop an "Oregon Certified
Sustainable" campaign.  In addition, Salmon Safe intends to expand the
Willamette Valley public education campaign to generate support for the
habitat restoration efforts and disseminate project outcomes to inspire
other Oregon agricultural sectors.    

South Santiam Watershed Council:  Grant $50,000; Match $41,200

The South Santiam Watershed Council, together with Benton County Fish
Passage Improvement Program, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
(ODFW), Oregon State University, and volunteers, will compile existing
and new fish passage barrier data in order to prioritize barriers for
restoration.  This project will produce a database and maps of fish
passage barriers in high concern sub-watersheds of the Santiam basin.  A
list of fish passage barriers, and habitat restoration projects will be
formulated and prioritized based on the current ODFW standards for
migratory fish passage.  In addition, South Santiam Watershed Council
will hold a community stakeholder meeting involving relevant agencies
and private landowners that have fish passage barriers identified as
high priority.

Friends of the Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge:  Grant $50,000;
Match $391,900

Friends of the Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge, together with
Raindrops to Refuge, Sherwood Middle School Refuge Club, regional school
districts, General Electric, Community Educator Team, Northwest Service
Academy, Metro Regional Parks and Greenspaces, Tualatin Riverkeepers,
and community volunteers, will develop curriculum for a new hands-on
environmental education laboratory, train volunteers and implement
on-site programs for local schools.  This project will develop
curriculum that builds on the existing Refuge environmental education
program and aligns with state and national learning requirements.  This
curriculum will have a watershed and wildlife conservation focus.  In
addition, this project will conduct teacher workshops to train educators
to use the Refuge curriculum in order to provide the highest learning
experiences possible.  Adult and youth volunteers will be trained on how
to manage and conduct environmental education activities which will be
conducted for K-12 students.  

North Santiam Watershed Council:  Grant $50,000; Match $78,000

North Santiam Watershed Council, working with the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service, and Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, will
complete an analysis and restoration plan to restore spawning gravel and
riparian areas for ESA-listed fish, such as spring chinook salmon and
winter steelhead, in reaches below U.S. Army Corps of Engineer dams on
the North Santiam River.  Gravel that is currently trapped behind Big
Cliff Dam, downstream of the project site, will be transported to
increase spawning habitat on the North Santiam River.  In addition,
adjacent riparian areas that support spawning habitat will be restored
to provide large wood recruitment for gravel retention and shade.

Middle Fork Willamette Watershed Council:  Grant $34,180; Match $16,640

Middle Fork Willamette Watershed Council, along with U.S Army Corps of
Engineers, Willamette Riverkeeper, and landowners, will develop
floodplain restoration plans for five reaches of the Willamette River,
and design a project in at least one priority reach in order to involve
the public in state and federal conservation programs.  These plans will
be developed by recruiting interested landowners and conducting
landowner workshops in order to promote education about floodplain
restoration and incentive programs.  The five reaches of the lower Coast
and Middle Fork Willamette will be assessed in order to choose at least
one priority reach.  A two-day design session with local landowners,
members of watershed councils, a professional facilitator, and experts
in channel design, permitting, and vegetation plans, will formulate
detailed restoration plans in the priority reach.  The program outcome
will be evaluated and summarized in a final report.

The Governor's Fund for the Environment was established in April, 2005,
with an initial contribution of $2 million in community service payments
as a result of the criminal prosecution of the Panamanian shipping
company Evergreen International, which pled guilty to 25 criminal
charges.  Five of the alleged crimes occurred in Oregon.  The United
States and Evergreen reached a plea agreement that requires the company
to pay $25 million - the largest criminal fine ever imposed on a
defendant in a vessel pollution case. 

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Oregon helped prosecute
the Evergreen case and directed a portion of the fine to create this new
fund for the state.  The United States Coast Guard, the Environmental
Protection Agency Criminal Investigative Division, and the Washington
Department of Ecology each also played a critical role in the Evergreen
prosecution.

The Fund was created by Governor Kulongoski and U.S. Attorney Karin
Immergut with the goal of establishing a sustainable revenue source that
is dedicated to local environmental clean up efforts focused on
preserving and protecting Oregon's rivers, watersheds, and fish and
wildlife.  The grant amounts vary each year based on the interest earned
on the principal and new funds deposited through criminal fines and
additional private and public donations.

The U.S. Attorney's Office seeks community service payments in all
appropriate environmental criminal cases, of which more than $180,000
has been added to the Governor's Fund since its formation.  The U.S.
Attorney's Office has obtained over $3.7 million in community service
payments since 2004.

************************************************************************
***********

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency
responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and
plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American
people. The Service manages the 95-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge
System, which encompasses 545 national wildlife refuges, thousands of
small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 69
national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resources offices and 81 ecological
services field stations. The agency enforces federal wildlife laws,
administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird
populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and
restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign and Native
American tribal governments with their conservation efforts. It also
oversees the Federal Assistance program, which distributes hundreds of
millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to
state fish and wildlife agencies. For more information, visit 
www.fws.gov <http://www.fws.gov/> 

The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation is a nonprofit organization
established by Congress in 1984 and dedicated to the conservation of
fish, wildlife and plants, and the habitat on which they depend. The
Foundation creates partnerships between the public and private sectors
to strategically invest in conservation and the sustainable use of
natural resources. The Foundation awarded over 8,000 grants to more than
2,600 organizations in the United States and abroad and has leveraged -
with its partners - more than $300 million in federal funds since its
establishment, for a total of more than $1 billion in funding for
conservation. The Foundation is recognized by Charity Navigator with a
3-star rating for efficiency and effectiveness.  Ninety-two cents of
every dollar contributed to the Foundation is directed to on-the-ground
conservation projects, with five cents supporting management and
administration of the Foundation's multi-million dollar grants program
and three cents funding partnership development and fundraising.  For
more information, visit www.nfwf.org <http://www.nfwf.org/> 

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