TU and Navy Agree to Protect Fisheries on Navy Lands

Agreement will help to protect some endangered, threatened trout and salmon species

Contact:

9/21/2000 --  --  Contact:
Alan Moore, Western Communications Coordinator, Trout Unlimited: (503) 827-5700

September 21, 2000. Arlington, VA…Trout Unlimited has signed an agreement with the U.S. Department of the Navy to enhance and protect streams and rivers on lands owned by the Navy nationwide.

The agreement will provide a framework for cooperative activities between the two organizations to enhance, maintain and conserve coldwater fisheries resources on Department of Navy lands across the country. It is designed to protect important habitat for numerous fish and wildlife species, including endangered trout and salmon.

The agreement, which was signed in Washington, D.C. by Charles Gauvin, CEO and President of Trout Unlimited, and Robert B. Pirie, Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Installations and Environment, is a renewal of one originally signed between the two organizations in 1991.

Gauvin said that its willingness to once again sign a cooperative fisheries management agreement has enhanced the Navy's positive image as a public lands steward among conservation groups and the general public.

"This agreement is a recognition of the value of Navy-owned lands to the nation's coldwater fisheries. Its signing, in turn, signifies a recognition by the Navy of the importance of cooperating whenever and wherever practical to put in place management activities around these resources," said Gauvin.

Many opportunities exist for implementing the cooperative management efforts on Navy-owned lands along the Eastern Seaboard, the Great Lakes area, and the West Coast. Trout Unlimited grassroots volunteers will help play an important role in working with the Navy to manage coldwater fisheries in a number of these locations.

Don Duff, Trout Unlimited's National Partnership Coordinator with the U.S. Forest Service, said in many locations the agreement will effectively partner the Navy with the Forest Service and state agencies whose lands are adjacent to Navy lands. In those locations, the inclusion of the Navy lands into ongoing watershed management plans will provide a holistic and basin-wide management approach that will benefit all native and recreational fish and wildlife species, Duff said.

Trout Unlimited, the nation's leading coldwater conservation organization, celebrated its 40th Anniversary in 1999. TU's 500 chapters and more than 125,000 members nationwide are committed to conserving, protecting and restoring North America's trout and salmon fisheries and their watersheds.

Date: 9/21/2000