For information contact:
Contact: Isabel Kaldenbach
Buckley & Kaldenbach, Inc., 703-979-3076

Arlington, Va., March 15, 2001 -- Local nonprofit group Arlingtonians for a Clean Environment (ACE) has won a grant from the Virginia Environmental Endowment that will help fund efforts to clean up Four Mile Run stream.

Four Mile Run is the largest watershed in Arlington County, covering 20 square miles including the homes of more than 150,000 people. Four Mile Run feeds directly into the Potomac, and from there into the Chesapeake Bay -- and like other tributaries, it is an important component of Chesapeake Bay restoration, revitalization, and cleanup efforts.

The $9,500 grant will help create a "Four Mile Run Stream Steward" program to engage Arlington County residents in monitoring, restoration, and conservation activities along Four Mile Run. Efforts will be based on the County's Watershed Management Plan, which maps out needs identified from surveys of data points throughout the watershed. The "Four Mile Run Stream Steward" program will train ten "Stream Stewards" as principal coordinators and spokespeople for the project, organize volunteers to at least 10 watershed improvement efforts (engaging a total of 200 people or more), conduct 40 educational outreach programs within the community, distribute 5,000 informational brochures in Spanish and English, and conduct other outreach activities through various communications vehicles including ACE's newsletter, Web site, and listserv.

"We are grateful to the Virginia Environmental Endowment for this important investment," said Martin Ogle, chairman of the ACE Board of Directors. "ACE has since its founding in 1978 focused on cleanup, education, erosion mitigation, fish and wildlife preservation, and other restoration measures on Four Mile Run. This grant will help expand and intensify our efforts."

The Virginia Environmental Endowment works to improve the quality of the environment by using its capital to encourage all sectors to work together to prevent pollution, conserve natural resources, and promote environmental literacy.

Arlingtonians for a Clean Environment is a nonprofit educational and service organization funded primarily by the Arlington County Department of Environmental Services. For more information or to get involved in the Four Mile Run Stream Steward program, please contact ACE at 703-228-6427.