Press Releases

Congressman Morgan Griffith (R-VA) announced today that the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) has awarded $37,000 in federal funds, through their Central Appalachia Habitat Stewardship Fund, to the Nature Conservancy. The organization will use this grant money to breed at least 40,000 mussels native to the Clinch River, in order to restore the mussels’ population in the river.

“The Clinch River contains the greatest population of rare and imperiled freshwater animals and is home to the highest concentration of imperiled mussels in the United States. I look forward to seeing how this important grant, awarded by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, will improve the population of mussels in the river for years to come,” said Griffith.

According to NFWF, “the Central Appalachia Habitat Stewardship Program was established in 2017 to improve the quality and connectivity of forest and freshwater habitat and increase the distribution and abundance of native fish, birds and other wildlife.”

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