MINNEAPOLIS – FLW Outdoors continues to promote conservation among the fisheries that host its professional bass tournaments, as evidenced by a recent $5,000 donation to the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. The donation will go toward the Patterson Islands Shore Stabilization and Restoration Project to help restore the water quality in Kentucky Lake by stabilizing 1,600 feet of shoreline along one of the lake’s eight islands.
This donation further establishes FLW Outdoors as an organization devoted to giving something back to the communities that host its tournaments. As it has in the past, FLW Outdoors is donating $5,000 at each of its seven Wal-Mart FLW Tour events as well as at a variety of its other sanctioned tournaments.
The donation coincided with the fifth stop along the 2003 FLW Tour, held last week on Kentucky Lake. The state will use the $5,000 contribution in conjunction with $45,000 from the Tennessee Valley Authority and other state funds to stabilize island No. 4, ranked as the Kentucky Lake island most critically in need of stabilization due to severe erosion from wave and wind action. The project will benefit the fishery by creating additional habitat for sport fish, improving water quality and reducing erosion.
“It is a very expensive project … and this donation from the FishAmerica Foundation and FLW Outdoors, along with matching funds, will allow us to finish the final 1,600 feet of riprap on the main island,” said Paul Rister, district fisheries biologist for the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. “That’s our goal: to finish this island and protect the shallow-water habitat area behind it.”
The project will involve placing large limestone rock, known as riprap, along the island’s shoreline to protect it from wind and wave action, thereby reducing erosion and improving the water quality of the lake. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has estimated that it will cost $1.2 million to stabilize all eight of the Patterson Islands.
FLW Outdoors remains committed to conservation in 2003 through its partnership with the FishAmerica Foundation, the conservation arm of the American Sportfishing Association. FLW Outdoors’ donations, administered through FishAmerica, go toward conservation efforts to benefit tournament host sites.
In 2000, FLW Outdoors announced its partnership with the FishAmerica Foundation. Since then, FLW Outdoors has directly donated nearly $200,000 and helped to generate more than $1 million for local conservation projects.
“In partnering with FishAmerica, our goal is to have a positive impact on the fisheries and host cities where our tournaments are held,” said Charlie Hoover, president and CEO of FLW Outdoors. “We are proud to be able to contribute to improving the quality of the lakes on which we hold our tournaments. Protecting America’s waters is a huge commitment, and we will continue with our efforts in this ongoing process.”