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Open Space Council for the St. Louis Region Receives $25K Grant for Lower Meramec Watershed Stewardship, Education

Release Date: 10/16/2014
Contact Information: EPA Region 7 - Chris Whitley, 913-551-7394, whitley.christopher@epa.gov; Open Space Council for the St. Louis Region - Katherine Dockery, 314-835-9225, katherine@openspacestl.org; National Fish and Wildlife Foundation - Rob Blumenthal, 202-595-2497, rob.blumenthal@nfwf.org

Environmental News

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(Lenexa, Kan., Oct. 16, 2014) - The non-profit Open Space Council for the St. Louis Region has received a $25,000 grant from the national 2014 Five Star and Urban Waters Restoration Program to support hands-on stewardship and watershed education efforts aimed at restoring 500 miles of five rivers in Missouri’s Lower Meramec Watershed.

The Five Star and Urban Waters Restoration Program began in 1999 as a partnership among the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, the National Association of Counties, the Wildlife Habitat Council, and EPA. Major funding for the 2014 program is provided by EPA, the U.S. Forest Service, FedEx, Southern Company, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Urban Refuges Program, with additional support from PG&E, Alcoa Foundation and Bank of America.

The Open Space Council for the St. Louis Region will use its $25,000 grant to partner with St. Louis University, Watershed Cairns, Missouri American Water, the Missouri History Museum, the Missouri Department of Conservation and other regional partners to restore 500 miles of the Meramec, Big, Courtois, Bourbese and Huzzah rivers. Data will be collected and analyzed from project sites throughout the Lower Meramec Watershed. Project activities will include the 500 miles of river restoration, monitoring 100 sites, engaging 2,000 volunteers, and educating 600,000 people.

The Lower Meramec Watershed project is one of 53 community-led wetland, stream and coastal restoration projects nationwide receiving a total of $1.8 million in grants from the 2014 Five Star and Urban Waters Restoration Program. Combined with $6.7 million in local funding support, those 53 projects will create a total investment of more than $8.5 million toward restoration of wildlife habitat and urban waters, engaging thousands of volunteers in community-based environmental stewardship.

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