The Tennessee River Gorge Trust announced it has received a 2022 American Water Charitable Foundation Water and Environment Grant, which focuses on conservation, education and community engagement around the newly acquired Aetna Mountain Bogs.
“The Aetna Mountain Bogs represent an increasingly rare habitat for a variety of threatened plants and animals,” officials said. “Through informed management, TRGT can ensure that the wetlands continue to thrive for generations to come. Grant funds will help establish long-term scientific monitoring stations in the wetlands in partnership with the Southeast Grasslands Initiative.
This information will be used directly to guide TRGT’s management of this rare and ecologically sensitive ecosystem. The grant will also help create an online environmental education video series about the wetlands and support TRGT’s water quality monitoring program that engages community volunteers to monitor streams and wetlands.”
“We are grateful to the American Water Charitable Foundation for this grant to continue our commitment to using research to inform our forest management,” said Rick Huffines, executive director of the Tennessee River Gorge Trust. “Mountain bogs are an amazing microecosystem and contain a collection of rare and endangered species. We look forward to working with the Southeastern Grasslands Initiative and our community to conserve these rare mountain wetlands.”
“The Water and the Environment Grant is part of the American Water Charitable Foundation’s Keep Communities Flowing grant program. The Foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization established by American Water, the largest water and water utility publicly traded U.S. wastewater, and aims to support high-impact projects and initiatives that advance American Water’s commitment to support ESG (environmental, social, and governance), as well as inclusion, diversity, and fairness,” officials said.
“The American Water Charitable Foundation is committed to participating in and investing in programs that benefit the communities American Water serves,” said Carrie Williams, president of the American Water Charitable Foundation. “We are proud to further American Water’s ongoing commitment to being a good neighbor and a good steward of the environment.”