Tennessee River Gorge Trust announced it was awarded a 2022 American Water Charitable Foundation Water and Environment Grant, focusing 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 the bogs continue to flourish for generations to come. The grant funds will help establish long-term scientific monitoring stations at the bogs in partnership with the Southeastern Grasslands Initiative.
This information will be directly used to guide TRGT’s management of this rare and ecologically sensitive ecosystem. The grant will also assist in creating an online environmental education video series about the bogs 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 of using research to inform our forest management,” said Rick Huffines, executive director at Tennessee River Gorge Trust. “The mountain bogs are an incredible micro ecosystem and contain a collection of rare and imperiled species. We look forward to working with Southeastern Grasslands Initiative and our community to conserve these rare mountain bogs.”
"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 publicly traded U.S. water and wastewater utility company, and aims to support high-impact projects and initiatives that further American Water’s commitment to support ESG (environment, social and governance), as well as inclusion, diversity and equity," officials said.
“The American Water Charitable Foundation is committed to participating and investing in programs that benefit communities served by American Water,” said Carrie Williams, president, American Water Charitable Foundation. “We are proud to further American Water’s ongoing commitment to being a good neighbor and good steward of the environment.”