Nature Restoration Trust Awards Over $310,000 to California Fish and Wildlife Habitat Conservation Projects

PG&E and National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Partnership Fosters Stewardship of California's Natural Resources 


SAN FRANCISCO, May 29  /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Nature Restoration Trust, a collaboration between Pacific Gas and Electric Company and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), today announced it is donating over $310,000 in grants to 10 community organizations to foster stewardship of California's diverse wildlife and habitats. With these grants, PG&E and NFWF are renewing their successful program, which previously invested over $2 million in projects to conserve and enhance wildlife in habitat from Redding to Bakersfield.

"Conservation at the local level builds community connections to the land and is a solid, long-term investment in our natural resources," said Jeff Trandahl, executive director, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. "We are extremely proud to collaborate with PG&E and pleased that The Nature Restoration Trust is the newest member of NFWF's Five Star Restoration Program, which brings together diverse organizations to help restore America's streams and wetlands."

The Nature Restoration Trust brings together public and private resources to conserve and enhance the natural habitats of fish and wildlife. Major funding for the program comes from PG&E, which has committed $1 million over 2008-2010 to support projects throughout the company's northern and central California service area. In addition, federal funding of the program is provided by the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Office of Wetlands, Oceans and Watersheds, and in-kind contributions are made by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, EPA Region IX, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Restoration Center Southwest.

"Since this unique, public-private team was launched in 1999, it has helped advance critical habitat and wildlife restoration projects, while inspiring our youth to protect California's natural heritage for generations to come," said Ophelia Basgal, vice president of civic partnerships and community initiatives at PG&E.  "PG&E is proud to be part of this creative program which empowers communities to restore native habitats in urban, suburban and rural areas."

Winning projects were ranked and selected by an Advisory Panel that included representatives from NOAA, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, EPA Region IX, PG&E and Foundation staff. Consideration for funding was based on hands-on experiential education opportunities, benefits to the resource, partnership with other organizations and geographical distribution in California -- from coastal dunes and tidal marsh to Sierra streams.

  The 2008 recipients of Nature Restoration Trust grants are:


  Organization     Grant                    Project

  American        $31,500 Sediments & the Next Generation: Restoration
   Rivers                  & Education in Deer Creek
                          American Rivers will work with multiple
                          partners and integrate their work in-field
                          water quality monitoring, floodplain
                          restoration along a Sierra stream, and
                          historical and cultural research into local
                          7th - 12th grade curricula. High school
                          students will partner with middle school
                          students in an "Eco-Pal" program to jointly
                          learn about a riverine system.

  Audubon         $40,000 Audubon Bobcat Ranch Oak Woodland Corridor
   California             Audubon California Landowner Stewardship
   Landowner              project will re-establish an ecological
   Stewardship            connection between the Dry Creek tributaries
   Program                and the main channel of Putah Creek while
                          creating a viable wildway managed by local
                          landowners.  High school students will do
                          restoration work to better learn about the
                          connection between a healthy ecosystem and
                          responsible stewardship of working
                          landscapes.

  Children's      $11,290 BioSITE SEED
   Discovery              The BioSITE (Students Investigating Their
   Museum of              Environment) SEEDS program of Children's
   San Jose               Discovery Museum of San Jose will work with
                          the San Jose Unified School District, the
                          Santa Clara Water District, and other
                          entities to restore riparian habitat in the
                          Guadalupe Watershed.  Students will conduct
                          vegetation surveys, remove invasives, re-
                          plant appropriate natives, and collect data
                          at three sites to measure the success of the
                          project.

  Community       $30,504 Enhancing Red-legged Frog Habitat at
   Alliance                Serendipity Farms
   with                   Working with the Monterey Bay Aquarium and
   Family                 the Wild Farm Alliance, Community Alliance
   Farmers                with Family Farmers will restore wetland and
                          riparian habitat for the endangered red-
                          legged frog and Carmel River steelhead trout
                          and monitor water quality and vegetation on
                          Department of Parks and Recreation land at
                          Serendipity Farms.  Students will learn
                          principles of on-farm biodiversity
                          conservation practices and benefits for
                          wildlife.

  Friends of      $38,800 Community-based Coastal Dune Restoration at
   the Dunes               Manila Dunes
                          Friends of the Dunes will develop a service
                          learning curriculum for the Adopt-A-Dune
                          education project and work with Humboldt
                          county students, community volunteers, and
                          the California Conservation Corps to restore
                          4 acres of coastal dune habitat at the Manila
                          Dunes Recreation Area. Three rare plant
                          species occur on the property: beach layia
                          (Layia carnosa), dark eyed gila (Gilia
                          millefoliata), and pink-sand verbena (Abronia
                          umbellata ssp. Breviflora) and the endangered
                          Humboldt Bay wallflower is expected to spread
                          onto the property in the future as a result
                          of increased suitable habitat created.

  Golden          $20,000 Eco-Oakland Environmental Education Program
   Gate                   Golden Gate Audubon Society will provide
   Audubon                experiential learning opportunities for
   Society                Oakland children and their families to help
                          restore critical marshlands at Martin Luther
                          King, Jr. Regional Shoreline Park's wetland
                          complex and additional riparian lands.  The
                          wetlands are a critical habitat for
                          endangered California clapper rails and
                          endangered brown pelicans and California
                          least terns.

  Golden          $20,000 Mori Point Habitat Restoration
   Gate                   Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy will
   National               work with local youth and community groups to
   Parks                  remove and control the spread of non-native
   Conservancy            plants and debris and revegetate with native
                          plants near Pacifica on the coast to create
                          and improve breeding and foraging habitat for
                          the threatened California red-legged frog and
                          endangered San Francisco garter snake.

  Round           $40,000 Mill Creek Enhancement Project
   Valley                 The Round Valley Indian Tribes will enhance
   Indian                 instream and riparian conditions for salmon,
   Tribes                 steelhead, migratory birds, and sensitive
                          species on nearly 2.5 miles of Mill Creek.
                          Working with the tribes, local schools will
                          incorporate the project area into their
                          "Adopt-A-Stream" program for hands-on
                          learning experiences.

  Save the        $40,000 San Francisquito Creek Restoration Project
   Bay                    Save the Bay will mobilize and train 750
                          middle school, high school, and community
                          volunteers to revegetate and enhance tidal
                          salt marsh and restore over 6 acres of
                          critical habitat at the mouth of San
                          Francisquito Creek in Palo Alto for the
                          benefit of fish, shorebirds, and other
                          wildlife.

  Urban           $39,573 Rheem Creek Restoration and Watershed
   Creeks                  Education Project
   Council                Urban Creeks Council will reach out to
                          neighborhoods close to Contra Costa College
                          to help restore native riparian habitat on
                          Rheem Creek.  The Council will establish a
                          Watershed Curriculum at the college and
                          provide stipends to 10 interns to design and
                          install the project.




PG&E has a long history of making charitable grants tailored to the wide variety of needs of the communities it serves. The company's broader program of support to communities includes cash grants, in-kind contributions, and volunteers for community-based nonprofit organizations, and for schools and other governmental programs throughout northern and central California. All charitable contributions are entirely funded by PG&E Corporation shareholders and the level of charitable giving does not affect gas and electric rates.

Pacific Gas and Electric Company, a subsidiary of PG&E Corporation, is one of the largest combined natural gas and electric utilities in the United States. Based in San Francisco, with 20,000 employees, the company delivers some of the nation's cleanest energy to 15 million people in northern and central California. For more information, visit http://www.pge.com/.

A nonprofit established by Congress in 1984, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation sustains, restores and enhances the Nation's fish, wildlife, plants and habitats. Through leadership conservation investments with public and private partners, NFWF is dedicated to achieving maximum conservation impact by developing and applying best practices and innovative methods for measurable outcomes. Since its establishment, NFWF has awarded nearly 9,500 grants to over 3,000 organizations in the United States and abroad and leveraged -- with its partners -- more than $400 million in federal funds into more than $1.3 billion for on-the-ground conservation. For more information, visit http://www.nfwf.org/. 

DATASOURCE: Pacific Gas and Electric Company



CONTACT:  PG&E News Department, [phone]; or John Butler of

National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, [phone], 



Web site:  http://www.pge.com/

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